Staffordshire oatcakes

Ingredients

8 oz fine or medium oatmeal
8 oz wheat flour (or some non-wheat flour)
1 tsp salt
1 x 7g sachet of dried yeast or 1 oz fresh yeast
3/4 pint warm water
3/4 pint warm milk

Method

1. Mix the oatmeal and flour together.
2. Mix in the dried yeast (or rub in the fresh yeast).
3. Gradually add the liquids and make a smooth batter.
4. Cover the bowl and leave in a warm place for an hour, or cooler overnight.
5. Heat a pancake pan, greasy with bacon fat from frying the bacon.
6.  Use a ladle to pour in batter and spread to about 9 or 10 inches diameter.
7. Flip it over when the bubbles on top burst and the top is set.
8. Finished cakes should be soft, not crisp.
9. Serve with bacon and the rest of a cooked breakfast, or topped with melted cheese etc.

Buckwheat dropscones (blini)

Written up in ounces (not grams as on the stooopid flour packet) because the quantities make better sense.

1 egg
1/4 pint of milk
3 oz buckwheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
oil for frying

Mix eggs and milk in the blender. Add the flour and other dry ingredients and blend till frothy.

Fry small spoonfuls in a little hot oil in a frying pan or on a griddle. Turn and cook the other side. Eat hot with maple syrup and fruit or bacon, or use cold for canapés.

Cottage Cheese Griddle Cakes

Ingredients:

1 tbsp melted butter
4 oz (100 g) cottage cheese
2 eggs
2 oz (50 g) Self raising flour
1 tbsp milk

1. Add the melted butter to the cottage cheese and gradually whisk in the eggs (a hand whisk or fork is fine for this).
2. Stir in the flour and milk, and mix to a smooth thick batter.
3. Grease the griddle or frying pan.
   
4. Heat the griddle or frying pan.
5. Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto the griddle. Turn them over with a wooden spatula or with a knife and wooden spoon. They should be golden on both sides by the end.
6. Serve freshly cooked with crisp hot bacon, honey, jam or jelly.

"These scones are very light and digestible, and particularly good for anyone who does not want much starch in his diet."

English Muffins

1 lb flour
1 tsp salt

half an ounce of fresh yeast
1 tsp sugar

1 oz butter
1 egg at room temperature
8 fl oz milk

1. Put the yeast into a cup and add the sugar. Stir them together a bit and then leave them to get excited.
   
2. Weigh up the flour into a large bowl and add the salt.
3. Rub the butter into the flour.
4. Measure up the milk in a measuring jug and warm it in the microwave to a bit more than lukewarm.
5. Add the egg to the warm milk and beat them. If the liquid now measures less than half a pint add a little more milk to make it half a pint.
6. Add this liquid, together with the now excited and liquified yeast mixture, to the flour and mix well together. Get your hands in and knead it to a soft and smooth dough.
7. Leave the ball of dough in the bowl and put the whole bowl in a plastic bag. Leave it somewhere warm to prove for an hour.
8. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to about half an inch thick. Cut out muffin sized rounds with the largest pastry cutter or a large tumbler.
9. Heat the griddle to a good heat and bake the muffins on the griddle for at least 10 minutes each side. NB they are horrid if undercooked! Make sure the griddle is hot before you start.
   

Serve hot, or cool them on a wire rack and then split them and toast them to serve hot with butter and cheese or jam.

Bannock

A simple and quick bread ready in no time.

Ingredients:

1 lb of flour (see below for what kind)
1 tsp of baking powder (see below for alternative raising agents)
1 tsp salt
Milk

1. Put the dry ingredients in a bowl.
2. Mix quickly with milk to make a soft dough.
3. Divide into two, and form into two balls.
4. Flatten the ball to make a round about 8 inches across and half an inch thick. If you use a rolling pin this helps to make it flat enough to cook evenly when it's upside down.
5. Cook it on a hot griddle for about 5 minutes each side.
6. Do the same for the other one.

This makes a heavy flat bread, more digestible if eaten when no longer piping hot. Serve with butter and cheese, or just butter (better with savoury than sweet).

What flour? Plain white wheat flour, strong white bread flour, or wholemeal flour, or any mixture of these, are all fine. Possibly if you used self-raising flour you could do it without any baking powder. For a genuine Orkney bannock it should include all or at least half barley flour or beremeal.

What raising agent? A single teaspoon of baking powder makes a thin heavy bannock. Most recipes advise 1 tsp of bicarbonate of soda and 2 tsp of cream of tartar: this makes a more spongy bread, but there's a danger it can taste too much of soda. I believe you can also use yeast.

Milk or water? I haven't tried it with water yet, but I'm sure it's fine. I think that's what the authentic expert Jim Davidson from Papay said ("non o' that milk an' what-ave yae").