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.
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
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
(36 eggs every four weeks) 9
eggs for one week
Sweets: 262g (3oz) per week.
Chele says
Great series of posts – and you can't beat a good old bowl of porridge to start the day!
All That I'm Eating says
I love your new banner and land girl outfit! I'm really enjoying these ration posts from you and Karen.
Karen S Booth says
I am a porridge gal too……and I have relied on it for two breakfasts at least……I too like medium oatmeal (pinhead) and my dad likes his porridge with just salt and water. I am a bit of a wimp and like my porridge with milk and honey! Great post as always Janice, and love the original leaflet too, Karen