'Willpower & sheer idiocy combine in harmony'
Nelly Yeoman's 'Pan Yan' pickle & Gran's soda bread
Nelly Yeoman's 'Pan Yan' Pickle
RECIPE contributed by Bev Glover, of Hartlepool, as taught to her by her gran Nelly Yeoman (1907-1985).
Bev's kindly supplied a photo of her grandmother, Tryphena Helen King (aka Nelly Yeoman), as a little girl - the one at the front.
Her uncle, Joe Currell, is holding the horse's head and they are standing in the Hartlepool dairy yard where he worked.
1 large cauliflower
1lb white onions
1 cucumber
1 large marrow (or four courgettes)
4 pints vinegar (pickling or white vinegar - malt makes it a darker colour)
1oz turmeric
2 tbsp dried English mustard
3oz cornflour
2lb 9oz sugar (this is quite a sweet pickle, add more depending on the vinegar strength)
1.5 tbsp salt
1oz pickling spice (tied in a muslin cloth or old/clean stocking)
THE night before making, cut or dice all of the veg into 1/4" cubes/small florettes into a bowl. Sprinkle with the salt, cover and leave overnight (at least 12 hours).
The next day, rinse off the salt and put all the veg in a large heavy-based stock pot or jam pan with the vinegar and sugar.
Add the pickling spices in the muslin, tied so nothing escapes. Bring everything to the boil, stirring regularly so the sugar dissolves, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook until everything is tender but not over-soft.
Meanwhile mix the turmeric, mustard powder and cornflour in a small bowl with a bit of water until it forms a cream-like consistency. Make sure the tumeric doesn't clump.
Add this mixture to the pan, stirring gently until the vinegar begins to thicken.
Spoon the cooked pickle into hot sterilised jars, add a circle of greaseproof paper to the top and then seal with a lid or cover.
Note: This pickle does thicken further as it cools. However, if it is too runny return it all to a pan, bring to the boil, add another ounce of cornflour in a bit of water, and then bottle in sterilised jars as before.
Soda bread (Polly Watson nee Hogg's recipe)
BEFORE sourdough bread and all its rustic variants became fashionable (and pricey), ordinary working-class housewives had to make do and mend with what they had.
This recipe comes via my mam from my gran (her mother-in-law), who died just before I was eight.
1lb plain flour
half level teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 level teaspoon baking powder
1 level teaspoon salt
Approx half pint sour milk (milk + 1 tablespoon lemon juice) or buttermilk
Sieve dry ingredients together.
Mix enough milk to give a soft, but not sticky dough.
Turn on to a lightly-floured board and shape into an 8" round cake with a shallow cross cut into the top.
Turn on to a baking sheet and bake in a preheated oven at Gas mark 6, 400 degrees F or 200 degrees C for 30-35 minutes.
*Serve warm with butter for tea.
*These are my mother's instructions on a much-yellowed bit of paper in her old recipe collection.
There's no yeast in this bread - the bicarb and baking powder do the rising.
Although many people wil be familiar with Irish soda bread, we have no Irish relatives, so I guess this one came from north of the border, where we have many Scottish ancestors.
Soda bread with sun-dried tomato & rosemary
SUN-DRIED tomatoes wouldn't be found in my gran's store cupboard, but here's a few additions that bring soda bread into the 'posh artisan bread' category. (I doubled the recipe to make the two loaves above and dimpled the surface instead of cutting a cross into it.)
When you've mixed the ingredients into a soft dough, add 2oz (50g) of chopped sundried tomatoes, patted dry from their oil if in a jar.
Add half a tablespoon of fresh rosemary (half that if using dried) and then knead until combined.
When shaped into the 8" round, brush the top with olive oil from the sun-dried tomato jar (or ordinary will do), then sprinkle over some rosemary and sea salt. Bake as the ordinary recipe.
The result is similar to focaccia, but without the hassle of dough rising.
MY paternal grandparents, George and Polly Watson (nee Hogg), on holiday at Butlins - or was it Pontins? - in the late 1960s.
They were terrific dancers in their day - when the Tyne Bridge was opened in October 1928, there was a dancing competition. East contestant had their heels chalked and couples had to dance from one end to the other - without their heels touching the ground.
My grandparents won and were presented to King George V, who opened the bridge. Quite an achievement!