Chef Michael Gilligan: St. Andrews Day

Chef Michael Gilligan: St. Andrews Day: "This Tuesday is St. Andrews day. The following day on Wednesday in celebration of this, Aston Vile will be slaughtered at the temple of S..."

St. Andrews Day

This Tuesday is St. Andrews day. The following day on Wednesday in celebration of this, Aston Vile will be slaughtered at the temple of St. Andrews by the mighty Birmingham City in the Quarter Final of the League Cup. Blessed be the Blues.

My beloved Blues seem to have a few links with the Scottish, our manager Alex McLeish is from Barrhead and we have Barry Ferguson, James McFadden and unfortunately Garry O’Conner who all hail from the northern side of Hadrian's Wall.

Our ground is called St. Andrews and we have "Keep Right on to the End of the Road", as our club anthem which was wrote by Sir Henry Lauder (4 August 1870 – 26 February 1950), known professionally as Harry Lauder, who was a Scottish entertainer, described by Sir Winston Churchill as "Scotland's greatest ever ambassador. We shall be victorious, it is written in the stars! {Now we will get stuffed!}

Back to the saint bloke though…St Andrew was one of Jesus' twelve disciples and he lived and worked as a fisherman in Galilee. He was the brother of Peter, another of Christ's disciples.

After Christ's crucifixion, one version of the legend is that Andrew went to Greece to preach Christianity, where he was crucified for his beliefs at a place called Patras, on a cross in the form of an X. However, the X-shaped cross played little part in early legends of St. Andrew and indeed in early versions of the tale, Andrew was nailed to an olive tree, not a cross.

How he ended up being the patron saint is unclear, there are several differing stories:-

300 years after his death the Emperor Constantine decided to remove the Saint's bones to Constantinople, but according to legend the monk St. Regulus was warned in a dream by an angel, who told him to remove as many bones as he could to the "ends of the earth" to keep them safe.

As far as the Greeks and Romans were concerned, Scotland was as near to the world's end as you could get, so some of his remains were taken to Scotland. St. Regulus brought the relics ashore at what is now St Andrews (some versions say he was shipwrecked there) and a chapel was built to house the bones, followed in 1160 by a cathedral. St Andrews was the religious capital of Scotland and an important place of pilgrimage.
A more plausible version of how the Saint's bones found their way to Scotland is that Acca, Bishop of Hexham, who was a renowned collector of religious relics, actually bought the bones quite legitimately and took them there in 733 AD.

Unfortunately the bones have now disappeared, probably destroyed during the Reformation when anything connected with "Catholic idolatry" was removed without trace. The site where the relics had been is now marked by a plaque in the ruins of the Cathedral in St Andrews.

Not all of St. Andrew's bones were originally sent to Scotland, the rest were stolen from Constantinople by the Crusaders in around 1204 and taken to Amalfi in Italy, from where some fragments were sent in 1879 to Scotland, and in 1969 Pope Paul VI gave some further relics to the Catholic church in Scotland during a visit there and these are now displayed in a reliquary in St. Mary's Roman Catholic Cathedral in Edinburgh, if you're into that kind of thing.

Now if you know anything about the Scots you would think the celebrations of their patron saint would be on the same scale as those of Ireland's - St Patrick, but somehow they aren't. St. Andrew's Day used to be a very popular feast day in Scotland. It was a common custom for farm workers and labourers to go "St. Andra'ing". They would catch rabbits and hares and later on in the day would feast and drink. But a recent survey showed many Scots didn't know when St Andrew's day was.

To address this terrible sacrilege there have been debates on and off for some time about making St. Andrew's Day a public holiday in Scotland, that way it would be easier to remember, but so far no success. However the day is celebrated by those Scots at home and abroad who know when it is wearing traditional costume - kilts, drinking traditional Scottish drink - Scotch whisky, eating traditional Scottish food - neeps and tatties, listening to traditional Scottish music - the bagpipes and enjoying traditional Scottish dancing - celidhs.

Many Scots will also wear a thistle on this day. The thistle is widely regarded as the emblem of Scotland. There are several varieties of thistle, most of them common weeds throughout the British Isles and nearly all characterized by extreme prickliness. The legend of how the thistle came to be adopted by the Scots tells of how a group of Scots were sleeping in a field when a group of marauding Vikings crept up to attack. Fortunately one of the Vikings stood on a thistle, whose prickles penetrated through to his foot and made him yell with pain, waking the sleeping Scots who were able to fight off their attackers. So, from that day, or so the story goes, the thistle has been adopted as Scotland's national emblem.
So to celebrate St. Andrews day we are going to make 2 dishes that have become synonymous with Scotland, no not haggis or neeps and tatties because they are truly awful but a warming Scotch Broth and my favorite, the Scotch Egg.

SCOTCH BROTH
Serves 4

Ingredients1oz Pearl Barley
8oz Stewing Beef, fat removed
2pts Water
3oz Leeks, sliced
8oz Carrot, diced
8oz Swede, diced
Salt and Pepper
2oz Cabbage, shredded

MethodPlace the barley in a pan of cold water; bring to the boil then drain.
Return the barley to the pan together with the diced beef and 1.2L/2pts of water. Bring to the boil, skim the surface, and then simmer for 1 hour.

Add the leeks, carrot, Swede and plenty of salt and pepper and continue to simmer for a further hour. After this time, add the cabbage and cook for a further 20 minutes. Serve hot.


SCOTCH EGGS
Makes 4

Ingredients4 Hard Boiled Eggs, cooled
1oz Plain Flour
Salt and Pepper
8oz Pork Sausage Meat
1 Egg, beaten
2oz Dried Breadcrumbs
Vegetable Oil for deep frying

Method Shell the hard boiled eggs and coat each in the flour which has been seasoned with salt and pepper. Preheat the deep fryer to 170C, 340F.

Divide the sausage meat into 4 equal portions and flatten out each portion roughly into a circle large enough to surround an egg on a floured board.

Place 1 egg in the centre of each sausage meat circle and carefully mould the sausage meat around each egg, pressing the edges firmly together to seal.

Place the beaten egg in one bowl and the breadcrumbs on a plate, then dip each covered egg firstly in the beaten egg and then in the breadcrumbs to thoroughly coat all over.

Fry the coated eggs for 7-9 minutes until golden brown and crisp.
Drain well on kitchen paper, cool and refrigerate until ready to serve.

To serve at parties or buffets, double, triple or quadruple the ingredients then just before serving cut each egg into quarters for bite sized potions.

AND FINALLY… Do you know the first people in the UK to have double glazing were the Scots?...It was so their kids couldn't hear the ice cream vans.

Keep Right On
CHEF GILLIGAN

Chef Michael Gilligan: Spooky Witches Fingers

Chef Michael Gilligan: Spooky Witches Fingers: "GILLIGAN’S GOURMET One thing I like to do for fun on Halloween and you can try this too, is before bobbing for apples at your local Hallowe..."

Spooky Witches Fingers

GILLIGAN’S GOURMET
One thing I like to do for fun on Halloween and you can try this too, is before bobbing for apples at your local Halloween carnival or at a friend’s party, fill your mouth brimming full with ketchup. When underwater, discharge the goo, then frantically jerk your head up out of the water screaming, "Razor! Razor!"
{Makes sound like crazed person laughing…. Muahaahahahaaaa!}

SPOOKY WITCHES FINGERS
Ingredients1 cup butter, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup whole almonds
1 (.75 ounce) tube red decorating gel

MethodCombine the butter, sugar, egg, almond extract, and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl. Beat together with an electric mixer; gradually add the flour, baking powder, and salt, continually beating; refrigerate 20 to 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease baking sheets.
Remove dough from refrigerator in small amounts. Scoop 1 heaping teaspoon at a time onto a piece of waxed paper. Use the waxed paper to roll the dough into a thin finger-shaped cookie.

Press one almond into one end of each cookie to give the appearance of a long fingernail. Squeeze cookie near the tip and again near the center of each to give the impression of knuckles.

You can also cut into the dough with a sharp knife at the same points to help give a more finger-like appearance. Arrange the shaped cookies on the baking sheets.

Bake in the preheated oven until the cookies are slightly golden in color, 20 to 25 minutes.

Remove the almond from the end of each cookie; squeeze a small amount of red decorating gel into the cavity; replace the almond to cause the gel to ooze out around the tip of the cookie.

AND FINALLY…….
TEN REASONS WHY TRICK OR TREATING IS BETTER THAN SEX
10) You are guaranteed to get at least a little something in the sack.
9) If you get tired, you can wait 10 minutes and go at it again.
8) The uglier you look; the easier it is to get some.
7) You don't have to compliment the person who gives you some.
6) Its O.K. when the person you're with fantasizes you're someone else, because you are.
5) Forty years from now you'll still enjoy candy.
4) If you don't like what you get, you can always go next door.
3) It doesn't matter if the kids hear you moaning and groaning.
2) Less guilt the morning after.
1) YOU CAN DO THE WHOLE NEIGHBORHOOD

Scare you later,
CHEF GILLIGAN

Chef Michael Gilligan: Scream Cookies for Halloween

Chef Michael Gilligan: Scream Cookies for Halloween: "It is only 4 days until Halloween so I am going to give you a head start with this recipe as it is a little more challenging than my usual..."

Scream Cookies for Halloween

It is only 4 days until Halloween so I am going to give you a head start with this recipe as it is a little more challenging than my usual stuff. This might a bit more work but the results are stunning. I make these at the W Hotel here in South Beach during the halloween week for the front desk as a welcoming amenity for our guests and they go down a treat.

Did you know that Jack o’ Lanterns originated in Ireland where people placed candles in hollowed-out turnips to keep away spirits and ghosts on the Samhain holiday? No? What else don’t you know about Halloween?
Halloween is on October 31st, the last day of the Celtic calendar. It was originally a pagan holiday, honoring the dead. Holloween was referred to as All Hallows Eve and dates back to over 2000 years ago.
Halloween was brought to North America by immigrants from Europe who would celebrate the harvest around a bonfire, share ghost stories, sing, dance and tell fortunes.
The ancient Celts thought that spirits and ghosts roamed the countryside on Halloween night. They began wearing masks and costumes to avoid being recognized as human.
Bobbing for apples is thought to have originated from the roman harvest festival that honors Pamona, the goddess of fruit trees.
Orange and black are Halloween colors because orange is associated with the Fall harvest and black is associated with darkness and death.


SCREAMING SPICE COOKIES
Yield 20 cookies

INGREDIENTS
Cookies:
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for rolling out dough
¼ teaspoons baking soda
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
½ teaspoon fine salt
¾ cup unsalted butter, slightly softened
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Icing: Hard candies, try yellow, red, black, (Jolly Ranchers preferred)
¼ cup water
3 tablespoons egg white powder
3/4 teaspoon orange extract
1 ½ to 2 cups confectioners' sugar
Lollipop sticks, available in craft or bakers' supply stores
1 empty metal tuna fish can, (about 6 ounces) for cutting cookies {Remove the top and bottom of the tuna can and discard. Wash and dry well. Pinch the sides of the can together to make a skull-like shape}

METHODFor the cookies: Whisk the flour, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt together in a medium bowl.
Beat the butter in a large bowl with a handheld mixer until fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the sugars, and continue beating until light, about 3 minutes.
Add egg and vanilla extract, beating until smooth.
Gradually add the dry ingredients while mixing slowly to make a smooth dough. Divide dough in half and press each half into a disk
Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.

Transfer 1 disk of dough to a floured work surface and roll about 1/4-inch thick. Cut into cookies with a pinched tuna can.

Transfer cookies with an offset spatula to a nonstick or silicon lined baking sheet.

Cut out eyes and a mouth with a pastry tip, fat straw, or a knife. Press the lollipop sticks into the narrow end of each cookie, if using. Repeat with remaining dough. Press excess dough together, roll and cut into cookies. Refrigerate cookies for at least 30 minutes

Evenly space the racks in the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Put the candies in a small plastic bag and hit with a rolling pin to break into little pieces.

Bake the cookies just until they are set, about 20 minutes. Remove baking sheets from the oven and carefully sprinkle the broken candies into the eyes and mouth of the cookies.
Continue to cook until the candy Liquefies, about 3 minutes more.
Cool cookies on pan for 10 minutes before removing from the pan. Cool cookies on a rack.

For the icing: Whisk the water, egg white powder and orange extract in a medium bowl until foamy but smooth.
Gradually whisk in the confectioners' sugar to make a smooth icing. Spread a layer of icing over the entire surface of the cookies with the back of a teaspoon.

Let rest until the icing sets, about 30 minutes. Serve or store in a covered container for up to 3 days.

AND FINALLY… Q: Why don't witches wear panties?
A: To get a better grip on their brooms!

Columbus Day Veal Piccata

In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
Tomorrow on Oct. 11, 518 years later, banks are closed and there's no mail.

To many, Christopher Columbus Day is nothing more than the cap on a three-day weekend in October. But to the Italian-American community, this holiday has been a 500-year fight to get recognized. Everyone knows that in 1492 Columbus first felt the soil of the New World, but there are not nearly as many people that realize the history of the holiday since that fateful landing.

It is believed that the anniversary (Oct. 12) of Columbus reaching San Salvador in Central America was first formally celebrated by the Society of St. Tammany (also known as the Colombian Order) in New York City in 1792,when they held a dinner in his honor. At that time, New York was the first place to erect a statue of Columbus.

It was about this time that the name of Columbus was becoming heralded throughout America. Many institutions began changing their name out of respect to the explorer. New York's King's College changed its name to Columbia and the nation's capital was named the District of Columbia.

In 1866, the Italian population of New York organized the first mass celebration. Growing efforts were being made by groups to have Columbus Day declared a national holiday, most notably by the first Catholic fraternal order, the Knights of Columbus, which was organized in 1882.

The Knights of Columbus, who have been involved in Jersey City's Columbus Day parade since its beginnings in 1950, is now an international society with 1.5 million members and more than 10,000 councils. Their motto is to uphold the ideals of Columbianism: "charity, unity, fraternity and patriotism."

The quadricentennial of Columbus' arrival did the most to raise the awareness of Columbus Day around the country. President Benjamin Harrison issued a proclamation appointing that day as "... a holiday for the people of the United States ... to express honor to the discoverer, and their appreciation of the great achievements of four completed centuries of American life."

This anniversary also brought about the building of Columbus Circle at the southwest corner of Central Park in New York, accompanied by a statue.

The Knights of Columbus kept lobbying states to make it a legal holiday, and in 1909 New York was the first state to sign it into law. The first government-supported Columbus Day was celebrated with a massive parade in Columbus Circle, and had replicas of Columbus' ships sailing in New York Harbor. It was that year that New Jersey joined in by legalizing the holiday.

In 1934, President Franklin Roosevelt urged a nationwide observance of Columbus Day, and in 1937, he proclaimed every Oct. 12 as Columbus Day. In 1971, President Nixon declared it a federal public holiday on the second Monday in October.

Columbus Day is now observed in all but nine states. In three states it is known as Discovery Day and in Michigan it is known as Landing Day. Oct. 12 is also celebrated as Columbus Day in some parts of Canada, in Puerto Rico, in Central and South American countries and in Italy and Spain.
Back in 2010 we are going to make veal Piccata to celebrate.

Veal Piccata
4 servings.

Ingredients
½ cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
4 veal scallops, about 3/4 pound, pounded to a thickness of 1/8-inch
1 ½ tablespoons vegetable oil
5 tablespoons butter
1 cup dry white wine
½ cup chicken stock
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 lemon, juiced, or more to taste, (about 2 tablespoons)
2 tablespoon capers, drained
1 tablespoon chopped parsley leaves, optional, plus sprigs for garnish

Method
In a shallow bowl or plate combine the flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the salt and pepper and stir to combine thoroughly. Quickly dredge the veal scallops in the seasoned flour mixture, shaking to remove any excess flour.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until very hot but not smoking. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of the butter and, working quickly and in batches if necessary, cook the veal until golden brown on both sides, about 1 minute per side. Transfer to a plate and set aside. Deglaze the pan with wine and bring to a boil, scraping to remove any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. When the wine has reduced by half, add the chicken stock, chopped garlic, lemon juice and capers and cook for 5 minutes or until the sauce has thickened slightly. Whisk in the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt, remaining 3 1/2 tablespoons of butter and the chopped parsley. When the butter has melted, return the veal scallops to the pan and cook until heated through and the sauce has thickened, about 1 minute. Garnish with parsley sprigs and serve immediately.

AND FINALLY…

How did Christopher Columbus finance his trip to America?

With the Discover Card of course!