Enquire Within Upon Everything Part 166

[REVENGE IS THE ONLY DEBT WHICH IS WRONG TO PAY.]

2125. White Currant Jelly.

White currant jelly is made in the same way as red currant jelly, only double refined sugar should be used, and it should not be boiled above ten minutes. White currant jelly should be put through a lawn sieve.

2126. Another Receipt for White Currant Jelly.

After the fruit is stripped from the stalks, put it into the pan, and when it boils, run it quickly through a sieve: take a pound of sugar to each pint of juice, and let it boil twenty minutes.

2127. Black Currant Jelly.

To each pound of picked fruit allow one gill of water; set them on the fire in the preserving-pan to scald, but do not let them boil; bruise them well with a silver fork, or wooden beater; take them oft and squeeze them through a hair sieve, and to every pint of juice allow a pound of loaf or raw sugar; boil it ten minutes.

2128. Apricot Jelly.

Divide two dozen ripe apricots into halves, pound half of the kernels in a gill of water, and a teaspoonful of lemon juice; reduce the fruit to a pulp, and mix the kernels with it; put the whole into a stewpan with a pound of sugar, boil thoroughly, skim till clear, and put into small pots.

2129. Ox-heel Jelly.

Ox-heel Jelly is made in the same way as Calves' Feet Jelly (_See par._ 2132).

2130. Arrowroot Jelly.

A tablespoonful of arrow-root, and cold water to form a paste; add a pint of boiling water; stir briskly, boil for a few minutes. A little sherry and sugar may be added. For infants, a drop or two of the essence of caraway seed or cinnamon is preferable.

2131. An Excellent Jelly.

(_For the Sick room._)--Take rice, sago, pearl-barley, hartshorn shavings, each one ounce; simmer with three pints of water to one, and strain it. When cold, it will be a jelly, which give, dissolved in wine, milk, or broth, in change with the other nourishment.

2132. Calves' Feet Jelly.

It is better to buy the feet of the butcher, than at the tripe-shop ready boiled, because the best portion of the jelly has been extracted. Slit them in two, and take every particle of fat from the claws; wash well in warm water, put them in a large stewpan, and cover with water; skim well, and let them boil gently for six or seven hours, until reduced to about two quarts, then strain and skim off any oily substance on the surface. It is best to boil the feet the day before making the jelly, as, when the liquor is cold, the oily part being at the top, and the other being firm, with pieces of blotting paper applied to it, you may remove every particle of the oily substance without wasting the liquor. Put the liquor in a stewpan to melt, with a pound of lump sugar, the peel of two lemons, and the juice of six, six whites and sh.e.l.ls of eggs beat together, and a bottle of sherry or Madeira; whisk the whole together until it is on the boil, then put it by the side of the stove, and let it simmer a quarter of an hour; strain it through a jelly-bag: what is strained first must be poured into the bag again, until it is as bright and clear as distilled water; then put the jelly in moulds, to be cold and firm; if the weather is too warm, it requires some ice or some of Nelson's gelatine.

If required to be very stiff, half an ounce of isingla.s.s may be added when the wine is put in. It may be flavoured by the juice of various fruits and spices, &c., and coloured with saffron, cochineal, the juice of beetroot, spinach juice, claret, &c. It is sometimes made with cherry brandy, red noyeau, curacao, or essence of punch.

2133. Orange Marmalade.

Select the largest Seville oranges, as they usually contain the greatest quant.i.ty of juice, and take those that have clear skins, as the skins form the largest part of the marmalade. Weigh the oranges, and weigh also an equal quant.i.ty of loaf sugar. Peel the oranges, dividing the peel of each into quarters, and put them into a preserving-pan; cover them well with water, and set them on the fire to boil. In the meantime prepare your oranges; divide them into gores, then sc.r.a.pe with a teaspoon all the pulp from the white skin; or, instead of peeling the oranges, cut a hole in the orange and scoop out the pulp: remove carefully all the pips, of which there are innumerable small ones in the Seville orange, which will escape observation unless they are very minutely examined. Have a large basin near you with some cold water in it, to throw the pips and peels into--a pint is sufficient for a dozen oranges.

Boil these in the water, and having strained off the glutinous matter which comes from them, add it to the other parts. When the peels have boiled till they are sufficiently tender to admit of a fork being stuck into them, sc.r.a.pe away all the pith from the inside of them; lay them in folds, and cut them into thin slices of about an inch long.

Clarify the sugar; then throw the peels and pulp into it, stir it well, and let it boil for half an hour. Then remove it from the fire, and when it becomes cool, put it by in pots. Marmalade should be made at the end of March, or at the beginning of April, as Seville oranges are then in their best state.

2134. Apple Marmalade.

Peel and core two pounds of sub-acid apples--Wellingtons are excellent for the purpose--and put them in an enamelled saucepan with one pint of sweet cider, or half a pint of pure wine, and one pound of crushed sugar. Cook them by a gentle heat three hours, or longer, until the fruit is very soft, then squeeze it first through a cullender and then through a sieve. If not sufficiently sweet, add powdered sugar to taste, and put away in jars made air-tight by covering them with a piece of wet bladder.

2135. Plum, Green-gage, or Apricot Jam

After taking away the stones from the fruit, and cutting out any blemishes, put them over a slow fire, in a clean stewpan, with half a pint of water, and when scalded, rub them through a hair sieve. To every pound of pulp put one pound of sifted loaf sugar, put it into a preserving pan over a brisk fire, and when it boils skim it well, and throw in the kernels of the apricots and half an ounce of bitter almonds, blanched. Then boil it fast for a quarter of an hour longer, stirring it all the time. Store away in pots in the usual manner.

2136. Almond Flavour.

(ESSENCE OF PEACH KERNELS--QUINTESSENCE OF NOYEAU.)--Dissolve one ounce of essential oil of bitter almonds in one pint of spirit of wine. Use it as flavouring for cordials and pastry. _In large quant.i.ties is exceedingly poisonous_. A few drops only should be used to several pounds of syrups, pastry, &c. This and other flavourings may be bought in small bottles, ready for use, of grocers or oilmen.

2137. Syrup of Orange or Lemon Peel.

Of fresh outer rind of Seville orange or lemon-peel, three ounces, apothecaries' weight; boiling water, a pint and a half; infuse the peel for a night in a close vessel; then strain the liquor; let it stand to settle; and having poured it off clear from the sediment, dissolve in it two pounds of double refined loaf sugar, and make it into a syrup with a gentle heat.

[PRIDE COSTS MORE THAN HUNGER, THIRST, OR COLD.]

2138. Indian Syrup.

(A delicious summer drink.) Five pounds of lump sugar, two ounces of citric acid, a gallon of boiling water: when cold add half a drachm of essence of lemon and half a drachm of spirit of wine; stir it well and bottle it. About two tablespoonfuls to a gla.s.s of cold water.

2139. Apples in Syrup for Immediate Use.

Pare and core some hard round apples, throwing them into a basin of water as each is peeled. Clarify as much loaf sugar as will cover them; put the apples in water with the juice and rind of a lemon, and let them simmer till they are quite clear; great care must be taken not to break them. Place them on the dish they are to appear upon at table, and pour the syrup over.

2140. Pounding Almonds.

The almonds should be dried for a few days after being blanched. Set them in a warm place, strewn singly over a dish or tin. A little powdered lump sugar will a.s.sist the pounding. They may be first chopped small, and rolled with a rolling pin.--Almond Paste may be made in the same manner.

2141. Blanched Almonds.

Put the almonds into cold water, and heat them slowly to scalding; then take them out and peel them quickly, throwing them into cold water as they are done. Dry them in a cloth before serving.

2142. Freezing without Ice or Acids.