Cooking by the Clock, 1944

Saving time in the kitchen is important for most of us, at least some of the time. The British wartime housewife shared the problem, if we are to believe the Food Ministry Food Facts leaflet No. 191 published in 1944, but she did not have the pizza delivery or Chinese take-away option that we have today. Even in a hurry, she had to do everything from scratch.

Cooking by the Clock.

Time is extra precious today, and wartime housewives must cook by the clock. Here are menus for six nourishing and appetizing meals, all of which can be prepared and cooked in one hour. Here too are some main dishes for lunch, supper, or high tea, none of which take more than half an hour to make.

One-Hour Meals.

Potato Soup

Tinned fish with home-made salad dressing.

Cabbage and potato stew with mashed potatoes.

Poor Knight’s Fritters.

Savoury omelette and salad.

Steamed sponge pudding in small moulds.

Vegetable stew with sausage meat dumplings.

Coffee custard.

Shepherd potatoes, carrots with parsley or watercress.

Chocolate rice pudding (top of stove.)

Minced Floddies, greens.

Padded pudding.

Made in Ten Minutes.

Savoury toast

Ingredients: 4 oz. cheese, 4 oz. parsnips, 1 tablespoon vinegar, 1 teaspoon dried mustard, 3 slices of toast.

Quantity: 3 helpings

Method: Grate cheese and parsnips and mix together.

Blend vinegar and mustard, cheese and parsnips, pile on the toast, and brown under grill.

Tips for Whirlwind Meals.

An excellent vegetable soup can be made in fifteen minutes if the vegetables are greated into the soup pot. Potatoes will cook in half the time if quartered, and the modern way of cooking green vegetables – shred, cook fast in a little boiling salt water with the lid on – is twice as quick as the old fashioned way. Jars kept filled with ready-to-use breadcrumbs, cake-crumbs, and grated cheese will help you to prepare a whirlwind meal.

Half-Hour Dishes.

Quick Potato and Leek Stew.

Ingredients: 1 lb.potatoes, 1 leek, 1 teaspoonful sage, salt and pepper, water, small piece of dripping.

Quantity: 2 helpings

Method: Slice the potatoes very thinly, wash and slice the leek. Brease the frying pan and put in the leek and potatoes in layers with sage and seasoning sprinkled between. Cover with hot water. Cover with saucepan lid or tin plate. Cook for 15 minutes. Serve with grated cheese.

Cheese and Potato Lunch   

(One of the prize-winning village recipes collected by the Women’s Institute.)

Ingredients: 1 lb. potatoes, ¼ teacup rolled oats, 1 teaspoonful dried mustard, 1 oz. margarine, ¼ teacup grated cheese, pepper and salt.

Quantity: 4 helpings.

Method: Boil the potatoes and mash with a little milk. Season with pepper and salt, and spread evenly in a sandwich tin.

While the potatoes are cooking, mix in a bowl the oats, cheese, pepper, salt, and mustard. Pour over this the margarine melted and mix to a stiff paste. Spread on top of the potatoes and cook in a hot oven for 10 minutes until a nice golden brown. Decorate with parsley.

Chinese Omelette.

Ingredients: 3 oz. finely chopped American luncheon meat or sausage meat, 2 oz. raw grated carrot or parsnip, 2 reconstituted dried eggs, 2 oz. finely chopped celery. 1 small minced onion, salt and pepper to taste.

Quantity: 4 helpings.

Method. Mix the ingredients and drop spoonfuls into hot fat. Fry till golden brown on both sides. Serve with boiled rice and thick brown gravy.