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What you need: Canning kettle or a large spaghetti pot, 16- to 20
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quart size with a lid to fit it Meat grinder Cheesecloth What to do:
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If the butcher has not already cut apart and trimmed the heart, liver
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and lungs, do that first. It involves cutting the lungs off the
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windpipe, cutting the heart off the large bloodvessels and cutting it
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open to rinse it, so that it can cook more quickly. The liver, too,
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has to be freed from the rest. Put them in a 4-quart pot with 2 to 3
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cups water, bring to a boil, and simmer for about an hour and a half.
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Let it all cool, and keep the broth. Run the liver and heart through
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the meat grinder. Take the lungs and cut out as much of the gristly
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part as you easily can, then run them through the grinder, too. Next,
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put the raw beef suet through the grinder. As you finish grinding
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each thing, put it in the big kettle. Peel, slice and chop the
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onions, then add them to the meat in the kettle. Add the salt and
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spices and mix. The oatmeal comes next, and while it is customary to
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toast it or brown it very lightly in the oven or in a heavy bottomed
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pan on top of the stove, this is not absolutely necessary. When the
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oatmeal has been thoroughly mixed with the rest of it, add the 2 cups
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of the broth left from boiling the meat. See if when you take a
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handful, it sticks together. If it does, do not add the third cup of
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broth. If it is still crumbly and will not hold together very well,
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add the rest of the broth and mix thoroughly. Have the stomach smooth
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side out and stuff it with the mixture, about three-quarters full.
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Sew up the openings. Wrap it in cheesecloth,so that when it is cooked
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you can handle it. Now, wash out the kettle and bring about 2 gallons
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of water to a boil in it. Put in the haggis and prick it all over
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with a skewer so that it does not burst. You will want to do this a
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couple of times early in the cooking span. Boil the haggis gently for
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about 4 or 5 hours. If you did not have any cheesecloth for wrapping
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the haggis, you can use a large clean dishtowel. Work it under with
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kitchen spoons to make a sling with which you can lift out the haggis
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in one piece. You will probably want to wear lined rubber gloves to
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protect your hands from the hot water while you lift it out with the
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wet cloth. (You put the dish cloth in the pot only after the haggis
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is done; you do not cook the towel with the haggis as you would the
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cheesecloth.) Note: Even if the butcher has cleaned the stomach, you
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will probably want to go over it again. Turn the stomach shaggy side
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out and rinse. Rub it in a sinkful of cold water. Change the water
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and repeat as many times as necessary, until the water stays pretty
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clear and handling it does not produce much sediment as the water
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drains out of the sink.
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