Balmoral Chicken the Delicious Answer to Leftover Haggis
It is a rare occasion, at least in most people’s households, to have leftover haggis. Well I found myself in this position recently after a very successful Burns Supper. Lucky for me, I have some awesome Caledonian friends and fellow bloggers that were able to help me out with this culinary quandary. My good friend Cat, who blogs at Kitty Cat’s Litertray explained to me that there are two popular ways to deal with the problem of leftover haggis – Haggis Pizza and Chicken Balmoral.
Now that I am 100% gluten-free and cannot enjoy my perfected sourdough spelt pizza right now, there has been very little pizza eaten in this house. As I mentioned in that post I have yet to find a delicious GF pizza crust…yet. So haggis pizza was clearly out.
Chicken Balmoral is a delicious dish, and really elevates haggis to a more modern culinary preparation. I actually feel very comfortable in saying that if you didn’t know it contained haggis, you would likely think you were eating a sausage stuffed chicken breast. The oats in the haggis are very creamy, and in this dish ads a bit of a “cheese vibe” to the stuffing. It is really a wonderful modern take on haggis, and I am pretty sure I enjoyed this dish when I was in Scotland many years ago as I was eating as much haggis as I could possibly stuff down my gullet.
Should have been a clue back then, of my Scottish lineage…
Chicken Balmoral is essentially chicken breast stuffed with haggis, wrapped in bacon – to keep it all together and drizzled with a whiskey cream sauce. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? Yes indeed.
I found several recipes online, but this one, including a very helpful and instructional video is the one I followed.
I was in a bit of a rush when I made this, so I kind of winged the whiskey cream sauce. The only whiskey we have in this house are single malt scotches (I would say I am a bit of a budding connoisseur), so I used one of those, some butter, cream, salt and pepper. It was great, and I particularly enjoyed it the next day with the leftovers of this dinner, because I poured it over the leftover stuffed chicken and the neeps and tatties (aka “clapshot” ) the night before and it had the chance to sink in and saturate everything.
I am really enjoying my exploration into Scottish culture and history through the foods of that beautiful place in the world. I have found a lot of lovely dishes that are unique and tasty. I imagine this theme will continue on for quite a while!
Ith gu leòir! (Eat Plenty!)
bellini - February 7, 2011 at 10:55 am
The leftover Queen rises to the challenge again Jenn. It makes me wish I had some leftover haggis waiting for its moment to shine.
Rosa - February 7, 2011 at 11:05 am
That looks mightyscrummy! I wouldn’t mind eating that dish for supper…
Cheers,
Rosa
5 Star Foodie - February 7, 2011 at 11:05 am
Wow, I do love the sound of this dish – perfect with bacon and whiskey cream sauce! An excellent use of leftover haggis for sure!
vanillasugar - February 7, 2011 at 12:12 pm
well girl i give you props for using up haggis and kicking it up a notch. good for you.
and the sauce is seriously tasty. i just cannot do haggis, i have tried.
Meredith - February 7, 2011 at 12:17 pm
I am so intrigued by the idea of haggis pizza that I might have to try it without leftovers! My Scottish husband received 6 cans of Caledonian Kitchen haggis for Christmas. We’ve already eaten 2.
Susan - February 7, 2011 at 1:33 pm
Found a link to your site over at SGCC – and was delighted when the first thing I noticed is that you are gluten free. I am very confused though – malt whiskey – toasted oats – oat cakes – seems a little risky –
I do say about your heritage – you like me are a Heinz 57 variety. I think that the ecclectic mixture of heritages makes for a diversified palate. 🙂
Cat - February 7, 2011 at 4:55 pm
Aww…I am so glad you enjoyed the chicken balmoral, its our family favourite dish!
And…to get your haggis pizza, well, you are just going to have to conjur up a gluten free dough!! 😉
Erica - February 7, 2011 at 7:44 pm
I am hungry now 🙂 That looks sooooo good!
Alta - February 8, 2011 at 7:22 am
Oh my! If only we lived closer, I would insist you invite me over. Yum.
Arlene (MOM) - February 8, 2011 at 11:26 am
What a good post. You are so descriptive with your words and photos that I can almost taste this.
Peter G @ Souvlaki For The Soul - February 8, 2011 at 8:11 pm
This looks like a fantastic modern take on haggis Jenn! Let’s see what else you can conjure up?
Ben - February 8, 2011 at 9:47 pm
Oh that chicken wrapped in bacon looks so good! Ith gu leòir!
Jan - February 9, 2011 at 3:49 am
That looks good! A great idea!
kat - February 9, 2011 at 7:27 pm
I need to send this to my friend who hosts the Burns dinner every year
Tina - February 10, 2011 at 2:56 am
That looks lovely considering it’s leftovers! And btw… here at my place, we don’t call it leftovers. We call it “McGuyver Dinners” it an effort to come up with stuff that is delicious, creative and unrecognisable from the original thing it was. I think your meal here is definitely worthy of that title too! 😀
Peter - February 10, 2011 at 10:42 am
Wrapping foods in bacon will even convert those leery of offal and in this case, Haggis. I love both so this is a win-win dish for me!
Amanda - February 10, 2011 at 9:38 pm
Ok I am not a haggis girl, but this sounds really really good. I wonder why it’s named Balmoral? Could the Queen possibly be thrifty enough to eat leftovers? You need to write to her and let her know you’re the Leftover Queen : )
Deidre - February 13, 2011 at 3:11 am
I just found your blog and I am super excited about trying some of your gluten free recipes.
I just made a delicious gluten free cake … you can check it out on my blog. Anyway, great blog and beautiful photos.
(I also grew up in NH and totally appreciate your back to nature approach to life!)
crankycheryl - February 15, 2011 at 8:02 pm
Fab, Jenn! Can we assume you now own the market on leftover-uses-for-haggis in the US? (And of course even without the novelty factor, this is a gorgeous meal!)
Sally - My Custard Pie - February 20, 2011 at 1:08 pm
What a hoot! I can’t say I’ve ever been in the position of left-over haggis, but I bet it’s fantastic. What a great idea – sort of haggis on horseback!
sandra - July 25, 2011 at 5:54 am
As a Scot living in Spain and about to entertain some Spanish friends I found your site. I am cooking haggis stuffed chicken for my friends and I’m sure they will love it. Just wanted to say hi and thanks for mouthwatering description of the sauce, looking forward to it. Spanish folk are well used to eating offal and haggis is similar to their morcilla (black pudding) so I’m sure with the whisky sauce it will go down well. Incidentally not wishing to be pedantic but we Scots don’t spell whisky with an “e” that’s usually Irish.