The Kitchen Front - Eggless Pancakes

It was pancake day this Tuesday past and as always seems to happen, after dreaming about them all day, when it comes time to make them I am already too full from my dinner and no longer fancy them. So I thought this year I would make them a weekend treat and have a late brekky, of sticky and sweet lemon pancakes.

Yummmmmmm!

Now the only reason I am telling you all this is because the recipe I used is a wartime one, it popped up on my Google+ feed on Tuesday shared by the Imperial War Museum, and I knew it was something I wanted to try. It is an eggless recipe as you might expect for the time and for me this is a bit of a bonus as I'm trying to whittle down the food that is lurking in the recesses of my kitchen cupboards (it appears it's not just fabric I'm hoarding) and so everything needed I already had!

Eggless Pancake Recipe

Good Fare published in 1942

Ingredients:

1 tbsp Custard Powder

3 tbsp Flour (Plain)

1 teaspoon salad oil (sunflower or olive etc)

1/2 Pint Milk (I used Soya)

Pinch of Salt

Recipe:

1. Mix together the dry ingredients

2. Pour in 1/4 pint of the milk saving the other 1/4 for later

3. Whisk together for 5 minutes

4. Add the rest of the milk and the oil and whisk again

5. Let the batter rest/stand for at least 1 hour

6. Fry in Oil
7. Eat

I found these tricky little blighters to cook, It might in part have been caused by me replacing the dairy for soya milk, but without remaking them I can not tell, either way, I think it's worth keeping these two things in mind when cooking them:

USE A NON STICK PAN - This means you don't need to add extra oil, This batter has quite a bit in the mix already I found adding oil to the pan made cooking them take much longer and made them much more greasy/slimy.

KEEP THEM SMALL - No bigger than an American pancake and make them thin as the centres seem to remain gooey even when the have been cooked for a long while. Also, it's worth noting they will take a fair bit longer to cook than normal pancakes.

I can confirm after eating more than my fair share that they are delicious, you can't taste the custard at all and though they are a little more taxing to cook than your normal batter ones I would still recommend giving them a go! I doubt lemon and sugar would have been the topping of choice during the war years due to the shortages of both, but they would be just as nice with a little jam!

Wendy x

The Kitchen Front - 10 min Christmas Pudding

Today is 'Stir-up Sunday' the traditional day for getting in the kitchen and mixing up your Christmas pud, ensuring it has a month to mature for its big day. Tradition dictates that everyone in the family gets a turn at stirring the mixture whilst making a wish. I can't confess to have ever partaken of this particular tradition myself, generally, my Christmas pud comes wrapped in plastic from the local supermarket and seldom gets eaten until the next day!

Love it or hate it Christmas would just not be the same without the classic Christmas Pud, and this blogger would not be the same if it was not for the wonderful recipes of Marguerite Patten CBE.

Ain't she adorable! (Image Source)

This legendary lady first became famous during WWII with her work with the Ministry of Food, where she advised families how to manage on rations whilst gaining the maximum nutritional value from what little food they had. Her brief was to 'inspire people' and she certainly did that and let's face it she still does!

So you can imagine my delight when I stumbled across the fabulous 'Pud-cast' below, which she made in 2006, when she was a mere 91 (that must be a record surely) and even at her advancing years she proves you are never too old to embrace modern technology, so if the estimable Marguerite is not afraid of a bit of culinary corner cutting then who am I to argue!

Ingredients

• 65g of Butter
• 50g of flour (preferably plain)
• A teaspoon of mixed spice
• 75g of soft bread crumbs
• 100g of soft brown sugar
• 150g of sultanas
• 75g of raisins
• 50g of currents
• 25g of chopped peel
• 50g of soft dates chopped up into small pieces
• 50g of glacier cherries
• 2 tablespoons of black treacle or golden syrup
• 2 eggs
• The juice of half a lemon
• 2 tablespoons of orange juice
• 75ml of apple juice

Wendy x

The Kitchen Front - Woolton Pie

After doing a little internet based research, I found that there are many different ways to make the Classic Woolton Pie, it seems that everyone had their own take on this classic wartime recipe. It can be made with either a mashed potato, potato pastry or a wholemeal pastry top and the vegetable filling is whatever you have available.

The original recipe was created by Savoy Chef François Latry and was named after the Minister for Food, Lord Woolton. It was used on Savoy Restaurant menus and intended to be a dish created by a Savoy chef, which ordinary housewives could recreate in their own homes whilst sticking to the rationing restrictions.

Below is the Official Housewife's recipe which was printed in the Times Newspaper on the 26th April 1941.

(Source)

The recipe  I used is from 'The Victory Cookbook' by the wonderful Marguerite Patten. This book combines Marguerite's three original books on rationing We'll Eat Again, The Victory Cook Book and The Post-War Kitchen into one much more affordable paperback book!

~ Lord Woolton Pie ~

Ingredients:

1lb each of Parsnip, Carrot, Swede, Cauliflower, Leek, Cabbage, or whatever you have

1oz of oats.

1 teaspoon of vegetable extract. (Marmite)

1lb of Potatoes to be mashed for topping.

A few Spring Onions - finely chopped.

A little grated Cheese. 

1. Boil all the vegetables until just cooked. Drain and keep 3/4 pint of the vegetable water.

2. Put the cooked vegetables into a pie or casserole dish, sprinkle with the spring onion.

3. Mix the vegetable water, oats and extract into a pan and cook gently until thickened slightly.

4. Pour over the vegetables and then top with the mashed potatoes.

5. Bake in a moderate oven until golden brown. Serve with lashings of gravy.

Though quite a stodgy dish it is really rather nice. The vegetable hating boyfriend loved it and even said he would be happy to have it again. I think the ton of gravy made up for the lack of meat!! I think I will have a go at trying to make the potato pastry version soon to see what that is like!!!

Wendy x

The Kitchen Front - Potato and Bacon Cakes

 I have collected over the past few years many pamphlets and books on Wartime cooking filled with hundreds of frugal and filling recipes that kept Britain fighting fit during the constrictions of Rationing.  I thought it was about time that I gave some of these recipes an airing and had a bash at them myself. So to begin with I have chosen to start simple with Potato and Bacon Cakes.

~ Potato and Bacon Cakes ~

Ingredients:

1lb Cooked Potatoes. 

6 tablespoons Onions - chopped. 

11/2 - 3 oz Bacon. 

2 teaspoon of Meat or Vegetable Extract - I took this to mean Bovril or Marmite? 

1/2 - 1 teaspoon of salt. 

Milk and Bread Crumbs for coating. 

Needless to say, I left out the whopping quantity of salt recommended in the recipe for my batch; what with the Bacon and the Marmite there really is no need to add more salt!

1. Mash the potatoes well while still hot. 

2. Chop the bacon and fry with the onion until both are golden brown. 

3. Add to the mashed potato with the extract salt and pepper.  

4. Mix well together and form into 8 cakes.

5. Coat with milk and breadcrumbs and bake in a moderately hot oven till firm. 

6. Serve with lightly boiled vegetables.

I cooked these up last night and I can honestly say they are really quite lovely; they go all gooey inside once they have been browned in the oven. They passed the boyfriend test so I am sure these will now become a regular in our house! I think I will have a go at the iconic Woolton Pie next, see if this one passes muster. Fingers crossed.

Wendy x