Rick Stein's tattie scone recipe

I thought that potato cakes, or tattie scones as they’re known in Scotland, would be great served with excellent smoked salmon from the Isle of Bute and they certainly are. They do need to be made with freshly cooked mashed potato, as the mixture is more malleable. When I cooked this dish, I used standard red beetroot, but I particularly like the pretty candy beetroot that Jan Smith, the food stylist who makes my food look so wonderful, used for this photo.

Ingredients

• 500g floury potatoes, such as Maris Pipers or King Edwards, peeled
• 25g butter
• 2 spring onions, finely sliced
• 100–150g self-raising flour
• Salt and black pepper
• Beetroot salad
• 1 small raw beetroot, peeled
• 4 radishes, trimmed
• 1 small fennel bulb
• 2 tbsp cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 heaped tsp brown soft sugar
• 1 tsp chopped dill

To serve

• 4 tbsp creme fraiche
• 2 heaped tsp creamed horseradish
• 150–200g smoked salmon or trout
• Extra dill or fennel fronds
• Lemon wedges

Method

Cut the potatoes into chunks, put them in a pan of well-salted water (1 teaspoon of salt per 600ml) and cook until tender. Drain and leave to dry for a minute or so.

Mash until lump free, then stir in the butter and when it has melted, stir in the spring onions and enough flour to make a non-sticky dough. Season with salt and pepper, then leave until it’s cool enough to handle.

Put half of the mixture on a floured board and roll it into a disc about 20–25cm in diameter – cut around a plate to help you make a neat round. Cut this into quarters and, using a fish slice, transfer these to a dry frying pan over a medium heat – the idea is to toast the scones rather than fry them.

Cook for three to four minutes on each side until golden, then remove and keep warm. Repeat with the remaining mixture. 

While the scones are cooking, finely slice each vegetable for the salad separately, preferably on a mandoline. Put them in a bowl, mix gently and dress with the cider vinegar, oil, sugar and chopped dill. In a separate bowl combine the crème fraiche and horseradish, then season with salt and pepper.

Serve two tattie scones on each plate, top with the salad and a dollop of the crème fraiche mixture. Add slices of smoked salmon or trout, a few fronds of dill or fennel and some lemon wedges.

From Rick Stein’s Food Stories by Rick Stein, BBC Books, £28