It's Hogmanay in the Hamely Kitchen. Chef Paula McIntyre is celebrating Auld Year's Nicht with a delicious festive supper.
On the menu is a warming bowl of cock-a-leekie soup. Paula doesn't do things by halves, so her version involves poaching a whole chicken, which leaves the meat beautifully tender. As Paula says, if you're harbouring any new year's resolutions, this broth, full of leeks and barley and parsley, will get you off to a great start.
Hogmanay wouldn't be Hogmanay without whisky, so Paula is off to Islay, where her ancestors are from, on a whisky pilgrimage. Joining her is whisky buff Lee Gibson. After a bumpy crossing from Portstewart to Port Ellen, they travel to Kilchoman Distillery in the west of the island. The journey proves to be worth it as they sample some whiskies made using traditional methods.
Back in the kitchen, Paula adds whisky to her next two dishes. For main course, she makes a malt and whisky lacquered duck with potato pancakes and a burnt apple sauce. For dessert, she shares her recipe for clootie dumpling, a traditional Scottish dish with a scoop of whisky-infused cream.
Along the way, Paula also reveals some of the Ulster-Scots traditions associated with Hogmanay. For example, there's first-footing, where the first visitor after midnight should always be a dark-haired man bearing gifts to ensure a warm and lucky year ahead.
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