The Virginia Housewife Part 25

STRAWBERRY JAM.

Is made in the same manner as the raspberry, and is very fine to mix with cream for blanc mange, puffs, sweet-meat puddings, &c. &c.

GOOSEBERRIES.

Select young gooseberries, make a syrup with one pound of loaf sugar to each of fruit; stew them till quite clear and the syrup becomes thick, but do not let them be mashed. They are excellent made into tarts--do not cover the pan while they are stewing.

APRICOTS IN BRANDY.

Take freshly gathered apricots not too ripe; to half their weight of loaf sugar, add as much water as will cover the fruit; boil and skim it: then put in the apricots, and let them remain five or six minutes: take them up without syrup, and lay them on dishes to cool; boil the syrup till reduced one half; when the apricots are cold, put them in bottles, and cover them with equal quant.i.ties of syrup and French brandy. If the apricots be cling-stones, they will require more scalding.

PEACHES IN BRANDY.

Get yellow soft peaches, perfectly free from defect and newly gathered, but not too ripe; place them in a pot, and cover them with cold weak lye; turn over those that float frequently, that the lye may act equally on them; at the end of an hour take them out, wipe them carefully with a soft cloth to get off the down and skin, and lay them in cold water; make a syrup as for the apricots, and proceed in the same manner, only scald the peaches more.

CHERRIES IN BRANDY.

Get the short stemmed bright red cherries in bunches--make a syrup, with equal quant.i.ties of sugar and cherries; scald the cherries, but do not let the skins crack, which they will do if the fruit be too ripe.

MAGNUM BONUM PLUMS IN BRANDY.

Select those that are free from blemish--make a syrup with half their weight of sugar, and preserve them in the same manner directed for apricots--green gages. The large amber, and the blue plums, are also excellent, done in the same way.

PICKLING.

LEMON PICKLE.

Grate the yellow rind from two dozen fine fresh lemons, quarter them but leave them whole at the bottom; sprinkle salt on them, and put them in the sun every day until dry; then brush off the salt, put them in a pot with one ounce of nutmegs, and one of mace pounded; a large handful of horse radish sc.r.a.ped and dried two dozen cloves of garlic, and a pint of mustard seed; pour on one gallon of strong vinegar, tie the pot close, put a board on, and let it stand three months--strain it, and when perfectly clear, bottle it.

TOMATO CATSUP.

Gather a peck of tomatos, pick out the stems, and wash them; put them on the fire without water, sprinkle on a few spoonsful of salt, let them boil steadily an hour, stirring them frequently; strain them through a colander, and then through a sieve; put the liquid on the fire with half a pint of chopped onions, half a quarter of an ounce of mace broke into small pieces; and if not sufficiently salt, add a little more--one table-spoonful of whole black pepper; boil all together until just enough to fill two bottles; cork it tight. Make it in August, in dry weather.

TOMATO MARMALADE.

Gather full grown tomatos while quite green; take out the stems, and stew them till soft; rub them through a sieve, put the pulp on the fire seasoned highly with pepper, salt, and pounded cloves; add some garlic, and stew all together till thick: it keeps well, and is excellent for seasoning gravies, &c. &c.

TOMATO SWEET MARMALADE.

Prepare it in the same manner, mix some loaf sugar with the pulp, and stew until it is a stiff jelly.

TOMATO SOY.

Take a bushel of full ripe tomatos, cut them in slices without skinning--sprinkle the bottom of a large tub with salt, strew in the tomatos, and over each layer of about two inches thick, sprinkle half a pint of salt, and three onions sliced without taking off the skins.

When the bushel of tomatos is thus prepared, let them remain for _three_ days, then put them into a large iron pot, in which they must boil from early in the morning till night, constantly stirring to prevent their sticking and mas.h.i.+ng them.

The next morning, pa.s.s the mixture through a sieve, pressing it to obtain all the liquor you can; and add to it one ounce of cloves, quarter of a pound of allspice, quarter of a pound of whole black pepper, and a small wine gla.s.s of Cayenne; let it boil slowly and constantly during the whole of the day--in the evening, put it into a suitable vessel to cool; and the day after, bottle and cork it well: place it in a cool situation during warm weather, and it will keep for many years, provided it has been boiled very slowly and sufficiently in the preparation. Should it ferment it must be boiled a second time.

PEPPER VINEGAR.

Get one dozen pods of pepper when ripe, take out the stems, and cut them in two; put them in a kettle with three pints of vinegar, boil it away to one quart, and strain it through a sieve. A little of this is excellent in gravy of every kind, and gives a flavour greatly superior to black pepper; it is also very fine when added to each of the various catsups for fish sauce.

MUSHROOM CATSUP.

Take the flaps of the proper mushrooms from the stems--wash them, add some salt, and crush them; then boil them some time, strain them through a cloth, put them on the fire again with salt to your taste, a few cloves of garlic, and a quarter of an ounce of cloves pounded, to a peck of mushrooms; boil it till reduced to less than half the original quant.i.ty--bottle and cork it well.

TARRAGON OR ASTRAGON VINEGAR.

Pick the tarragon nicely from the stem, let it lie in a dry place forty-eight hours; put it in a pitcher, and to one quart of the leaves put three pints of strong vinegar; cover it close, and let it stand a week--then strain it, and after standing in the pitcher till quite clear, bottle it, and cork it closely.

CURRY POWDER.

One ounce turmeric, one do. coriander seed, one do. c.u.mmin seed, one do.

white ginger, one of nutmeg, one of mace, and one of Cayenne pepper; pound all together, and pa.s.s them through a line sieve; bottle and cork it well--one tea-spoonful is sufficient to season any made dish.

TO PICKLE CUc.u.mBERS.

Gather them full grown, but quite young--take off the green rind, and slice them tolerably thick; put a layer in a deep dish, strew over it some chopped onion and salt; do this until they are all in; sprinkle salt on the top, let them stand six hours, put them in a colander--when all the liquor has run off, put them in a pot; strew a little cayenne pepper over each layer, and cover them with strong cold vinegar; when the pot is full, pour on some sweet oil, and tie it, up close; at the end of a fortnight, pour off the first vinegar, and put on fresh.