Jackie's Haggis Recipe

I'm not much of a haggis fan, but my husband and children are, as well as several good friends. Michael helped butcher some sheep this fall and he saved all the typical parts most people throw away so we could make haggis for the Hogmanay party we had on New Year's Eve. Here is a picture of my hubby cutting into the haggis at at our Hogmanay celebration. I found several recipes on-line, but none that I thought I could handle eating, so I decided to tone my haggis down and make it much more savory.  It isn't like you can taste test this as you go along to see if it has good flavor or not. After making it, I decided to adjust my recipe and make it even MORE savory so I could "stomach" it better next time, no pun intended. We had the innards from 6 sheep, so we made A LOT. 

My son enjoyed helping grind the innards using the grinder attachment on our Kitchen Aid. Make sure all are washed and cleaned very well. 

Jackie's Haggis Recipe:

1 lb ground hamburger, lamb or sausage (I'm going to use sausage next time to help cover the liver flavor)

1/2 sheep's liver, ground (or a whole if you happen to enjoy that flavor, you can also add kidneys)

sheep's heart, ground

sheep's tongue, ground

testicles, ground (optional- well any of this is optional I suppose, LOL)

2 finely chopped onions

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups toasted old fashioned oats

1 Tbl sea salt or 1 1/2 tsp if using sausage

1 tsp black pepper, ground

1 tsp sucanat or brown sugar

1/2 tsp ginger, ground

1/4 tsp cloves, ground

1 tsp coriander, ground

1/4 tsp cinnamon, ground

1 cup beef broth

1 sheep's stomach

1. Rinse sheep's stomach thoroughly and soaked overnight in cold salt water, then rinsed again when ready to use.

2. Grind all of the meat and organs (except the stomach).

3. Combine all of the ingredients above (except the stomach) and mix well until mixture binds. Moisten with more broth if needed. See picture below for what the haggis filling should end up looking like. 

 4. Fill the stomach about 2/3 full with haggis mixture. As you can see below, you can get several haggis out of one sheep's stomach. The stomach is huge! If you are feeding a crowd (4 or 5lbs) or feeding a few (1 to 2 lbs), it will determine how much of the mixture you want to stuff the stomach with. Pinch the stomach closed and tie tightly with some cotton string and cut the stomach. Also, be sure to pierce the stomach several times with a fork after it is stuffed and tied to keep the haggis from bursting.

 5. Place haggis in a pot of water and bring to a boil. Gently boil for 3 hours.

We cut the stomach too close to the tied string and the stomach burst open while cooking, but luckily it didn't compromise the haggis.

 It is always wise to serve something else like steak pie in case the haggis is not a hit. People either love it or hate it.

My son, loved it!

He even tried eating the stomach, but he wasn't a big fan of that. Oh, my daughter informed me it was good with ketchup, so there you have it. Hey, we're American, so it works ;o) Everything is better with ketchup, especially my homemade ketchup.

Well that is my "watered down" version of haggis. I have a feeling I will be making many more of these in the future. Let me know if you have any questions. 

Oh and if you ever try this, you simply have to read this poem by Robert Burns before slicing into it: 

Address to a Haggis (Translation)

Fair and full is your honest, jolly face,

Great chieftain of the sausage race!

Above them all you take your place,

Stomach, tripe, or intestines:

Well are you worthy of a grace

As long as my arm.

The groaning trencher there you fill,

Your buttocks like a distant hill,

Your pin would help to mend a mill

In time of need,

While through your pores the dews distill

Like amber bead.

His knife see rustic Labour wipe,

And cut you up with ready slight,

Trenching your gushing entrails bright,

Like any ditch;

And then, O what a glorious sight,

Warm steaming, rich!

Then spoon for spoon, the stretch and strive:

Devil take the hindmost, on they drive,

Till all their well swollen bellies by-and-by

Are bent like drums;

Then old head of the table, most like to burst, 

'The grace!' hums.

Is there that over his French ragout,

Or olio that would sicken a sow,

Or fricassee would make her vomit

With perfect disgust,

Looks down with sneering, scornful view

On such a dinner?

Poor devil! see him over his trash,

As feeble as a withered rush,

His thin legs a good whip-lash,

His fist a nut;

Through bloody flood or field to dash,

O how unfit.

But mark the Rustic, haggis-fed,

The trembling earth resounds his tread,

Clap in his ample fist a blade,

He'll make it whistle;

And legs, and arms, and heads will cut off

Like the heads of thistles.

You powers, who make mankind your care,

And dish them out their bill of fare,

Old Scotland wants no watery stuff,

That splashes in small wooden dishes;

But if you wish her grateful prayer, 

Give her [Scotland] a Haggis!

God Bless,

Jackie