rationing

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Mince-in-the-Hole – Recipe No. 146

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Another recipe from ‘Eating for Victory’. I LOVE this book because it literally is a made out of the scans of ACTUAL Ministry of Food leaflets bound together in a hardback book.

This recipe is for ‘Mince-in-the-Hole’ and was a way to use up bits of leftover meats which were minced up and formed into balls, roasted in the baking pan then the batter was added and baked until cooked.

Being a veggie I used Quorn mince but had problems forming it into balls that would stick together even with the addition of some sticky tomato chutney and a little bit of margarine. Nevertheless I was able to mound the mixture up sufficiently in the baking pan to make a fairly good attempt at it. It tasted very nice and I ate two portions with peas, carrots and gravy!

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Rolled oat macaroons 92/100

Eight days and 8 recipes to go until the war is over! Final weigh-in day is October 1st and although I know I haven’t lost the hoped for 100 lb weight loss in one year without dieting, I know it’s still coming off slowly and I’m looking forward to seeing what the scales finally say..

The rolled oat macaroons were really tasty and I ate way to many of them yesterday. Sweet and crunchy…

They are very simple to make

Rolled oat macaroons

  • 3 oz margarine
  • 2 oz sugar
  • 4 oz self raising flour (or plain with 1 teaspoon of baking powder added)
  • 4 oz rolled oats
  • 1 teaspoon almond essence
  • 2 dessertspoons of golden syrup (corn syrup or maple syrup would work too)…A dessertspoon (UK) is a tablespoon in N America

Method

  1. Cream together the margarine, sugar, syrup and almond essence together.
  2. Sift the flour (and baking powder) and add to the mixture with the rolled oats
  3. Mix thoroughly, if the mixture is too dry add a little milk just to bind the mixture together
  4. Roll into 12-16 balls and put on a greased baking tray or lay on parchment paper leaving some space for spreading
  5. Bake for 15-20 minute at 180C until golden brown
  6. Cool on baking tray before removing
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Split pea soup

Dried peas were available through the points system during the rationing years… you could get quite a lot of split peas for your points every month (8 lbs) if you didn’t use your 16 points up for 2 lbs of dry fruit or just one can of meat/fish. Split peas have lots of fibre, protein and iron so were a very healthy and frugal food to have as part of your ration..

I had split pea soup as my main meal of the day and had two servings. I currently buy a whole bag of organic split peas for $2.49 and that is enough to feed 8 people with a large bowl each! The recipe below uses just half a bag.

I prefer my soups to be thick with texture but if you prefer to have yours thinner and smooth then just add a little extra water and when cooked, liquidize it.

Split pea soup

  • 8 oz (225g) of split green peas
  • 2 onions
  • 2 carrots
  • 1 parsnip or british turnip
  • 1 medium white potato
  • 1 pint (600 ml) of water
  • 1 teaspoon of sugar
  • salt and pepper to taste (I used 1 teaspoon sea salt)
  • sprig of mint or a little dried mint

Method

  1. Wash the split peas in cold water
  2. Cover with cold water and soak overnight or you can use straight away (they’ll just take longer to cook)
  3. Chop up the onions, parsnip, carrots finely and potato into 1/2 inch chunks and add to a pint of boiling water in a saucepan with the drained split peas
  4. Cook until the split peas are cooked (about 40 minutes over medium) in a covered saucepan, stirring now and again
  5. Serve as is with a sprig of mint or liquidize for a smooth soup

Serves 4

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Potato Rarebit – 1940s Recipe

It was too warm today to be eating hot stodgy food but somedays you just need something big inside you- this filled me all up for sure.. my youngest hobbit (Em) and I had two slices each for lunch and this was a substantial meal. Something lighter tonight for sure.

Potato Rarebit

  • 1 medium potato and 1 oz cheese per slice of toast (although I used just 1/2 oz of cheese to be really frugal)
  • Use mash potato as a basis for a rarebit. Beat the mashed potatoes until soft and smooth (add a little butter and milk if too stiff). Potatoes should be like a thick whipped cream..
  • Put in as much grated cheese as you can spare with plenty of seasoning to your own taste.
  • Spread on hot toast and brown under the grill
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Wartime Scotch Shortbread

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Hurricane Bill is on his way and last night I couldn’t sleep, so instead, at 2 am, I got up, went to the kitchen and made some ‘Wartime Scotch Shortbread’..

The flour supplied to the public in the 1940’s, was a minimum of 85% wholewheat flour made from homegrown wheat (UK). It was said to have an unpopular grey appearance but I guess that really was all that was available and all recipes that called for flour would have been made out of this..

Wartime Scotch Shortbread

Melt 4 oz margarine, add 8 oz plain flour and 2 oz sugar, mix well and knead until the mixture bins together. If it is a little dry crumble it again and add a splash of milk and re knead. Put in an ungreased baking tin and press mixture down firmly so it is about 1/2 inch thick. Prick the surface and then cut into 10-12 portions.

Bake in centre of moderate oven for 30 + minutes.

Remove, sprinkle lightly with sugar

Serve.

“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”