Well,
Here we are
Wherever we are
There is now no escaping the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic
It’s affecting all of our lives
Not quite overnight
But over just a few short days
Our lives changed
And over a few long weeks our lives have changed beyond our imaginings
We have what is called the ‘new normal’
Our movements restricted
STAY HOME
Our focus is on STAYING SAFE and helping, as best we can, those around us – our family and friends, our neighbours and our community, whilst strictly adhering to SOCIAL DISTANCING
Staying safe, staying at home, is having a massive impact on work and how we work
And how we socialize and stay social
The week leading up to lockdown, I was having amazing meetings with amazing people talking about
Pendle Peat Pie
And I should be feeling so proud to announce that we have a fantastic local producer – Pimezzanae - who will make and bake and distribute Pendle Peat Pies to eateries around Pendle Hill
But my heart is laced with sadness
I am as anxious as the next person
We, as a nation, no longer have access to pubs and restaurants. They have all been forced to close and their futures lie in the balance.
The wonderful small local businesses and their staff that water and nourish us are facing truly hard times and an unknown future
THE PEAT PIE LAUNCH, planned for June, had to be postponed
Postponed till we don’t know when
But that doesn’t mean
That in the meantime
We can’t do something interesting, useful, and rewarding around food
Around Pendle
Around Lancashire
Down to earth or pie in the sky
To keep our spirits up a bit
We can begin by sharing recipes
Wholesome and homely
Downright tasty food that we love to eat
And make
And in these times of being in our homes
Staying safe
Perhaps with time on our hands
We can make and bake and nourish ourselves, and those around us
To this end, I would like to share a recipe with you
Nothing to do with peat
But a recipe that reminds me of my mum and my childhood
My mum grew up during the war
During a time of rationing and making do and making jam
She was a frugal woman and never wasted anything
Leftovers were never left
They were re-invented
There was no such thing as stale bread; there was bread that was perfect for bread sauce, or bread and butter pudding, or QUEEN OF PUDS
Queen of Puds, my favourite, a true treat
A lemony pudding base, a layer of jam and a heap of sticky meringue peaks
A luxurious luxury that I would like to share
So simple to make
And not expensive
You will need:
570ml milk
110 gms breadcrumbs made from left-over/stale bread
25 gms caster sugar for the bread base
1 small lemon
1 tsp butter
3 large eggs
6 desert spoons of raspberry jam (or any red jam)
40 gms sugar for the meringue
First, to make the breadcrumbs, either: grate the bread, rub the bread through your fingers, or break into bits and blitz in a liquidizer or food processor.
Next, in quite a large saucepan, bring the milk to the boil, remove from the heat, add the breadcrumbs, 25gms of sugar, the teaspoon of butter and the grated zest of the lemon. Leave for 30 minutes for the bread will swell.
Then, pre- heat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4
Separate the eggs – the whites from the yolks. To do this, gently crack and break the egg open over a bowl and slip the yolk of the egg from half of the shell to the other. The egg white will fall into the bowl below and you will be left with the just the yolk in one of the shell halves. Do this with all 3 eggs then lightly beat the egg yolks. Put the beaten yolks into the lemony bread mix, stir, and pour into a greased, ovenproof dish (850ml). Bake for 30 – 35 minutes until the mix is firm to the touch.
Meanwhile, heat the jam in a saucepan over a low heat. This makes it runny and easy to pour over the cooked pudding base. When the pudding base is out of the oven, pour the jam evenly over it.
Lastly, whisk the egg whites in a large bowl until they are stiff and forming peaks when you lift the whisk. Whisk in the 40gms of caster sugar and spoon the meringue mix on top of the jam layer. Make sure the meringue covers the whole of the pudding. Using the back of your spoon, gently flick up areas of the meringue to form soft, low peaks. Sprinkle the meringue topping with a teaspoon of caster sugar and bake for another 10 – 15 minutes until your Queen of Puddings is golden.
Eat hot or cold
Delicious either way
Serves 4 to 6 portions
And keeps well in the fridge if there is any left over!
We anticipate times ahead are going to get increasingly challenging.
But we’re in a great season - SPRING
And we are still allowed out for an hours exercise a day
All-be-it close to our home
Never-the-less, wherever we live nature is all around us
Rural nature and urban nature
The urban nature will be in the air and in the cracks
Birds singing above us
Insects and spiders between and underneath stones and bricks
Mosses and weeds sprouting between cracks
We can take note of the nature close to our homes
What we see
What we hear
And what we can smell
In smaller ways, we can still take advantage of the spring
In more rural settings, we may be able to get out into spaces where wild food grows, like wild garlic, which likes to grow under the shade of trees or near water
So there is opportunity to post and to share
Share our springtime observations
Share wild food recipes
Share our favourite recipes
And share our lockdown recipes
We are hoping that many people respond to this act of sharing
As we would like to collate this shared recollection of this time into a book:
In Lockdown in Springtime in Food and in Photos
(title TBC)
Keep safe
Keep social solidarity
Kerry Morrison
