Food Facts for the
Kitchen Front

Filled with no-nonsense war-time recipes, using pure ingredients and simple preparation methods.

Includes valuable information on food groupings and food factors, vital for a healthy and balanced diet.

Table of Contents

Cover Page

Title Page

A NOTE ON FOOD VALUES

A NOTE ON FOOD FACTORS

VEGETABLES

POTATOES

SALADS

HOME GROWN HERBS

FISH

MEAT

OATMEAL

SOUP

BREAD AND BAKING

SAUCES

FRUIT

PACKED MEALS

HAY-BOX COOKING

INDEX

Copyright

About the Publisher

A NOTE ON FOOD VALUES

ONE result of war-time feeding is that we all know something about food values. We have learnt that the foods necessary to health fall into three groups: Energy Foods, Body-building Foods, and Protective Foods.

Let us examine them briefly, with special attention to the foods that are always plentiful. Then we shall see how to eat well-balanced meals that will keep us fit.

GROUP ONE—ENERGY FOODS

Our appetite guides us to eat these foods. We need not plan for Energy Foods in our meals. When we are hungry we naturally want to eat starchy foods, fats and sugar.

Starchy Foods.—Potatoes, Bread and Cereals of all kinds satisfy our hunger and are in good supply.

Fats.—Butter, Margarine, Dripping, Bacon, etc., are still sufficient for our health. We shall not suffer in any way from eating rather less fat than formerly, provided that we eat more green vegetables.

Sugar.—Sugar, dried fruits, honey, jam and confectionery are valuable, but we should not exaggerate their importance. When we talk about “needing sugar for energy” we are inclined to overstate the case. Potatoes and bread will provide all the energy we want.

GROUP TWO—BODY-BUILDING FOODS

These, repairing the tissues, are particularly important for growing children. The main foods in this group are:

Meat, Fish, Eggs, Cheese and Milk.

We have a second line of defence in other more plentiful foods which have body-building value. They are:

Oatmeal.

Wheatmeal Bread and Flour.

Dried Peas, Beans and Lentils.

Potatoes.

Green Vegetables.

GROUP THREE—PROTECTIVE FOODS

We have never eaten enough protective foods. Even in peace-time doctors have urged us to eat more of them. They guard us against infection; they help us to fight tiredness and depression, they keep our complexions clear. Their vitamins and essential mineral salts are indispensable in our daily diet.

It is extremely fortunate that, placed high in this group, there should be some of the foods that are plentiful throughout the year:

Wheatmeal Bread, Oatmeal, Milk, Potatoes, Carrots, Green Vegetables (fresh or canned), Root Vegetables and Raw Salads.

In these days, when we are all beginning to concern ourselves with essentials and to discard the things that do not matter, it is necessary to remember these two facts:

1. What we can get is good for us.

2. A great deal of what we cannot get is quite unimportant.

A NOTE ON FOOD FACTORS

THOUGH we cannot expect to become scientific experts overnight, it is useful for us to learn something about calories, proteins, vitamins and mineral salts. We ought to know what they are and what they do to our bodies.

CALORIES

Calories are units of heat, which we liberate in our body-tissues when we eat Energy Foods (Starches, Fats and Sugar). Our daily caloric requirement varies according to our sex and occupation. Men need more calories than women do. People whose work calls for great physical activity need more calories than are required by sedentary workers.

PROTEINS

Food is a mixture of chemical substances, and the chemical constituent known as protein builds our muscles and tissues. Proteins are therefore particularly important to growing children.

Animal proteins are derived from the main body-building foods: Meat, Fish, Eggs, Milk and Cheese. Vegetable proteins are obtained from our “second line of defence”:

Oatmeal.

Wheatmeal Bread.

Potatoes.

Green Vegetables.

Dried Peas, Beans and Lentils.

VITAMINS

Vitamins are food factors necessary to growth and nourishment.

Their existence was discovered when scientific research proved that artificial food mixtures (containing all the known nutritive factors in a purified state) were unable to support growth without the addition of a natural food, such as milk.

It was obvious then that natural foods must contain unknown essential food factors. These are now known as vitamins. The most important are Vitamins A, B and C.

Vitamin A plays an important part in building up our resistance to infection. It is essential for the adapting of the eye to sudden changes of light. “Night blindness” may be due to a deficiency of Vitamin A.

Good sources of this vitamin are Spinach, Carrots, Cabbage, Peas and Beans. Halibut liver oil and Cod liver oil, Herrings, Margarine.

Vitamin B is essential for the correct functioning of the nervous system, which influences our digestive system.

Good sources of the vitamin are Wheatmeal Bread and Flour, Oatmeal, Vegetable Extract.

Vitamin C maintains the correct structure of the tissue of the blood-vessels. Complete absence of this vitamin from the diet leads to scurvy.

Good sources of the vitamin are Potatoes, Green Vegetables (especially raw), Root Vegetables (especially raw) and Fruit.

Vitamin values are expressed, not in ounces nor grammes but in International Units. Since our daily requirement of Vitamin A is taken as about 5,000 International Units, we may find it useful to remember that:

I oz. Carrots contains 540 International Units of Vitamin A.

I oz. Boiled Cabbage contains 356 International Units of Vitamin A.

By eating half a pound of carrots and four ounces of cabbage we should almost have satisfied our total daily requirement.

Our daily requirement of Vitamin B is much smaller. It is taken as 500 International Units. Here we may find it useful to remember that:

I oz. Oatmeal contains 92 International Units of Vitamin B.

I oz. Wheatmeal Bread contains 28 International Units of Vitamin B.

By eating four ounces of oatmeal and four ounces of wheatmeal bread we should again be very near the figure of our total daily requirement.

Our daily requirement of Vitamin C is taken as 1,250 International Units.

Here we may find it useful to remember that:

I oz. Potatoes contains from 105–140 International Units of Vitamin C.

I oz. Boiled Cabbage contains 95 International Units of Vitamin C.

By eating half a pound of potatoes and a quarter of a pound of cabbage we can satisfy our total daily requirement of Vitamin C.

MINERAL SALTS

Iron and Calcium.—We should be careful to guard against a deficiency of Iron in our foods. Iron is an element of great importance in the body, specially to women and girls, who need it to safeguard them against tiredness and anaemia.

Good sources of Iron are Wheatmeal Bread, Oatmeal, Watercress and Spinach.

Calcium is necessary to our bodies for building bones and teeth. This naturally means that it is of great importance to growing children, to expectant and nursing mothers.

Good sources of Calcium are Milk and Green Vegetables.

VEGETABLES

IT WAS once said that English cooking demanded a Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Vegetables. But now we no longer regard them as a mere accompaniment to a meat dish—a food to be cooked in water and served haphazardly. We are learning to value them highly and cook them well.

We can produce enough vegetables in our country to feed the whole nation. Last year saw our production enormously increased by the Dig for Victory Campaign. This year, as the diggers grow more numerous and more experienced, we shall increase it still further.

We recognise the importance of vegetables as a Protective Food. We know that some (potatoes for example) are good Energy Food also.

Not only are they valuable food, but properly cooked or attractively served raw, vegetables are delicious, full of variety, and capable of being used in a number of different ways.

A salad can be as pretty as a bunch of flowers, yet do you as much good as a steak and kidney pudding. Even if you like a meat and vegetable meal best, don’t forget that you can feed well from a course of vegetables alone. Or, if you are near the end of your meat ration, an extra vegetable will transform it into a substantial meal.

The main thing to remember in cooking vegetables is to bring them to table as near their normal selves, and with as much of their natural goodness as possible. Cook them in a steamer if you can; they will retain more flavour.

Wash all green vegetables thoroughly and soak them in cold water with a teaspoon of salt for not more than half an hour. Then shred them finely. If you are going to “boil” them, go easy with the water. Put them into a saucepan with not more than a teacupful of boiling water and a pinch of salt. If you can, add a fleck of margarine or cooking fat on top, though in these rationed days you may not be able to spare it.

Replace the lid and boil steadily for 10–15 minutes, shaking the pan to keep the vegetables clear. Drain the vegetables well and serve them hot. Any stock that remains should be strained off and used for gravy or soup.

Use the outside leaves of green vegetables. Shred them and put them into soup, or add them shredded to a hot-pot.

For root vegetables—carrots, turnips, swedes, etc.—the most important thing to remember is to scrape or peel them lightly, taking as little off the edible parts as possible. Steam them if you can, boil them in a very little salted water if you can’t. They are good, too, baked round the joint or in a very little water in a dish in the oven. The only exception to this rule is beetroot (see p. 15).

ARTICHOKES (Jerusalem)

These are good winter vegetables, rarely used as much as they might be.

If the artichokes are dipped in very hot water prior to peeling, the skin scrapes off very easily, and with little waste. Place them immediately into cold water to which a little vinegar has been added, to save them from discolouring.

They can then be steamed, or boiled in a little salted water. For a more nourishing dish, cook them in sufficient boiling milk and water, in equal quantities, to just cover, add a pinch of salt and cook steadily for 15–20 minutes with the lid on the saucepan. Remove the vegetables and thicken the stock as described on page 115. Then replace the artichokes in the sauce, heat up and serve.

ARTICHOKE SOUP

1 pint vegetable boilings or water.

1/2 pint milk.

1 oz. cooking fat or margarine.

11/2 lb. artichokes.

A little chopped spring onion.

Seasoning of pepper and salt.

Peel and slice the artichokes as above and chop the onion. Toss the vegetables in the melted fat, lid on the pan, until the fat is absorbed and the flavours are well drawn. Pour on the water or vegetable liquor, add a pinch of salt, replace the lid and allow to simmer for half an hour, or until the vegetables are tender.

Pass them through a sieve, or beat to a puree with a wooden spoon. Blend 1¹/₂ dessertspoons of flour to a smooth cream with a little cold milk, then add some of the hot stock to it. Return all to the saucepan, stirring, bring to the boil, and simmer for at least 10 minutes. Add the remainder of the milk, reheat, season, and serve the hot soup with home-made rusks of wheatmeal bread (see p. 111, BREAD AND BAKING).

ARTICHOKES AND POTATOES IN CAPER SAUCE

1 lb. mixed cooked artichokes and potatoes.

1/2 pint white sauce to which about 2 teaspoons chopped capers or pickled nasturtium seeds and 1 teaspoon vinegar have been added.

Browned breadcrumbs.

A few shavings of cooking fat.

Dice the cooked artichokes and potatoes into neat cubes, placing them in a fireproof dish. Prepare the sauce, using part artichoke stock and part milk (see p. 115).

Pour the hot well-seasoned sauce over the vegetables, sprinkle with browned crumbs, dot here and there with cooking fat, and heat through in a moderately hot oven, or under a well-heated grill, until crisp-crusted and golden. Serve hot.

ARTICHOKE CHIPS

Another appetising way to cook this vegetable is to cut across the artichoke to make thinnish slices. These can be fried, like potato chips, in a little fat, then drained, salted, and seasoned with pepper, and perhaps a sprinkling of finely “powdered” cheese, if it can be spared. (The dry, next-to-the-rind pieces of hard cheese grate down excellently for this.)

ARTICHOKE CRISPS

Peel the artichokes and slice very thinly. Soak in wellsalted water for about half an hour. Dry on a wire cake tray in a very slow oven until quite crisp (about 3 hours). Store in air-tight tins. These crisps are as delicious as potato crisps and have a pleasant flavour.

ASPARAGUS

Unless home-grown, asparagus is a luxury vegetable.

If buying asparagus, see that the stalks are fresh, the heads crisp and the cut ends of the stalk clear-coloured. If they are to be kept fresh for a few hours, place the stems in a jug of cold water.

To Cook.—Scrape the stem lightly with a knife, then wash in cold water. Trim the stalks to one length, and tie into conveniently-sized bundles.

Cook gently in boiling salted water, or steam in a small amount of water, with the heads emerging, until the green part of the stem is quite tender. Drain on a fish slice, and lay the bundles on slices of toast. Snip the strings and dress the tips with as much melted fat—margarine for preference—as can be spared.

BROAD BEANS

As a pod vegetable, broad beans are valuable food. They contain vitamins A, C, and B 1, and good vegetable protein. Freshly picked, when young, they are really delicious.

Steamed, or boiled in a little salted water, they soon become tender, but be sure to leave on the outer skins of the seeds. Many people make the mistake of peeling away this covering skin, which deprives the dish of much flavour and food value.

Serve cooked broad beans with a little melted fat and a sprinkling of fresh chopped parsley. When a little older, they taste good in a parsley sauce, or with piquant flavouring.

Young broad beans are also good eaten raw in a salad.

BROAD BEANS (make two meals)

When young, broad beans can be used in two ways. The pods are very tender and delicious when sliced like runner beans, simmered in salted water and dressed in exactly the same way. They are also good served in parsley sauce.

Shell the beans in the usual way and cook for the first meal. Cut the pods into strips or diagonal slices, and cook them too. When cold, the sliced pods are good dressed in mayonnaise or French dressing in salad.

BROAD BEANS (cooked in their pods)

1 lb. very young beans.

1 oz. margarine or bacon dripping.

1 oz. flour.

1 dessertspoon of finely chopped parsley.

1 gill bean liquor.

1 gill milk.

Seasoning of salt and pepper.

Trim the end from the pods and cut the beans into inch lengths. Cook in boiling salted water until tender, then drain.

Make a parsley sauce with the bean stock, fat and flour, adding the milk after the sauce has fully cooked. Shake in the chopped parsley, season with salt and pepper, and mix in the cooked beans last of all. Heat through and serve.

BROAD BEAN PUREE

When beans are a little older, they can be sieved and “creamed” to make them more attractive for table. Take a quart measure of shelled beans and steam or boil them in the usual way till tender.

Drain them, then rub them through a sieve. Take the remaining liquor and make up to the required quantity of liquid with milk, for a white sauce. Use an ounce of bacon dripping or margarine and an ounce of flour for each gill and a half of stock (for method, see p. 115), and use the sauce, after boiling and seasoning, to bring the puree to a creamy consistency.

For BROAD BEAN SALAD see p. 61, SALADS.

BROAD BEANS IN PIQUANT SAUCE

Boil the prepared beans until tender, then prepare a sauce with 1 oz. margarine or cooking fat, 1 level tablespoon flour, and ¹/₄ pint of stock from the beans.

Melt the fat, stir in the flour smoothly and allow them to cook together slowly. Gradually add the gill of stock, stirring until fully thickened. When returned to the boil for three minutes, season well, and add 1 tablespoon of vinegar, and ¹/₂ teaspoon of chopped capers.

Heat the beans in this sauce, then serve while very hot.

BROAD BEANS FOR WINTER USE

Broad beans which have been allowed to mature in their pods may be stored for winter use. Make sure they are quite dry before packing in airtight tins. Soak and cook like haricots.

FRENCH BEANS (or Runner Beans)

When young these vegetables can be cooked whole, with tops and tails removed. When older, a stringy vein develops down the ribs of the pod, which must be removed before cooking for full enjoyment.

Trim away the “strings,” then slice the bean lengthways, or break with the fingers into 2-inch lengths (this saves time), and steam or boil the vegetable until tender in a small quantity of boiling salted water. When tender and young allow them to “steam” by using very little water, and adding, if possible, a very little fat which they can absorb during the cooking. This makes them glisten well and improves their flavour. The actual cooking time varies with the age and size of the beans.

When beans are home-grown and can be gathered near the time of cooking, their full flavour and goodness can be enjoyed; for households purchasing from local markets, it is wise to select beans as crisp as possible.

When runner beans are too old for table, let them mature on the plants and then dry the beans (not the pods) for winter use.

For FRENCH AND RUNNER BEANS IN SALADS, see p. 61, SALADS.

BEETROOT

Here is a favourite vegetable that can play a number of different roles. The sugar it contains makes it acceptable for salads, whether cooked or raw, or it can be baked or fried to develop a still more attractive flavour.

In preparing the vegetable, it is important to avoid breaking the skin, or the rich red colour “bleeds” away in the cooking.

Beet tops can be used as a vegetable too, and are as delicious as spinach if steamed or boiled in a very little water.

To cook the beets, wash them well in cold water, then boil steadily in salted water for 2 hours or more with the lid on the pan, until they feel tender. Press with the back of a wooden spoon to test, but do not prod with a fork, or the juices will escape. Drain them, and peel away the skin quickly.

BAKED BEETROOTS

When the oven is on, try baking the beetroots, without fat or water, as you would potatoes, or wrap them in a margarine paper and bake as before. They will take about 2 hours, if medium-sized.

To serve hot.—Cut quickly into quarters, and serve in a hot vegetable dish with a little melted fat and a sprinkling of chopped parsley. Or, pour a little thin white sauce over them.

To serve cold in salad, first slice the cooked beetroot thinly or cut into dice, and dress with vinaigrette (two parts salad oil to one of vinegar with seasonings). Arrange neatly in a salad dish, with a ring of chopped celery round, and a topping of either grated horseradish or chopped apple.

HOT BEETROOTS WITH HORSERADISH SAUCE

Small young beetroots.

1 oz. flour.

1 oz. fat.

1/2 pint milk, or vegetable stock and milk mixed.

Salt.

1 tablespoon horseradish cream or 1 dessertspoon grated horseradish.

1 tablespoon vinegar.

Boil or bake the beetroots in the usual way. Drain, peel, and place them in a hot dish, quartered if large. Prepare a coating sauce with the flour, fat and milk (see p. 115), season with salt, and add the horseradish and vinegar.

Pour over the beetroot and serve very hot.

BEETROOT JELLY

1 small cooked beetroot.

1 pint tablet jelly (vanilla or red-currant).

1 small teacup vinegar.

1/4 teaspoon salt.

1/2 teaspoon pepper.

3/4 pint water.

Cut up the jelly and dissolve in ¹/₂ pint of hot water, then make up to ³/₄ pint in all, with extra cold water. Dice the beetroot quite finely and arrange it in a pint mould, or several smaller sized ones, seasoning with the pepper and salt.

Add the vinegar to the jelly when quite cold, and while still liquid pour into the moulds to set.

Made in smaller quantities with left-over cooked beetroot; this is attractive if served with salad for a simple lunch or supper meal, adding hard-boiled egg to make it more substantial.

CABBAGE

Remember the importance of vitamins when choosing cooking methods, and try to serve cabbage raw sometimes, to save the Vitamin C.

To cook cabbage.—Slice finely and place in a saucepan with a sprinkling of salt and a teacupful of boiling water. Cover, and boil steadily for about 15 minutes. Shake the pan several times during cooking.

If it can be spared, add a little margarine or dripping to the water. Strain off any liquid left in the saucepan and use it for gravy or soup. Serve the cabbage piping hot.

All sorts of additions can be made with cabbage cooked in this way, to vary the flavour. A few bacon rinds chopped small, a few teaspoons of vinegar, and a shake of caraway seeds, or a sprinkling of nutmeg, and your cabbage becomes a continental dish. Always cook steadily with the lid on the pan and sprinkle with a little pepper just before serving.

STUFFED CABBAGE

1 cabbage.

Salt and pepper.

Chopped parsley.

8 oz. browned wheatmeal breadcrumbs.

A little minced onion or chopped spring onion.

1/4 lb. cooked liver, mince, or sausage meat.

Remove the outside leaves, clean and soak the cabbage whole in salted water. Par-boil in boiling salted water for about 5 minutes. Hollow out the cabbage by removing the centre leaves with a sharp knife and fill with the following stuffing.

Mix the chopped liver or meat with the breadcrumbs, add seasonings of pepper and salt, a little chopped parsley and minced onion, then mix to a binding consistency with vegetable boilings.

Pack the stuffing firmly in the cavity, tie the head securely with string, and steam until perfectly tender (about 20 to 25 minutes). (Serves 4.)

The cabbage leaves removed from the centres are useful for salads. Or mixed with mashed potato for vegetable pancakes or breakfast cakes.

CREAMED CABBAGE

1 medium-sized white-hearted cabbage.

1 oz. dripping or margarine.

1/2 pint milk and water.

Salt and pepper.

Wash the cabbage thoroughly in cold water to which a little salt has been added, and shred it. Heat ¹/₂ pint of milk, then melt an ounce of dripping in it. Add the shredded cabbage and cook steadily until tender, about 15 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper, and serve very hot with the liquid poured round it. This dish is particularly tasty if served with a spoonful of frizzled chopped bacon or a little grated cheese for topping. (Serves 4.)

If the inner section of the cabbage is cooked this way, reserve the outer leaves for the following recipe.

STUFFED CABBAGE LEAVES

Choose the outer green leaves from a tender cabbage, and cook them for a few minutes to make them pliable for rolling.

Make up a simple forcemeat, using either cooked minced meat or cooked sausage-meat, the same amount of breadcrumbs or mashed potato, a suspicion of chopped onion, a liberal sprinkle of chopped parsley and pepper and salt to taste. Bind with a little stock or gravy, and place a spoonful on each leaf.

Roll up and secure with thread, placing them to cook in a casserole in simmering stock to a depth to some half-way up the rolls. Cook until the leaves are tender—about 20 minutes or so—basting from time to time.

Serve on mashed potato, with well-seasoned brown gravy.

CABBAGE PLATE

1 cabbage.

Level dessertspoon curry powder.

1 oz. dripping or cooking fat.

1 lb. potatoes.

1 teaspoon salt.

Shred the cabbage, including the stump, which can be cut into small dice after removing the fibrous outer part. Wash the cabbage in salted water then drain in a colander. Scrub the potatoes thoroughly, but do not remove the peel. They can then be cut into dice, of about ¹/₂ inch square.

Melt the fat in a deep frying pan, or suitable saucepan, and when quite hot add the vegetables. Sprinkle in the teaspoon of salt and curry powder, then stir thoroughly over moderate heat, cover and cook for a few minutes.

Remove the lid, and continue to cook for about 15 minutes, stirring continuously, but do not add any liquid.

When the vegetables become brown and are quite tender remove and serve fresh and hot. Eaten with wheatmeal bread, this makes a satisfying and appetising meal. It is also a good sandwich filling for a carried lunch. (Serves 4.)

RED CABBAGE CASSEROLE

1 small red cabbage.

1/2 lb. apples.

A small onion, or a little minced spring onion.

1 dessertspoon flour.

Piece of bay leaf.

1/2 pint water, or stock.

1 oz. dripping.

Salt and pepper. Dessertspoon of vinegar (if liked).

Wash and halve the cabbage, remove the centre tough stalk, and shred the leaves into thin slices.

Chop the onion finely, and peel, core and quarter the apples. Place cabbage, onion and apples into the melted dripping in a casserole and sauté for a few minutes. Then add a pinch of salt and the measured water, and simmer gently until the cabbage is tender, adding vinegar if liked.

This vegetable is excellent served with sausages, or to make it a meal in itself, add a little chopped bacon just before the cabbage is to be served. (Serves 4).

CAULIFLOWER

Here is a valuable winter vegetable, which can be eaten either raw or cooked. The flower head can be grated raw for salads, while the green stem is excellent as a separate green vegetable serving. Always ask the greengrocer for the leaves of the cauliflower so that they can be cooked and served with the vegetable, or reserved for another dish.

The vitamin value of the vegetable is retained better if the cauliflower is separated into sprigs and cooked for a shorter time. A few of these can then be set aside for a cold salad, with a final dressing of vinaigrette.

Prepare the vegetable by trimming the stalk, cutting away, but reserving the outer leaves, and washing all in plenty of cold water. Soak the head for 20 minutes in warm salted water to draw away the insects, divide into springs, then rinse and steam or boil in a very little salted water until tender.

After draining the sprigs, dip in browned breadcrumbs, or serve with a coating of plain, well-seasoned white sauce. Here are a few other ways of dealing with cauliflower for vegetable meals.

CURRIED CAULIFLOWER

1 cauliflower.

A few sultanas, if possible.

1 apple.

A little minced onion, if possible.

1 dessertspoon curry powder.

1 oz. flour.

Cook the cauliflower as described above, then drain and save the stock. Measure ¹/₂ pint of cauliflower stock into a saucepan, add the prepared and sliced apple and the sultanas, and cook until soft.

Mix one dessertspoon of curry powder with an ounce of flour, then moisten with a little stock to a smooth cream. Add to the saucepan and stir until the mixture thickens, adding sufficient stock to bring to a pouring consistency. Then add the cauliflower sprigs to heat through, seasoning if necessary.

A little home-made jam or sweet pickle is an improvement with curry sauce, if you have some handy.

Serve the curry in the centre of a round dish, with a ring of mashed potato round it.

BAKED CAULIFLOWER

2 small cauliflowers.

2 tablespoons breadcrumbs (wheatmeal).

1 gill milk.

1 teaspoon of vegetable extract (yeast product) if liked.

1 oz. dripping or cooking fat.

11/2 oz. flour.

Cook the cauliflowers as described on page 19. Then drain carefully and reserve the liquid, using it for the sauce, in part measure with milk.

Grease a fireproof dish and arrange the cauliflower sprigs in it, keeping them hot while making the white sauce. For this use 1¹/₂ oz. flour, 1 oz. fat and 1 gill milk. When boiled and smooth, add 2 gills of cauliflower stock in which the extract has been dissolved. Season well.

Pour the sauce over the cooked cauliflower, sprinkle with an even coating of browned breadcrumbs, and cook in a moderate oven till crisp. For a quick meal, brown beneath a heated grill until well coloured, and serve very hot.

CARROTS

The carrot is one of the most valuable of all root vegetables. It is a rich source of Carotene, which is converted into Vitamin A, and strengthens our resistance to infection.

Carrots also contain sugar, which is useful for war-time diet. Most children like raw carrots and should be allowed to eat them freely.

Two tablespoons of grated raw carrot daily is a good rule for both children and adults. This can be served in a salad, or taken in a wheatmeal bread sandwich. Here are some sandwich fillings to try.

(See page 60, SALADS).

SANDWICH FILLINGS.

RAW.

1. Add two parts of grated raw carrot to one part of finely shredded white heart of cabbage, and bind with finely chopped sweet pickle. Season to taste.

2. For children—use the filling without pickle, and spread the slice with a little dripping, or margarine mixed with a little vegetable extract. This increases the nourishment and adds to the vitamin value.

COOKED.

3. Prepare and cut the carrot into small cubes, cooking them in well-blended curry sauce. When perfectly tender and yielding to the knife, use as sandwich filling.

4. Chopped cooked carrot, mixed with cooked peas and a little mayonnaise or salad dressing, makes a good filling or salad.

UNCOOKED CARROT PUDDING

2 medium-sized carrots.

2 tablespoons of ground nuts (in season).

1/2 gill warm water, in which is dissolved 1 dessertspoon honey.

1 tablespoon browned crumbs.

1 tablespoon fresh milk.

1 teaspoon “top milk.”

1 teaspoon fruit juice (inseason).

I tablespoon rolled oats or toasted oatmeal.

Wash, scrape, and grate the carrots. Melt the honey in the warm water. Use the liquid to mix the milled nuts, grated carrot, oatmeal and crumbs.

Sharpen with the fruit juice, then add the milk and allow the sweet to stand a short time before serving it in small individual dishes. Use a little “top milk” as a substitute for cream.

CARROT CROQUETTES

6 good-sized carrots.

1 oz. cooking fat or dripping.

A little fat for frying.

1 gill milk and carrot boilings.

1 oz. flour.

Coarse oatmeal for coating.

1/4 teaspoon vegetable extract (if liked).

Slice the carrots and cook in a very little water until tender (see page 11). Drain well, saving the liquid, and mash with a fork until pureed. Season well with salt, add a grate of nutmeg and shake of pepper.

Make a thick sauce with the flour, liquid and fat (see page 115), and work the puree and vegetable extract into it. Set aside to cool.

When cold, shape into croquettes. Roll in coarse oatmeal that has been previously toasted a little in the oven or under the grill. Fry in a little fat, turning to colour the cakes evenly. Drain and serve hot with good gravy. Or bake in the oven.

PARSLEY CARROTS

11/2 lb. carrots.

Teacup of stock or water, or sufficient to cover.

Salt, pepper.

Small piece of dripping or margarine.

3 dessertspoons chopped parsley.

Scrub the carrots and cut them into slices, about ¹/₄ inch in thickness. Heat the fat in the pan and sauté the carrots, frying them without browning for about 10 minutes, shaking occasionally. Add I gill of stock or water, bringing the level to just cover.

Cook gently until the carrots are tender—about 25–35 minutes. Drain the carrots, reduce the liquid a little by boiling, and sprinkle the chopped parsley (or the chopped feathery carrot tops) over the dish. Pour the reduced seasoned stock over the vegetable and serve at once.

SAVOURY CARROT CASSEROLE

Young carrots and green peas—sufficient to fill a casserole, using twice as much carrots as peas.

2 small sprigs of mint.

2 tablespoons of milk.

Parsley sauce to cover.

A little minced onion, or rings of spring onion.

Salt, pepper.

Prepare enough carrots and green peas to fill the selected casserole, using twice as much carrot as peas.

Scrape and dice the carrots, place them in the casserole, just cover with salted water, bring them to the boil and simmer for five minutes. Then add the peas, the chopped mint, minced onion, a pinch of salt, and the milk. Cover with a close-fitting lid and cook gently in the oven until the carrots are perfectly tender.

Prepare a plain parsley sauce (see p. 115), using ¹/₂ pint of liquid from the casserole, 1 oz. flour and ¹/₂ oz. margarine or dripping, and season well. Add 2 dessertspoons of finely chopped parsley just before serving. Pour this over the vegetables, replace the lid, and serve very hot.

CARROT ROLL

2 large carrots.

Cold cooked mashed potato.

1 dessertspoon fine oatmeal.

1 teaspoon vegetable extract.

Grate the scrubbed carrots on a suet grater and cook for 10 minutes in a very little water. Season well and add 1 teaspoon of vegetable extract and 1 dessertspoon of toasted fine oatmeal.

Boil five minutes, stirring, to thicken, then set to cool. At this stage the mixture should be quite stiff.

Have ready some cold mashed potatoes, dust the pastry board and pin with flour, and roll out to an oblong shape. Place the carrot filling in the centre, then fold over and shape to a roll. Dot with a few shavings of fat and bake till nicely browned in a moderately hot oven. Serve with well-seasoned brown gravy.

CARROTS AND SPROUTS

Choose equal quantities of sprouts and carrots by weight, prepare them in the usual way, slicing both to convenient size.

Steam together until tender (about 15 minutes), sprinkling them with a little salt in the steamer.

Alternatively—cook in a very little water in a saucepan, starting the carrots a little ahead of the green sprouts to enable them to finish cooking together. Use the liquor, with added vegetable extract, as sauce. Dress in a little dripping or cooking fat just before serving, adding a small shake of pepper.

CARROT BEEHIVE

About 11/2 lb. carrots.

3/4 lb. potato suet crust.

Salt and pepper.

Gravy powder.

Wash and scrape the carrots. Make 1 lb. potato suet crust (see p. 59). Line a greased pudding bowl with it, then put in a layer of grated raw carrot (about 1 inch deep). Sprinkle with salt, pepper and gravy powder, and cover with a very thin circle of the crust, cut to fit. Repeat the layers of carrot and crust until the basin is full, ending with crust. Cover with margarine paper and steam for 2¹/₂–3 hours. Serve with brown gravy.

CURRIED CARROTS AND CELERY

2 lb. carrots.

1/4 head celery.

1 oz. dripping.

3/4 pint vegetable boilings or water.

1/2 oz. flour.

Dash of vinegar.

1 tablespoon home made jam.

2 teaspoons curry powder.

1 apple, peeled and sliced.

A little minced onion, or spring onion.

Scrape and slice the carrots. Prepare the celery and chop fairly fine. Melt the dripping in the pan, put in the apple, minced onion and celery, and sauté for a few minutes without browning. Add the curry powder and flour and fry lightly, stirring well.

Next add the stock or water, vinegar, etc., and stir well until thickened, before adding the carrots and jam. Cover, and simmer for 20 minutes to half an hour.

Serve with a border of creamily mashed potatoes.

CARROT SPREAD (see PACKED MEALS, p. 121).

CARROT PUDDING (see Peace and War Pudding, p. 59, POTATOES).

CELERY

At a time when salad vegetables are less plentiful comes celery—a useful Vitamin C vegetable. When lettuce is unobtainable, and you want a change from grated cabbage, try young celery leaves in your winter salads. Fresh or dried, they also make good flavouring for casserole and stews.

The best way to serve celery raw is to separate the cleaned stalks, selecting the centre crisp stems for salads, and the “heart” for table use. The outer sections are good braised, served as a vegetable accompaniment, or included in a casserole.

Prepare celery by washing well in a bowl of cold water, then splitting the head and separating the stalks for similar treatment. Leave to crisp or curl in ice-cold water, the shorter stems in a jug or deep basin. Cut celery stalks, trimmed and left in cold water, will curl attractively for serving in a celery vase, or chopped in the salad. Fine curled shreds look most inviting arranged with other, more colourful, vegetables.

CREAMED CELERY

1 good head of celery.

A few browned breadcrumbs.

Pepper and salt.

3/4 pint milk and water.

3/4 oz. fat.

3/4 oz. flour.

Wash the celery, trim it into lengths, dice and place in a casserole or deep pie dish. Cover with the milk and water, add salt, and simmer until tender.

Drain, saving the liquid for the sauce.

Prepare the sauce as in recipe, p. 115. Simmer for three minutes, then add a generous sprinkling of pepper and salt (if necessary) before replacing the cooked celery. Return to the casserole, sprinkle with browned breadcrumbs, heat through and serve hot.

FRIED CELERY

1 head of celery

A little fat for frying.

A little flour and water for a thin batter.

Wheatmeal breadcrumbs.

Prepare the celery and trim into short lengths. Simmer these in salted water until tender, then drain, saving the liquid for soup. Make a thin frying batter of flour and water, dip each portion into this, drain, roll in crumbs and fry until lightly browned. Three to four minutes’ frying should be sufficient, turning the pieces until they colour and crisp.

Serve with a light shaking of vinegar.

CUCUMBER

Not only is cucumber useful as a sandwich filling, or as raw vegetable in salads, but it is excellent steamed or fried. Don’t peel the cucumber; the outside skin makes it more digestible.

Made into small “cups”—by trimming the cucumber into small lengths and scooping out one end—the vegetable can be stuffed, or par-cooked, and used to hold small quantities of sauce-bound foods—meat or fish.

A very attractive effect is obtained by stripping off the skin at regular intervals to a width of ¹/₃ inch, so that the cups appear to be striped. If time is short, it is best to keep the skin on the vegetable entirely, rather than remove it and cause waste by careless cutting. When stuffed, steam for about 30 minutes.

STEWED CUCUMBER

Slice the cucumber thickly and cook for about 10 minutes in boiling salted water. Drain, and thicken the liquid with a little flour to make a sauce, as described on p. 115. Return the cucumber to the sauce, heat up and serve as a green vegetable.

ROASTED CUCUMBER

Cut a medium-sized cucumber into 2-inch lengths and boil for 4 to 5 minutes in a little salted water. Roll in breadcrumbs, put in a baking tin with a little fat and bake until golden brown (about 5 mins.).

CUCUMBER SAUCE, see p. 115, SAUCES.

LEEKS

(See also p. 108, SOUP.)

To prepare leeks—trim off the roots, the outer tops and the sheath coverings. Split them down the centre and wash very thoroughly, as they hold grit between the folds. Allow them to soak for 20 minutes to half an hour in cold salted water, to ensure they are clear. Then drain, and cook until tender in a very little boiling salted water, from 20–30 minutes according to size.

Drain them well, and serve with a simple white sauce.

LEEK PUDDING
POTATO SUET CRUST PASTRY

8 oz. flour (self-raising)

2 oz. finely chopped suet.

2 oz. grated raw potato.

Filling—2–3 large leeks, or six small ones.

Pepper and salt.

Trim the leeks, cut in four lengthwise, wash thoroughly and slice finely into 1-inch lengths.

Make up the pastry, and line a pudding basin with two-thirds of it, leaving the remaining piece to form a lid, rolling it to a round the exact size.

Fill up the basin with the cut leeks, seasoning at each layer. Lay the lid in position, damp the edges, and seal together. Cover with a greased paper, place in the steamer and cook for about 2 hours. Serve with a good brown gravy.

Another method.—Form the pastry into an oval about ¹/₄ inch thick. Spread the chopped leeks over the pastry and sprinkle with seasoning. Dampen the edges of the pastry and roll up firmly. Wrap tightly in a margarine paper, and steam for an hour and a half.

LETTUCE

Lettuce is at its most valuable when served raw (see p. 60, SALADS). These recipes for cooked lettuce may come in useful when you want to vary the vegetable course.

LETTUCE AS A GREEN VEGETABLE

Wash and quarter the lettuces, and cook in a very little salted water until tender (about 10 minutes). Drain well, saving the liquid for soup.

LETTUCE AND SPINACH

Lettuce and spinach, cooked together, half and half make a pleasant change.

BRAISED LETTUCE WITH PEAS

4 small lettuce.

1/2 gill shelled peas.

Bouquet of herbs (tied in muslin).

1/2 gill stock.

1 teaspoon of chopped parsley.

11/2–2 oz. dripping or cooking fat.

Salt, pepper.

2–3 spring onions chopped.

Wash and prepare the lettuces, breaking up the large leaves, then place them in a saucepan in which the dripping has been melted and heated. Allow to sauté in the fat with the chopped onion for a few minutes, then add the stock, seasoning of salt and a little pepper, with the shelled peas.

Cover, allow the stock to come to the boil, and continue the cooking for about half an hour, with the pan tightly covered.

Just before the dish is to be served, add a sprinkling of freshly chopped parsley.

STUFFED LETTUCE

2–3 good-sized lettuces (Cos).

1 oz. margarine.

3/4 oz. flour.

1/2 pint stock or vegetable boilings, milk and water, etc.

Seasoning.

Wash the lettuces, and cook gently in the liquid for 5 minutes. Lift them out, halve lengthwise, and remove some of the hearts.

Fill the cavities with the stuffing below, tie the halves together with thread, and replace in the stewpan or casserole to complete the cooking. When tender, thicken the liquid with a binding of fat and flour, loosened by the hot stock, and boil for three minutes. Serve round the dish with the lettuces.

STUFFING.—3 oz. medium oatmeal; 1 heaped teaspoon chopped parsley; salt; pepper; 1 dessertspoon melted dripping; 2 oz. breadcrumbs; 1 heaped teaspoon minced onion; 1 good teaspoon vegetable extract; pinch of mace.

Toast the oatmeal beforehand, under the grill or in a cooling oven, till crisp and nutty. Dissolve the vegetable extract in ¹/₂ pint of boiling water, then sprinkle in the oatmeal and cook, stirring, till thick and allowing to simmer for half an hour.

Then mix in with the other ingredients, binding with a little melted dripping. Season well, and use to stuff the hollowed lettuce. (Any lettuce hearts removed from the centre are useful additions to soup or vegetable casseroles.)

STUFFED MARROW

Cut a medium-sized marrow in two lengthways and scoop out the seeds. Fill with stuffing made of a breakfastcupful of wheatmeal breadcrumbs (use any left-over pieces of bread for this), 2 tablespoonfuls minced fat bacon, 2 spring onions chopped, sprinkling of mixed herbs, pepper and salt, bound with a little milk.

Put the halves together, tie round with tape or string, put in a baking tin with about 1 oz. dripping and bake until tender (about 1 hour) basting frequently.

MARROW AU GRATIN

1 medium-sized marrow.

1–2 spoonfuls milk.

1 oz. fat bacon (rasher).

Toasted oatmeal.

Mushroom sauce—made from 2 oz. chopped mushroom stalks, 11/2 gills stock or water, 3/4 oz. flour.

Peel the marrow, remove the seeds and cut it into small pieces. Place in a saucepan with just enough water to prevent it catching, add a pinch of salt, and “steam” until all the water has evaporated.

Next add the chopped fat bacon and sauté a short time for the flavour to be absorbed, then season well, and sprinkle with a little toasted oatmeal.

Make the mushroom sauce, then turn the marrow and chopped bacon mixture into a greased dish, pour on the sauce, and sprinkle with toasted oatmeal to form a crisp cap. Brown off quickly in the oven (or under a grill) and serve hot.

MUSHROOMS

When they are in season, field or downland mushrooms make delightful flavouring for vegetable dishes, as well as attractive stuffings to make meat meals go further.

Although cultivated mushrooms are available throughout the year, the price is rather too high for most people in war-time. Often, however, it is possible to buy the trimmed stalks from greengrocers at a few pence the pound, and these are worth consideration for their flavour alone, especially in casseroles, soups, and savoury toasts.

For whole mushrooms, the simplest ways of cooking are best. Grill them if you can. Wash them first, then peel the caps, cut off the stalks (which go into hotpot stew, or, chopped fine, into soups or sauces) and dry lightly.

Brush the caps and underside with melted margarine or oil, sprinkle with salt, and lay on the grid. Turn with a couple of spoons or tongs during cooking, but be careful not to leave them too long under the strong heat. Serve on squares of toast as a savoury snack or supper serving.

Mushrooms are also good fried in a very little fat, or stewed gently with a little stock or milk and water. Remember to season them well, and thicken the stock with a little blended flour just before serving.

NETTLES

Used instead of spinach, nettles are excellent food. Rich in the two vitamins A and C, the young leaves are especially good. They should be gathered early in spring.

Wash them well, and allow a good panful, as you would for spinach. Cook in their own juices, with a very little water.

When young and tender, they will take about ten minutes, after which they can be drained, the water put aside for soup, and the vegetable chopped finely and reheated in a little fat if you can spare it. Margarine is best for flavour, when butter cannot be spared. Add seasoning, a grate of nutmeg, heat through, and serve.

NETTLE CHAMP

Nettles are an excellent ingredient for the Irish recipe with potatoes. See page 53, POTATOES, for the foundation method.

The Irish way of eating “champ” is for each person to make a hole in the centre of his helping in which a pat of margarine is gradually melted by the heat of the potato. As he eats from the outer rim of the helping, he dips each spoonful into the melted fat.

ONIONS

When onions are plentiful, remember that they are delicious parboiled and stuffed or made into an ovenbake.

BRAISED ONIONS

4–6 onions.

1 oz. dripping.

Seasoning.

Prepare the onions, peeling them and splitting into halves or quarters. Melt the dripping in a fireproof dish, by placing it in the oven, then arrange the onions in it, seasoning well.

Pour in about a teacupful of water. Simmer the onions, basting every few minutes, until they have become a good colour, then allow to simmer for a further half-hour to forty minutes, according to the size and type of onion.

STUFFED ONIONS

4 large sized onions.

Salt and pepper.

For the Filling—

4 oz. browned breadcrumbs.

2 oz. minced meat.

Salt and pepper.

Peel the onions and simmer in a little salted water until tender. Drain (saving the water) and scoop out the centres. Chop the centres and mix with the stuffing ingredients, moistening with a little onion water if necessary. Fill the onions with the mixture and bake them on a lightly greased baking tin until brown on top. A few browned breadcrumbs sprinkled over the top helps to crisp them.

BAKED ONIONS

If you have a cottage kitchener, try baking onions in their skins. They take rather a long time, about 2 hours in a moderate oven, but they have a splendid flavour and are particularly comforting in cold weather.

To bake onions more quickly, first steam for about ten minutes then place in the oven for 1 hour.

ONION SKINS

Dry all the outside onion skins in a moderate oven until crisp enough to crumble. Store in an airtight tin and use for flavouring soups and stews.

PARSNIPS

Like carrot, parsnip is a root with good sugar content. For this reason it is delicious when cooked in a very little fat—either baked beneath the meat or fried.

A good way to cook parsnips is to boil them whole (30 to 40 minutes), after careful washing, keeping on the skins. These can then be rubbed off quite easily when the vegetable is tender.

A little finely shredded raw parsnip adds a new and delicious flavour to a mixed vegetable salad. Cooked parsnip, cut into neat dice, can also be used in salads.

STUFFED PARSNIPS

Parboil or steam the parsnips, divide into two lengthwise and remove the centre cores. Fill with forcemeat made of breadcrumbs seasoned with mixed herbs, salt and pepper, and bound with a little milk. Put the halves together again and secure with string. Dot with dripping and bake in a moderate oven until golden brown, basting frequently.

PARSNIP CROQUETTES

1 lb. (cold) cooked parsnips.

1 gill vegetable stock or milk.

1 oz. flour.

1 heaped teaspoon vegetable extract.

1 oz. dripping or cooking fat.

Salt, pepper.

Sieve, or mash the parsnips with a fork, till creamy. Then make a thick sauce with the fat, flour, and stock (in which the vegetable extract has been dissolved, see p. 115). When cooked and thick, work in a few breadcrumbs if liked.

Add the parsnips, and season to taste. Then set aside to firm on a plate. Divide into 10–12 pieces, and form into croquettes.

Roll in browned breadcrumbs, or dip in a flour and water batter (mixed very thinly) and coat in crumbs, patting them on well. Fry in a hot fat till golden brown on both sides. Alternatively—the cakes could be baked.

PARSNIP PIE