Usually, the WWII rationing recipes are horrid. It is to the point where the mention of WWII food brings a certain terrified glint to Husband's eye. He is really a terribly good sport. Besides, after the aspic, any comparison is bound to be advantageous.
Pigs in Clover
For this wholesome and economical dish you will need 6 medium, well-scrubbed potatoes, 6 skinned sausages and some cabbage. With an apple corer, remove a center core lengthways from each potato and stuff the cavity with sausage meat. Bake the potatoes in the usual way and serve on a bed of lightly chopped, cooked cabbage.
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Try These For a Change
CABBAGE. All sorts of additions may be made to steam-boiled cabbage. A few bacon rinds chopped small; or a few teaspoons of vinegar and a sprinkle of nutmeg or a shake of caraway seeds, and you have something novel and nice.
TOPS. Broccoli tops, turnip tops, and beetroot tops are all excellent if cooked as described above.
Honey Oatmeal Buns
These nourishing buns are extremely popular in most homes. Try them on your family. This recipe makes 18 medium-sized or 12 larger buns.
Sift 4 oz white flour, 1 heaped teaspoon baking powder and some salt. Then rub in 2 1/2 oz margarine or clarified cooking fat. When evenly mixed, add 4 oz fine oatmeal and a level teaspoon ground ginger. Mix a little beaten-up egg with 3 dessertspoons honey (loosened by slight warming if necessary) and mix to a stiff consistency with a fork. You may need a little milk here. Divide the mixture into roughly piled heaps. Bake in a hot oven for quick rising, then reduce the heat slightly for crisp, even browning. The whole baking should take about 20 minutes.
Verdict:
Pigs in Clover: In the absence of an apple corer, I bored a hole through the middle of each potato with a paring knife and stuffed with bulk sausage. I should really get an apple corer. Extremely useful for baked apples, which are delicious. Anyway, this was... good! Basically a baked potato with a vein of sausage in it. The sausage lends some flavor to the potato around it, and baked potatoes are nice anyway. The taste was improved further with some ketchup. This is an excellent way to stretch a small amount of meat a looooooooong way, and might well be a good freezer meal for lunches. Additionally, it is sort of cute. At least if you squint and use some imagination. Or Photoshop.
Look how winsome!
In place of cabbage, I used swiss chard (otherwise known as silverbeet). Swiss chard and beets are actually pretty much the same plant; chard is just bred for the tops where beets are bred for the roots. I put some nutmeg on top, as recommended, but it just made it taste weird. I don't know why I planted it, because I hate chard. I think I was lured by the pretty colors. It was in hopes that it would finally
die that I harvested such a huge pile of it, but to no avail. (Oops! Aw, I guess I accidentally hacked so much off, it just couldn't carry on! Alas, now we won't be able to eat even one more single meal with it. Shucks! Oh I could just kick myself.) It continues lush and verdant... even perky. Husband offered to make an assassination attempt of his own, with guaranteed results.
I feel Baby most appropriately expressed her feelings towards the "clover":
Honey Oatmeal Buns: If you think of these as a dessert, they are not very good. If you think of them as a biscuit (the American kind, o confused Brits), they are just fine. Little bit crumbly. Not bad though. Benefits from some jam.
