recipes

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Baked Fruit Pie – Recipe No. 168

Simple. Quick. Frugal. Delicious. This wartime pudding is basically summer sunshine on a plate.

Using some nectarines from my ‘Riverford Organic Fruit and Veg Box’, freshly picked wild blackberries and two slices of bread, I was able to make a mouth-watering, sweet pudding in no time at all. I whisked up the double cream I had left from a week ago (during the war you would have had to make mock cream unless you had a cow!) and added a generous splodge to top it off. Let me tell you the combination of warm pudding and fresh cream was delightful. It made me smile…

Any fruit can be used but I always think the addition of berries to the dish adds so much taste and colour.

C xxxx

Baked Fruit Pie

Ingredients

2 lbs fruit, bottled or fresh
4 oz stale bread (about 4 slices)
3 tablespoons of milk or water
2 level tablespoons of sugar

(I used half of all the above measurements to make less pudding)

Method

If using fresh fruit stew and sweeten to taste (I chopped my 4 nectarines and added the blackberries and once bubbling, stewed for about 5 minutes with about 3 teaspoons of sugar).
Put the fruit and juice in a pie dish.
Cut bread neatly into small cubes and place on top of the fruit.
Sprinkle the milk over the bread until damp.
Sprinkle the sugar over the top.
Bake in a hot oven for 20-30 minutes.

Serves 6

I took some photos of the process on my mobile phone including the best bit, tasting it!





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Mock Black Pudding – Recipe No. 167

I’ve been re-creating wartime recipes on and off for 15 years now but had yet to try this recipe out mostly because I hadn’t any faith in what the finished product would taste like. Surely the simple ingredients couldn’t lend themselves to anything that remotely resembled or tasted like black pudding?

The surprising outcome was a dish that was tasty and looked a little like black pudding from a distance (sliced and browned on the outside) and I wouldn’t be ashamed to serve this up on a plate for breakfast. I ate mine today with some roast kohlrabi (which arrived in my Riverford Organic box this week), carrots and sweetcorn.

Enjoy!


Mock Black Pudding unwrapped and sliced, waiting to be fried…

Mock Black Pudding

Stew one cup of porridge oats or oatmeal in one pint of meat or vegetable broth (I used 3/4 of a pint)

Add salt, pepper and thyme stirring constantly until very thick. (I also added a teaspoon of marmite and some garlic salt)

Chop up one medium/large onion finely and brown in some butter or margarine. (I also finely grated in a little bit of beetroot for colour)

After about 10 minutes on low the mixture will become very thick. Remove from heat and give a final stir and set aside to cool down for a while.

Get some greaseproof baking paper and place mixture in the middle making an oblong shape.

Roll the mixture between the greaseproof paper nice and tight until it resembles a large sausage shape and twist the ends.

Place in fridge for a few hours or overnight until cool and firm.

Unroll from paper and slice off what you need.

Fry in a little fat until crisp and browned on the outside.

Serves 2-4

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Jam Tarts – Recipe No. 166

So quick, so easy, so yummy (and have just gobbled down three with a cup of tea). I try not to bake to much sweet stuff as my willpower is not strong when it comes to sweet treats.

Raspberry jam is my favourite so I’ve used this in the tarts I’ve made today. You can use anything!

Jam Tarts

Ingredients
Jam
8 oz of plain flour
3 oz of butter or margarine.

Method
Rub the fat into the flour in a large bowl
Add water to form a pliable dough.
Lightly flour the surface and rolling pin and roll out fairly thinly enough to cut out 12 round shapes to place in a greased patty tin.
Place a heaped teaspoon of jam or so into each pastry case. Just dollop it in the middle but do not overfill.
Place in a pre-heated oven at 180 C for about 20 minutes until the jam is bubbling and the pastry looks golden.
Remove from the oven and set aside the tin until it is cool enough to touch and then remove the jam tarts (still be careful as the jam might be very hot).

Makes 12.

PS: I had enough pastry left over to make myself a Cornish Pasty for lunch!

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“This post is part of Twinkl’s VE Day Campaign, and is featured in their Best Wartime Recipes to Celebrate VE Day from Home post”

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Root Vegetable Mash – Recipe No. 165

It was quite common to mash up your leftover potatoes with other vegetables during the war. One example of this is ‘bubble and squeak’.

To use up the last few potatoes, carrots, parsnips, turnips and swedes that maybe past their best in the larder, they were often scrubbed clean and chopped up into small pieces and boiled together until soft then mashed up with margarine/butter and lots of salt and pepper. To make it even better the mash could be put into a pie dish and browned in an oven.

Through trial and error, for my personal taste I like to make my root vegetable mash with 50% potatoes and then whatever I have left cooked in with it. I really like a parsnip added to root vegetable mash as it gives it an extra flavour boost!

Root Vegetable Mash

Ingredients (I used quadruple the amount below)
Potatoes (2 medium per person)
Parsnip ( 1 medium per person)
Carrots (1 medium per person)
Butter/Margarine
Salt and Pepper
Extras: Some chopped and sauted garlic, fresh thyme and/or chives add a nice touch.

Method
Chop up the scrubbed vegetables and boil until soft in water.
Drain, add salt and pepper, add butter (or dairy free margarine if vegan) and a drop of milk (I use organic oat milk) and mash until you achieve the consistency you like.
Place mixture in large pie dish or two small ones.
Brown in oven.

Serves 4

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Beetroot Pudding – Recipe No. 164

I’ve noticed that there is a direct correlation between the amount of endorphins released into my brain and how bizarre a wartime recipe is that I re-create.

Todays wartime recipe, beetroot pudding, scored an impressive 8.5 on the endorphin release scale as not only was it quick, easy and colourful but tasted good too, something I wasn’t expecting from a pudding containing grated raw beetroot!

I halved the amount of ingredients as it was a good bet that I’d be the only one eating it but it still made a good sized two portions!

Not knowing what to expect from this bizzario dish, I hastily whipped up a jam sauce made out of a margarine and flour roux, some milk and a couple of heaped teaspoons of raspberry jam. We’ve all heard Mary Poppins sing “A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down…”, well I figured the jam sauce would work in a similar way with this pink pudding that Mrs. Cropley would have been proud of.

I dare you to try it!

C xx

Beetroot Pudding

Ingredients

6 oz of plain flour (I used half wholemeal and half white)
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1 oz margarine
1 oz sugar
4 oz raw beetroot finely grated

Method

* Mix all the ingredients together and bind together with 3 or 4 tablespoons of milk until the consistency is soft like cake mix.
* Add several drops of your favourite flavouring essence (I used the banana essence I had left over from making mock bananas – see video here!)
* Turn mixture into a greased pie dish and place in a pre-heated oven at around 180 C for 30-40 minutes

Serve with custard or sauce.

Serves 4.

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Oaty Biscuits – Recipe No. 163

I’m in love with this wartime cookie recipe. These oaty, sweet, buttery, wartime biscuits really make you appreciate a 15 minute break with a hot cuppa tea in some old vintage china.

This recipe is super simple and quick.

Ingredients

4 oz (115 g) margarine or butter. (I used half and half as butter really adds that extra flavour)
3 oz (85 g) of sugar (I use unrefined caster sugar)
7 oz (200 g) of rolled oats
5 oz (150 g) self-raising flour or plain flour sifted with 1 teaspoon of baking powder and a pinch of salt
1 reconstitued dried egg or fresh egg (I didn’t use an egg at all and it was fine)
A little milk

Method

* Pre-heat the oven to 180C (350F) or Gas Mark 4.
* Grease two baking trays well or use parchment/baking paper instead.
* Cream the margarine/butter with the sugar until soft and light.
* Add the rolled oats and mix.
* Sift the flour, baking powder and salt and add the egg (if used) into the * mixture and mix well again before adding in a little milk to moisten. The dough should be stiff and quite dry but sticks together. Knead together.
* Divide out mixture into about 20 lumps the size of a walnut.
* Press between palms to flatten to about 1/4 inch thick and place on baking tray and press into shape.
* Bake for about 15 minutes until edges are golden.
* Leave on baking trays to cool.

Makes about 20.

EXTRA TIP: I divided the dough into half. The first half I left plain. The second half I sprinkled on some sultanas and some lemon extract and kneaded in. The lemon/fruit/oat biscuits were absolutely delicious!


C xx

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Hunt Pie – Recipe No. 162

It’s the first weekend in months where I haven’t had to be somewhere, go somewhere or do something and consequently I actually have time on my hands to do something I REALLY REALLY love and that is recreating wartime recipes! I’ve had a lovely day so far! I’ve so desperately needed down time.

So I have yet to find out why this pie is called ‘Hunt Pie’. The closest I have come is finding a business called ‘John Hunts’ which established itself in 1860 manufacturing pie making equipment. Could this possibly be linked?

Anyway, I made the pie for lunch and I have lots of portions left for tomorrow and because I love vegetables and pastry and added a little more seasoning than the recipe called for, I found it quite delicious!

So please enjoy the original recipe below (and my slight modifications to suit my palette in brackets).

Hunt Pie

3/4 pint of water
1 onion or small leek
3/4 lb of chopped root veg and cabbage (I used a couple of potatoes, carrots and spring greens)
4 oz lentils (I used red/orange lentils as they did not require soaking)
2 oz minced beef (I am veggie so instead I used 2 oz of marinated tofu)
1/2-1 teaspoon of meat or vegetable extract (I used a teaspoon of marmite)
salt and pepper (I also added garlic salt)

Pastry
2 oz porridge oats or oatmeal
2 oz of plain flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
water to mix
(I added an oz of margarine as I cooked the pie in the oven rather than in the pot)

Chopped parsley (I hate parsley so used chopped chives)

Method

Bring water to boil.
Add onions/leeks, vegetables, lentils, vegetable/meat extract and seasoning, put lid on pan and cook on medium for about 10-15 minutes. Stir to prevent sticking.
Make pastry and press into a round shape enough to cover the top of the mixture in the saucepan. (I prefer a crispy pastry so once the mixture was soft and thickened which took about 30 minutes in total, I added it into a pie dish and rolled out the pastry on top and placed it in the oven).
Replace saucepan lid and cook for a further 15-20 minutes.
Lift pastry with a slice and set aside.
Remove mixture and place in pie dish and put pastry back on top.
Sprinkle with parsley.

Serves 4-6.


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Broccoli & Bean Bake – Recipe No.161

This was potato free but nevertheless quite delicious as I didn’t skimp on salt, pepper and garlic!

Ingredients

1 head fresh broccoli.
1 large onion or leek.
1.5 cups of cooked kidney beans (about a tin).
15-20 small sweet cherry tomatoes.
2 cloves of garlic.
Butter or margarine.
Dried mixed herbs.
Salt and pepper.
Rolled oats.

Method

Saute the chopped onion or leek and chopped clove of garlic in some butter then half way through cooking at the cherry tomatoes until they start to brown and turn soft and break up. Add salt, pepper and dried mixed herbs. Set aside.
Chop/break up the broccoli in to small floret sizes. Add to hot water and boil for 5 mins until half cooked. Drain cooked kidney beans and add to broccoli and hot water for a minute or two. Drain.
Add butter to large pan and saute chopped clove of garlic and then stir in the drained broccoli and kidney beans and cook for a minute.
Add all to a shallow baking dish. Season with salt and pepper.
Spread the onion and tomato mixture over the top.
Sprinkle top with some rolled oats.
Season again with salt and pepper.
Bake in centre of oven for 20-30 minutes until veggies start to brown at 220C.
Makes two generous portions and could be served with some bread or a pie!
It’s quite dry so serve with gravy or a white sauce.

C xxx


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1940s Meal Prep – 7 days dinners for 32p

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Yes that’s right – 7 days dinners for 32 p each. And I’m going to tell you what I used, what each item cost, AND how much fibre and protein per serving!

There is quite a group of us on my blog starting off the New Year with really good intentions to have a “Month without Money” in January (grocery money) by using up stuff we have been hoarding in the cupboards before buying more. Spending as little money in January is something we are all trying to achieve to help us get over the lean month but also be mindful of waste and of what we spend, just like our families had to do during rationing in WW2!

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I decided today that I would use up the post Christmas reduced veg I bought the other day. I bought some bags of parsnips for 9p a bag, some sprouts for 10p a bag, some carrots for 19p a bag and potatoes for 29p a bag. I then rummaged through my cupboards and found a can of tomatoes, can of kidney beans, can of chick peas, a large onion, 2 courgettes, few teaspoons Bisto powder, dried mixed herbs, salt and pepper. The total cost of all the ingredients actually used was about £2.25 and I was able to have one meal for lunch and fill 6 meal prep containers to put in the fridge and freezer (it also spurred me into defrosting the freezer!).

YES, that’s right…..£2.25 for 7 days’ dinners, that’s 32p per meal!

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So here’s what I made and how…although these are not 1940’s wartime recipes that you’ll find in a book any cook during the 40’s would have thrown stuff together to use up stuff and not waste it!

Root Veg Mash

Ingredients
1.5 lbs parsnips
1.5 lbs carrots
1.5 lbs potatoes
1 onion or leek finely chopped + garlic (optional)
Butter or margarine
Salt and pepper.

Method
Cut up carrots small and parsnips and potatoes in slightly larger pieces.
Add to boiling water and simmer until soft.
Meanwhile add all your butter or margarine (according to how much you like) into a saucepan and peel a clove of garlic or two and add that into the saucepan with the chopped onion and sauted until onions are soft (remove garlic cloves when ready)
Place drained veg into a large bowl, place butter and onion mixture on top and mash all up together.
Add salt and pepper liberally until your own desired taste is reached.

Will be enough for 7 days meal prep plus a portion of pre mashed veg to add to stew recipe below.

PS: It was DELISH!

Meal Prep Bean Stew

Ingredients
1 can kidney beans
1 can chickpeas
1 can tomatoes
1 onion or leek
2 or 3 courgettes or a small chopped marrow
Portion of pre-mashed cook veg from recipe above.
Bisto powder
Salt and pepper
Dried mixed herbs
Spoonful of sweet chutney (optional)

Method
In a large saucepan, saute chopped onions or leeks until browned and soft
Add chopped courgettes or marrow
Add all cans and pre-mashed veggies
Thicken with Bisto powder
Add chutney, herbs, salt and pepper.
Cook until stew has reduced a little and thickened.

Will be enough for 7 meal prep portion sizes.

Fibre and Protein Boost!

I even worked out the fibre and protein content of each meal. Each meal provides a whacking great 20g of fibre!! (daily recommendation is 25g – 30g) and protein was 18g (daily recommendation is about 55g) so that’s pretty good too!

With hindsight I would have thrown another can of kidney beans in or thrown in some dry lentils and boosted each meal by another 5g of fibre and 5g of protein!

YOU CAN BUY THESE CONTAINERS HERE – [10 pack] Igluu Premium 3 Compartment Meal Prep Food Storage Bento Lunch Box Containers with Lids, Microwave and Dishwasher Safe, Reusable and Stackable

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Blackberry Mincemeat for WW2 Christmas Mince Pies – Recipe No. 157

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You had to really think ahead on the home-front during WW2. Bottling hedgerow fruits during the late summer months would have enabled you to use many of those berries to make Christmas mince pies. The fruits bulked out the dried fruit which was much harder to get hold of in the quantities most housewives were used to.

7c3678aff3aa79930546591cda391b12This recipe comes from ‘Woman Magazine’ and makes about 3-4 jam jars or at least a large litre kilner jar and will be enough to fill 24 mince pies!

I made this today and as I had no blackberries and obviously wasn’t forward thinking like many bakers during WW2, I was able to just pop along to my local Sainsbury’s a buy a frozen basics bag of forest berries which includes blackberries. They’ve worked very well!

I tasted a spoonful before bottling and it tastes very much like a mix between traditional mincemeat and apple pie mixture. Very tasty!

Blackberry Mincemeat for Christmas Mince pies.

1 lb blackberries (or mixed berries). Use fresh, frozen or bottled.
4 cooking apples
4 oz (100 g) butter, margarine or shredded suet
4 oz (100 g) of chopped mixed nuts
1/2 lbs (200 g) of dried mixed fruit
2 – 3 rounded dessertspoons of soft brown sugar (or granulated)
8-10 drops almond essence
2 rounded teaspoons of mixed spice
Honey or golden syrup

Method

Chop up apples and place in saucepan with a spoonful of water and soft brown sugar and simmer until apple is soft and getting pulpy.
Add berries, spice and almond essence and simmer on low for another 15 minutes stirring now and again. Switch off heat.
Add your margarine/butter/suet and stir in until melted
Add chopped nuts and dried fruit and stir (at this stage if you wish you can add a dram of whisky or brandy.)
Spoon into clean, sterilized jam jars and once filled drizzle the top with a little warm honey or golden syrup to seal before adding lid.
Store in the fridge or somewhere cool until needed when you make your mince pies at Christmas!

Should keep for 3 – 6 months in the fridge!

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