… January 25th marks the day when the whole of scotland and many scottish folk the world over celebrate the life and works of poet Robert Burns… traditionally Burns Night is marked with a meal knows as the Burns Supper where a haggis is brought in to the dining room aloft a tray and marched around the standing guests whilst bag-pipes play and the Burns poem Address to the Haggis is recited… much whisky is drunk. The haggis is eaten alongside its infamous bedfellows the tatties and neeps and then more whisky is drunk followed by lots of falling down… I think that’s pretty much the gist of it but you may be better off asking a scott… one can actually have a Burns Supper any day of the year and many scotts put on this celebration for non-scotts on their first visit to a scottish home…I have only once had the honour of a burns dinner whilst on an away weekend for work. The most hysterical thing was the ‘piping in’ of the beans on toast for our vegetarian colleague…
burns night chicken thighs
to help them celebrate a very exciting year that’s about to begin, the fine people at 2014 Scotland Food and Drink sent me a Burns Night ‘starter kit’ complete with a beautiful Macsweens haggis, some tatties and neeps and a mini bottle of whisky and asked me to create a Belleau Kitchen Burns Supper… I was thinking long and hard about being super-creative with the ingredients but clearly I wasn’t thinking straight… if this was to be a Belleau Kitchen Burns Supper then it had to be all about chicken thighs… I adore the taste of offal and think it works really well roasted with chicken and the whole dish is gorgeously oozing in juices which have helped to roast the potatoes and turnips to perfection. The taste actually reminds me of roast chicken cooked by my grandma which is always a good thing…
1 packet of 6 free-range chicken thighs
1 large turnip of if you can’t find them use half a swede – cut into large chunks
3 medium roasting potatoes – cut into large chunks
250g traditional haggis – cut into chunks
a few sprigs of fresh rosemary and thyme
salt and pepper
place the chopped veg, haggis and herbs into you baking tray and season
lay the chicken thighs on top and season again
roast for 30 mins on 180C then turn the chicken thighs and roast for 15 mins, turn the chicken thighs back and roast for another 15 mins until the skin is nice and crispy
serve with something green out of guilt.
eat and of course, enjoy!
Thanks for sharing such a delicious recipe. As a Scot, I am always looking for new ways to use haggis in recipes at all times of the year and this would make a great evening supper for guests. I love the idea of piping in the beans too. Did they not know about Macsween's excellent vegetarian haggis?
I have never been to a proper Burns night, despite having lived in Scotland as a child, they sound like a lot of very silly fun!
I enjoy haggis but Nick detests the stuff so I might make a version of this using some venison sausages!
argh, too much visual lovelyness to look at.
Love the new layout, very swish and of course always love your magical ability with chicken thighs. Yum
Love the new look, Dom! I spent 4 years in Aberdeen, so I have very happy memories of Burns night. Might see if I can track down some haggis in NZ to recreate this.
I'll take the Scotch; you can have the haggis! The chicken thighs? I fight ya for 'em! Loving the new look here, Dom! You've been a busy boy!
Both the redesign and the thighs (and the chicken) are looking TASTY! x
Nice use of haggis there Dom, might just give this a whirl myself (ps I spotted some tinned haggis in the supermarket the other day which just seems wrong)
thanks honey x
it was the simplicity of the dish that I loved… love that crispy chicken skin too… tinned haggis is simply daft!
Oh wow, this looks incredible-stunning food styling too. I would love you to join #tastytuesdays over on my blog if you fancied it http://honestmum.com/tasty-tuesdays-greek-chicken-casserole/
Ooooh you have had a face lift! Liking the new look. Good Idea to combine the haggis with roast chicken and roast turnips this give it a whole new life.
As a Burns, I take my haggis very seriously, and this looks absolutely DIVINE Dom! LOVE this idea for haggis and your thighs! What a great feast for the bard! Karen
I'm a big fan of the haggis but I'm definitely up for variations on the usual haggis meal. This sounds great. As far as I'm concerned beans on toast should always be piped in. I'm loving the new look by the way.
I have some Haggis in the fridge (what can i say, it was an impulse buy lol) and NOW i know what to do with it!
Thank you 🙂
I wish I had remembered it was Burns Night tonight. I love haggis and am always threatening to give it to my husband but he's going to have to wait now!
Well, I've never heard of Burns night but this chicken dish looks really good. Except maybe minus that haggis?? 🙂