The Book of Household Management Part 161

_Time_.--Large pudding, 2-1/4 to 2-1/2 hours; half the size, 1-1/2 hour.

_Average cost_, 2s. 6d.

_Sufficient_ for 9 or 10 persons.

_Seasonable_ in winter.

[Ill.u.s.tration: RAISIN-GRAPE.]

RAISIN GRAPE.--All the kinds of raisins have much the same virtues; they are nutritive and balsamic, but they are very subject to fermentation with juices of any kind; and hence, when eaten immoderately, they often bring on colics. There are many varieties of grape used for raisins; the fruit of Valencia is that mostly dried for culinary purposes, whilst most of the table kinds are grown in Malaga, and called Muscatels. The finest of all table raisins come from Provence or Italy; the most esteemed of all are those of Roquevaire; they are very large and very sweet. This sort is rarely eaten by any but the most wealthy. The dried Malaga, or Muscatel raisins, which come to this country packed in small boxes, and nicely preserved in bunches, are variable in their quality, but mostly of a rich flavour, when new, juicy, and of a deep purple hue.

AN EXCELLENT PLUM-PUDDING, made without Eggs.

1325. INGREDIENTS.--1/2 lb. of flour, 6 oz. of raisins, 6 oz. of currants, 1/4 lb. of chopped suet, 1/4 lb. of brown sugar, 1/4 lb. of mashed carrot, 1/4 lb. of mashed potatoes, 1 tablespoonful of treacle, 1 oz. of candied lemon-peel, 1 oz. of candied citron.

_Mode_.--Mix the flour, currants, suet, and sugar well together; have ready the above proportions of mashed carrot and potato, which stir into the other ingredients; add the treacle and lemon-peel; but put no liquid in the mixture, or it will be spoiled. Tie it loosely in a cloth, or, if put in a basin, do not quite fill it, as the pudding should have room to swell, and boil it for 4 hours. Serve with brandy-sauce. This pudding is better for being mixed over-night.

_Time_.--4 hours.

_Average cost_, 1s. 6d.

_Sufficient_ for 6 or 7 persons.

_Seasonable_ in winter.

AN UNRIVALLED PLUM-PUDDING.

1326. INGREDIENTS.--1-1/2 lb. of muscatel raisins, 1-3/4 lb. of currants, 1 lb. of sultana raisins, 2 lbs. of the finest moist sugar, 2 lbs. of bread crumbs, 16 eggs, 2 lbs. of finely-chopped suet, 6 oz. of mixed candied peel, the rind of 2 lemons, 1 oz. of ground nutmeg, 1 oz.

of ground cinnamon, 1/2 oz. of pounded bitter almonds, 1/4 pint of brandy.

_Mode_.--Stone and cut up the raisins, but do not chop them; wash and dry the currants, and cut the candied peel into thin slices. Mix all the dry ingredients well together, and moisten with the eggs, which should be well beaten and strained, to the pudding; stir in the brandy, and, when all is thoroughly mixed, well b.u.t.ter and flour a stout new pudding-cloth; put in the pudding, tie it down very tightly and closely, boil from 6 to 8 hours, and serve with brandy-sauce. A few sweet almonds, blanched and cut in strips, and stuck on the pudding, ornament it prettily. This quant.i.ty may be divided and boiled in b.u.t.tered moulds.

For small families this is the most desirable way, as the above will be found to make a pudding of rather large dimensions.

_Time_.--6 to 8 hours. _Average cost_, 7s. 6d.

_Seasonable_ in winter. _Sufficient_ for 12 or 14 persons.

_Note_.--The muscatel raisins can be purchased at a cheap rate loose (not in bunches): they are then scarcely higher in price than the ordinary raisins, and impart a much richer flavour to the pudding.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SULTANA GRAPE.]

SULTANA GRAPE.--We have elsewhere stated that the small black grape grown in Corinth and the Ionian Isles is, when dried, the common currant of the grocers' shops; the white or yellow grape, grown in the same places, is somewhat larger than the black variety, and is that which produces the Sultana raisin. It has been called Sultana from its delicate qualities and unique growth: the finest are those of Smyrna. They have not sufficient flavour and sugary properties to serve alone for puddings and cakes, but they are peculiarly valuable for mixing, that is to say, for introducing in company with the richer sorts of Valencias or Muscatels. In white puddings, or cakes, too, where the whiteness must be preserved, the Sultana raisin should be used. But the greatest value of this fruit in the _cuisine_ is that of its saving labour; for it has no stones. Half Muscatels and half Sultanas are an admirable mixture for general purposes.

A PLAIN CHRISTMAS PUDDING FOR CHILDREN.

1327. INGREDIENTS.--1 lb. of flour, 1 lb. of bread crumbs, 3/4 lb. of stoned raisins, 3/4 lb. of currants, 3/4 lb. of suet, 3 or 4 eggs, milk, 2 oz. of candied peel, 1 teaspoonful of powdered allspice, 1/2 saltspoonful of salt.

_Mode_.--Let the suet be finely chopped, the raisins stoned, and the currants well washed, picked, and dried. Mix these with the other dry ingredients, and stir all well together; beat and strain the eggs to the pudding, stir these in, and add just sufficient milk to make it mix properly. Tie it up in a well-floured cloth, put it into boiling water, and boil for at least 5 hours. Serve with a sprig of holly placed in the middle of the pudding, and a little pounded sugar sprinkled over it.

_Time_.--5 hours. _Average cost_, 1s. 9d.

_Sufficient_ for 9 or 10 children. _Seasonable_ at Christmas.

RAISINS.--Raisins are grapes, prepared by suffering them to remain on the vine until they are perfectly ripe, and then drying them in the sun or by the heat of an oven. The sun-dried grapes are sweet, the oven-dried of an acid flavour. The common way of drying grapes for raisins is to tie two or three bunches of them together, whilst yet on the vine, and dip them into a hot lixivium of wood-ashes mixed with a little of the oil of olives: this disposes them to shrink and wrinkle, after which they are left on the vine three or four days, separated, on sticks in a horizontal situation, and then dried in the sun at leisure, after being cut from the tree.

CHRISTMAS PLUM-PUDDING.

(_Very Good_.)

1328. INGREDIENTS.--1-1/2 lb. of raisins, 1/2 lb. of currants, 1/2 lb.

of mixed peel, 3/4 lb. of bread crumbs, 3/4 lb. of suet, 8 eggs, 1 winegla.s.sful of brandy.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CHRISTMAS PLUM-PUDDING IN MOULD.]

_Mode_.--Stone and cut the raisins in halves, but do not chop them; wash, pick, and dry the currants, and mince the suet finely; cut the candied peel into thin slices, and grate down the bread into fine crumbs. When all these dry ingredients are prepared, mix them well together; then moisten the mixture with the eggs, which should be well beaten, and the brandy; stir well, that everything may be very thoroughly blended, and _press_ the pudding into a b.u.t.tered mould; tie it down tightly with a floured cloth, and boil for 5 or 6 hours. It may be boiled in a cloth without a mould, and will require the same time allowed for cooking. As Christmas puddings are usually made a few days before they are required for table, when the pudding is taken out of the pot, hang it up immediately, and put a plate or saucer underneath to catch the water that may drain from it. The day it is to be eaten, plunge it into boiling water, and keep it boiling for at least 2 hours; then turn it out of the mould, and serve with brandy-sauce. On Christmas-day a sprig of holly is usually placed in the middle of the pudding, and about a winegla.s.sful of brandy poured round it, which, at the moment of serving, is lighted, and the pudding thus brought to table encircled in flame.

_Time_.--5 or 6 hours the first time of boiling; 2 hours the day it is to be served.

_Average cost_, 4s.

_Sufficient_ for a quart mould for 7 or 8 persons.

_Seasonable_ on the 25th of December, and on various festive occasions till March.

_Note_.--Five or six of these puddings should be made at one time, as they will keep good for many weeks, and in cases where unexpected guests arrive, will be found an acceptable, and, as it only requires warming through, a quickly-prepared dish. Moulds of every shape and size are manufactured for these puddings, and may be purchased of Messrs. R. & J.

Slack, 336, Strand.

BRANDY is the alcoholic or spirituous portion of wine, separated from the aqueous part, the colouring matter, &c., by distillation. The word is of German origin, and in its German form, _brantuein_, signifies burnt wine, or wine that has undergone the action of fire; brandies, so called, however, have been made from potatoes, carrots, beetroot, pears, and other vegetable substances; but they are all inferior to true brandy.

Brandy is prepared in most wine countries, but that of France is the most esteemed. It is procured not only by distilling the wine itself, but also by fermenting and distilling the _marc_, or residue of the pressings of the grape. It is procured indifferently from red or white wine, and different wines yield very different proportions of it, the strongest, of course, giving the largest quant.i.ty. Brandy obtained from marc has a more acrid taste than that from wine. The celebrated brandy of Cognac, a town in the department of Charente, and that brought from Andraye, seem to owe their excellence from being made from white wine. Like other spirit, brandy is colourless when recently distilled; by mere keeping, however, owing, probably, to some change in the soluble matter contained in it, it acquires a slight colour, which is much increased by keeping in casks, and is made of the required intensity by the addition of burnt sugar or other colouring matter. What is called _British brandy_ is not, in fact, brandy, which is the name, as we have said, of a spirit distilled from _wine;_ but is a spirit made chiefly from malt spirit, with the addition of mineral acids and various flavouring ingredients, the exact composition being kept secret. It is distilled somewhat extensively in this country; real brandy scarcely at all. The brandies imported into England are chiefly from Bordeaux, Roch.e.l.le, and Cognac.

A POUND PLUM-PUDDING.

1329. INGREDIENTS.--1 lb. of suet, 1 lb. of currants, 1 lb. of stoned raisins, 8 eggs, 1/2 grated nutmeg, 2 oz. of sliced candied peel, 1 teaspoonful of ground ginger, 1/2 lb. of bread crumbs, 1/2 lb. of flour, 1/2 pint of milk.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BAKED PUDDING OR CAKE-MOULD.]

_Mode_.--Chop the suet finely; mix with it the dry ingredients; stir these well together, and add the well-beaten eggs and milk to moisten with. Beat up the mixture well, and should the above proportion of milk not be found sufficient to make it of the proper consistency, a little more should be added. Press the pudding into a mould, tie it in a floured cloth, and boil for 5 hours, or rather longer, and serve with brandy-sauce.

_Time_.--5 hours, or longer. _Average cost_, 3s.

_Sufficient_ for 7 or 8 persons. _Seasonable_ in winter.

_Note_.--The above pudding may be baked instead of boiled; it should be put into a b.u.t.tered mould or tin, and baked for about 2 hours; a smaller one would take about 1-1/4 hour.

CITRON.--The fruit of the citron-tree (_Citrus medica_) is acidulous, antiseptic, and antis...o...b..tic: it excites the appet.i.te, and stops vomiting, and, like lemon-juice, has been greatly extolled in chronic rheumatism, gout, and scurvy. Mixed with cordials, it is used as an antidote to the _machineel poison_. The candied peel is prepared in the same manner as orange or lemon-peel; that is to say, the peel is boiled in water until quite soft, and then suspended in concentrated syrup (in the cold), after which it is either dried in a current of warm air, or in a stove, at a heat not exceeding 120 Fahrenheit. The syrup must be kept fully saturated with sugar by reboiling it once or twice during the process. It may be dusted with powdered lump sugar, if necessary. The citron is supposed to be the Median, a.s.syrian, or Persian apple of the Greeks. It is described by Risso as having a majestic appearance, its s.h.i.+ning leaves and rosy flowers being succeeded by fruit whose beauty and size astonish the observer, whilst their odour gratifies his senses. In China there is an enormous variety, but the citron is cultivated in all orange-growing countries.

PLUM-PUDDING OF FRESH FRUIT.