Ration Book Cooking - Thursday 8th November

Porridge!

You may have noticed that I've been eating porridge for breakfast on most days of my Ration Book Cooking challenge.  This would be a real challenge for me if it wasn't that I'd been sent some Flahavan's Irish Course Cut Oatmeal.  It is probably closer to the porridge that was eaten during the war, the kind that had to be soaked overnight and then cooked for some time to soften it. That isn't the case with this as the Irish Coarse Cut Oatmeal is made by kilning and steam cooking the oats and cutting them into smaller pieces, resulting in a textured porridge, that can be cooked in 3 minutes in the microwave or a little longer in a pan on the hob.

I am really not a huge fan of porridge made with rolled oats, it is too slimy for my taste, but porridge made with this coarse (steel) cut oatmeal, has real texture and a good taste as well as being good for you.  My father always had his porridge made with salt and this oatmeal is great served this way, a great savoury breakfast.  It also works well with sweet flavours, but you'll have to wait till after the Ration week to find out about that!

Ministry of Food Leaflet No. 22 is all about Oats and Barley and features, not only porridge, but also a 'Swiss Breakfast Dish' which appears to be a version of Bircher Muesli. 

Porridge - Recipe 1

NB - If thick porridge is preferred use the larger amounts of oatmeal, rolled oats or barley kernels. 4-6oz oatmeal

2 pints water

2 tsp salt

Soak the oatmeal in water overnight.  Next morning add salt, bring to the boil and boil for 15-20minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.

Recipe 2

6-8oz rolled oats or barley kernels

2 pints cold water

2 tsp salt

Mix the rolled oats or barley kernels with a little of the cold water. Boil the rest and pour on to the oats stirring well. Add the salt and boil the porridge for  5-10 minutes stirring at intervals

Swiss Breakfast Dish

4oz rolled oats or barley flakes or kernels

4 tbsp milk

1/2 - 3/4lb grated raw apple

1-2 tbsp sugar

Soak the rolled oats or barley flakes or kernels overnight in barely enough water to cover.  In the morning beat up well with the other ingredients.  This is a delicious alternative to porridge on summer mornings.

Wartime Kitchen Menu for Thursday 8th November

Breakfast

Porridge made with Flahavan's Irish Coarse Cut Oatmeal

Lunch

Sandwich made two slices of Wartime Loaf and 75g cheese and a tsp of homemade chutney

Dinner

Parsnips with Cheese (from Vegetables for Victory) as I haven't made this yet, you will have to wait until tomorrow to see how it turns out.

WW2 Rations 1940 for three people

Butter 150g (6oz)  75g Butter

Bacon or ham: 300g (12oz)  bacon in the Haricot Bean dish

Margarine: 300g (12oz)

Cooking fat/lard: 300g (12oz) 200g lard 190g lard (tsp of veg oil)

Sugar: 675g (1lb 10oz) 650g (25g black treacle used)

Meat:  1350g (3lb)

Milk: 9 pints occasionally dropping to 8 pints 8 3/4 pints

Cheese: 150g (6oz) rising to 675g  (1lb 10oz)? 75g cheese

Eggs: 3 fresh eggs per week  0 fresh eggs

Tea: 150g (6oz) 130g 110g 70g

Jam: 150g (6oz) per week 125g

Dried Eggs 3 packets  (36 eggs every four weeks)   9 eggs for one week

Sweets: 262g (3oz) per week.