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.

Catherine's best oatmeal pancakes

Make the batter a bit in advance if possible, to allow the oatmeal to soak up the liquid. If you are serving the pancakes with bacon and syrup for breakfast, cook the bacon in the pan first and then keep it warm while you fry the pancakes in the bacon fat that remains in the pan. You can also mix in chopped apple, apple rings or slices of banana to make fritters (very good with bacon and maple syrup!).

Ingredients

1 oz fine oatmeal
1 egg
Pinch of salt
A little milk

Method

1. Weigh up the oatmeal and put it in a large soup cup or small bowl
2. Break the egg into it, and stir to make a thick batter
3. Add a small slosh of milk (about 2tsp) and the pinch of salt.
4. Leave the batter to stand for as long as poss (five minutes is good, an hour is better, overnight is fine).
5. Add more milk to achieve the right consistency. The batter can be thickish for small griddle cake/scotch pancakes, or a bit thinner for large crepes.
6. Heat an oiled griddle or crepe pan or frying pan (or the pan left after frying bacon), and cook the pancakes. 

Serve them with bacon, fruit, yogurt and syrup for breakfast. Serve them with lemon and sugar for pancake day. Save the extras and use them as sandwich wraps. Spread them with jam, or cheese...

Cocoa and oatmeal crunchy biscuits

These are scrumptious and quick to make.

4oz /100g butter
3oz /75g sugar (vanilla sugar is good)
4oz/100g plain flour
1oz/25g cocoa powder
Vanilla essence (if not using vanilla sugar)
1oz/25g medium oatmeal (if you don't have oatmeal, you can use rolled oats chopped finely in a whizzy machine)

Cream butter and sugar, add flour, cocoa, oatmeal and vanilla and mix well with wooden spoon until you get a smooth, stiff dough.

Roll it out on a floured surface to about 1/4 inch thick, and cut out small/medium size shapes (approx 1 to 2 inch diameter). Put these on a greased baking sheet and bake at 180ºC / mark 4, for 10 mins. When out of the oven leave for a minute or two on the baking sheet and once they've hardened up a bit transfer to cooling rack.

Oatcakes (wheat-free)

20 20

Servings Size

• oatcakes
  

Yield: 20-24 oatcakes

Ingredients:

250 g medium oatmeal or 250 g rolled oats
1 pinch salt
1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 tablespoon lard or bacon fat, melted
hot water from the kettle (about 75 mi for oatmeal, about 200 ml for rolled oats)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 200C/400°F.
2. Put the oats, salt and baking soda in a bowl.
3. Make a well, pour in the lard and stirring with a wooden spoon, add in enough of the hot water to make a stiff dough.
4. Knead it for a while to make it come smoothly together, then roll out as thinly as you can.
5. Cut into triangles or rounds.
6. Bake on an ungreased baking sheet for 15-20 minutes, or until the edges are turning golden-brown and the oatcakes themselves are firm (they'll crisp up on cooling).
7. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Yoghurt liver

8oz pig's liver
2 rashers bacon
1 large tbsp plain (set) yoghurt
Flour or oatmeal

Cut pig's liver and bacon into small pieces. Roll in seasoned flour or oatmeal. Fry in hot fat 2-3 mins until done, then stir in yoghurt.

Porridge

Sunday morning porridge how Daddy makes it:

Ingredients:

for each person add the following quantities:

1 oz medium oatmeal
7 fl oz water
1/3 teaspoon salt

1. Put the oatmeal and water in a non-stick pan. Soak overnight.
2. Add the salt.
3. Bring to the boil gently and cook for 5 minutes or so.
4. Serve hot in warm bowls. Serve a jug of cold milk separately, and a selection of brown sugar, maple syrup, black treacle etc.
   

For porridge how Mummy likes it, stir a dessertspoon of plain yogurt into your bowl of porridge, and drizzle ginger syrup over. Have a small cup of cold milk alongside, into which you dip your every spoonful of hot porridge. This keeps the milk from getting hot by contact with the hot porridge.