Day 1 - Vegetable Turnovers

Do you remember being a child and looking forward to Christmas with such excitement that it seemed as though the days were just inching by?  Then, all of a sudden, Christmas was upon you?  That is what it has been like for me.  I have been looking forward to day one of rationing with such excitement and anticipation, a million thoughts spinning through my mind.

Am I going to be able to make it a full 30 days?  I know I can stick with this for a week for sure but 30 days is a long time.  What if I make a recipe that uses some of my rations and it turns out truly horrible?  Oh-my-gosh!  I am so looking forward to these vegetable turnovers I keep reading about and Lord Woolton pie.  I bought some parsnips and turnip to use this week because I know they are vegetables that would have stored well in a root cellar and made it to this time of year.  I have never eaten either of them, though, and what if I think they are disgusting when I do eat them?  I can’t just eat potatoes, mushrooms, carrots, lettuce and spinach for my vegetables this week, can I?  I mean, I have seen quite a number of recipes that call for turnips and parsnips.  Will I lose any weight by eating on the ration system in the next month?  If I do, that will be nice and it will prove my point about over consumption of processed foods.  Is my husband going to think I am off my rocker for doing this?  Will anyone think I am odd if I just drink water now and save my tea rations for warmer weather?  (In my mind, I see myself sticking with this experiment for a very long time.)  I am freaking nuts to do this.  How disagreeable is it going to be cooking ration food for myself and regular food for my husband who has some strange vegetable phobia?  What if I hate it?  What if I love it?  Mmm, vegetables…and bacon…

See?  My mind is a very noisy place.  While I do have a few valid concerns, most of the thoughts rolling around in my head are just codswallop. 

At any rate, the following is a list of what I ate throughout the day on day 1 of rationing.

Breakfast:  One toasted slice of honey wheat bread with a smear of strawberry preserves.

Lunch:       Vegetable turnover with a bit of Bisto gravy (recipe for turnover is below).

Dinner:       2 slices of Spam browned in a pan, one baked potato and steamed mushrooms.

Evening:    1 slice of bread with a smear of strawberry preserves.

 

Vegetable Turnovers

Serves 4

Filling Ingredients:

3 - 4 scrubbed diced medium potatoes with skins

2 medium carrots diced

1 small onion, chopped

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Herbs to taste

 

Pastry Ingredients:

12 oz of whole wheat flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

Pinch of salt

1 ½ tablespoons margarine

1 ½ tablespoons meat drippings (can use all margarine instead of dividing)

½ cup + 2 tablespoons water

Directions:

1.       Preheat oven to 400°F.

2.       Clean and dice potatoes, carrots and parsnip.

3.       Cook potatoes, carrots and parsnip together in a pot of water until carrots and parsnip are medium soft.

4.       Sauté the onion in a small amount of drippings or margarine.

5.       Drain potato mixture well.  (The WWII woman would have saved the vegetable broth to use in other recipes!)

6.       Carefully mix the onions in with the other vegetables

7.       Season vegetables with salt, pepper and herbs to taste.

8.       Sift the flour then add salt and cut in the margarine and meat drippings.

9.       Add the water and work into a dough.  (If your dough is too dry, add water 1 tablespoon at a time.  If it is too sticky, add a bit of flour.)

10.   Divide the dough into 4 pieces and roll out each into a round on a lightly floured surface.

11.   Place pastry onto baking pan, scoop vegetable mixture into the middle of each round.

12.   Wet the edges of the pastry with water, pull one side to the other and press or fold edges together.

13.   Prick the top of each pastry with fork tines then brush with a small amount of milk.

14.   Bake at 400°F for 25 – 30 minutes or until pastry is crisp and lightly browned.

15.   Serve hot or cool.  (I like mine hot, topped with a bit of gravy.)

 

For the record, I thought that this version of the vegetable turnover was just OK.  For me, the parsnip really brought this dish down.  It turns out that I am just not a fan of the flavor or parsnips.  In the future, I will use only half of a small onion, omit the parsnip altogether and add locally grown mushrooms.  (Mmm, fungus!)  In the end, though, I ate an entire turnover which was full of fresh veg and my tummy was full.  I cannot complain about that!

What are your favorite and least favorite vegetables?