To Stew Tomatoes.—Pour boiling water over fair and fully ripe tomatoes, that you may peel them quickly; let the water remain only long enough to start the skin. When peeled, cut into an earthen pipkin or a porcelain-lined kettle, as tin or iron turns them dark and gives a bad taste. If onions are agreeable, cut one small one in with the tomatoes. Cover closely and set where they will gently simmer, but not boil hard. Stir them occasionally to prevent burning, and when they have cooked two hours add salt and pepper to suit your own taste, and to a quart of tomatoes add a table-spoonful and a half of sugar, and two and a half even spoonfuls of bread or cracker crumbs. After the crumbs are added stir often or they will stick to the bottom of the dish and soon burn. Twenty minutes before dinner beat two eggs, or if you have more than a quart of tomatoes increase the number in the proportion of two eggs to a quart; stir briskly and often after the eggs are added, and serve hot. If possible the tomatoes should be skinned and on the back part of the stove before breakfast, as the longer they simmer the better they will be. Three hours’ slow cooking at least,five is better. If prepared according to rule, they are thought very nice by tomato-lovers, and are better warmed over the second day than they were the first.
Baked Tomatoes.—Peel and slice good, firm, but ripe tomatoes; put them in a pudding-dish, season with pepper, salt, two great spoonfuls of sugar to a quart of tomatoes, and one spoonful of butter. Sprinkle some finely powdered bread crumbs over the top and bake slowly two hours.
To add two well-beaten eggs is thought by some to improve this dish.
Scalloped Tomatoes.—Peel as many large, ripe tomatoes as you wish to prepare; cut them in slices a quarter of an inch thick; pack in a pudding-dish first a layer of tomatoes, then a thick layer of bread crumbs, pepper, salt, a little white sugar, and a teaspoonful of butter; then a layer of tomatoes, then bread crumbs, etc., till the dish is nearly full, having tomatoes last. Now dust over pepper, a little sugar, and more butter; strew the top with bread crumbs, and bake,covered, half an hour; then remove the cover, and bake brown, but be careful not to scorch.
We have received from a South Carolina lady the two following receipts:—
Boiled Rice.—One pint of rice, as new as it can be had,—old rice has a dead taste,—to one quart of boiling water and one table-spoonful of salt. Boil briskly a few minutes, until the water seems absorbed; then, keeping it closely covered, set on one side of the stove, where it can be kept hot and steam itself done,—not become soft and mushy. In about half an hour it will be cooked sufficiently. Serve very hot with the meats, like potatoes. If cooked soft and watery, and stirred till gluey—as is so often done—it would not be thought eatable at the South.Neverstir more than once, and then only when it first boils. Some prefer only one pint of water to one pint of rice.
Cooking Rice.—Pick over and wash a cup of rice; cover with cold water, and set where it will cook slowly. When the rice has absorbed all the water, pour in a cup of milk; stir often and cook slowly; in ten or fifteen minutes it will take up all the milk; then add another cup, and so on, till the rice is soft, then add a little salt, and dish. Eat with meat, or as dessert; if the latter, sweeten rich sweet cream and grate in nutmeg, and use as sauce to the pudding.
Peas.—To prepare any article of food in thebestway should not be thought “too much trouble.” Many kinds of early peas are dry, almost tasteless, and if what sweetness there may be in the pod is not added to the peas to remedy this deficiency, they will be very insipid.
“Carter’s Full Crop” and the “Daniel O’Rourke” are among our earliest, but neither is a very sweet pea. To use these with any enjoyment,securingall the saccharine properties of the pod, is very essential. They are of the smooth, round kind, and these are never as sweet as thewrinkledpeas,—that is, those that wrinkle in boiling or drying.
“The Little Gem” and the “Champion of England” are later, but among our best and sweetest peas. They do not need the juices of the pod so much in cooking, but we think are enough sweeter and richer for it to pay for the trouble. Some cooks throw in a little sugar to increase the flavor, as they usesodato make them tender; but don’t do it unless your taste is sodeficient that you can be satisfied with simple sweetness and tenderness, without regard to rich, genuine flavor. For such, any tasteless thing, so that it is sweet and tender, is as good as peas.
Green Peas.—The first rule is to use the peas fresh from the vines, every hour’s delay in cooking after they are gathered destroys something of their finest flavor. Wash thembeforeshelling,never after. Shell and pick over nicely. First put in thefresh pods. Press them down, leaving only water enough to cover them. Let them boil fifteen minutes, then skim out, and put in the peas. If there is more than enough water to cover the peas after the pods have been removed, pour it out. Let them boil fifteen or twenty minutes. Peas that require more than twenty minutes, or need soda to make them tender, are only fit for soup. When done, put what butter is needed into the dish, and pour the peas on it, adding a little pepper. Some prefer them dry, and drain them through a strainer, but we think some of the water in which they were boiled is a very great improvement. The amount of butter needed must be decided by the quantity of peas and the taste. Boiling the pods adds greatly to the sweetness and richness of the peas.
Beans.—The dwarf wax beans are among the best string-beans. The pod is very tender and white, almost transparent when cooked. The Valentine is also very good. Of the pole-beans the Horticultural and Lima are the best. If you cannot raise the Lima, the Saba is a good substitute, though by no means equal to it.
In cooking the wax bean, simply cut off the ends, and snap the pod in small bits. Put salt into boiling water and then put in the beans. If the salt is thrown in before the vegetables, they retain their color; but if salt is addedafterthey are in hot water, they will be of a faded olive color when cooked, and not so well flavored. String-beans should cook a full hour unless very tender. When done put in your vegetable-dish some butter, allowing an even great spoonful to a pint of string-beans; add a little pepper and pour the beans upon it, with some of the water in which they were boiled. Like peas, some prefer them quite moist; those who do not can easily be suited by having theirstaken out free from the liquor. Lima beans are not good to use forstring-beans, but the bean itself is delicious. It requires a full hour to boil. When ready to dish, season the same as peas or string-beans. Many consider cream an addition both for peas and beans, but we think much of the peculiar delicacy is lost by it. The more simple such articles can be prepared the more of the true flavor is retained.
Asparagus.—Wash it clean, but do not leave in water. Cut off all of the white ends that are woody and tough, and when ready to boil tie up the stalks in a neat bunch, lay them in the saucepan, sprinkle over as much salt as is needed to season, then just cover the bunch or bunches with boiling water. Cook twenty minutes. When done, take the asparagus out and with a sharp knife cut off any part that has not cooked tender and throw away. Then cut the stalks up into pieces half an inch long and put them back into the saucepan with two table-spoonfuls of butter to each good-sized bunch; a little pepper, one cup of good cream, and enough finely rolled bread crumbs to thicken it a little, say only two even table-spoonfuls. If there is enough water left after boiling to make the dish too liquid, pour off part of it before returning the asparagus, cream, and bread crumbs to the saucepan. Let it all boil up for two or three minutes, then dish and send to the table hot.
Spinach.—Pick and wash it with great care. Put into a saucepan that will just hold it; sprinkle in some salt, and pour over only one cup and a half of boiling water; cover close, set on the stove, and shake the pan often to prevent the spinach from burning. When done, beat it up with a little butter and pepper. It should come to the table quite dry. It looks nicely when pressed into a mold in the form of a leaf. Serve with poached eggs.
To Boil Cabbage.—Wash very thoroughly in cold water; look between the leaves, where insects and worms are very often secreted; then put into boiling water, some say without any salt; we prefer to add salt, when half done; boil quickly till tender; then take it out with a skimmer into a colander or sieve, and drain free from all water. Season with a little butter and pepper.
To Boil Cabbage with Meat.—Select small, white, firm heads; cut in quarters; examine carefully; then lay the quarters an hour in cold salted water, to drive out any insects that may have escaped your observation. Skim all the fat from the pot in which the pork or beef is boiling, and put in the cabbage while the water boils; cook till tender; then drain, and serve as whole and compact as possible. If the meat is to be used cold, take out some of the water in which it is boiling, and put in another kettle and boil the cabbage in that, as it gives a disagreeable taste to meat when cold.
Another Way.—After washing and examining the cabbage, put it into a kettle of fast-boiling water, into which you have put some salt and a small bit of soda. Press it down into the water, then let it boil quickly eight minutes; have on hand another kettle of fast-boiling water prepared as above, and transfer the cabbage to that; press it down into the water and let it boil twelve minutes more; meanwhile throw away the first water and prepare more like it; after the second boiling remove the cabbage once more to another water, and boil ten minutes if the cabbage is small, twenty if large; then take it up in a colander, lay a plate over, and drain well; dish on toasted bread that has been dipped in drawn butter, and pour a little over the cabbage.
Cabbage like Cauliflower.—Chop a good, solid head of cabbage fine, as if for cold slaw. Put it into boiling water. Boil till tender; then drain quite free from water; season with salt, pepper, and butter; add a cup of cream or milk, and simmer a few minutes. Send to table hot.
Cauliflower.—Soak the head two hours in salt and water, and boil until tender in milk and water, if you have plenty of milk, if not, boiling water will answer. Serve whole with drawn butter, or cut it up and season richly with butter, and a little pepper and salt. The first way is the most stylish, the last the most palatable. In either case it must be well drained.
Hot-Slaw.—Cut a firm white head of cabbage in thin shreds; put it into boiling water; cook till tender; only just cover with water, so that when done there may be hardly any remaining. Just before dishing, add to one good-sized head half a teacupfulof good cider vinegar and a piece of butter half the size of an egg, with salt and pepper to suit your taste.
Cold Slaw.—Shave a firm head of cabbage fine; put a teaspoonful of salt, the same of sugar, and a little pepper into a small cup of vinegar, and pour over the cabbage.
To Cook Onions.—The strong, disagreeable taste and smell from onions may be in a large degree removed by leaving them to soak in cold salt and water an hour after the outside skin has been removed; then boil them in milk and water till thoroughly tender; lay into a deep dish, season with pepper and salt, and pour over them drawn butter.
First examine the range or stove. See that the ashes are shaken out, and sufficient coal added to keep the oven in working order till your cake is put together and baked; for fuel should never be added while bread or cake is baking. See if the dampers are all right, and ovens at the proper heat,—a slow, even heat for rich cake, a quick heat for plain cake.
The range being in proper condition, next collect all the ingredients to be used. Line the tins with buttered paper.
Sift the flour, then weigh or measure it and the sugar, butter, fruit, and milk. Baking-powder or cream of tartar should always be sifted in with the flour, which should then be covered up, and set near the fire to dry while you are getting other articles ready. If Jewell’spreparedflour is used, no salt, soda, or cream of tartar is needed for anything; and those ingredients may be omitted in using the following receipts.
Dissolve soda in a little cold water.
Put the eggs in cold water. They will beat easier and lighter. Beat yelks and whites separately.
Never mix sweet and sour milk.
When fruit is to be used, it is always better to pick it over, slice or stone, and, if need be, wash and dry it, the evening before, covering it over closely, to keep from the heat and air.
Everything being now in readiness, put the butter into a deepearthen dish. Stir it with a wooden spoon till soft, then add sugar, and beat until light and white, like thick cream. Next add the yelks of the eggs well beaten, then a little of the flour, and very gradually the milk, beating the batter steadily; then add spices, and the whites, well beaten to a very stiff foam, with the remainder of the flour, alternately. Now beat the batter till all is thoroughly combined, and you will be sure of light, fine-grained cake.
Fruit should be rolled in flour and added the last thing, or add it in alternate layers with the batter, as you fill it into the pans. Use some of the flour weighed out for the cake to dredge the fruit.
So far it is well; but quite as much depends on baking, as in the preparation of the cake, and if you have not the most trusty, reliable servants, your watch and care is not ended.
Unless araised cake, it should be put into the oven as soon as you have put it into the pans, opening the oven door, after the cake is in, as seldom as consistent with proper oversight, as a draught of cold air passing through the oven will tend to make the cake heavy.
If the oven is too hot, cover the cake for a while with a piece of brown paper.
Whenever you buy a broom, break off a few of the splints; tie them up and lay away safely to use intryingcake. It is not pleasant to think of using a splint from a broom that has been used in sweeping a kitchen floor, or any other floor, however nicely kept. Try the cake with one of these clean splints, or a small knitting-needle. If it comes out quite free from any particle of batter, the cake is done.
Cake keeps fresher to be allowed to remain in the pan in which it was baked; but if necessary to remove it, place it on the top of a sieve until quite cold, when it may be frosted if desirable, and put into a large stone pot, or cake-safe, and covered with clean linen.
Steam stale cake, and eat with a nice hot sauce, and you have a very good pudding.
Loaf Cake.—Two cups sugar; two of milk; two of flour; one of yeast; make into a sponge overnight. In the morning, ifthis sponge is light, beat together two cups sugar, one of butter, and four eggs; add these to the sponge with enough more flour to make it quite stiff; add spice and fruit to suit the taste; a cup and a half of stoned raisins, well floured, and half a cup of citron cut thin and in small pieces. Raise till light, and bake in an even oven.
Mrs. Breedley’s Fruit Cake.—Five eggs; five cups of flour; two and a half cups of sugar; one and a half cups butter, and two cups sour milk; two cups raisins. Beat sugar and butter to a cream; add the egg-yelks and whites, beaten separately; then three cups of the flour and the milk; beat well and then add one gill wine, cloves and cinnamon to suit your taste, and the remainder of the flour; and last, one teaspoonful soda dissolved in a very little water. Bake as soon as put together.
Spices, in all receipts, may be increased or diminished to suit the taste. One nutmeg and a teaspoonful of other spices will be a medium allowance; cloves are generally undesirable, except in fruit cake.
Rosie’s Raised Cake.—Three cups bread dough, two cups sugar, one cup butter, or half cup butter and half cup lard, two eggs, nutmeg to suit the taste, one wineglass of wine, half a teaspoonful of soda, one pound of raisins chopped or stoned; beat all thoroughly together, and let it stand to rise till quite light. Always roll raisins in plenty of flour before putting into the dough, to prevent their sinking.
Fruit Cake.—Three cups sugar, half a pound butter, four cups flour, three eggs well beaten, one cup of milk, two nutmegs, two pounds of raisins stoned, one pound Zante currants, or half a pound of preserved orange peel sliced very thin and cut fine, one teaspoonful soda. Bake two hours and a half.
Farmer’s Fruit Cake.—Three cupfuls of sour dried-apples soaked overnight in warm water. In the morning drain off the water, chop not too fine, leaving the apple about as large as raisins, then simmer in two cupfuls of molasses two hours or until quite done, that is, until the apple has absorbed all the molasses; one and a half cupfuls of butter well beaten; one of sugar, four eggs, one cupful of sweet milk, one teaspoonful of cloves, one of cinnamon, one of nutmeg, one and a half teaspoonfuls of soda, one wineglassof wine, four and a half teacupfuls of flour; add one cup raisins or currants, if you please, but roll in flour before putting them to other ingredients; beat all together thoroughly; bake carefully in a well-heated oven. This is excellent to our taste, far better than the richer kind, and more easily digested.
Whortleberry Cake.—Prepare the batter just like Sally Lunn, then stir in one coffee-cup of whortleberries rolled in flour the last thing before putting into the oven. If the berries are not well floured, they will sink to the bottom of the cake and be worthless. Stir them in gently and quickly. Bake half an hour. Very good for breakfast or tea.
Olic Cake.—Three pounds of flour, five eggs, three quarters of a pound of butter, one and a half pints of milk, one pound of sugar, and one penny’s worth of bakers’ yeast; beat and knead well and put to rise; knead over every time it rises,—say three times a day for three days,—using as little flour as possible at each kneading. After the first rising, keep it in the cellar or a cool place. When ready for use, break off small bits, flatten with the hand, and lay a bit of citron on them; then roll into a ball and fry in boiling lard, like doughnuts. Roll in sugar after they are fried. This is a Dutch receipt, and, if properly made, very fine. We have neverfriedthese cakes, but often make a large bowlful in cold weather, and keep it on the ice a fortnight at a time, using as we want it, kneading it every day an hour before tea, and using it for biscuits instead of cake. Let it stand a short time to rise, then bake.They are very light and tender.
Nice little Cakes.—Whites of six eggs left from Spanish cream, three and a half cups of flour, two cups sugar, one small cup butter, one cup milk, one teaspoonful soda, and two of cream of tartar. Flavor to taste.
Queen Charlotte’s Cake.—One pound of flour, one of sugar, one of raisins (Sultana orstonelessraisins are the best), one half-pound butter, four eggs, one gill brandy, one gill wine, one gill cream, half a nutmeg, half-teaspoonful each cloves and cinnamon. Bake in one loaf.
Lemon Cake.—Two cups of flour, two of sugar, six eggs, six table-spoonfuls of butter, four of milk, two teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar sifted with the flour, and one teaspoonful of soda. Beat allwell together, and bake in two loaves. For the jelly to use with it, take three fourths of a pound of sugar, one fourth of a pound of butter, six eggs, the rind of three lemons grated, and their juice. Beat the sugar, butter, and eggs thoroughly together, and set in a dish of hot water until heated, then add the grated lemon and juice; stir till thick enough and quite smooth, then split the cake and put this jelly in while warm. It is very delicious.
Molasses Drop Cake.—One cup of molasses, half a cup of butter or lard, half a cup of water, three cups of flour, two teaspoonfuls of ginger, one teaspoonful of soda. Beat well together, and drop with a spoon on a buttered pan or in muffin-rings. Bake quickly.
Chicago Fruit Cake.—One and one fourth pound flour, six eggs, one pound sugar, half-pint of milk, three fourths pound butter, one pound raisins, two teaspoonfuls soda, half a gill molasses, three teaspoonfuls mace, one teaspoonful cloves, one of cinnamon, one of allspice, one of nutmeg. Beat the yelks and whites of eggs separately, and beat the cake well before baking.
Cider Cake.—Two pounds of flour, one pound of butter, one and a quarter-pound of sugar, one pound of raisins (stoned), five eggs, two teaspoonfuls of soda (only even full), a teaspoonful of cloves, cinnamon, and half a nutmeg, and one pint of cider. Put in the soda the last thing.
Snow-flake Cake.—Half a cup of butter, two cups of sugar, four of flour, one of sweet milk, three eggs well beaten, one table-spoonful cream of tartar, half a teaspoonful of soda; or, if you use prepared flour, use no soda or cream of tartar. Bake the cake in shallow jelly-cake pans; while baking, grate two fresh cocoa-nuts carefully, and spread over each cake, as it comes from the oven, a thin frosting, and then sprinkle thickly with the grated nut. Three layers of cake make one cake. This receipt will make two loaves.
Cocoa-nut Cake.—One coffee-cup butter, two and a half sugar, four and a half of flour, whites of nine eggs beaten stiff, half a cup of milk, two cocoa-nuts grated, one small teaspoonful soda, two of cream of tartar. Save out a saucer of grated cocoa-nut to sprinkle on the frosting after the cake is baked.
Macaroons.—One pound of sugar, whites of three eggs, onequarter-pound blanched and pounded almonds. Sprinkle sugar on paper and drop in little round cakes.
Delicate Cake.—When making cocoa-nut custard (see Puddings, etc.), use the whites of the eggs as follows: One cup white sugar, five table-spoonfuls of butter, whites of six eggs, one teacup of sweet milk, three cups of “prepared flour,” or to the same quantity of common flour, add one small teaspoonful of soda, and two of cream of tartar sifted in the flour. Flavor with orange, lemon, or vanilla.
Sponge Cake(very good).—Three eggs, one cup of sugar, one of flour, three table-spoonfuls of water, and one teaspoonful of yeast powder; flavor with lemon and nutmeg.
Pineapple Cake.—Make a cake as for jelly-cake; bake it in three or four jelly-pans; grate a large ripe pineapple in one bowl and a cocoa-nut in another. When the cakes are done, spread over one a layer of pineapple, and over that a layer of cocoa-nut; then place the second cake over this, and on that put another layer of pineapple and cocoa-nut, and so on till the last; cover that with the pineapple and grated cocoa-nut, and then beat the whites of two eggs to a stiff meringue; lay it over the top, and place the cake in the oven just a few minutes to stiffen.
Molasses Cup Cake(very good).—One cup each, sugar, molasses, and milk, three cups flour, half a cup butter, three eggs, one table-spoonful ginger, one small even teaspoonful of soda, half a teaspoonful of salt. Pour the milk to the flour, beat butter and sugar to a cream and add to it the salt and ginger, then the well-beaten yelks of the eggs; beat the soda into the molasses, and when it foams pour in with the rest, adding the whites of the eggs, beaten stiff, the last thing.
Loaf Cake.—One and a half pints of well-raised sponge, two and a half cups sugar, two thirds cup of butter, three eggs, yelks and whites beaten separately, half a pound stoned raisins well rolled in flour to prevent their sinking to the bottom, half-teaspoonful each cinnamon and cloves, one nutmeg. Beat into the sponge a half-teaspoonful soda before adding these ingredients, then stir all together thoroughly; let it stand till quite light, then stir up from the bottom with a wooden spoon to prevent raisins from settling, and bake slowly. If the sponge is very thin, add a little more flour.
Walnut Cake.—One pound of flour, one of sugar, three quarters of a pound of butter, one and a half pounds raisins stoned, the meats from two quarts of walnuts, one nutmeg, half a teaspoonful of cinnamon, half a cup of milk, one wineglassful of cider or wine, six eggs, whites and yelks beaten separately, half a teaspoonful of soda. Pick over the walnut-meats to see that no bits of shells remain; pour boiling water over to take off the skin, drain and rub dry, then mix with raisins, flour well, and stir into the batter. Bake in a quick oven, but not scorching hot.
Loaf Cake.—Two cups of sugar, two of milk, two of flour, one of yeast. Make into sponge overnight. In the morning rub together two cups of sugar, one of butter, and four eggs. Flour to make quite stiff; one nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves; if wished, one pound of fruit. Raise till light, and bake in an even oven.
Western Cake.—Four cups of flour, two and a half of sugar, one of butter, one of new milk, and five eggs, one teaspoonful of soda. Spice to taste.
Snowball Cake.—One cup of sugar, half a cup of butter, half a cup of sweet milk, two cups of flour, the whites of three eggs, half a teaspoonful of soda, one spoonful of cream of tartar sifted with the flour; beat butter and sugar thoroughly together; add the whites of eggs beaten to a stiff foam; then the flour, and milk and soda the last.
Molasses Cake.—Half a cup of molasses, half cup sugar, half cup sour milk, piece of butter size of an egg, one egg, two cups flour, spices, and a few chopped raisins. Spice with a little ginger, cloves, and cinnamon.
Corn-Starch Cake.—One cupful of butter, two of sugar; beat to a white foam; add four eggs beaten quite stiff, one cupful of corn-starch, one cupful of milk, two cupfuls of prepared flour, and flavor with one teaspoonful of bitter almonds. If you have no prepared flour, sift one teaspoonful of cream of tartar with the flour, and add half a teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a teaspoonful of milk, the last thing; beat thoroughly after the soda is added, and bake immediately.
Moss Cake.—Two cupfuls of sugar, half a cupful of butter, three eggs, one cupful of milk, three cupfuls of flour, two teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar sifted with the flour, and one teaspoonful of soda.
Jenny Lind Cake.—Half cup butter, one teacup of milk, two table-spoonfuls cream, two cups sugar, three eggs, one teaspoonful cream tartar, half-teaspoonful soda, and four cups flour. Any spice that is palatable.
Sugar Cookies.—One cup butter, two cups sugar, three eggs, five cups flour, two table-spoonfuls sour milk (or sweet milk, with two teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar added), one small teaspoonful of soda; spice to suit your taste. Bake quickly.
Cookies.—Two cups of sugar, one of butter, one of sweet milk, one teaspoonful soda, two teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar, just flour enough to roll; rub butter and sugar into the dry flour, as if for pastry, and then wet up, using no eggs; spice to suit the taste; cream of tartar to be sifted in with the flour, soda added the last. Be careful not to use too much flour, more can easily be added if not stiff enough.
Another Way.—Three cups of flour, one cup of sugar a trifle heaped, half cup of butter, one third cup half cream and half sweet milk, two eggs, half-teaspoonful soda,—if you don’t use prepared flour; spice with cinnamon. Work butter and sugar to a smooth white cream, then add yelks of eggs, beat well, and then add milk and soda; whites beaten stiff, added the last thing before the flour; make as thin as they can be rolled, putting the hands to the dough as little as possible. Much handling makes them hard and tough.
Molasses Gingerbread.—Half a cupful of sugar, half a cupful molasses, half a cupful of milk, half a cupful of butter, three cupfuls of flour, two teaspoonfuls of ginger, and half a teaspoonful of soda. Beat the sugar, butter, and ginger together; then add the milk, then the flour; beat the soda into the molasses, and as soon as it foams, beat it in with the other ingredients. Better beat all together with the hand. Bake it either in a shallow pan or in little cups. This is very nice, if a teaspoonful of cinnamon, half a teaspoonful of cloves, and a teacupful of stoned raisins are added, and the whole baked in a loaf.
Plain Gingerbread.—One cupful of sugar, one of molasses, half a cupful of butter, half a cupful of milk, one cupful of raisins or currants, two teaspoonfuls of ginger, and one of yeast powder, with flour enough to make it as stiff as cup cake.
Excellent Ginger-Snaps.—Boil together one pint molasses, one cup butter, one table-spoonful of ginger. Let them only boil up once, then set aside to cool. When cold, roll two small teaspoonfuls of soda perfectly smooth, and beat into the molasses; while foaming pour it upon just as little flour as will make it possible to roll out very thin. Bake quick.
In measuring by spoonfuls, be careful that the spoon isevenfull, notheaped. Careless measurement spoils many good dishes.
Pastry.—One quart flour, half-pound butter; mix half the flour with ice-cold water, stiff enough to roll; put it on a well-floured paste-board, sprinkle flour over and roll half an inch thick. Divide the butter into three parts; shave one of the three portions quite thin and put it lightly over the paste, shake one third of the dry flour over it, fold the four ends inward, then double the sheet together and beat it with the rolling-pin till it is about half an inch thick; shave a second portion of the butter and put on the paste, flour, fold up and beat out as at first. Repeat this process for the third and last time, using up all the butter and flour, and put the paste on the ice for a half-hour. Then cut off a piece large enough to cover a plate, roll out,—always rolling from you,—and handle as little as possible; cover the plate, trim it by passing the knife round the plate, cuttingupwards. (This should be borne in mind with all pastry. If cut round the edge of the plateupwards, it will be light; ifdownwards, it will cling to the plate and be heavy.) Cut a strip an inch wide and lay round the edge, fill in the fruit or whatever the contents are to be, and if it is to have an upper crust roll out, put it on and trim as above directed. Prick the top to let out steam and prevent the waste of the juice.
Puff Paste.—Half a pound of butter, half a pound of lard, one and a quarter pounds of flour; wet half the flour to a paste; mix the other half with the shortening, chopping it fine, but do not use your hand; stir together with a silver or wooden spoon. Roll the paste out on the board about a quarter of an inch thick, and add one third of the mixed flour and shortening; fold the four ends over it, and beat out with the rolling-pin till again aquarter of an inch thick; spread over it one third more of the shortening; fold over the ends; beat out thin again; add the remainder of the shortening; beat, roll out, and use.
Potato Pastry for Meat Pies.—Six good-sized potatoes, boiled and mashed mealy and white, one teacup of sweet cream, a teaspoonful of salt, and flour enough to make it stay together and roll out. Work and handle as little as possible, and roll thicker than common pastry.
Pumpkin Pies.—Cut the pumpkin into small pieces; take out the seeds and inside, but do not pare it. It must be a well-grown and thoroughly ripened pumpkin, and not watery. Put the pieces in a saucepan, with only a few spoonfuls of water, not more than four; cover close and let it cook gently, so as not to scorch, until the water has all evaporated, and the pumpkin has cooked quite dry and of a rich, dark orange color. While hot sift it through a coarse sieve. Season only as much as you are needing for the day. For one large pie, one egg, one table-spoonful of molasses, four table-spoonfuls of condensed milk, and enough of new milk to make it as thin as you wish, or if you have it, half milk and half cream, instead of condensed milk; sugar and spice to suit the taste. Ginger and cinnamon are very nice. Bake to a clear, rich brown, but do not blister or scorch.
Dried-Apple Pies.—Wash the apples in several waters, then put them into an earthen dish or stone pot, and pour on rather more water than will cover them; for if the apples are good, they will absorb a good deal of water and become twice as large by soaking. Never soak or cook fruit in tin or iron. A few hours should soak the apples sufficiently for cooking. If soaked overnight they become insipid. Put them into an earthen pipkin or porcelain kettle and cook in the water they are soaked in. If you like it, cut up a little dried orange or lemon peel and stew with the apples. Some use dried plums with apples, but they make it too sharp for our taste. Let them cook slowly, till very tender. When they rise up in the kettle,pressthem down gently, but neverstirthem. When perfectly tender, before taking from the fire, stir in a little butter—about one table-spoonful to a quart of cooked apples—and sugar to suit your taste. Season with very little nutmeg and cinnamon, if you do not use the orangeor lemon peel,—nothing else is needed if you do. Bake with an upper and under crust, but do not make the pie very thick with apples. Half an inch deep is sufficient.
Dried plums and peaches may be prepared in the same way, but require no spice.
Pies of Canned Fruit.—Canned pears, peaches, and quinces usually will bear scalding in their own liquor before putting them in the pie-plate. When tender, skim out and lay on a dish to cool. Then add to the liquor enough sugar to make a syrup, more or less rich, according to the taste of those who are to eat them. When both fruit and liquor are cold, if the pears, peaches, or quinces are in halves, cut them in slices a quarter of an inch thick, and lay into the pie-plate; pour over as much of the syrup as it will hold, having first put on the under crust and laid an edge of crust around it. Fill the plate not quite an inch thick. This is more economical, and, to our taste, much nicer than to use the fruit in large pieces. Cut a few small bits of butter (half a table-spoonful in all) and lay the spice over; put on the upper crust and bake a rich brown, but be careful not to scorch the crust, as a little scorch spoils the best of pastry.
Plums must not be scalded before baking, as they come to pieces very easily, but prepare the liquor in which they are canned the same as for pears, peaches, and quinces.
Mince Pie.—Put a large-sized tongue into boiling water, with a little salt and pepper. A fresh tongue is better than one smoked and dried. Boil slowly till tender, then take out and dip for a minute in cold water; then peel it, beginning at the tip, as it peels easier. Cut off all the gristly parts and chop fine. Pare and chop enough of the best flavored sour apples to fill a three-pint bowl when chopped. The finer the meat and apples are chopped the better the pies will be. Pick over and rub clean one pound Sultana, or stoneless raisins, one pound Malaga, or bloom raisins, stoned and chopped, and one pound whole raisins. Slice thin half a pound citron and half a pound candied orange peel; chop and pick clean from skinny pieces three quarters of a pound of suet; add a table-spoonful salt, five grated nutmegs, one and a half table-spoonfuls ground cloves, the same of cinnamon, a pound of sugar, half a pint maple syrup, one pint cider, one of Madeirawine, one of brandy. Syrups from preserves, or small portions of jelly of any kind left over, and not sufficient to be put on the table again, are a great improvement to mince-meat for pies, beside finding an economical way of use. Put all these ingredients into a porcelain kettle, and set over the range to scald, not boil, one hour, stirring all the time; then pack in a stone jar and cover closely, ready for use.
Rice Pie.—Take cold rice, cooked with milk, add sufficient cream to make quite thin, mash it with a wooden or silver spoon till free from lumps. Beat up four eggs very light,—yelks and whites separately,—sweeten the rice to suit your taste, and pour in the egg,—the whites last; stir well, grate a little nutmeg over all; cover a deep custard or pumpkin pie-plate with pastry, pour in the rice, and bake, but not long enough to make the custard watery.
Apple Puffs.—Peel and core as many sour apples as will be needed, simmer with a little water till tender, then add a half-pound of sugar to a pound of apples, let it simmer till the apples become a kind of marmalade; take it up, and when cold put it into puff paste and bake quickly; when done ice it, return to the oven just long enough to turn the icing golden.
Marlborough Pie.—One cup stewed apples, sifted; one cup sugar, one cup cream or milk; one fourth cup butter if cream is used, if milk, one third; half a gill wine, three well-beaten eggs, whites whisked separately, and a little nutmeg; beat sugar, butter, and apple together, then add the wine, then milk or cream, nutmeg and yelks, adding the whites the last thing. No upper crust.
Chess Pie.—Four eggs, two cups sugar, one of cream, two thirds of a cup butter, one table-spoonful flour; flavor with nutmeg. When a delicate brown, try with a spoon as for a custard.
English Christmas Plum Pudding.—One pound of clean, dry currants, half a pound of the best raisins, stoned; mix these with one pound of bread crumbs, half a pound of fine flour, and one pound and a half of finely shred suet; add a quarter of a pound of sifted sugar, one grated nutmeg, a drachm of cinnamon, two drachms of cloves, half a dozen almonds, pounded, and an ounce each of candied orange and lemon, sliced thin; mix allthese materials thoroughly together in a bowl, with a glass of brandy and one of sherry, then beat six eggs very light, and slowly stir them in till all is well blended; cover the bowl, and let this mixture stand for twelve hours; then pour it into a pudding-bag, and tie it not very tight, leaving room for it to swell; or fill a pudding-mold not quite two thirds full, lay a clean cloth over the top, and shut the cover over tightly to exclude all water; put the bag or mold into boiling water; keep it covered, and keep it boiling all the time, for six hours. Serve with sugar sifted over, and wine sauce. Brandy is usually sent in with a Christmas pudding, to be poured over the whole pudding, or over each slice, then lighted, and served while burning.
A Family Christmas Pudding.—Beat up four eggs very light (which always means yelks and whites beaten separately); add to the yelks, after beating, a quarter of a teaspoonful each of ginger, nutmeg, grated lemon peel, and salt; four ounces of sugar, half a pound of well-cleaned and dried currants, one pound of flour, half a pound of well-shred and chopped suet; beat this all up thoroughly, adding the whites of the eggs last. Wine or brandy, or both, may be added, if one has no scruples about using them in cooking; but the pudding will be good without this addition. Tie it in a cloth or pudding-bag, or put it into a mold, and boil six hours. Serve with any good sauce.
In boiling puddings of all kinds, the cloth should be dipped in hot water before the batter is put in, or the mold be well buttered. Any of these Christmas puddings may be kept for a month after boiling, if the cloth in which they are boiled be replaced by a clean one, and the pudding be hung up to the ceiling of a kitchen, or in a warm store-room. When wanted, they will require one hour’s boiling to heat them through, as all such puddings should be sent to the table hot.
A Simple Christmas Pudding.—Six ounces of finely chopped suet, six ounces of Malaga raisins, stoned and chopped; eight ounces of well-cleaned and dried currants, three ounces of fine bread crumbs, three ounces of flour, three well-beaten eggs, the sixth part of a nutmeg, grated; half a teaspoonful each of cinnamon, cloves, and mace; four ounces of sugar, half a teaspoonful of salt, half a pint of milk; one ounce of candied orange orlemon peel, and the same of citron, all sliced thin. Beat all together thoroughly; pour into a pudding-bag or mold; put into boiling water, and keep it boiling six hours. Serve with sauce to suit your taste.
Bread Pudding.—One quart fine bread crumbs, one cup of sugar, two table-spoonfuls of molasses, half-pound suet chopped fine, one coffee-cup raisins, half a rind of preserved orange peel or citron cut thin and fine, a very little nutmeg and cinnamon, two teaspoonfuls cream of tartar, one small teaspoonful soda, one teaspoonful of salt. Stir in milk enough to make it thick as pound-cake, beating all thoroughly together; put it into a buttered pudding-mold, and boil three hours. Be careful to keep the water boiling all the time.
Boiled Indian Pudding.—Two cupfuls of sour milk, two spoonfuls of molasses, one teaspoonful of soda, one of salt, half a cupful of sifted flour, mixed with enough corn meal to make a batter not very stiff; half a cupful of chopped suet, from which all the stringy substance has been removed; a cup and a half of chopped sweet apples, or huckleberries, dried or fresh, as you have on hand. Boil from two and a half to three hours.
Baked Indian Pudding.—Boil one quart of milk, and pour over a pint of sifted Indian meal; stir it well till the meal is thoroughly wet and scalded. Mix three table-spoonfuls of wheat flour with one pint of milk, and beat to a smooth batter, entirely free from lumps; then pour it in with the Indian batter, and beat well together. When the whole is lukewarm, beat three eggs and three table-spoonfuls of sugar, and mix with the batter, together with two table-spoonfuls of molasses; add two teaspoonfuls of salt, two of nutmeg, cinnamon, or ginger, as you prefer; two great spoonfuls of suet chopped fine, or the same of melted butter; let it bake a few minutes, and then add half a pound of raisins and half a pint of milk, which the raisins will soak up. Bake till the pudding is of a rich color, but do not let it whey.
Palmyra, or Date Pudding.—One pound of fresh dates, chopped fine and free from stones; one pound of suet, chopped fine; a quarter of a pound of moist sugar, and a pound of flour. Mix all well together; add a little salt and nutmeg, and make into a soft dough with milk. Beat three eggs very stiff, yelks andwhites separately, and add the last thing. Boil in a pudding-dish three hours, or bake slowly two hours. Eat with liquid sauce.
Sponge-Cake Pudding.—Make a batter as for good sponge-cake. Bake on a flat, square pan, so as to be an inch thick, when done. When cold, cut it into pieces about three inches square; slice and butter them, and lay each slice together as it was before you split it. Make a custard with four eggs and a quart of new milk, flavor and sweeten as you like it. Almond in the cake, and lemon or vanilla in the custard, are very good. Put the buttered slices of cake in a baking-dish, so that when the custard is poured over them, the dish will be full. Bake half an hour; eat with or without sauce as you prefer.
Steamed Pudding.—Two eggs, two teacupfuls of sour milk, one teaspoonful of soda, a little salt, flour enough to make it quite thick, or it will be heavy. Beat this smooth. Add cherries, raspberries, currants, or anydriedfruit you may have. Steam two hours, taking care that the water is kept over the pudding or bag all the time, and that it does not stop boiling. Eat with cream and sugar, hard sauce, or any liquid sauce you may prefer.
An Excellent Pudding.—One cup of sugar, one cup of milk, three eggs, beaten stiff; one table-spoonful of butter, a little clove and cinnamon, about half a teaspoonful of each; one cup of raisins, stoned; half a teaspoonful of salt, and three cups of prepared flour. Bake quick. Eat with liquid or hard sauce, according to taste. We think this would also be excellent steamed or boiled.
Apple and Tapioca Pudding.—Put a teacup of tapioca into a pint and a half of cold water overnight. Before breakfast the next morning set it where it will become quite warm, but not hot enough to cook. After breakfast pare six good-sized sour apples, or eight if not very large; quarter them andsteamthem in a dish till tender. Lay them into the pudding-dish, stir a cup and a half of sugar into the soaked tapioca, add a teacup of water and an even teaspoonful of salt, stir together and pour over the apple, slice a lemon very thin and lay over the top, bake slowly three hours; eat with butter, with wine sauce, or hard sauce, as you prefer.
Sweet-Apple Pudding.—One pint of scalded milk, half a pint of Indian meal, one teaspoonful of salt, six sweet apples cut in small pieces, one small teacupful of finely chopped suet, two great spoonfuls of molasses, half a teaspoonful of ginger, nutmeg, or cinnamon,—whichever is most desirable,—two eggs well beaten, and half a teaspoonful soda. Beat all well together, put into a pudding-mold, and boil two hours.
Fig Pudding.—Half a pound of the best figs, washed and chopped fine, two teacupfuls of grated bread, half a cupful of sweet cream, half a cupful of sugar, and one cupful of milk. Mix the bread and cream, add the figs, then the sugar, and lastly the milk. Pour the mixture into a mold, and boil three hours. Eat with wine or hard sauce.
Barley Cream for Invalids.—Boil two pounds of lean veal in one quart of water, add to it a quarter of a pound of pearl barley, and boil till it can be rubbed through a sieve. It should be about as thick as cream. Add a little salt.
Apple Float.—One pint stewed and well-mashed apples; whites of three eggs, and four large spoonfuls of sugar, beaten until stiff; then add the apples, and beat all together till stiff enough to stand alone. Fill a deep dish with rich cream, or boiled soft custard, and pile the float on top. This is excellent with other fruits in place of the apples.
Sago Pudding.—One dozen tart apples, one and a half cup of sago,—soak the sago in water till soft; peel and core the apples and place in a dish, fill the apples with sugar, a very little cinnamon and nutmeg, pour the sago over and bake until the apples are cooked. Eat with wine sauce or hard sauce.
Cocoa-nut Custard.—One pound grated cocoa-nut, one pint of rich milk, and six ounces of sugar. Beat the yelks of six eggs, and stir them into the milk with the nut and sugar. Put into a farina-kettle, or into a small pail which you can set into a kettle of boiling water; stir all the time till very smooth and thick; as soon as it comes to a hard boil, take off and pour into cups.
Apple Pudding.—One pint of stewed and sifted apples, three eggs well beaten, whites and yelks separate, sugar enough to make the apple quite sweet, one cup of stoned raisins rolled in flour; half-pint each of milk and cream or condensed milk, and a little salt and nutmeg.
Sauce.—One cup of sugar and half a cup of butter, rubbed to a cream; the white of one egg well beaten, a little nutmeg or orange, and when ready to serve, stir in two great spoonfuls of boiling water; if preferred, add half a gill of wine instead of orange juice.
Nice Cheap Pudding.—One quart of milk, four table-spoonfuls of flour, four eggs, six table-spoonfuls of sugar, nutmeg. Steam three fourths of an hour.
Orange Pudding.—Peel five oranges; cut in thin slices; take out all the seeds. Pour over them a large cupful of white sugar. Bring a pint of rich milk to a boil in a farina-kettle; wet a table-spoonful of corn-starch in a little cold milk; beat the yelks of three eggs and pour them into the boiling milk, stirring all the time. When it thickens a little, pour over the fruit. Beat the whites to a stiff foam; add a table-spoonful of white sugar, and pour over the top; set it in the oven a few minutes to harden, but do not brown it. Eaten hot or cold for dinner or tea. Substitute berries or peaches for oranges, if you prefer.
Custard without Eggs.—To one quart of new milk one teaspoonful of rennet wine, or a small piece of rennet, a little lemon, nutmeg, or vanilla, or any spice you prefer, and one table-spoonful of sugar to each quart of milk. If too sweet, the milk will not set firmly or quickly. Stir all together, and set by the stove or near the fire; cover closely. It should begin to stiffen in an hour. If it does not, add more wine, or rennet. When firm, before the whey separates, take out the piece of rennet if the skin was used, and set on ice till dinner. To be eaten with sugar and rich cream. Nutmeg is always an improvement, even if lemon or vanilla is used.
The wine rennet is nicer than simply the skin, and it is a good idea to keep a bottle of wine with a piece of rennet in always on hand, as it is often desirable to have it ready.
A Quick Pudding.—Bring a quart of milk to the boiling point in a farina-kettle or a pail set into boiling water; add a small teaspoonful of salt, two table-spoonfuls of rice or wheat flour, wet smooth with cold milk. Stir this in as soon as the milk boils. Stir it a few minutes till perfectly smooth, and let it remain in the outside vessel of boiling water half an hour. Be sure andkeep the water in receiver or saucepan boiling hard around the inner one all the time. Eat with butter and sugar, or thick cream and sugar.
This is very healthful, especially in the summer, and invaluable for invalids, or children suffering with summer complaint. When used as a remedy or preventive, it should boil longer, say one hour.
Rice Meringue.—Pick over one teacup of rice, wash clean, and boil in water until it is soft. When done, drain all the water from it. Let it get cool and then add one quart of new milk, the well-beaten yelks of three eggs, three table-spoonfuls of white sugar, and a little nutmeg; pour into a baking-dish and bake half an hour. Let it get cold; then beat the whites stiff, add two great spoonfuls of sugar, flavor with lemon or vanilla, and spread it over the pudding, and slightly brown it in the oven. Be careful not to let it scorch.
Sago Pudding.—One dozen tart apples, one and a half cups of sago, soak the sago in water till soft; peel and core the apples and place in a dish; fill the apples with sugar, a very little cinnamon and nutmeg, pour the sago over, and bake until the apples are cooked. Eat with wine or hard sauce.
Lemon or Orange Honeycomb.—Sweeten the juice of two oranges or lemons. Beat the whites of two eggs into a quart of rich cream, and whisk it; as the froth rises, skim off and lay on the lemon or orange juice. Whisk until you have the whole frothed and laid on the juice. It makes a pretty and agreeable dish. It should be prepared the day before needed, and set in a cool place.
Apple Snow.—Stew fine flavored, sour apples; sweeten and flavor to suit your taste; strain, and to one quart of sifted apples allow the whites of four eggs. Whisk them to a stiff froth; then put the apple and whites together, and continue to whip until they are so stiff you can turn the dish upside down without the mass falling off. Eat with cream or with bread and milk.
Snow Pudding.—Dissolve one box Cox’s gelatine in one pint of boiling water; add two cups sugar and the juice of one lemon; strain when nearly cold; beat the whites of three eggs to a stiff froth, add them to the gelatine; beat all well togetherand put into a mold to shape it and let it get cold. Then take the yelks of three eggs, beat and add to a pint of rich milk, one teaspoonful corn-starch, flavor with vanilla, and boil in a farina-kettle. When you wish to serve, empty the mold of gelatine, etc. into the dish, and pour the custard over. In boiling the custard, be careful not to cook it too much; stir all the time, and the moment it begins to set or thicken remove it. If cooked too long it will whey.
Cocoa-nut Pudding or Pies.—Break the nut, save the milk; take out the meat and grate it very fine; take equal weight of sugar and cocoa-nut, and half the quantity of butter; rub the butter and sugar to a cream; take five eggs, whites and yelks beaten separately very stiff; one cup of milk and the milk of the cocoa-nut, and a little grated lemon. Line the dish with a nice paste, put in the pudding, and bake one hour. Cover the rim with paper to prevent burning. This receipt will answer equally as well for pies as for pudding. It will make three pies.
Bohemian Cream.—Four ounces of any fruit you choose, which has been steamed soft and sweetened. Pass the fruit through a sieve, and add one and a half ounces of melted or dissolved isinglass to a half-pint of fruit; mix it well together; then whip a pint of rich cream, and add the fruit and isinglass gradually to it. Then pour it all into a mold; set it on ice or in a cool place, and when hardened or set, dip the mold a moment in warm water, and turn it out on a dish, ready for the table.
Spanish Cream.—Dissolve three quarters of an ounce Cox’s gelatine in one half-pint of water; take one pint milk, one pint cream, the well-beaten yelks of five eggs, five table-spoonfuls of sugar. Sift all well together. Flavor with vanilla, lemon, or orange, or any flavor most agreeable. Put into a farina-kettle and boil till it just begins to turn. If done too much it will be watery, or wheyey, which spoils it. When thickened like a smooth rich cream, stir in the dissolved gelatine, pour into molds, and set in the refrigerator or a very cool place to harden. Beat up the whites of the eggs and pour over the top of the cream after you have removed it from the mold to the glass dish, for the table.
Rennet Wine.—Buy a dried rennet in market, or get a fresh one from the butcher’s and prepare and dry it yourself. When well dried and cured, cut it in pieces of one or two inches; put it into a large bottle and fill up with Madeira wine; for a good-sized rennet add from three pints to two quarts of wine. It will keep for a year or two.
Cold Custard.—Warm one quart of milk as warm as when just milked; sweeten and flavor to suit your taste; stir into it two table-spoonfuls of rennet wine, and turn it at once into the dish in which it is to be sent to table.
Baked Apples.—Core some Baldwin pippins, or any other fine-flavored tart apple. Sprinkle sugar on the bottom of a deep dish, and set the apples into the dish with two or three on top. Fill the holes with sugar; cover the lower apples with water, and bake one hour. A little cinnamon, nutmeg, or lemon will be an improvement for those who like fruit seasoned.
Apple Snow.—Stew some fine-flavored sour apples tender, sweeten to taste; strain them through a fine wire sieve, and break into one pint of strained apples the white of an egg; whisk the apple and egg very briskly, till quite stiff, and it will be as white as snow; eaten with a nice boiled custard, it makes a very desirable dessert.
Season with a very little nutmeg and cinnamon, add a little butter, and bake in good pastry, and you will have a very good apple pie.
To Can Peaches.—We find the following mode of canning peaches in “Tilton’s Journal of Horticulture,” published in Boston. That journal is always so reliable, that we have no hesitation in giving these directions to our readers: “Take large ripe peaches,—not over-ripe,—halve and pare neatly and lay on a large meat-dish. To a three-peck basket of fruit allow four pounds of sifted sugar; sprinkle it over the fruit as you lay it in the dish; when done set it in a cool place overnight; the next morning fit each piece, one by one, nicely into the jar, draining them from the juice. When the jars are all filled put them close together in a kettle of cold water, putting a double towel or somethingof the kind under them, in the bottom of the kettle, to prevent their cracking, and set over the fire. Let the water heat gradually till it boils, while you prepare the syrup from the juice that has been formed from the peaches and sugar overnight, then fill up the jars with it, being careful to let the bubbles of air escape; they will be seen rising to the top; if any are in the lower part of the jar they will rush up on the insertion of a fork. When all are full begin to seal up, and have a large pan of hot water standing near to put the jars in as fast as sealed, where they can cool off gradually.
“Where one has glass jars or bottles, without tight-fitting covers, prepare a cement of one pound rosin to two pounds of mutton-suet, melted together and well mixed; have pieces of strong muslin cut large enough to tie over the mouths of the jars or bottles; lay the muslin on a board and with a spoon spread over a thick coating of cement; take up the muslin quickly, before it has time to cool, and put it on the jar with the cement side downward, pressing it closely over the sides. If the muslin is not very thick it is well to spread more cement on top of the first cover, and lay over that a second piece of muslin, then tie down with twine and finish with a good coat of cement over all. This is a good way to use up old jars whose covers have been broken or lost.”
Mixed Marmalade.—Apples or pears mixed with quince make very pleasant marmalade. They should be pared and cut in small pieces; just cover them with water, or boil the cores and skins first and use the liquor to boil the fruit in; stew the fruit till it can be mashed with a wooden spoon; when well mashed add the sugar, three fourths of a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit (of course the fruit is weighed before beginning to cook); let it cook slowly for two or three hours, the longer it cooks the more solid it will be when cold. Pear, quince, and apple marmalade are made in the same way. With pears, if very mild, many add the juice and grated rind of lemons, to suit the taste, to the sugar.
Jellies.—In making jellies of apricots, quinces, peaches, apples, or plums, peel, remove the stones or cores, cut in pieces, cover with water and boil gently till well cooked; then strain the juicegently through a jelly-bag, and add a half-pint of sugar to a pint of juice (forberriesapoundof sugar to a pint of juice); boil till it ropes from the spoon, or from fifteen to twenty minutes. In making raspberry jelly, use one third currants and two thirds raspberries.
Peach Jelly.—Cut peaches in half, peel them, and take out the pits from the stones; make a clear syrup of a pound of white sugar to half a teacup of water. When made and boiling hot put in the peaches and part of the pits,—too many pits give a bitter flavor,—boil gently ten minutes, then put half of the peaches on a platter, and boil the other half ten minutes longer; mix with the liquor of the peaches the strained juice of three lemons or oranges, and one ounce of isinglass or Cox’s gelatine, that has been first dissolved and strained; fill the molds half full of jelly, let it stand till set, then add the rest of the peaches, and fill the molds with jelly. One dozen peaches will make a good-sized moldful. It is a very handsome table ornament, and very palatable.
Quince Jelly.—Boil the quince peelings, cores, and such of the fruit as you do not wish to can till soft, in just enough water to cover; then put into jelly-bags wrung out of hot water; hang the bags by strings on a stick laid across two chairs or benches, with a dish underneath, and let it drain without squeezing till the juice is all run out; then to every pint of juice weigh three quarters of a pound of sugar, put it into a large platter or a deep dish, and set in the oven to get hot,but not browned, while the juice in the preserving-kettle is brought to a boil; when it begins to boil skim clear, and then pour in the hot sugar, stir all well together, skim clear, boil fifteen minutes, and dip into hot jelly-glasses.
To Preserve Quinces.—Select the fairest quinces, pare, cut in half, and remove the core neatly; then weigh, using a quarter of a pound of sugar to one of fruit; boil the quinces until tender in enough water to cover them, and when done take carefully up on a platter. To make your syrup, use half a pint of the water in which the fruit was boiled to each pound of sugar. When skimmed clear, boil the quinces in the syrup five minutes; have the cans hot, and fill while the fruit and syrup are boiling hot; seal each can, or close the covers tightly, as fast as filled.
Candied Orange Peel.—Cut the fruit into quarters lengthwise, take out the pulp and put the peels in strong salt and water for two days, then take them out and soak for an hour in cold water, after which put them into a preserving-kettle with fresh cold water and boil till the peels are tender, when they should be put on a sieve to drain. Make a thin syrup of a quart of the water in which they were boiled and a pound of sugar, and simmer the peels in it for half an hour, when they will look clear; pour the peels and syrup into a bowl together, to stand till the next day, when you must make as much syrup as will cover them, of the proportion of a pound of sugar to a pint of water, boiling it till it will fall from the spoon in threads; put the peels into this syrup, boil half an hour, then take them out, drain on a sieve, and as the candy dries transfer them to a dish to finish in a warm place. When dry, store them for use. This receipt is useful for any lemon, orange, or citron peel, and perfectly wholesome.
Apple and Quince Sauce.—Pare, quarter, and core one peck of sweet apples and half a peck of quinces; then weigh both together; save all the cores and peels that are free from specks or worms; put these into a preserving-kettle, just cover with water, and boil twenty minutes; strain and pour the liquor over the quinces, cover closely, and let it boil till about half done, then add the apples; stir occasionally to prevent its burning, being careful to break the pieces as little as possible. When done so that a straw or knitting-needle will pass easily, add half a pound of sugar to every pound of fruit, stir it in gently, cover again closely, and leave it on the back part of the stove to simmer a short time, say twenty minutes, till the sugar is thoroughly incorporated with the fruit. Then pack in stone pots and cover closely. It is a very excellent substitute for apple-butter, and to most tastes more palatable.
Apple Sauce.—Take sweet cider, as soon as it comes from the cider-press, before it has passed through any change. Boil it down nearly half; then pare and quarter as many of the best sour apples as you wish to “do up”; cover them with the cider when boiling hot, and cook till well done; but not so as to lose their shape. Most of the cider will be absorbed by the apples. Whatremains can be bottled for future use. When done, put into jars, and cover or cement.
Or, if only needed for daily sauce, let the apples boil longer, stirring often, until it becomes like marmalade.
This makes not only a most delicious sauce, but is very healthful, as all the nourishment of the apples from which the cider is made is retained, and the stimulating or alcoholic properties are dispelled by boiling before fermentation takes place, and we lose the sharp, biting taste of the oldapple-buttermade from boiled cider.
Baked Pears.—Take ripe pears, juicy and of a good flavor,—not ripe enough to be very soft. Wipe them clean, put them into a stone jar, stems upward; when the bottom of the jar is covered, sprinkle over sugar (the nature of the pear must determine the quantity of sugar needed; some are so sweet that they require but little). Set in another layer of pears; add more sugar, and so on till the jar is full. Put in a pint and a half of water for every gallon that the jar contains; cover the top of the jar with a paste of simple flour and water, and bake in a slow oven two hours.
Stilton Cheeseis one of the richest kinds. The cream of one day’s milk is added to the warm new milk of the next. In England they are made in a deep hoop or vat containing from eight to ten pounds, and are not considered of proper age for the table till two years old. Little blue spots through the cheese, not at all like those on common moldy cheese, is the test of ripeness. We have seen them made in a two-quart hoop. They require very careful handling, and are very fine (we think more agreeable) at a year old than when left to the age that epicures love best in cheese.
TheCottenham Cheeseis a variety of cream cheese manufactured in Cottenham, near Cambridgeshire, that is considered superior to the Stilton, as the herbage upon which the cows feed gives the milk a peculiar fragrance.
TheParmesanis made in several parts of Lombardy. It is quite celebrated. Many suppose it is made from goat’s milk, but it issimply from cow’s milk skimmed. The meadows of the Po are noted for extremely rich herbage, and the peculiarities of the Parmesan cheese are owing in part to this, together with the mode of manufacturing it. Half the milk to be used is allowed to stand sixteen hours, the other half but six. It is then heated and coagulated in a boiler, and broken up fine, without removing, by sticks with cross-wires; then scalded once more till the curd has separated from the whey and become quite firm. It is then taken out, drained, salted, and pressed. The best Parmesan cheese is kept four years before cutting.
TheCheddaris similar to the Parmesan; but very little of the best quality is now made, and that which is generally imported for it is inferior.
TheDunlopis one of the best Scottish cheeses, made only of new milk, but there is nothing peculiar in the mode of making it.
A peculiar kind of cheese in Lincolnshire is known in London asNew Cheese. It is made wholly from cream, or sometimes morning’s milk, warm from the cow, is used, and the cream of the day before added to it. It is made quite thin, pressed gently two or three times, then left tocurefor a few days, when it is ready to be sent to market for immediate use. It is greatly esteemed for eating with radish and salad. This cheese is easily made in any family when sufficient cream can be spared. Stir in a table-spoonful of rennet to a quart of warm cream; when the curd is “set,” spread a cloth over a sieve and lay the curd into it to stand for twenty-four hours, when it may be put into a small hoop, a wet cloth and a board laid on top, to press and drain it a little, and in a few hours it will be ready for use.
TheSwiss Cheesehas a peculiar flavor and richness, which can be gained only from the mountain pastures. Some varieties are mottled and highly flavored by the bruised leaves of the melilot.
InSageorGreen Cheese, the curd is colored and flavored by bruising the fresh green leaves of sage, marigold, parsley, or corn leaves, and mixing with the curd. Among the Romans it was customary to flavor with thyme and other sweet herbs.
Cream Cheeseis simply cream dried sufficiently to be cut with a knife. Green rushes are plated or sewed together and laid onthe bottom of the hoop, which must have holes all through it for the whey to run off freely. On these rushes a quantity of good thick cream is laid; another plait of rushes or Indian-corn leaves is put on top of the cheese, so that it may be turned without handling. The cheese should not be more than an inch to an inch and a half thick. The thinner it is made the sooner it ripens. It is now kept in a warm place for a few days to sweat or ripen, but it requires much care and good judgment, as too great heat or cold is injurious.
In Thuringia and Saxony a cheese is made of five pounds of the bestpotatoes, half steamed, pulverized and reduced to a pulp, and well beaten and mixed into ten pounds of sweet curd; a little salt is added, then it stands three or four days, and is again thoroughly broken up and kneaded, and then pressed into little baskets for the whey to drain off, then made into balls and dried in the shade. They keep well, and improve with age, and are said to excel in flavor the best cheeses made in Holland.
We are indebted for much information respecting foreign cheese to Webster’s “Encyclopedia of Domestic Economy,” a very useful and valuable work for all housekeepers.
Cheese Straus.—Quarter of a pound of puff paste, and a quarter of an ounce of good cheese, grated very fine, a little salt and cayenne pepper mixed with it. Sprinkle the cheese, salt, and pepper over the paste, and roll it out two or three times. Cut the paste into narrow strips about five inches long; bake in a slow oven, and serve very hot.