Burns Night Meal at Home
January 25th is the birthday of Robert Burns, the national poet of Scotland, and is typically celebrated with a great feast, bagpipes, and fanfare. If you’d like to pay homage to the poet, or if you’d just like to enjoy a fine meal on Burns’ Night as though you were in Scotland, but in your own home, here’s a simple, easy meal designed to invoke Scotland and make your tastebuds dance a reel!
Our family adores Scotland! We have traveled there on two different occasions and it has completely won our hearts! We love the dramatic, other-worldly landscape, the history, the friendly people, and the fine food. We love the churning sea on either coast, the rain, the Highland coos, the humor, the sheep, and the whisky. Give us a day in a Land Rover exploring the Scottish countryside followed by a hearty meal and a dram of whisky, and we are happy people indeed! We need very little excuse for a celebration of all things Scottish. Robert Burns birthday, coming in the middle of winter, seems a more than adequate reason to indulge in our passion for Scotland.
When setting the table for a Burns Night celebration, I love to pull together all the elements that remind me of Scotland…and those will be natural, textural, historical, and hearty. Scotland is a place of deep passion. From the honest conversation of its people to the pride in its history, you sense that this is a place where the pure things in life are embraced. Synthetics are cast aside in favor of wool. A roaring fire and warm food are essentials of life. The natural elements are a constant and living in harmony with them is a way of life. With that in mind, here are some ways to incorporate the essence of Scotland in your table decor:
antlers
wool (I used yardage as a tablecloth, but a wool blanket would work too.)
candlelight
candlesticks (pewter and brass look great, but I also really love the look of tortoise shell glass in a Scottish tablescape)
thistles, pine, and heather for a centerpiece
tartan napkins or tablecloth
horn (accent pieces or napkin rings)
pewter serving pieces
BURNS NIGHT DINNER MENU
Sirloin with Whisky Peppercorn Sauce
Crispy Fingerling Potatoes with Smoked Sea Salt
Green Beans
This entire meal can come together in just about one hour’s time. Super simple and easy to make! The whisky peppercorn sauce adds just the right amount of Scottish flare to the heartiness of the steak. (You could easily substitute venison for the steak, and keep the meal authentically Scottish as well.) Click the button below for the steak recipe:
To make the potatoes:
Scrub one bag of fingerling potatoes and cut in half. Steam potatoes over a large pot of boiling water until just fork tender.
Melt 2 T. butter in a large skillet. When bubbling, add potatoes, turning them cut side down. Sprinkle liberally with a smoked sea salt. Cook in skillet until the cut side of the potatoes is browned and crispy.
Cook’s Note: I found that I could add the green beans to the steamer, once the potatoes were done. The green beans and the steak cook for about the same amount of time, making this an easy dinner to complete in a timely fashion.
Some simple and delicious dessert ideas for your Burns Night celebration at home are:
whisky and chocolate
pears, apples, and a good Scottish cheese
To add a bit of fun to your Burns Night, you could play a Burns Night playlist from Spotify. Click here for one I really love! You could read some of the poetry of Robert Burns, or listen to some recitations on YouTube. Here’s a fun video of an actor reciting Burns’ “Address to a Haggis” (click here), which is typically read when this favorite Scottish delicacy is paraded into the room on at a Burns Night celebration.
A very happy Burns Night to you!
