Boursin Goat Cheese Ball

A tasty party appetizer with a tangy, full flavour.

11 oz. tube of good quality plain chèvre (goat cheese)
4 oz. softened cream cheese
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. coarse black pepper
1 tsp. dried parsley
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 blanched garlic clove, crushed
1 tsp. mayonnaise
extra coarse black pepper for decoration

Mix the first 8 ingredients together in a glass bowl, adjust salt to taste, cover and chill overnight to firm up and develop flavor. When chilled, scoop out onto wax paper and form into a ball. Sprinkle outside with extra black pepper, and serve with an assortment of crackers.

A Simple Haggis

Although I can't take credit for this recipe (it appears on Scottish Cooking.com, bless their bonny hearts), I wanted to share it with you because one of my longstanding secret culinary ambitions has been to prepare a homemade haggis. Not wanting to bother with the traditional sheep's stomach and "lights" (heart, lungs, etc.) I was very grateful to find this recipe. I have an extra day off this New Year's, so I may just prepare Simple Haggis for Hogmanay 2004 (Edinburgh's Hogmanay celebration will be a blast this year, featuring a performance by techno-dance duo Erasure).

"For those of you who don't really wish to take the effort to produce the 'real thing', here's another recipe for a "simple haggis".

1/2 lb. liver in a piece
4 oz. chopped suet
1/2 lb. cooked tripe
4 oz. chopped onion
4 oz. finely ground oatmeal
salt and black pepper

Boil the liver in a saucepan with just enough water to cover it for 15 minutes (this is just long enough to 'set' it). Grate it or put it through a mincer; mince the cooked tripe also.

Mix all the ingredients, seasoning well with the pepper and salt. Make it into a moist dough with some of the water in which the liver was cooked. Boil in a cheesecloth or cotton cloth tied into a bag for 2 hours, or steam in a bowl for 3 hours."

Although I have not tried it yet, I suspect a food processor might make short work of grinding the liver and tripe, and I might add a little sage, thyme and a dash of whisky for authenticity...arrrggh! That'll be my excuse to purchase a nipster bottle. "It's for the Haggis!"