Perfect puckle of peedie pakoras

Perfect puckle of peedie pakora's - using leftovers

So, last week when out at a work Love Food Hate Waste event we had a few leftovers - we were feeding a bunch of rather un-hungry teenagers. Now not one for liking food waste, (I mean do any of us?) I took everything left home in a wee tub. A wee mix of cooked ham, sausage, onion and pepper which had been leftover from a 'lobbing on home made pizzas' session, an hour or so before.

Now I can't say there was a HUGE amount left over, we're usually really canny with our workshops - but there was enough to half fill a wee box. Not enough for a stew, enough for a tasty snack. To me having seen that lot chopped up so beautifully (thank you Mary) and with the onions shredded so fine, the only thing that came to my mind was 'pakora'.

So as its officially 'egg season' in Orkney everyone I know with eggs is overrun with them and often we end up with a free half dozen or so. Therefore rather than a straightforward omelette with this lovely mix of leftovers, I decided a wee batter mix (1 cup of SR flour and an egg) would bind this lot nicely into pakoras - whilst there wasn't enough for a tasty meal for more than a mouse, there was enough to make a peedie puckle of tasty pakoras for a few hungry folks to snack on. Now we could have done this without the egg, merely water but an egg just gives it some 'ploofiness'. And, ploofiness was required after a long day. 

It literally took seconds to mix this lot up. I do prefer mixing with an old fashioned bone handled butter knife - I think all those lessons at school have left their mark. We often mixed with a butter knife, not an 'eating knife' which is sharper - I found some butter knives in a charity shop and snapped 6 of them up for about 50p - they're so useful. Anyway back to my mix. So the puckle of leftovers were coated nicely with a layer of the eggy/flour batter - enough to smother them but not to drown them, if you catch my drift. You could still see the 'components' of the mix rather than just a swimming pool of batter.

A dessert spoon full of mix was gently dispatched into a small wok of heated cooking oil. And they sizzled away for a couple of minutes on each side.

Now, whilst the wee half box of leftovers would have hardly fed a mouse - we shared a peedie puckle of these tasty treats with a wee bit of a dipping sauce at the side. We could easily have made an omelette or a wee stew or just a sandwich filling with a bit of mayonnaise mixed around the leftovers but I thought about pakora's for a change.

Next time you've a few wee bits leftover I wonder if you'd prefer to pluck up the courage to make a perfect puckle of peedie pakoras too?

So what's your favourite quick leftover idea? If you need some inspiration - why not check out Love Food Hate Waste and see some of their great ideas.

Until next time, happy leftovers and happy scoffing.

PS if you like hearing more of my nonsense please come on and like us on here.

The Captains Galley - Scrabster, Thurso

So whilst we currently live in Orkney surrounded with great grub and fantastic seafood, we've often sat at the ferry terminal looking longingly at the sign by the terminal which shouts 'fresh seafood', 'The Captain's Galley', which opens for dinner just shortly after we normally set sail home to Orkney. A seafood restaurant set in a restored ice house, with a fantastic reputation, we've long wanted to go. So as this winters wee 'break' we decided to pop over for an evening, to sample their fabulous menu and it did not disappoint.

A warm and friendly welcome greeted us as we were shown to a comfy cosy room with squashy sofa's and plenty of ambient music. Drinks and nibbles provided swiftly and a warm friendly smile with the menus. 'Take your time, there's no rush' we were told and indeed there wasn't. What a perfect way to wind down on a Friday night but take in the ambience of a bonnie wee restaurant on the edge of a cheerful busy port. These guys have a reputation for being warm and friendly and they certainly were, we even managed to get a bit of chat about the garden, which as all of you know, is my other great passion. Mary and her staff are attentive, whilst giving you peace to enjoy your evening, that's a real skill, hats off to you all, it was the perfect balance.

And so to the grub, the menus (on a Friday night there are two, the full menu or a 'fish and chip' menu') - both looked stunning but opting for the full menu didn't disappoint. Have a peek at the sample menu here always full of incredibly fresh local produce.

To start, I chose the Langoustine bisque with a skewered prawn kimchi, himself Oysters cooked with pork belly and seaweed. For mains, I devoured pan seared Hake with mussels in vermouth, himself, blackened Saithe with corn succotash, colcannan and guacamole.

I do love it when you see fish you've never tried, like Saithe, or fish you love like Hake on a menu, its always good to try something new in a place where you know it will be cooked to perfection. And perfect it all was, which given my own pickiness when it comes to eating out, was never in doubt - but when you try a new place you certainly want it to live up to is reputation, and they certainly did!

A wee 'Amuse bouche' of Jerusalem artichoke soup sprinkled with artichoke wafer thin crisps, was perfection and a grand start to what was to be a fantastic meal. Take a tour through some of their special dishes here, although to be honest, its all pretty special. The portions are so generous we didn't indulge in a sweet or the local cheese board all of which looked stunning as they were given to other diners. Whilst we didn't expect it, our bill was reduced to reflect our choice to skip dessert, a nice thoughtful touch as we'd certainly signed up for the whole experience.

So if you find yourself in the far north east of Scotland, possibly enroute to Orkney, take some time either end to sample the hospitality and great grub cooked at this wee gem. You certainly won't regret it. And so lovely to see folks practise what they preach - they're a strong green ethos and certainly stick firmly to their own principles.......didnae see much of Jim, I guess he was too busy cooking, great chap! We certainly appreciated his efforts. And don't just believe me - gets a great write up on Fish2Fork too!

And, once you get to Orkney, whilst there's a plethera of fabulous places if somewhere like 'The Captains Galley' inspires, you'll surely love 'The Creel' in St Margarets Hope, Orkney. These restaurants may just be long lost siblings, sharing many great traits, fabulous service and stunning local produce cooked to perfection.

As we sat at the ferry port the next night to return to Orkney, we also saw that Jim has a wee 'takeaway' on the far right of their restaurant. We peeked up to see that as well as a lot of great looking fish and chips he had a board crammed with specials. Maybe next time we can try that out too! Opening hours listed below.

So, that place you've always wanted to visit - why not give it a go? That's what we did and we were certainly well impressed. As we were finishing our meal a couple of fisherman sat at the table next to us and ordered their tea - cannae be bad if the boat chaps use it too eh? Sorry no photos of the grub - himself and I were oot for a wee romantik evening, so phones were banned. Much nicer to just enjoy things too rather than keep snapping at them!

Back to the frugal eating for us for a while, another adventure around the corner soon, no doubt!

Until next time - happy scoffing!

The Captain's Galley, located here

Phone - 01847 894 999

Email contact page here

Jim and Mary Cowie

The Captain's Galley

The Harbour

Scrabster

Thurso

KW14 7UJ

01847 894999

Winter timetable serving Thursday Friday Saturday 7pm till late. Monday Tuesday Wednesday available for private parties minimum of 6 people. New Quality Takeaway Open Tuesday thru Saturday 4pm till 6.30pm