Semolina Souffle

Semolina Souffle

¾ Pt Milk

4oz Semolina

1 Small Onion

1 dessertspoon Chopped Parsley

2 oz Cheese

2 Eggs reconstituted

2 to 3 sliced tomatoes.

So it looks like the world economy is going into recession yet again and the whole economical outlook is looking rather bleak. Even more so after Ed Miliband’s un-arousing speech today at the Labour Party conference. To comfort us in these troubled times, we turned to WW2 Semolina Souffle or as I like to call it Semolina Mould.

I do not know much about semolina apart from hearing it in folk lore that people ate it as a dessert. Larousse Gastronomique states that is ‘a food obtained by coarsely grinding a cereal, mainly hard (durum) wheat, into granules.’ Either way I have never used it before and this was my first go.

The ingredients for this did not inspire me with much confidence. To start, boil the milk and add the semolina and the onion and cook for 10 minutes. Now, the thought of onion and milk was off putting enough for me. Pale onion boiled in milk, really sounds and unsurprisingly smells unappealing. Then add the eggs (the egg flavour returns) and the cheese. Line the bottom of a baking dish with sliced tomatoes and bake for 30 minutes in a moderate oven. I spread the gelatinous mixture into the dish and here are the results after cooking.

Despite low expectations, this tastes perfectly fine. It does almost taste like a soufflé  and the raw onion was not too bad. Also really filling. This might sound even more revolting, but I quite fancy this with gravy!    

Eggless sponge.

Eggless sponge.

Due to rations, baking has been off the menu lately, which has been a shame as it is one of my favourite past-times. Fortunately, I have been saving up fat and sugar which has enabled me to make this ‘eggless sponge.’

I was also spurred onto make this sponge as my least favourite television personalities ‘The Hairy Bikers’ also happened to make this last night on television as part of the latest ‘food revolution’ type program. Theirs is about advancing the state of meals on wheels. Although the concept does seem like an extension of Jamie’s attempt to improve school meals, I must say that after watching this program, the meals served by the ‘wheels’ were horrible and hats off to them! I cannot believe that these vulnerable older people were served frozen re-gen food from the offer section of a mass food supplier!

The women in this ‘meals on wheels’ kitchen, were actually steaming ready prepared cabbage. Why would anyone have a need for frozen ready shredded cabbage? How hard, is it really to get a fresh cabbage and shred it your self?

 I am all for cheats in the kitchen, but this really was shocking. There was also this abhorrent scene where the bikers were looking for a bit of chicken in a horrible liquidy gravy, which was meant to be a chicken pie.

The frozen horrors and general lack of quality from this freezer really was the Anti-Christ of cooking. I think that our older generation, really do deserve better. So, bikers, despite my general apathy towards you, I like what you are doing here. Please, oh please change these freezer abominations!

They began the program with the history of meals on wheels, which started during WW2, which just showed how the masses could be fed on very little. Despite the austerity, all of the meals were home cooked and fresh. What a shame in today’s modern world of excess where the possibilities are endless, we are cutting open bags of frozen cabbage!

Recipe:

6oz self-raising flour, 1 tea-spoon of baking powder, 2 ½ oz margarine, 2 oz sugar, 1 level of golden syrup, ¼ pt milk.

Cream the margarine, with the sugar and the syrup, add the flour and baking powder and thin with milk. Place in a 20cm tin, bake for 30 mins at 180 and spread with jam.

I didn’t have any jam, but instead had four apples from a friends garden.

Apple sauce topping, four apples cooked with a tablespoon of sugar until soft and spread on top.

Ration Fish Cakes

Fish Cakes.

Ration fish cakes are a nice tea time treat. Fish were not rationed in the War but were not always available, with a limited variety. The Ministry of Food tried to tempt the nation to trying less known varieties with catchy little poems such as:

When fisher-folk are brave enough  

To face mines and the foe for you  

You surely can be bold enough  

To try fish of a kind that's new.  

Quaint.

I do like fish, but I am not a fan of intense fish flavours and it does generally have to be fresh. I am not sure I could have been tempted by the Salted Cod or Whale Meat.

Similarly, I am not that fond of the old British favourite of Herrings. The old rhyme “of all the fish that swim in the sea, the herring is the King.” Admittedly, they are relatively cheap and we are still encouraged to eat these oily fishes today, but I do find their flavour a little too intense for me, so I don’t think I will be attempted the Herring Pie or Herring Hot-Pot.

My ration fish cakes consist of the following, 1 large baking potato, boiled until soft, 1 medium can of fish and parsley mashed together, covered in bread crumbs and cooked until brown. Low fat and cheap. This is a basic recipe which means if you have other ingredients you can throw anything in to make the flavour more exciting.

Lancashire Hot-Pot.

Lancashire Hot-Pot.

Lancashire hot-pot is a revelation. I studied in Lancaster for three years and despite the rain, lack of money (I was a student) and the hangover I have never had Lancashire Hot pot before.

I am not sure why. I love meat casseroles and consider myself an expert on Beef Bourguignon.  From the simplicity of this recipe, I did not believe it would have the same impact. However, despite the lack of lardons, garlic and red wine which make Beef Bourguignon sensational, Lancashire Hot-Pot is a strong contender as a fantastic and frugal runner up.

I know it is late summer and it has been 26C degrees in London today, which does not make everyone jump up and think of Hot-Pot for dinner, but I really fancied it tonight had never made it before and I am so glad I did.

The other great thing about this kind of dish, is that you can throw any meat in. The more odd and frugal the cut, the better casseroles taste. Cheaper cuts benefit and improve with long slow cooking and if you didn’t have any meat a simply vegetable version would still work pretty well.

Oatmeal Cheese Rarebit.

Unfortunately, I do not have a picture of ‘Oatmeal Cheese Rarebit’ as for some odd reason the camera didn’t save the photographs. However, I was using my partner’s ‘posh’ camera so shows me right thinking I could be arty with the photos.

This week, my war-time meals have mainly consisted of Oatmeal. There is no real reason for this apart from I bought it as it is a ration ‘staple’ and there is so much of it, I feel compelled to use it up. It also has an earthy, holistic feel to it which I really like.

The Ministry of Food promoted Oatmeal and outlines three good reasons why the population should eat it and here they are:

Firstly, for fitness; oatmeal gives you energy, helps to protect you from illness, and makes strong bones and healthy blood. Secondly, it is home produced. Thirdly, it is economical; you can add it any kind of dish to make it go further.

I agree it definitely makes it go further and it doesn’t have that horrible solid effect that flour does. It has quite a deep flavour which does give body to dishes. The following recipe for ‘Oatmeal Cheese Rarebit’ does highlight how effectively cheese on toast can be bulked out with flour and oatmeal.

Blend 2oz of flour with some water to make a paste. Bring half a pint of water to the boil and pour into the pasted flour. Bring mixture to the boil and cook gently for 5 minutes stirring all of the time. Add 2oz of oatmeal and 2oz of cheese, season, mix thoroughly and spread on toast. Place under the grill until brown.

I also added some Worcester Sauce into this. I am not sure Worcester Sauce is always great with cheese on toast. I think we all believe it is, because of the clever advertising.