We dove right in at the deep end on our first day, having kidney caesar salad for dinner. We actually had a rather plentiful meat ration this week; after a pre-ration barbeque while the weather was still glorious, there were a number (10) of leftover sausages, which we estimated having a cost of £4.00, and we complemented this with a couple of pig kidneys, 200g of mince beef, and a small bit of black pudding (one of Paul's favourites), bringing us up to around the £6.50 mark.
So, kidney caesar salad: this basically consisted of sliced kidney, mushrooms and onions, fried in a little cooking oil, garlic and worcester sauce, and then strewn over a plateful of round lettuce and given a dash or two of caesar salad dressing, which we had left over and is now, sadly, gone. Despite the rather unpleasant smell - akin to a portable toilet at Glastonbury - that filled our kitchen as the kidneys were frying, this was a really tasty meal. I can appreciate that the texture of kidneys wouldn't be for everyone, but I found it quite dense and smooth with a really deep flavour, with which the caesar dressing worked surprisingly well. Paul is an avowed fan of kidneys, although I suspect this has a lot to do with the images of James Joyce they help him to conjure, and he didn't seem to mind the smell at all, so I'll leave the kidney cooking to him in future. Rhubarb crumble for pudding also made a dent in the sugar allowance.
The following two days we had variations on the theme of sausage and mash; firstly, a classic version, with carrots and gravy, then a Jamie Oliver inspired recipe of roast sausage and tomatoes, with potato and swede mash, which was a truly magnificent way to satisfy our by now very hungry bellies. Paul's not big on breakfast and lunch generally, but I had been finding it quite difficult to get through the day on a couple of bits of bread with jam and the odd apple. So, the warm mountain of comforting sausage and mash with sweet tomato juices was incredibly satisfying.
We took a break from the meat on Wednesday, with a steamed trout, which Paul caught with his own bare hands, a fishing rod, reel, line etc etc etc, a few runner beans and mashed cabbage. The next night, I had to stay late at the university so I resolved to struggle through on the bread, jam and apple diet, although I did succumb to a couple of biscuits that were floating around the office, leftover from the History PG conference we had last week. I worked very hard organising the conference so I feel justified in enjoying the spoils every once in a while. Paul, meanwhile, had a much-coveted bacon sandwich, taking care to save a suitable number of rashers for our Saturday morning sarnie.
Friday's dinner was my legendary lasagne, which used up the last of our margarine, the last four pasta sheets that will pass our lips until this experiment is over, and the mince, which we stretched out by adding more than usual of grated carrot, chopped onion, and a courgette, which are just coming into season, though our own courgette plant is still in its infancy. Perhaps unwisely, we had a very naughty bacon AND egg sandwich each for our breakfast on Saturday morning. With hindsight, we probably should have saved the eggs for Sunday brunch or something, but it set us up well for an afternoon spent watching the rugby in the pub. This is one area we're unsure of quite what we're allowed to do and it warrants further investigation - to pub or not to pub during World War Two? My instincts, as a historian who studies all things related to alcohol in Latin America, tell me that the pub was an important social gathering place in wartime Britain, probably more so for men than for women, although it is difficult to know how much booze was being consumed. Presumably money was tight for most people, but then beer was a lot cheaper in those days, and I assume largely locally produced and distributed too. Until we find out more (and pointers from anyone would be extremely welcome), we'll stick to the homebrew at home, and at the pub, we'll only order locally produced stuff that hasn't been anywhere near an import-export office. Which is a shame, as I am quite partial to a nice San Miguel...
Anyway, back to the week's menu: after our extended stay in the pub, we made pizza with mushrooms, tomatoes, onions and basil, and the last of our cheddar. Knowing we would be starving when we got home from the pub, I cunningly made the pizza dough earlier in the afternoon so it would be ready to go. And that brings the first seven days to a close!
Next week's menu is scheduled to include ox heart and pig liver... I might dig the camera out for those ones!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment