Domestic Cookery, Useful Receipts, and Hints to Young Housekeepers by Elizabeth E. Lea
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CORDIALS, WINES, VINEGAR, PICKLES, ETC.
Peach Cordial.
Put a gallon of peach brandy into a wide-mouthed vessel, and five pounds
of fine flavored peaches, cut from the stone; boil five pints of water
with two pounds of loaf-sugar and a pound of peaches, till it is a clear
and rich syrup; pour this boiling hot on the brandy and stir it well;
put in two dozen peach kernels, blanched and pounded, and a little mace;
let it stand three weeks covered tight--at the end of which time, bottle
it for use. It is a nice seasoning for cake.
Quince Cordial.
Grate the quinces and strain them; to every quart of juice, put a pound
of loaf-sugar and a pint of spirits; boil, strain and bottle it.
Cherry Cordial.
Mash and strain the cherries, boil the juice, and to a gallon, put two
pounds of sugar, and half a pint of spirits; the sugar should be boiled
in it; skim and strain; when cold, bottle it.
Lemon Brandy.
Have a bottle three-quarters full of brandy; when you use lemons for
other purposes, pare off the yellow skin very thin, cut it small and
drop it in the bottle, till you get it full. Be careful not to put in
any of the tough white part, as that will give it a bitter taste; cork
the bottle and keep it to season cakes and puddings.
Rose Brandy.
Fill a large bottle with damask rose leaves, picked while they are
fresh; fill the bottle with brandy, or good spirits of any kind; cork it
tightly and set it away for use. It will bear filling up several times.
Blackberry Cordial.
Mash and strain the blackberries; put the juice on to boil in a brass or
bell-metal kettle; skim it well, and to each gallon of juice put three
pounds of sugar and a quart of spirits; bruise some cloves and put in.
This is valuable as a medicine for children in summer.
Rose Water.
Gather the damask rose leaves; have a tin pan that will fit under your
warming-pan; wring a thin towel out of water, spread it over the pan,
and put rose leaves on this about two inches thick; put another wet
towel on top of the leaves, and three or four thicknesses of paper on
it; put hot embers in the warming-pan, and set it on top of the paper,
propped up so as not to fall; when you renew the coals, sprinkle the
towel that is at the top of the rose leaves; when all the strength is
out of the leaves, they will be in a cake; dry this, and put it in your
drawers to scent the clothes; put another set of leaves in, sprinkle
the towels, and so till you have used up all your rose leaves. Rose
water is a very nice seasoning for cake or pudding; it should be kept
corked tightly.
Cologne.
Put into a bottle half an ounce of oil of lavender, one drachm of oil of
rosemary, two of essence of lemon, two of essence of bergamot, forty
drops of oil of cinnamon, and a little musk, if you like it; pour on it
three pints of best alcohol.
Blackberry Wine.
Gather the fruit when fully ripe, but before the sun has had time to
dry the juice; put it in a tub and pour in clear cold water enough to
cover it; mash it to a pulp with a wooden masher; strain it through a
linen bag or towel; a deal of juice will remain in the pulp, which in
order to get you must add some sugar to it, and boil it in your
preserving kettle, when you may strain again, and will have little left
but seeds; to every gallon of the liquor, add three pounds of good
brown sugar; pour it in a keg, (which should stand in a cellar, or cool
dry place:) let it stand two or three weeks, with the bung laid loosely
on; as the froth works out fill it up, (with some of the liquor kept
out for the purpose.) French brandy in the proportion of a quart to
five gallons, is an improvement. At the end of three or four weeks, it
may be closely bunged and put away in a safe dry closet, where it
should remain undisturbed for a year, when it may be racked off,
bottled and sealed over.
Gooseberry Wine.
Put three pounds of lump sugar in a gallon of water; boil and skim it;
when it is nearly cold, pour in it four quarts of ripe gooseberries,
that have been well mashed, and let it stand two days, stirring it
frequently; steep half an ounce of isinglass in a pint of brandy for two
days, and beat it with the whites of four eggs till they froth, and put
it in the wine; stir it up, and strain it through a flannel bag into a
cask or jug; fasten it so as to exclude the air; let it stand six
months, and bottle it for use; put two or three raisins in each bottle,
and cork it up.
Currant Wine.
Pick and mash the currants, either with your hands or a clean block, in
a tub; strain them, and to one gallon of juice, put two gallons of
water; and to each gallon of the mixture, put three pounds of sugar;
stir it until the sugar is dissolved, then put it in a clean cask that
has never been used for beer or cider; put it in a cellar or cool place,
and let it work out at the bung for several weeks; have a gallon of it
saved in a jug to fill up with, as it works out. When it is done
working, bung it up.
You may rack it off towards spring, or it will not hurt it to
stand a year.
If you want a barrel of wine, you must have eight gallons of currant
juice, sixteen of water, and seventy-two pounds of sugar; put in a quart
of brandy after it has done working; if you can get a clean brandy
barrel to put it in, it is better than a new one.
Another Way.
Mash well together equal quantities of currants and water, strain the
juice and to every gallon add three pounds of best brown sugar; fill the
cask two-thirds full, bung it tight and put clay over; by this means the
air is excluded while the process of fermentation is going on; the cask
should be iron-bound; rack it off and bottle or put in demijohns the
next spring after making.
Elderberry Wine, &c.
To each gallon of berries, put one of water; mash them in a tub, and
leave them two days, stirring them frequently; then strain them, and to
each gallon of juice put three pounds of brown sugar, and to every five
gallons, two ounces of bruised ginger, and one of cloves, which tie up
in a bag, and boil in the wine for an hour, and put it in a cask; when
it is nearly cold, put in two spoonsful of lively yeast; let it ferment
two days, and put in a pint of spirits with the bag of spice, and close
it up. This is excellent as a medicine for delicate or elderly persons.
Fill a bottle with elderberries, with a dozen cloves, and fill it up
with spirits. It is good to give children that have the summer disease;
mix a tea-spoonful of it with sugar and water for a child, or a
table-spoonful for a grown person.
Ginger Wine.
Boil nine quarts of water with six pounds of lump sugar, the rinds of
three lemons very thinly pared, and two ounces of face ginger pounded;
when it has boiled half an hour, skim it, and pour it on the juice of
two lemons: when nearly cold, add two spoonsful of yeast; put a pound of
raisins in the cask, with a half a pint of brandy, and half an ounce of
shaved isinglass; strain it in the cask, and stop it tight; bottle it in
six or seven weeks.
Raspberry Wine.
Pick over the raspberries, and to every quart put a quart of water;
bruise them, and let them stand two days; strain off the liquor, and to
every gallon put three pounds of lump sugar; stir it till the sugar is
dissolved, and put it in a clean barrel, or keg; at the end of two
months, bottle it, and put a spoonful of brandy, or a glass of wine in
each bottle.
Raspberry Vinegar, and its uses.
Put two pounds of raspberries in a large bowl, and pour on them two
quarts of white-wine vinegar; the next day, strain the liquor on two
pounds of fresh raspberries; let this stand a day, and strain it into a
stone jar; to each pint of the liquor put a pound of loaf sugar; stir
till it is dissolved, and put the jar in a sauce-pan of water, which
keep boiling for an hour; skim it, and bottle it when cold. This is used
not only as a refreshing drink, mixed with water, but is said to be of
use in complaints of the chest. No glazed or metal vessels should be
used in making it.
Spruce Beer.
Boil some spruce boughs with some wheat bran, till it tastes
sufficiently of the spruce; bruise some allspice, and put in; strain it,
and put two quarts of molasses to half a barrel; when it is nearly cold,
put in half a pint of yeast; after it has worked sufficiently, bung up
the barrel.
To Make Two Gallons of Beer.
Put two pounds of brown sugar in a jug, with a heaped spoonful of
ginger, and a pint of strong hop tea; pour in a gallon and a half of
warm water, and a tea-cup of yeast; leave out the cork a day--then
fasten it up, and set it in a cool place; or if you bottle it, put two
or three raisins in each bottle.
Harvest Beer.
To make fifteen gallons of beer, put into a keg three pints of yeast,
three pints of molasses, and two gallons of cold water; mix it well, and
let it stand a few minutes; then take three quarts of molasses, and
three gallons of boiling water, with one ounce of ginger; mix them well,
and pour into the keg, and fill it up with cold water.
A decoction of the root of sassafras is good to put in beer.
Porter Beer.
A pleasant drink in summer is to take one bottle of porter, five bottles
of water, and a pint of molasses, or a pound of sugar; make a spoonful
of ginger into a tea, and mix all well together; have seven clean
bottles, with two or three raisins in each; fill them, cork them tight,
and lay them on their sides on the cellar floor.
Molasses Beer.
Take five pints of molasses, half a pint of yeast, two spoonsful of
pounded ginger, and one of allspice; put these into a clean half-barrel,
and pour on it two gallons of boiling water; shake it till a
fermentation is produced; then fill it up with warm water, and let it
work with the bung out, a day, when it will be fit for use; remove it to
a cold place, or bottle it. This is a very good drink for laboring
people in warm weather.
To Make Cider.
To make cider that will keep sweet for a length of time, requires
particular attention to all the points. All the works and utensils in
use must be perfectly clean, so that nothing acid shall come in contact
with the pulp or liquor while pressing. The casks should be cleaned in
the following manner:
After washing each barrel clean, put in a lump of unslaked lime, and
pour in a gallon of boiling water; bung it up, and roll the barrel
several times a day, letting it lay with the bung down; in the evening,
empty out the lime-water, and wash the barrel clean in several waters;
after the water is drained out, burn a brimstone match in it, made of a
piece of coarse muslin one inch broad, and four long, dipped in melted
brimstone; light one end of the match, and put it in; put the bung on
slightly, so as to hold the other end, and allow air sufficient to make
it burn; when the rag has burned out, drive in the bung to keep in the
sulphuric gas, which, if allowed time, will condense on the sides.
The apples should be kept under cover, and secured from rain. After
they have laid to mellow for two or three weeks, select those that are
sound; break off the stems and leaves; have the trough perfectly clean,
and after they are ground, keep them from the sun and rain for
twenty-four hours; then press them, and fill into the casks; the first
running is always the best; each cask that is filled should be
numbered, so as to know the quality; and after they are all filled,
draw off and mix them, the weak with the strong; keep the casks filled
up with cider while they are fermenting; when the fermentation is
subsiding, there will be a thin white scum rise slowly: when this is
all off, lay on the bung lightly; rack it off in a few days in barrels,
in which brimstone has been used, and bung it tight; rack it off again
in March, and keep the bungs in tight.
To Make Vinegar.
You may always have good vinegar for pickling, and other purposes, by
taking a little pains. Get a tight whiskey barrel, if it is clean you
need not rinse it, and put into it ten gallons of the best vinegar you
can procure, with one quart of whiskey and one quart of molasses; every
day for a week, add a gallon of good cider that has not been watered,
and shake the barrel each time; let it stand in this state two weeks,
shaking the barrel frequently. After this, you may put in a gallon of
cider occasionally, with any that has been left at table, or the
settlings of decanters or bottles that have had wine in, but do not put
in any water. It will make much sooner in the garret or a warm place,
but if the barrel is fixed early in the summer, you will have plenty to
pickle with in the fall; taste it so as not to add cider too fast. Have
a phial with a string attached to it that you can put in at the bung.
You should have a barrel of good hard cider before you begin to make
vinegar. If you are in want of vinegar, fill a jug from the barrel, and
set it in the hot sun, where it will turn sour much quicker. It is a
good plan to keep a jug in a closet, where you can empty all the slops
of cider and wine; and when you get it full, empty it in the barrel.
After the pickling is done, you can put as much hard cider in the
barrel, a gallon at a time, as you have taken out, with a little
molasses, and half a pint of whiskey; if you put too much of the latter
it will prevent it from getting sour, but a little gives strength to
the cider, and the molasses increases the acidity, and helps to color
it. If you should have any juice of cherries, currants, or
blackberries, put it in, or if you can get cheap sour raisins, they
will be an improvement to the flavor of the vinegar; a tea-cup of burnt
sugar will give it a good color.
Vinegar made in this way will keep pickles good for several years. If
the cider has not sufficient strength it will take longer to make.
To Pickle Mangoes.
Pick your musk-melons at a proper age, before they get too hard;
make a slit in the sides and take out the seeds with a tea-spoon;
boil a pickle of ground alum salt, that will bear an egg, and let
the melons lay in this a week; then make a new pickle, and let them
lay in it another week; then wash them, and scald them in weak
vinegar, or sour cider, with cabbage leaves around the kettle; put
them in a jar, and put the vinegar and leaves in with them; leave
them two days, then wipe them carefully, and to two dozen mangoes,
have an ounce of mace, one of cloves, some nasturtions, small
onions, scraped horse-radish, and mustard seed sufficient to fill
them; fill up the inside of each one, and tie them round with
strings. Put them in your kettle with strong vinegar, and let them
scald a few minutes; then put them in a wide-mouthed jar, and pour
the vinegar over; have them covered close, and they will keep good
for several years. Large green tomatoes make good mangoes,
previously salted and drained, when fill them as other mangoes.
For Pickling Mangoes with Oil and Vinegar.
Cut a square piece out to remove the inside; lay them in salt and water
nine or ten days, and afterwards green them as any other pickle. For
stuffing, take two ounces of garlic, dried and pulverized, two ounces of
horse-radish, prepared as the garlic, two ounces of nutmegs, two ounces
of cloves, two ounces of mace, two ounces of whole mustard seed. When
the mangoes are large, put a small cucumber, and two beans in each. Wipe
each mango perfectly dry before the stuffing is put in; sew each up, and
tie twine around it; then put them in a pot, and pour the pot two-thirds
full of sharp vinegar; pour sweet oil on the top till covered. The
ingredients must be mixed with sweet oil. The spices, &c. mentioned, are
sufficient for a dozen mangoes.
Cucumbers.
Gather the cucumbers while they are small, lay them in a jar with salt
enough to make a pickle; pour in a little water, and if there is not
salt enough to cover them, in a few days put in more. At the end of two
weeks put them in a kettle, with cabbage leaves around and through them;
fill it up with weak vinegar, and let them scald three hours; put all in
a jar for three days, then take out the cucumbers, pour out the vinegar
and leaves; put them back in the jar, with some cloves, peppers,
horse-radish and mustard; boil some strong vinegar and pour over them.
Small Cucumbers.
Wash small cucumbers from two to four inches long; put a gallon of very
strong vinegar in a large jar, with mustard seed, scraped horse-radish,
and celery seed, a small portion of each, and a tea-cupful of salt; put
the cucumbers in the jar; tie them close. Martina's may be pickled in
the same way, or in the old way of pickling cucumbers.
To Pickle Cherries or Peaches.
If peaches, wipe them well with a coarse towel; if cherries, cut the
stems half off, but do not stone them; put them in jars, and to every
half gallon of vinegar it takes to cover them, put a pound of sugar, and
cloves and cinnamon to taste; boil and skim it well, and when nearly
cool pour it over the fruit; for three successive days pour off the
vinegar, and boil and pour it on again.
Peaches.
Pick out sound clingstone peaches; lay them in salt and water for a day,
then wipe them on a coarse cloth: boil up some strong vinegar, with a
little ginger, whole pepper and mustard seed; put the peaches in a jar
and pour this over.
White Walnuts.
Take full grown white walnuts, or butter-nuts, before the shells get so
hard that a pin will not run through easily; put them in a jar; boil a
pickle of ground alum salt that will bear an egg, skim it, and when it
gets cold; pour it on the walnuts; let them lay in this ten days; then
make another pickle as strong as the first, and leave them in it ten
days longer; then scrape each one carefully, until you get all the rough
skin off, wipe them with a very coarse cloth, and let them soak in cold
water two days; boil them in weak vinegar, and let them lay in this a
week; boil enough good vinegar to cover them; mix together scraped
horse-radish, mustard seed, cloves, red pepper, onions and garlic; put a
layer of the walnuts in a jar, and sprinkle the spice over; pour the
boiling vinegar over the top.
English Walnuts.
Gather them when nearly full grown, but not too hard; pour boiling salt
and water on them; let them be covered with it nine days, changing it
every third day; then take them out on dishes, and put them in the sun
to blacken, turning them over; then put them in a jar and strew over
them pepper, cloves, garlic, mustard seed and scraped horse-radish;
cover them with cold strong vinegar and tie them up.
Black Walnuts.
Gather the walnuts while you can run a pin through them; boil them in an
iron pot three hours, to soften the shell; put them in a tub of cold
water, hull and wash them, and put them in your jars; pour salt and
water over them, and change it every day for a week; at the end of that
time scald them in weak vinegar; let them stand in this three days, then
pour it off, and for half a bushel of hulled walnuts, have quarter of a
pound of cloves, a tea-cup of mustard seed, two spoonsful of black
pepper, a pint of scraped horse-radish, two pods of red pepper, some
sliced onions and garlic; put these in the jars with the walnuts, and
fill them up with strong cold vinegar.
Pickled walnuts will keep for six or seven years, and are as good at the
last as the first.
Virginia Yellow Pickles.
To two gallons of vinegar, put one pound of ginger, quarter of a pound
of black pepper, two ounces of red pepper, two of cloves, a tea-cup of
celery seed, a pint of horse-radish, a pint of mustard seed, a few
onions or garlic, and three ounces of turmeric to turn them yellow. The
above ingredients should be mixed together in a jar, and set in the sun
by the first of July, tied up close, with a block over each jar to keep
out the rain. Put whatever you intend to pickle in salt and water for
two or three days; then pour boiling salt and water on them; wash them
and drop them in the jars of vinegar.
You can pickle any thing in this way but walnuts. The same pickle, by
adding more vinegar to it, will do for two years; if the jars are set by
a fire, a much less time will do to take the strength out of the spices;
the turmeric should be tied up in a bag.
Tomatoes.
Scald and peel a peck of ripe tomatoes; lay them on dishes, and strew
salt thickly over them; let them stand for twenty-four hours,
occasionally pouring off the liquor that the salt extracts; then drain
them on a sifter, and gently squeeze them, as it is this juice that
weakens the vinegar and makes the pickles spoil; take a large jar, put
in a layer of tomatoes, then a layer of sliced onions, mustard seed,
cloves and white pepper, or whole black pepper; (you may if you like,
break two pods of red pepper and put in each jar.) When the jar is full,
pour very strong vinegar over, and in a few days they will be ready for
use, and will keep all winter. They retain much of the tomato flavor,
and should be kept in a cool place.
Another Way.
Take small round tomatoes when they are not too ripe; stick them with a
needle in several places, to keep the skin from bursting, and let them
lay a week in salt and water; then wash them and put them in a jar with
some cloves, pepper and small onions; cover them with strong cold
vinegar, and tie up the jar.
Pepper Mangoes.
Take fully grown green peppers, cut a slit in the side of each and take
out the seeds; make a strong brine and lay them in it for three days;
then soak them in clear water a day and night; pack them in a jar, and
pour boiling vinegar over them with a piece of alum; let them stay in
this three days, when boil the vinegar again, and pour over them; when
they are green, stuff them with chopped cabbage, mustard seed, cloves,
horse-radish, pepper, and a small onion in each; tie them up, put them
in a jar; boil fresh vinegar and pour over.
Observe always to have the kettle you boil vinegar in well cleaned;
never put pickles in common earthen-ware, as the glazing is poisonous.
Onions.
Peel small white onions and pour boiling milk and water over them; when
cold, put them in a jar, and make a pickle of strong vinegar, a little
mace, ginger, white mustard seed, and horse-radish; boil it and pour
over them.
If you want them to be white, do not put in black pepper or cloves.
Mushrooms.
Take the small round mushrooms that are pale pink underneath, with white
tops, and peel easily; put them in a jar with a little mace, white
mustard seed and salt; cover them with cold vinegar, and tie them close.
If you put in black pepper or cloves, it will turn them dark.
Nasturtions.
Have some strong vinegar in a jar with a little salt, and as you gather
the nasturtions, put them in, and keep the jar tied close.
Cherries.
Take sound morel cherries with the stems on, and put them in a jar; boil
spices in strong vinegar, and pour over them hot. Damsons may be done in
the same way. A little sugar improves the pickle.
Cabbage.
Take firm heads of purple cabbage, quarter them, sprinkle them with
salt, and let them lay three or four days, when shave them fine, drain
off the salt and put them in a jar, boil enough vinegar to cover them,
with horse radish, pepper and cloves, when nearly cold pour it on the
cabbage, and put in a little cochineal tied up in a bag, it will he fit
for use in a week.
Another Way.
Cut hard cabbage fine as for slaw, sprinkle salt through it, and let it
lay under a moderate pressure for twelve hours, then drain well through
a colander, slice a dozen raw onions, have a large jar in readiness, put
in a layer of cabbage, strew in some of the onions, a few cloves, a
tea-cupful of mustard seed, some whole black pepper, cut six half ripe
red pepper pods, and sprinkle in; add a little more salt, boil vinegar
and pour on sufficient to cover the mixture.
Cut Cucumbers.
Slice large cucumbers lengthwise--do not pare them--then cut them half
an inch thick; if you have small ones, slice them across, put them in
a large jar, and sprinkle them well with salt, after standing a day or
two, pour off the liquid the salt has extracted, drain them, and wash
the jar, and put the cucumbers in alternately, with sliced onions,
mustard seed, white pepper, whole black pepper and a few cloves, pour
over them strong vinegar, and tie close, keep them in a cool place,
but do not allow them to freeze in severe weather, as freezing spoils
the flavor of pickles. When pickles do not keep well, pour off the
vinegar, and put more on, but if the vinegar is of the best quality,
there is little fear of this. Putting alcohol on over paper, will
prevent their moulding.
Cucumber Catsup.
Take full grown cucumbers, pare them, and cut out the lines of white
pith, which are on three sides; cut them in slices about half an inch
thick; to six cucumbers, put one onion, sliced fine; then sprinkle them
with salt, placing the fruit in layers, with salt between;--next
morning, press the liquor from them; put them in _small jars,_ and fill
up with strong vinegar, seasoned with pepper, mustard seed, and salt, if
necessary. The small jars are recommended--as the cucumbers do not keep
well after they have been exposed to the air.
Tomato Catsup.
Take a peck of ripe tomatoes, wash and cut out the stems, but do not
peel them; put them over the fire in your bell-metal kettle, cover them,
and let them boil till soft enough to mash, when pour them in a colander
placed over a pan; drain them and throw away the liquid; then mash and
strain the tomatoes, a few at a time, through a ball sifter: this is
rather a tedious process; but, as the waste liquor has been previously
drained off, the catsup will require but about twenty minutes boiling;
throw in the spices before you take it up, fine pepper and salt,
mustard, and a few whole cloves, and sliced onions, if you like their
flavor; allow a tea-cup of strong vinegar to each bottle of catsup; part
of which may be put in with the spices, and the rest in each bottle on
top of the catsup, before you cork and seal them.
Walnut Catsup.
Gather the walnuts, as for pickling and put them in salt and water for
ten days, then pound them in a mortar, and to every dozen walnuts put a
quart of strong vinegar, and stir it every day for a week, then strain
it through a bag, and to every quart of liquor put a tea-spoonful of
pounded mace, the same of cloves, and a few pieces of garlic or onion,
boil it twenty minutes, and when cold, bottle it. White or black walnuts
are as good for catsup as the English walnut, and will keep good for
several years.
Green Tomato Catsup.
After the tomatoes have ceased to ripen, slice and put them in a jar,
with salt scattered through them, let them stand two days, then drain
them in a colander, put them in the jars they are to remain in, strewing
sliced onions, cloves, whole pepper, mustard seed, and one or two red
pepper pods through them, boil vinegar enough to cover them and pour
over, tie them close and put a plate on each jar.
Mushroom Catsup.
Take the largest mushrooms, those that are beginning to turn dark, cut
off the roots, put them in a stone jar, with some salt, mash them and
cover the jar, let them stand two days, stirring them several times a
day, then strain and boil the liquor, to every quart of which, put a
tea-spoonful of whole pepper and the same of cloves, and mustard seed,
and a little ginger, when cold, bottle it, leaving room in each bottle
for a tea-cupful of strong vinegar, and a table-spoonful of brandy; cork
them up and seal them over. Tomato Sauce.
Scald and peel a peck of ripe tomatoes; cut them in slices and lay them
on a large dish; cover well with salt each layer; the next morning put
the tomatoes in a colander or on a sifter, and drain off all the liquid;
then mash them with a wooden masher, and to each quart, put a pint of
strong vinegar, two table-spoonsful of white mustard seed, a dozen
cloves, a dozen grains of black pepper, an onion sliced and chopped, a
table-spoonful of salt; if mashed fine you can pour it out of
wide-mouthed bottles; put a table-spoonful of spirits in each bottle at
the top; cork tight, and seal. If you prefer putting the sauce in small
stone jars, put spirits on paper at the top of each. Spiced Peaches.
Take nine pounds of good ripe peaches, rub them with a course towel, and
halve them; put four pounds of sugar and a pint of good vinegar in your
preserving kettle, with cloves, cinnamon and mace; when the syrup is
formed, throw in the peaches, a few at a time, so as to keep them as
whole as may be; when clear, take them out and put in more; boil the
syrup till quite rich, and then pour it over the peaches. Cherries may
be done in the same way. Mushroom Sauce.
Gather large mushrooms, that have not turned dark, peel them and cut
off the stems; put them in a pan and strew salt over each layer; when
all are in, mash them well; then put them in a jar, put a plate on the
top, and set it in a pot of cold water; let it heat gradually, and
boil for fifteen or twenty minutes; to each quart of the pulp put
three tea-cupsful of strong vinegar, two tea-spoonsful of powdered
mace, or one of cloves, two of white mustard seed, one of black
pepper; put it in jars or wide-mouthed bottles, with a spoonful of
alcohol at the top of each, and secure it from the air. This is by
some preferred to the catsup.
TO CURE BACON, BEEF, PORK, SAUSAGE, &c.
To Cure Bacon.
To one thousand weight of pork, put one bushel of fine salt, one pound
and a half of saltpetre rolled fine and mixed with the salt; rub this on
the meat and pack it away in a tight hogshead; let it lay for six weeks,
then hang it up and smoke it with hickory wood, every day for two weeks,
and afterwards two or three times a week for a month; then take it down
and rub it all over with hickory ashes, which is an effectual remedy
against the fly or skipper. When the weather is unusually warm at the
time of salting your pork, more care is requisite to preserve it from
taint. When it is cut up, if it seems warm, lay it on boards, or on the
bare ground, till it is sufficiently cool for salting; examine the meat
tubs or casks frequently, and if there is an appearance of mould, strew
salt over; if the weather has been very warm after packing, and on
examining, you should find evidence of its spoiling, lose no time in
unpacking the meat; for a hogshead of hams and shoulders that are in
this state, have six pounds of brown sugar, three pounds of salaeratus,
mixed with half a bushel of salt; rub each piece with this, and as you
pack it in the hogshead, (which should be well washed and cleaned,)
sprinkle a little coarse salt over each layer of pork, and also on the
bottom of the hogshead. I have known this plan to save a large quantity
of pork, that would have been unfit for use, if it had not been
discovered and attended to in time. Some persons use crushed charcoal to
purify their meat. Shoulders are more easily affected than hams, and if
the weather is warm the ribs should be cut out of the shoulders. Jowls
also require particular care; black pepper, about a pound to a hogshead,
sprinkled on the meat before it is hung up to smoke, is valuable as a
preventive where flies are troublesome; have a large pepper-box kept
for the purpose, and dust every part that is exposed; pepper is also
good to put on beef before it is hung up to dry; wash it off before
cooking, and it does not injure the flavor.
To Pickle Pork.
Take out all the ribs, and cut it in pieces of about three pounds each;
pack it in a tight barrel, and salt it well with coarse salt; boil a
very strong pickle made of coarse salt, and when it is cold pour it over
the meat, and put a weight on the top; if you wish pork to keep, do not
put saltpetre in, as it injures the flavor.
To Cure Hams and Shoulders.
To cure five hundred weight of hams and shoulders, take fifteen quarts
of common salt, one pound and a half of saltpetre rolled fine, half a
pound of red pepper pods chopped fine, and four quarts of molasses; mix
them all together and rub the meat well, pack it down, cover it close,
and let it remain six weeks, then hang it up and smoke it with green
hickory wood for three weeks. If there is a damp spell of weather, it is
best to make a fire in your meat-house occasionally through the summer,
to keep the meat from moulding.
To Make a Pickle for Chines.
Rub the chines with fine salt, and pack them in a tight barrel, make a
pickle of coarse salt, strong enough to bear an egg, boil and skim it,
and when nearly cold pour it on, let there be enough to cover them, and
put a weight on the top. Chines are good smoked. It is best to make a
separate pickle for the heads; wash and scrape them, cut off the ears
and noses, and take out the eyes. The jowls may be packed and smoked
with the bacon. Sausage Meat, &c. Separate the tender parts of the meat
from the rough and bony pieces, and chop each sort separately, to
twenty-two pounds of meat have half a pound of salt, three heaped
table-spoonsful of sage, three of pepper, and two of thyme. If you have
a box large enough to hold this quantity, sprinkle it over the meat
before it is chopped, and it will be thoroughly mixed by the time it is
done. It is best to have a small piece fried to taste, and if it is not
seasoned right, it can be altered; you should have some pieces of fat,
chopped in with the meat. The sage and thyme should be carefully dried,
but not heated too much, neither should it be hung up too near the fire,
as it would spoil the flavor, rub it through a wire sifter, and if that
should not make it fine enough, pound it in a mortar or grind it in your
pepper mill. The pepper should be ground and ready some days before it
is needed, as the pork season in the country is (while it lasts) one of
the busiest in the year, every thing should be prepared beforehand that
you possibly can. It is a good plan to have plenty of bread and pies
baked, and a quantity of apples stewed, vegetables washed and ready to
cook, so that every member of the family, that is able, may devote
herself to the work of putting away the meat which is of so much
importance for the coming year, while some are cutting up the fat to
render into lard, others may be employed in assorting the sausage meat,
and cutting it into small pieces for the chopping machine, by trimming
off every part that can be spared. You can have one hundred pounds of
sausage from twelve hundred weight of pork, and since the introduction
of sausage choppers, a great deal more sausage is made, than formerly,
by the old method. Clean a few of the maws, and soak them in salt and
water, and fill them with sausage meat, sew them close, let them lay in
pickle for two weeks then hang them up, and when your meat is smoked,
let them have a few days smoke. In this way sausage will keep all
summer, and is very nice when boiled slowly for several hours, and eaten
cold. The best fat to chop in with sausage is taken from the chines or
back bones. To keep sausage for present use, put it in small stone pans,
and pour melted lard over the top; for later in the season, make muslin
bags that will hold about three pounds, with a loop sewed on to hang
them up by; fill them with meat, tie them tight, and hang them in a cool
airy place; they will keep in this way till August, when you want to fry
them, rip part of the seam, cut out as many slices as you want, tie up
the bag and hang it up again. If you have a large quantity, a sausage
chopper is a great convenience. Liver Sausage Take four livers, with the
lights and hearts, have two heads cleaned, and boil them with any
scraps, or skinny pieces you have, skim the pot, take out the livers
when they are done, and let the heads boil longer, when they are done,
pick out the bones, and chop all together, season with sage, thyme,
sweet marjoram, salt and pepper, put it in pans, and fry it as sausage.
Bologna Sausage Chop ten pounds of beef, with two pounds and a half of
the fat of fresh pork, pound one ounce of mace, and one of cloves, and
mix in, let it stand a day, then stuff it in large skins, let them lay
in brine ten days, then hang them up to smoke a few days, they can be
put in the same brine with beef or tongues. Hogs' Head Cheese Take off
the ears and noses of four heads, and pick out the eyes, and lay them in
salt and water all night, then wash and put them on to boil, take out
the bones carefully, chop and season them well, and pack it in bowls,
they will turn out whole, and may be eaten cold with vinegar, or fried
as sausage.
Pigs' Feet.
Pigs' feet should be well cleaned by dipping them in scalding water, and
scraping off the hairs, leave them in weak salt and water two days,
changing it each day; if you wish to boil them for souse, they are now
ready, but if the weather is cold they will keep in this a month. They
should be kept in a cold place, and if they are frozen there is no
danger of their spoiling, but if there comes on a thaw, change the salt
and water, soak them in fresh water all night before you boil them. In
this way they are good to eat with pepper and vinegar while hot, or may
be dipped in batter and fried after they are cold.
To make Souse.
Boil the feet till the bones come out easily, and pick out all the large
bones, pack them in a stone pan with pepper and salt, and cover it with
vinegar, they may be eaten cold, or dipped in flour and fried. Another
way is to pick out all the bones, season them with salt, pepper and
sage, and warm them up as you want to use them.
Pigs' feet, after being boiled, are very nice stewed as terrapins,
make the gravy with butter and water, they are nourishing food for
delicate persons.
Vessels for salting meat should be cleaned well after the meat is hung
up, and set on boards in the cellar, if they do not smell sweet, they
should be washed and soaked before meat is packed in them again. You
should see that the hoops are sound, and have covers made to fit them.
If taken care of in this way, they will last a number of years.
Scrapple.
Take eight pounds of scraps of pork, that will not do for sausage, boil
it in four gallons of water, when tender, chop it fine, strain the
liquor and pour it back into the pot, put in the meat, season it with
sage, summer savory, salt and pepper to taste; stir in a quart of corn
meal; after simmering a few minutes, thicken it with buckwheat flour
very thick, it requires very little cooking after it is thickened, but
must be stirred constantly.
Dried Beef.
An experienced housekeeper has furnished the following method for curing
and drying beef, which will keep good for two years, without being
injured by must or fly, and is much admired. Have the rounds divided,
leaving a piece of the sinew to hang up by, lay the pieces in a tub of
cold water for an hour, then rub each piece of beef that will weigh
fifteen or twenty pounds, with a handful of brown sugar and a
table-spoonful of saltpetre, pulverized, and a pint of fine salt,
sprinkle fine salt in the bottom of a clean tight barrel, and lay the
pieces in, strewing a little coarse salt between each piece; let it lay
two days, then make the brine in a clean tub, with cold water and ground
alum salt--stir it well, it must be strong enough to bear an egg half
up, put in half a pound of best brown sugar and a table-spoonful of
saltpetre to each gallon of the salt and water, pour it over the beef;
put a clean large stone on the top of the meat to keep it under the
pickle, (which is very important,) put a cover on the barrel; examine it
occasionally to see that the pickle does not leak,--and if it should
need more, add of the same strength; let it stand six weeks, then hang
it up in the smoke house, and after it has drained, smoke it moderately
for ten days, it should then hang in a dry place, before cooking, let it
soak for twenty four hours; a piece that weighs fifteen or twenty pounds
should boil two hours--one half the size, one hour, and a small piece
should soak six or twelve hours, according to size. Beef cured in this
way will make a nice relish, when thinly sliced and eaten cold, for
breakfast or tea, or put between slices of bread and butter for lunch,
it will keep for several weeks,--and persons of delicate stomachs can
sometimes relish a thin slice, eaten cold, when they cannot retain hot
or rich food.
This receipt will answer for all parts of the beef, to be boiled for the
dinner table through the summer.
To Cure Beef.
Make a pickle of six quarts of salt, six gallons of water, half a pound
of saltpetre, and three of sugar, or half a gallon of molasses, pack the
beef in a barrel, with fine and coarse salt mixed, when the pickle is
cold, pour it over, and put a weight on the top, let it stay two weeks,
when you can hang it up and smoke it, to boil through the summer, or
boil the pickle over again, and leave it in till you want to use it;
this is for two hundred pounds.
A New Method of Curing Beef.
Take six gallons of water, nine pounds of salt, (fine and coarse mixed,)
three pounds of sugar, one quart of molasses, three ounces of saltpetre,
and one ounce of pearl ash or salaeratus, boil and skim it well, and let
it stand till entirely cold, when pour it on beef that has been
sprinkled with salt for several days. You can boil of this beef from the
brine all winter, or hang it up, and smoke it with your bacon.
To Cure a Dozen Tongues.
Soak the tongues an hour in a tub of cold water to extract the blood,
and cut off most of the root, mix together a quarter of a pound of
saltpetre, finely powdered, one pound of brown sugar, and a pint of
salt, rub the tongues with this, and put them in a tight barrel; then
make a pickle that will bear an egg, which pour over them, turn them
every three days, and let them stay in the pickle two weeks, then smoke
them two days, and hang them up in a dry place; boil and skim the pickle
that the tongues have been in, and it will do for a round of beef.
Pickle for Two Rounds of Beef.
Cut the rounds in a suitable shape for drying, mix together two pints of
salt, one of molasses, or a pound of sugar, and half a pound of
saltpetre, rub them with this, and pack them in a tight vessel, make a
pickle that will bear an egg, and pour it over, put a weight on the top,
and let it lay for ten days, when take it out, and smoke it two days,
hang it up in a dry place, it will be fit to slice and broil in a week,
or cut it very thin, and stew or fry it with butter and cream. Legs of
mutton may be salted as rounds of beef, and will resemble venison, when
dried and chipped.
In preparing pickle for any kind of meat, observe that one gallon of
water will hold, in solution, a quart of salt and two ounces of
saltpetre.
To Corn Beef, Pork or Mutton.
Rub the meat well with salt, and pack it in a tub. If the weather is
warm, it will require a good deal of salt, but no saltpetre.
To Restore Meat that has been kept too long.
When meat has been kept too long in summer, it may be improved by
putting it in sour milk for several hours, or washing it in vinegar is
good, some hours before it is cooked, you must wash it well in cold
water several times, if it lays all night in sour milk, or salt and
vinegar, it should be put in soak early in the morning in cold water. In
very hot weather, when you have fresh meat, fowls, or fish left at
dinner, sprinkle them with strong vinegar, salt and pepper, warm this up
the next day, either as a fry or stew, the vinegar will evaporate, and
not injure the taste. Cold rock fish is good, seasoned with salt, pepper
and vinegar, to use as a relish for breakfast or tea.
To Keep Meat Fresh.
Where persons live a distance from market, and have no fresh meat but
what they kill, it is important to know how to keep it fresh. In winter,
if it is hung up in an out-house, it will keep very well for six weeks,
or more, when it has once frozen, it is safe till a thaw comes on, when
rub it with salt. In the summer, if you have an ice-house, you can keep
it without trouble. If rubbed with salt, and pinned in a cloth, it will
keep in the cellar two days, or by lowering it down your well, attached
to a rope, and changing the cloth every other day, it will keep good a
week in hot weather.
To Put up Herring and Shad.
Those that put up their own fish should be careful to have the barrels
tight and well cleaned, if the pickle leaks from them, they are liable
to spoil. Scale the fish and wash them, as it will save much time, when
you prepare them for cooking, take out the gills, but leave on the heads
of herrings.
The heads should be taken off the shad, and split them down the back,
put a layer of fish, then a layer of ground alum salt,--and after they
are packed, put on a weight to keep them down. If herring are well
cured, they will be good at the end of two years.
To Put up Herring, _According to the Harford Mode_.
First put the herring into the brine left from curing bacon, or, if you
have none of that description, make a brine that will bear an egg, and
let them remain in it thirty or forty hours; then, if for pickled
herring, change them into new brine, which must also bear an egg, and
head them up to keep. If for red herring, hang them up, and smoke them
thoroughly. A little saltpetre, added to the brine, is an improvement.
It is better to take out the roe.
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