The Lady's Own Cookery Book, and New Dinner-Table Directory Part 81

_Barberries._ No. 4.

Put into a jar some maiden barberries, with a good quant.i.ty of salt; tie on a bladder, and when the liquor sc.u.ms change it.

_Beet-root._

Beet-root must be boiled in strong salt and water, to which add a pint of vinegar and a little cochineal. When boiled enough, take it off the fire, and keep it in the liquor in which it has been boiled. It makes a pretty garnish for a dish of fish, and is not unpleasant to eat.

_Another._

Boil the root till tender, peel it, and, if you think proper, cut it into shapes. Pour over it a hot pickle of white wine vinegar, horseradish, a little ginger, and pepper.

_Beet-root and Turnips._

Boil your beet-root in salt and water, with a little cochineal and vinegar; when half boiled, put in your turnips pared; when they are done enough, take them off, and keep them in the same liquor in which they were boiled.

_Cabbage._

Shave the cabbage into long slips, or, if you like, cut it in quarters.

Scald it in salt and water for about four minutes; then take it out, and let it cool. Boil some vinegar, salt, ginger, whole pepper, and mace; after boiling and skimming it, let it get cold, and then put in your cabbage, which, if covered down presently, will keep white.

_Red Cabbage._ No. 1.

Slice the cabbage very fine crosswise, put it on an earthen dish, sprinkle a handful of salt over it, cover it with another dish, and let it stand twenty-four hours. Then put it in a colander to drain, and lay it in your jar; take white wine vinegar enough to cover it, a little cloves, mace, and allspice. Put them in whole with one pennyworth of cochineal, bruised fine; boil it up, and put it over the cabbage, hot, or cold, which you like best. Cover it close with a cloth till it is cold, and then tie it over with leather.

_Red Cabbage._ No. 2.

Slice the cabbage into a colander, sprinkle each layer with salt, let it drain two days; then put it into wide-mouthed bottles, pour on it boiling vinegar, sufficient to cover it, and add a few slices of beet-root. Cover the bottle with bladder.

_Red Cabbage._ No. 3.

Take a firm cabbage cut in quarters; slice it; boil your vinegar with ginger and pepper; let it stand till cold; then pour it over your cabbage, and tie it down. It will be fit for use in three weeks.

_Capers._

Capers are the produce of, a small shrub, but preserved in pickle, and are grown in some parts of England, but they come chiefly from the neighbourhood of Toulon, the produce of which is considered the finest of any in Europe. The buds are gathered from the blossom before they open, and then spread on the floor, where the sun cannot reach them, and there they are left till they begin to wither; they are then thrown into sharp vinegar, and in about three days bay salt is added in proper quant.i.ty, and when this is dissolved they are fit for packing for sale, and sent all over the world.

_Capsic.u.m._

Let the pods be gathered with the stalks on before they turn red, and with a penknife cut a slit down the side, and take out all the seed, but as little of the meat as possible. Lay them in strong brine for three days, changing the brine every day. Take them out, lay them on a cloth, and another over them. Boil the liquor, put into it some mace and nutmeg beaten small; put the pods into a jar; when the liquor is cold, pour it over them, and tie down with a bladder and leather.

_Cauliflower._

Cut from the closest and whitest heads pieces about the length of your finger, and boil them in a cloth with milk and water, but not till tender. Take them out very carefully, and let them stand till cold. With the best white wine vinegar boil nutmeg, cut into quarters, mace, cloves, a little whole pepper, and a bay-leaf, and let it remain till cold. Pour this into the jar to your cauliflower, and in three or four days it will be ready for use.

_Another way._

Having cut the flower in bunches, throw them for a minute into boiling salt and water, and then into cold spring water. Drain and dry them; cover with double-distilled vinegar; in a week put fresh vinegar, with a little mace and nutmeg, covering down close.

_Clove Gilliflower, or any other Flower, for Salads._

Put an equal weight of the flowers and of sugar, fill up with white wine vinegar, and to every pint of vinegar put a pound of sugar.

_Codlings._

The codlings should be the size of large walnuts; put vine leaves in the bottom of your pan, and lay in the codlings, covering with leaves and then with water; set them over a gentle fire till they may be peeled; then peel and put them into the water, with vine leaves at top and bottom, covering them close; set them over a slow fire till they become green, and, when they are cold, take off the end whole, cutting it round with a small knife; scoop out the core, fill the apple with garlic and mustard seed, put on the bit, and set that end uppermost in the pickle, which must be double-distilled vinegar cold, with mace and cloves.

_Cuc.u.mbers._ No. 1.

Gather young cuc.u.mbers, commonly called gherkins--the small long sort are considered the best--wipe them very clean with a cloth; boil some salt and water, and pour over them; keep them close covered. Repeat this every day till they are green, putting fresh water every other day: let them stand near the fire, just to keep warm; the brine must be strong enough to bear an egg. When they are green, boil some white wine vinegar, pour it over them, put some mace in with them, and cover them with leather. It is better to put the salt and water to them once only, and they should be boiled up over the fire, in the vinegar, in a bell-metal kettle, with some vine leaves over, to green them. A bra.s.s kettle will not hurt, if very clean, and the cuc.u.mbers are turned out of it as soon as off the fire.

_Cuc.u.mbers._ No. 2.

In a large earthen pan mix spring water and salt well together, taking two pounds of salt to every gallon of water. Throw in your cuc.u.mbers, wash them well, and let them remain for twelve hours; then drain and wipe them very dry, and put them into a jar. Put into a bell-metal pot a gallon of the best white wine vinegar, half an ounce of cloves and of mace, one ounce of allspice, one ounce of mustard-seed, a stick of horseradish sliced, six bay-leaves, a little dill, two or three races of ginger, a nutmeg cut in pieces, and a handful of salt. Boil all together, and pour it over the cuc.u.mbers. Cover them close down, and let them stand twenty-four hours, then pour off the vinegar from them, boil it, pour it over them again, and cover them close: repeat this process every day till they are green. Then tie them down with bladder and leather; set them in a cool dry place, and they will keep for three or four years. Beans may be pickled in the same manner.

_Cuc.u.mbers._ No. 3.

Wipe the cuc.u.mbers clean with a coa.r.s.e cloth, and put them into a jar.

Take some vinegar, into which put pepper, ginger, cloves, and a handful of salt. Pour it boiling hot over the cuc.u.mbers, and smother them with a flannel: let them stand a fortnight; then take off the pickle, and boil it again. Pour it boiling on the cuc.u.mbers, and smother them as before.

The pickle should be boiled in a bell-metal skillet. With two thousand cuc.u.mbers put into the pot about a pennyworth of Roman vitriol.

_Large Cuc.u.mbers, Mango of._

Take a cuc.u.mber, cut out a slip from the side, taking out the seeds, but be careful to let as much of the meat remain as you can. Bruise mustard seed, a clove of garlic, some bits of horseradish, slices of ginger, and put in all these. Tie the piece on again, and make a pickle of vinegar, whole pepper, salt, mace, and cloves: boil it, and pour it on the mangoes, and continue this for nine days together. When cold, cover them down with leather.

_Another._

Sc.r.a.pe out the core and seed, filling them with whole pepper, a clove of garlic, and other spice. Put them into salt and water, covered close up, for twenty-four hours; then drain and wipe them dry. Boil as much vinegar with spice as will cover them, and pour it on them scalding hot.

_Cuc.u.mbers sliced._