Today was a bit of a marathon in the kitchen as I was playing catch up from yesterday's debacle. To begin with, it was bread day and today I made two baguettes, one glazed poppy seed bloomer, one large floury bloomer and a quartern loaf, quite a lot but as we are having a chicken soup tomorrow we shall certainly use it up. Next on the list were Staffordshire oatcakes, a rare delicacy, the people of Derbyshire claim them but really the best ones come from Stoke on Trent in Staffordshire, from any where else they are passable, If I was to pin it down I would say that the shop in Hanley sold the best oatcakes when I was a child. Like everything else, most of the small shops were bought up by bigger companies and once you started seeing them in the supermarkets the rot had really set in. They were awful, floury tasteless travesties of the original. Luckily my father had the skill of making them and I too eventually learned how to make them. This was fortunate they can not be found north of Macclesfield or south of Stone and once you have eaten them you are a lifelong addict!
Staffordshire oatcakes
Makes about twenty five
Half a pound of strong plain flour
Half a pound of porridge oats
A large pinch of salt
One sachet of quick rise yeast
About a pint of water
Mix the flour, oats, yeast,and salt together, warm the water to blood heat and mix with the dry ingredients, you may need a little more or even a little less depending upon the quality of the flour. What you are trying to achieve is a smooth creamy consistency. Cover the mix with a cloth and leave in a warm place until it rises then knock back, stirring well with a wooden spoon. Heat a griddle or a heavy frying pan and rub a very little in a very little oil. Proceed as if you were making pancakes and cool on a wire tray. If sandwiched between sheets of greased proof paper they will keep in the freezer for a month. You can reheat them under the grill and serve them with bacon, eggs and tomatoes, or grill one side then turn and cover the other side with Cheshire cheese and grill until the cheese bubbles, some people eat them buttered, my favourite way is to eat them piping hot with runny honey all over them. The ingredients are all healthy and so little fat is used that they can be eaten even by people on low fat diets.
After making six dozen oatcakes I prepared the potatoes for herb crusted chicken, jacket wedge, fresh tomatoes and tarragon dip. The chicken carcass and giblets I fried quickly in a deep pan added about two litres of water and simmered for about five hours until a rich stock was achieved, this with some leeks, carrots, potato, and yellow split peas will make a lovely soup for tomorrows dinner, and the cat Twiggy will feast upon the scraps of meat stripped from the carcass. When I was at school this was called domestic economics.
The next job was to make an orange jelly, these have become very popular lately, at the moment I am making two two pint jellies a week. All that cooking produced a mass of washing up bouts of which punctuated the day. Pa was up late again so in the interest of getting on with my day I gave him oatcakes for lunch instead of breakfast after he had been down to the village, he did not seem to mind which is just as well as he had Hobson's choice!
The waterproof cape we ordered for use on wet buggy rides arrived today, we are now almost ready for cold wet weather as we do not intend ever to become prisoners again, it is a very dashing bright yellow which should get us noticed on dark rainy days. I have enjoyed today, busy as it has been, it is wonderful to see all the things I have made cooling on the kitchen table, I get a good deal of pleasure from such simple things these days.
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