A Scottish flavour to traditional Hallowe'en

The traditional festival of Hallowe'en occupies a rich and colourful place in Scottish history, originating from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain.

To mark Scotland's Year of Food and Drink in 2010, the event's ambassadors, Tom Kitchin, Amanda Hamilton and Simon Rimmer, have come up with their favourite Hallowe'en recipes.

Simon Rimmer's Pumpkin Salad with IJ Mellis Cheese

3-4 tbsp olive oil, for roasting

300g pumpkin, peeled and cut into bite-sized cubes

salt and freshly ground black pepper

200g Anster cheese, cubed

150g pine nuts, toasted

handful each of watercress, rocket and baby spinach

3 radishes, sliced

150g peas, cooked

Dressing

150ml extra-virgin olive oil

juice of 2 limes

1 tbsp cider vinegar

1 tbsp chopped fresh mint

1 garlic clove, crushed

Preheat the oven to 200C/Fan 180C/Gas 6. Heat the oil in a roasting tin, add the pumpkin and roast for about 30 minutes until golden and soft. Drain on kitchen paper and season well.

Combine the pumpkin with the rest of the salad ingredients in a large bowl.

Make the dressing by putting all the ingredients in a screw-top jar and shaking it up like crazy.

Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss all of it together, then serve.

Anster is a delicious cow's milk cheese handmade just outside the small town of Anstruther in Fife. This is a crumbly-textured, lemony-flavoured cheese not entirely unlike Wensleydale except that this is made from Scottish milk from a herd of Holstein Friesian cows fed on lush Fife pastures.

Scottish Apple Beignets with Thistly Cross Cider Sabayon and Vanilla Ice Cream

Tom Kitchin

Serves 4

2 Gogar Pippin or Galloway Pippin apples

30g flour

500ml of vegetable oil (to fry the beignets)

Sabayon

3 egg yolks

50g sugar

300ml Thistly Cross Scottish cider

Vanilla ice cream

5 egg yolks

130g caster sugar

250ml milk

250ml whipping cream

1 vanilla pod, split lengthwise

Beignet batter

8 egg yolks

500g flour

500ml cider

8 egg whites

100g icing sugar

To make the vanilla ice cream

Using a whisk, beat the egg yolks with the sugar in a bowl until pale and slightly thickened.

Meanwhile, heat the milk, cream and vanilla to a simmer and set aside.

In a heavy bottomed pan, warm the beaten eggs and sugar over a very low heat, stirring constantly. Gradually stir in the hot milk mix. Cook over a low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens just enough to coat the back of the spoon. Take off the heat and discard the vanilla pod.

Strain the custard through a sieve into a large bowl and then set over a bowl of ice water to cool. Pour into an ice cream machine and churn until just frozen, then place into an airtight plastic container and freeze for at least 3 hours before serving.

To make the sabayon

Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water. Whisk until the mixture becomes slightly frothy, then pour in cider. Keep whisking until the sauce thickens, this will take at least 10 minutes.

The sabayon can be served at this stage but if you would like to serve it cool, take the pan off the heat and whisk the sabayon until it is room temperature. At this point you can set the sabayon aside and prepare the rest of the dish.

To make the beignets

Whisk the yolks with the cider and slowly add the flour until completely mixed. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites to firm peaks and fold into a cider mix.

Peel and core apples, keeping them whole. Cut each apple into four doughnut-shaped slices, about 0.5cm thick. Pour the vegetable oil into a large pan and heat 170-180C. Dust the apple pieces with flour to coat and dip them into beignet batter.

Cook the dipped apple pieces in oil until golden brown on each side. Use a wooden skewer to help with the flipping and removing of the finished beignets.

To serve: Drain the apples beignets on paper towels to remove any excess fat and dust them with icing sugar. Serve with vanilla ice cream and a generous spoon of the cider sabayon.

Amanda Hamilton's Cranachan

Cranachan was originally consumed around Hallowe'en time when raspberries were plentiful. It is a delicious dessert made with cream, whisky, honey, and fresh raspberries with toasted oatmeal. For a communal celebration round the table, the oatmeal, fruit and cream were put onto the table allowing people to mix their own ingredients. To add a touch of the exotic, use scooped out passion fruit for an extra tang on the topping.

60g of pinhead oatmeal

150g of raspberries / 3 passion fruit, scooped out

4 tablespoons of malt whisky

4 tablespoons of runny Scottish honey

600mls of double cream

Scatter the oatmeal onto a baking tray and toast in a low oven or under the grill until they become golden brown.

Blend 50g of the raspberries in the liquidiser until they become smooth and stir in the honey and the best malt whisky you can find. Whip the double cream until stiff.

Fold in the ingredients one at a time to get a rippled effect, leaving some of the raspberries and oatmeal for topping.

Serve with remaining strawberries, a dusting of oatmeal – adding passion fruit if you like – and drizzle over any extra whisky with the warmed honey.

n For more information on Scotland's Year of Food and Drink, see www.visitscotland. com/harvest