Re: Instructional Video.

I'll be making the instructional video this weekend, so prepare yourselves! Lol! :)

Corned beef casserole.

Yesterday I made corned beef casserole. A really easy, no nonsense meal.

Ingredients:
4 potatoes.
1 large onion
100g macaroni
3/4 pint water
Chicken stock
1 tin corned beef.

Method:
Chop the potatoes, onion and corned beef and place them in a casserole dish with the macaroni, water and stock. Cover and pop in a preheated oven at gas mark 5 for 45mins or until the potatoes are cooked through. You can use a fork to test this. If you want to be adventurous you can add 2 tbsp of wine, sherry, beer or cider for se extra flavour.

This is so simple, even a 1940's man could do it! ;D

Chicken stock and pâté.

After we had a traditional roast chicken dinner, we took the carcass and what little meat remained attached to it and put it in a pan with enough boiling water to cover it, along with garlic, ground peppercorns, sage and parsley. Simmer and reduce, skimming off scum and adding more water when/if required. After 3-4 hours strain the liquid into a jug. This is chicken stock and can be frozen and used in other recipes.

The left over meat and bones can then be separated. Throw the bones away. Pop the meat into a food processor with a little lemon juice and blend until made into a paste. Transfer the pâté into jam jars. You can melt a little butter and pour over the top of the pâté as a seal if you wish it to keep a little longer. Without it, it will last a couple of days. With it, it will last for 4 days, but less once the butter seal is broken.

Venison steaks in a mushroom sauce.

Game was one of the meat cuts that wasn't on ration. It's the first time we've had venison and we found it to be very tender and tasty. I served it with a tipsy mushroom sauce.

Ingredients:
2 Venison steaks

For the sauce:
2 tbsp margarine
4 tbsp flour
1/4 pint of milk
1 small onion chopped
2 large portobello mushrooms chopped
1tsp syrup
1tsp mustard powder
1 beef stock cube
Splash of Worcestershire sauce
Splash of sherry
2tsp parsley
Pinch of salt

Heat the margarine in a pan and pop in the chopped mushroom and onion. Cook until onions go translucent. Then add the flour. Mix so that the vegetables are coated. Then add the milk. Mix well. Then add the rest of the sauce ingredients. Pop on a low heat and allow to simmer, stirring occasionally.

While this is cooking, sear the venison on both sides and continue to cook for 15 minutes for rare to medium rare meat. Serve with the mushroom sauce, mash and peas.

Roasted veggies with bacon bits.

This is very simple recipe, but very tasty!

Ingredients:
New potatoes
Onion
Tomatoes
Courgette
Red pepper
Bacon

Method:
Boil the potatoes until cooked. Meanwhile chop all the other ingredients and put them in a casserole dish. When the potatoes are done, put them in the casserole dish. Mix the ingredients around and spray with fry light or with a little drizzle of oil. Then place the lid on and put the dish in the oven at gas mark 6 for an hour. Then serve.

Over 1000 views!

Fab guys! The instructional video I promised will be posted in a few days time!! Hope you enjoy it! Xx

Strong oat and wholemeal bread

The original national loaf was apparently very stodgy and a funny colour! This recipe gives you a really chewy, tasty, honey-coloured loaf. Especially nice when warm. For more info on the national loaf: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/national_wheatmeal_loaf.htm

Ingredients:
1 ½ lb strong wholemeal bread flour
½ lb oats
1 ½ tbsp salt
1 ½ tbsp dried yeast
1 dsp honey
425 ml tepid milk water

Method:
Mix together all the ingredients and knead for about 10 minutes until you have a soft dough. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave until dough has doubled in size (around 2 hours). Knock back the dough, give a short knead then cut into two equal pieces. Place in a loaf tins and leave to rise for another 2 hours.
Pre-heat oven to gas mark 6 then bake loaves for 30 min. To test the loaves turn them out of their tins and give the base a tap. if it sounds hollow they are ready. Allow to cool on a wire rack.

Recipe adapted from the wheatmeal loaf recipe found on: http://www.butcherbakerblog.com/2011/01/31/national-wheatmeal-loaf-and-mock-banana-anyone/

Breaded corned beef balls and sweet fritters.

Tonight we experimented with breaded corned beef balls and for afters; sweet fritters.

For the meatballs:
Put half a small onion, a tin of corned beef, a dash of Wooster sauce and 1 slice of bread in a food processor and chop until you have something that resembles a paste. Then make the mixture into small balls, brush with egg or milk and roll in some more breadcrumbs before placing in the oven for 10-12 minutes on gas mark 6. You could always add a teaspoon of herbs or spices for added flavour.

For the fritters we rubbed 25g margarine into 225g of self raising flour. Then we added 1/4 pint of milk, an egg, 25g sugar and mixed it into a thick batter. We then heated a little oil in a pan and added little dollops of the mixture. Making sure to fry on both sides until brown and firm to the touch using the spatula. Remove them onto a rack to cool before rolling them in caster sugar.

Fish and chips (sort of!)

I promised the other half fish and chips, but I couldn't afford it this week. So rather than break my promise, I made him a fish cake from tuna, onion, mash potato and parsley and moulded it into the right shape! I served it with chips, salt and vinegar and mushy peas!

Meat paste

This meat paste is great for sandwiches and a good way to stretch out any leftover corned beef.

Depending on how much corned beef you have left and how far you want to stretch it, you will have to adjust the amounts of ingredients you use. Here's a basic guide: Melt some margarine in a pan, then gradually sprinkle in a little flour and mix until there are no lumps. Add enough milk to make a thick paste. Add a couple of spoons of gravy, a few drops of Wooster sauce and some mustard, then add some grated onion and some dry chopped parsley. Cook for a couple of minutes adding more milk if required. Then add the corned beef. Mix until a thick paste is formed. Transfer this to a jar or other container and place in the fridge. After 4 hours of cooling it is ready to use. It keeps for 4 to 5 days: Long enough for a working week of packed lunches! Xx

Mock Duck!

Here is a recipe for mock duck that we found and tried out for ourselves. Personally I'd advise using less onion and apple (6oz or 5oz perhaps rather than 8oz) as there seemed to be too much, but other than that it was really yummy.

Serve with roast potatoes, steamed veg and lashings of gravy!

http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/united-kingdom/5559-mock-duck.html

Jubilee cupcakes

Sorry that I've been a little quiet of late, it's just I've been busy with a jubilee show my musical society was doing in aid of the Samaritans. Here's a picture of the Christmas pudding and chocolate cupcakes I made for the after show party! Not strictly on ration but it was a celebration.

The basic mix was:
225g margarine,
235g wholewheat flour,
225g demerara sugar,
1tsp baking powder,
4 eggs.

I just halved the mixture and added melted 75g dark chocolate and 3 tsp cocoa or 125g mincemeat and 2 tsp sherry for the different flavours. :)

Instructional video.

When my blog reaches 1000 viewers I will post an instructional video showing how to make one of my favourite wartime recipes! Xx

Mushroom Macaroni

Our dinner last night was mushroom macaroni! It was our own creation, as we discovered from one of my many books that people made macaroni cheese during the war and as we were low on cheese, we adapted it. The recipe below is for 2 people, just double for 4.

Ingredients:
200g Macaroni
1/4 of a medium sized Onion
Handful of sliced button Mushrooms
25g Flour
25g Margarine
1/4 pint of Milk

Method:
Boil the macaroni in a pan until cooked. Meanwhile cook the mushrooms and onion in a frying pan until browned slightly. Then in a separate pan melt the margarine, add the flour and stir into a paste. Gradually whisk in the milk until you have a thickish sauce. Add the onion and mushroom and cook for a further minute or two. Add the macaroni to the sauce, mix thoroughly so that all the pasta is coated. Then transfer to a casserole dish and sprinkle a little cheese on top before grilling. Remove the dish once the cheese has bubbled and browned. Serve with a side salad.

This weeks shopping!

2x Thin Sliced Ham (125g) £1.22
1x Dried Sage (13g) £0.71
1x Stock Cubes Beef (12x6g) £0.92
2x Instant Mash Potato (120g) £0.40
1x Gravy Granules for Meat (500g) £0.84
1x Spam Lite Chopped Pork and Ham (200g) £1.53
2x Princes Lean Corned Beef (200g) £4.96
1x Large Onions (3) £0.82
7x Apples by Weight (100g)£0.70
1x White Potatoes (2.5Kg) £1.35
3x Bramley Apples by Weight (100g) £0.41
1x Plain Wholemeal Flour (1.5Kg) £1.60
1x Free Range Mixed Eggs (6) £1.00
1x Smoked Haddock Fillets (400g) £3.00
2x Oatilicious Medium Sliced Bread (800g) £2.00
1x Sausage Meat (454g) £2.58

Estimated Total Order:
£24.04

Beef shortcakes!

Gorgeous beef shortcakes. Unfortunately due to copyright on the book I got it from, I cannot share the recipe. However the book is called "The victory cookbook" and the author is the one and only Marguerite Patten OBE, who worked for the ministry of foods during the war. She was also the first television chef! I got the book from Amazon. It's published by the imperial war museum.

For more information on Marguerite: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marguerite_Patten#section_1

For a Internet search of her various recipes: http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&client=safari&q=marguerite+patten+recipes+online&revid=1307721924&sa=X&ei=waTLT9nSEo638QPd3931Dw&ved=0CBUQ1QIoAA&biw=320&bih=416

The Amazon page for the book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0753706830/ref=mp_s_a_1?qid=1338746439&sr=8-1

Dan's peppered lamb chops and veg mash.

My other half worked his magic on dinner tonight! With lovely peppered lamb chops!

Ingredients
2 lamb chops
1 tsp Coarse ground black pepper
Pinch of Dried parsley
Pinch of Ground ginger
4 large Potatoes
4 Cabbage leaves
1/2 cup Peas

Method:
Slice the cabbage leaves and put them in a pan with the peas. Cover with water and simmer. In a separate pan put the peeled and chopped potatoes, cover with water and again bring to simmer.
Put the pepper, parsley and ginger in a dish. Put in the chops and coat both sides in the seasoning. Put under a hot grill for 10 minutes turning halfway through. While the chops are cooking drain the potatoes, and the cabbage and peas. Mash the potato, then mix in the cabbage and peas. Take the chops out from the grill, checking they are cooked all the way through. Serve with the mash and lashings of instant gravy!

Yum!

Cauliflower and bacon bake.

Yesterdays dinner was a delicious cauliflower and bacon bake. So good that I forgot to photograph it as i was too busy eating!!

Ingredients:
1 full head of Cauliflower
3 slices Bacon
1 Onion
1/2 cup grated Mature Cheddar Cheese
2 tbsp Margarine
1 tbsp Flour
1/4 pint Milk
1 tsp Parsley

Method:
Steam or boil some cauliflower until cooked through. Drain and place in an ovenproof dish. Chop an onion and some bacon and fry. Sprinkle the cooked bacon over the cauliflower. Then in a pan melt the margarine, add a little flour and stir into a paste. Little by little add the milk until you have a smooth sauce. Add the cooked onion and parsley to the sauce and cook for a further 5 minutes. Take the sauce off the heat and pour over the cauliflower and bacon. Sprinkle grated cheese on top and oven bake at gas mark 4 for an hour.

Spam hash

A spam hash is really simple and easy to make, it's fairly quick too!

Ingredients:
A tin of spam
4 large potatoes
1 large onion
Frylight or oil

Method:
Chop up the potatoes and boil until cooked. Drain and put to one side Chop onion and spam. Fry the onion until translucent. Add the potato and spam. Cook until spam starts to brown. Serve with a side salad.