Wartime recipes, substitutions and other related austerity hints

Brambling

Thanks for the idea re onion powder instead of onions Taff I don't like the after taste of raw onions.  I sometimes add dry roasted peanuts to coleslaw however it should be noted they will go soft if left for too long in the coleslaw so I tend to add per portion when serving.  

I like to add horseradish to my potato salad dressing

If we are going retro Waldorf salad makes a nice change, basically grapes, apple, celery and walnuts (toast the walnuts for extra favour) and either mayo with lemon juice or yoghurt as the dressing.  Keep it simple 

If you can get hold of a fennel bulb, finely slice it (I use a very basic mandoline slicer) add chopped parsley and make a light dressing using lemon juice rather than vinegar.  

Pyxis

I got an unsolicited lettuce in my veg box yesterday, but because I’m a bit nervous of veg I can’t scrub with soap and water, I’m loth to eat it as a salad, so thought I would try making lettuce soup.
I’ll let you know how I get on! 

Brambling

Pyxis if you have any frozen peas you could also make lettuce and peas, I skip the cream 

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/braised-lettuce-peas

ToastLady

Adding white beans and blitzing into soup makes it creamy, not as good as real cream, but added protein is a definite benefit, and thickens soup up too. I tend to add beans or lentils to all my soups for the protein value. 

Pyxis

Brambling said:

Pyxis if you have any frozen peas you could also make lettuce and peas, I skip the cream 

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/braised-lettuce-peas

The lettuce soup was an interesting experience! 😁

No frozen peas, and no cream, but.............

As it was going  to be blended, I decided to chuck in some of the slightly out of date sunflower and pumpkin seeds, (which will now go into every meal until used up!). 

It seemed a bit bland, so I put more pepper in. Still a bit bland, so a few drops of green Tabasco. Still not right, so I put in some coriander pesto, and as it wasn’t quite there yet, a good teaspoonful of tamarind paste which also needs using up!

Well, after all that, I’m not sure it was still lettuce soup! 😂😂😂
However, I did eat it all, although I soon realised I’d overdone the black pepper, and it made me hiccup all the way through the meal! 😁😁😁

I can’t quite believe I have eaten a whole head of lettuce, though!
And, as lettuce is soporific, I should soon start to dozzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Pyxis

All that adding stuff to ‘soup’ it up a bit brought to mind that old story, or fable?, from way, way back called “Stone Soup”. Does anyone else remember that?

I’ll see if I can find a link. 



Edit....... Here’s a link to a Wikipedia account of the story.......there are various versions on the theme.....

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Soup

PipneyJane

MrsLurcherwalker said:

Yes Pip, exactly that half fill a teacup with treacle and then fill it up with milk until it's full.  Couldn't tell you which book it's from it's written in my mother in laws handwritten book that she used in the war, jolly useful thing to have inherited.

So a teacup full in total?  Thanks Mrs LW for explaining.

It sounds like a wonderful book.  If one of your children hasn’t laid a claim to it, may I suggest that you specify in your will that it is donated to one of the WW2 archives?  It would be a shame to lose all that knowledge.

- Pip (social historian at heart.)

-taff

Brambling said:

I like to add horseradish to my potato salad dressing

Oooo...I like that idea!

[Deleted User]

I had a good look through it again last night Pip and found recipes for making embrocation, cough medicines, a cooling medicine, miscellaneous cakes including many different Christmas cake recipes, loads of jams and pickles and many other interesting things.  DD1 is as much of a wartime interest person as I am so she's got it in her sights!

jinny

How do you get to the top of the thread?  I haven't been on since the changes