See captionHORN OF PLENTY IN NOUGAT FILLED WITH GLACÉ GRAPES.
See captionHORN OF PLENTY IN NOUGAT FILLED WITH GLACÉ ORANGES AND GRAPES COVERED WITH SPUN SUGAR.
Put into a saucepan the whites of three eggs whipped to a stiff froth; beat into them one pound of heated strained honey, then add a pound of sugar cooked to the ball, 236°. Continue beating until it attains 290°. A little of the mixture cooled in water will then crumble between the fingers. At this stage add a pound of sugar cooked to the crack, 310°, a pound of wholeblanched almonds, and a few pistachio nuts. Pour the mixture into a dish lined with wafers, making the nougat one inch thick. Cover the top with wafers, and when cold cut it into pieces three inches long and one inch wide. To make wafers, see receipt for gauffres (page479); but instead of baking them in the gauffre-iron, spread the mixture as thinly as possible on an oiled paper and dry in a slow oven without coloring.
Blanch, chop, and dry without coloring one cupful of almonds. Melt one cupful of powdered sugar with one teaspoonful of lemon-juice, stirring all the time. When it is thoroughly melted and a delicate color, turn in the hot almonds. Mix them together and turn into an oiled tin. Press down the nougat evenly, leaving it an inch thick. Cut it in inch squares before it becomes hard. This nougat has only enough sugar to bind the nuts together.
Put a cupful of brown sugar into a saucepan with a very little water. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Let it boil a minute, then throw in a half cupful of almonds and stir over the fire until the sugar granulates and is a little browned. When the nuts are well coated, and before they get into one mass, turn them out and separate any that have stuck together.
Put a cupful of granulated sugar in a saucepan with a little water. Stir until it is dissolved, then let it cook to the ball stage without touching except to test. Turn in a half cupful of blanched almonds and stir off the fire until the nuts are well covered with the granulated sugar, but turn them out before they become one mass. Boil another cupful of sugar to the ball, turn in the coated almonds and stir again in the same way, giving them a second coating of sugar, but not leaving them in the pan until they are all stuck together. The nuts may be given a third coating in the same way, if a larger size is wanted.
For pink almonds, add a little carmine to the sugar just before putting in the almonds for the last coating. Any flavoring desired may also be added at this time.
Remove the shells from a dozen or more French chestnuts. Cover them with boiling water and let them stand a few minutes until the skins can be removed. Put them again in hot water and simmer slowly until the nuts are tender, but not soft.
Put a cupful of sugar and a cupful of water in a saucepan and stir until dissolved. Add the boiled chestnuts and let them cook in the syrup until they look clear, then turn them onto a sieve, using care not to break the nuts, and let them cool. Return the strained syrup to the saucepan and cook it to the hard-ball stage. Remove it from the fire, add a few drops of lemon-juice and a half teaspoonful of vanilla extract. Drop the chestnuts into it, one at a time, turn until thinly coated, and remove with a candy wire to an oiled paper or slab; or, when the sugar has reached the ball stage, add a few drops of lemon-juice, let it cool a few minutes, and then stir until it begins to whiten; then immediately place in a pan of hot water, flavor with vanilla and stir until it again becomes liquid, and dip the nuts as directed above.
Soak four ounces of gum arabic in a cupful of water until it is dissolved. Strain it to take out any black specks that may be in the gum. Put the dissolved gum arabic into a saucepan with a half pound of powdered sugar. Place the saucepan in a second pan containing boiling water. Stir until the mixture becomes thick and white. When it begins to thicken, test it by dropping a little into cold water. When it will form a firm ball remove it from the fire, and stir into it the whites of three eggs whipped to a stiff froth. This will give it a spongy texture. Lastly, flavor it with two teaspoonfuls of orange-flower water. Turn the paste into a pan covered thick with corn-starch. The layer of paste should be one inch thick. Too large a pan mustnot be used, or it will spread and make a thin layer. After the paste has stood twelve hours, turn it onto a slab and cut it into inch squares, dust them well with corn-starch or with confectioner’s sugar, and pack in boxes. As the paste is more or less cooked, it will be more or less stiff. Marshmallows become harder the longer they are kept, but are best when as soft as they can be handled.
Putinto a saucepan a half cupful each of molasses, of white sugar and of brown sugar, a cupful of grated chocolate, and a cupful of cream or milk. Stir the mixture constantly over the fire until it reaches the hard-ball stage, then add a teaspoonful of vanilla and turn it onto an oiled slab between iron bars, or into a greased tin, having the paste an inch thick. Mark it in inch squares and cut before it is quite cold. Wrap each piece in paraffin paper.
Put into a saucepan one cupful of sugar and three quarters of a cupful of cream. Stir constantly over a hot fire until it reaches the hard-ball stage; remove from the fire, add a teaspoonful of vanilla, and turn it onto an oiled slab between iron bars, or into greased tins, the same as directed for chocolate caramels. For coffee caramels use a half cupful of cream and a quarter of a cupful of strong coffee. For maple caramels use a cupful of maple syrup in place of sugar, and omit the vanilla.
Takeseveral small portions of fondant and color each one a different shade Do this by dipping a wooden toothpick into the coloring matter and then touching it to the paste. The colors are strong, and care must be used not to get too much on thefondant, for the candies should be delicate in color. For orange balls, color and flavor with orange-juice; for pistachio, color green and flavor with orange-flower water and then with bitter almond (see page391); for pink, color with carmine and flavor with maraschino or with rose-water; for chocolate, mix in cocoa powder and flavor with vanilla; for white, flavor with noyau, peach, or anything preferred. When liquid flavors are used, if the fondant becomes too soft, mix in a little confectioner’s sugar; use as little as possible, as too much gives a raw taste. Work in the flavorings and colors by hand, and wash the hands between each different color. After the fondant is prepared, roll it into balls the size of filberts, then roll them in almonds chopped fine. The nuts improve them, but may be omitted if desired. Let the balls stand for two or more hours to harden before putting them together. If the balls are wanted of one color on the outside, omit the nuts and dip them in liquid fondant colored as desired.
Color and flavor fondant in three colors as directed above; roll it into layers one quarter inch thick, and place the layers one on the other; press them together lightly and cut into inch squares.
Mix chopped nuts of any kind into flavored fondant, then roll into a layer three quarters of an inch thick, and cut into squares.
Take small pieces of fondant, flavored and colored to taste; form it into olive-shaped balls. Hold one in the palm of the hand, cut it half through and press into it an almond; form the fondant around it, leaving a narrow strip of the nut uncovered, giving the appearance of a shell cracked open, showing the kernel. If chocolate color is used the almond should be blanched, but with light colors the skin is left on to give contrast. When green color is used it represents a green almond.
Roll fondant flavored with vanilla into small balls; let them stand a few hours to harden. Melt an ounce of unsweetened chocolate, add to it two tablespoonfuls of milk, two tablespoonfuls of sugar, and a quarter teaspoonful of butter. Stir till smooth; drop the balls into it and remove with a fork or candy wire. If the chocolate becomes too stiff, add a few drops of syrup and heat it again.
Put one or two tablespoonfuls of fondant into a cup. Place the cup in a basin of hot water and stir constantly until the fondant becomes soft like cream or molasses. If it is not stirred it will go back to clear syrup; flavor and color the liquid fondant as desired. Drop the nuts in one at a time, turn them until well covered with fondant, lift them out with a candy-spoon, and place them on an oiled paper, or on an oiled slab. English walnuts, cherries, strawberries, and grapes are very good creamed in this way. The hulls are left on strawberries, the stems on cherries and grapes. Brandied cherries may also be creamed in the same way. If the fondant becomes too stiff, melt it again. After it has been melted twice it no longer works well. A few drops of syrup at 34° can then be added. It is well to have some syrup prepared to keep in stock for this purpose. A drop or two of liquid is sufficient to soften fondant, and unless care is used it will be diluted too much, in which case confectioner’s sugar can be mixed in; but this gives a raw taste to the fondant, and should be avoided if possible.
Grate some cocoanut fine. Mix it with as much liquid fondant as will bind it well, and flavor with a little vanilla. Spread it in a layer one inch thick and cut into one inch squares, or roll it into balls, and dip the balls into melted chocolate, thesame as directed for chocolate creams, or into liquid fondant, flavored and colored as desired.
Moisten a cupful of sugar with the milk of a cocoanut; boil it to the soft-ball; then stir in as much grated cocoanut as the boiled sugar will moisten; stir it only enough to mix and not granulate. Drop a spoonful at a time on an oiled slab, making flat round cakes about two inches in diameter. If the sugar granulates before the cakes are all spread, add a little water and cook it again to the soft-ball.
Melt fondant as directed for creamed nuts; flavor it with essence of peppermint. With a spoon drop the liquid fondant in even amounts upon an oiled slab, making lozenges; or, better, turn it into starch molds (seestarch molds, below).
Dip the peppermint lozenges into liquid chocolate, as directed for chocolate creams.
Fill a box-cover with corn-starch, having it very light and dry; shake it down even. Press into it a die of any shape desired, making the indentations carefully. Plaster casts are made for this purpose, but buttons make very good dies. A smooth flat button one half inch in diameter makes a good shape for peppermints. Molds are used for cream drops, chocolates, or any of the flavored clear candies.
The liquid candy is dropped carefully into the molds and removed when cold and the starch dusted off. The starch can then be stirred light and again pressed into molds.
Boila cupful of sugar to the hard-ball. Remove it from the fire; add a half teaspoonful of essence of peppermint and stir it just enough to mix in the flavoring and cloud the sugar. Drop it into starch molds or upon an oiled slab, letting four drops of the candy fall in exactly the same spot; it will then spread round and even.
These drops should be translucent or a little white. Unless care is used the candy will grain before the drops are molded; therefore it is better to pour it from the spout of the pan than to dip it out with a spoon.
Boil a cupful of sugar to the crack or to the caramel, as preferred; add a few drops of lemon-juice. Blanch a few almonds and dry without coloring them. Drop one at a time into the sugar; turn it until well covered without stirring the sugar; lift it out with the candy-spoon, and place it on an oiled slab. Do not drain the nuts when lifting them out, and enough sugar will remain to form a clear ring of candy around each one. English walnuts, filberts, or any other nuts may be used in the same way. They should be warmed so as not to chill the candy. The work should be done quickly. If the sugar becomes hard before the nuts are all done, return it to the fire to heat. Add a teaspoonful of water if necessary, and boil it to the right degree again. If the sugar is boiled to the crack, the candy will be without color; if boiled to the caramel, it will be yellow.
Blanch some almonds and split them in two. Dry them in a moderate heat without coloring them. Lay them with the flat side down on an oiled layer-cake tin, entirely covering it. Pourover the nuts enough sugar boiled to the crack to entirely cover them. The almonds may be laid in regular order like wreaths, or in groups like rosettes, if desired. Mark off squares or circles on the candy while it is warm, and it can then be broken in regular pieces when cold.
Fill a small square tin a half inch deep with shelled peanuts, leaving the skins on. Boil some sugar to the crack or to the caramel, and pour it over the nuts, just covering them. Cut it into two-inch squares before it becomes quite cold.
Put into a saucepan two and a half cupfuls of sugar and a half cupful of water; stir until it dissolves; then wash the sides of the pan, and let it boil without touching until it reaches the soft-ball stage; add a tablespoonful of butter and a half teaspoonful of lemon-juice, and let it boil to the crack; add a teaspoonful of vanilla, and turn it onto an oiled slab or a tin to cool. Mark it off into squares before it becomes cold.
Put into a large saucepan a cupful of brown sugar, two cupfuls of New Orleans molasses, and a tablespoonful each of butter and vinegar. Mix them well and boil until it will harden when dropped in water. Then stir in a teaspoonful of baking-soda, which will whiten it, and turn it into a greased tin to cool. When it can be handled pull it until white and firm; draw it into sticks and cut it into inch lengths.
Keep the peel of the fruit, as it is used, in a weak brine until enough has collected to preserve. Wash it thoroughly in several waters. Let it boil in plenty of water until tender, changing the water several times. If the peels are fresh they need be boiled in one water only. When they can be pierced with a straw, drain off the hot water. Let them cool, and scrape out the white pulp with a spoon. Make enough syrup to cover the yellow peels, using the proportion of a pound of sugar to a pint of water. When the syrup is boiling, drop in the peels and let them cook slowly until they are clear. Then boil rapidly until the syrup is reduced almost to dryness, using care that it does not burn. Spread the peels on a flat dish and place them in a warm place to dry for twelve hours or more. When perfectly dry pack them into preserve jars. They are cut into shreds and used in cakes, puddings, and wherever raisins and citron are used. They are also used in pudding sauces. It is very little trouble to make the candied peels, and they are a delicious addition to various sweet dishes. The boiled peel can be cut into shreds before being cooked in the syrup if preferred.
Inpoint of general usefulness, apples hold the first place among fruits. Oranges also serve a great number of purposes, and, like apples, can be depended on nearly the whole year. Peaches and apricots, although of short season, can be so successfully preserved that they, as well as berries, render important service in cooking. All of these fruits are excellent prepared as compotes, with pastry, with corn-starch, or with gelatine, making a variety of dishes without number. In the index will be found a list of dishes under each of these heads. In the fruit season one is sometimes at a loss to know how to utilize the abundance there may be at command. Usually the fresh fruit is most acceptable at that time, but the little trouble and slight expense of canning should make one provident enough to secure a year’s store to supply the various purposes which cooked fruit serve.Fresh fruits are always wholesome, beautiful, and inviting, and should always have a place on every table.Temperature.The practice of leaving fruit on the sideboard in a warm room from one meal to another is a mistake, for fruit should be fresh, firm, and cold to be in its best condition. An exception to this rule may be made for fruits fresh from the garden with the heat of the sun upon them. The small fruits are much more delicious when tasting of the sunshine, but fruitsobtained from markets are better for being chilled.Arranging.Much taste may be shown in arranging fruits for decorating the table. They may be combined in large dishes, giving effect of abundance, or a quantity of one kind massed together for color-effects, or a few choice specimens of a kind placed on separate compotiers. All the ways are good and, if the fruit is fresh and fair, will be most attractive. Green leaves should be combined with fruits; grape-leaves under small groups of peaches, plums, grapes, etc., are much used by the French, who excel in the beautiful arrangements of fruit. White grapes, shading from those with pink tints to white below, give pleasing effects on white dinner-tables.Apples.Apples should be washed and rubbed until well polished. Fine apples so treated make an attractive centerpiece dish.Illustrations.A few ways of preparing oranges are given in illustrations.See captionDIFFERENT WAYS OF PREPARING ORANGES.See captionSLICED ORANGES.Oranges,grape-fruit, or shaddocks.The grape-fruit is served at breakfast, or as a first course at luncheon. The pulp must be separated from the thin bitter skin which separates the sections, with a silver knife. A little sugar is added, and sometimes a teaspoonful of sherry, to each portion. The pulp and juice is eaten with a spoon from the peel, one half the shaddock being served to each person, or it may be served in small glasses. The peels prepared as fancy baskets can be kept fresh for several days in water.See captionGRAPE FRUIT SERVED IN THE HALF PEEL.See captionGRAPE FRUIT SERVED IN A BASKET MADE OF THE PEEL AND A BRANCH OF HOLLY TIED TO THE HANDLE. (SEE PAGE530.)See captionGRAPE FRUIT SERVED IN A BASKET MADE OF THE PEEL—GERANIUM LEAVES TIED TO THE HANDLE.Peaches.Peaches should have the down taken off lightly with a soft brush before being served. A fruit doily should be given at the time they are passed, as peaches stain the table linen.Strawberries.Large fine strawberries are served with the hulls on and piled in a pyramid. Sugar is passed with them, or they may be served on individual plates around a small mound of sugar, made by pressing the sugar ina wineglass and then unmolding it in the center of the plate.Berries.No berries should be washed. If strawberries are sandy, cold water must be poured over them and drained off at once, but the berries will no longer be at their best. Sugar should always be passed, and not put over the berries before serving them, as it extracts their juice and destroys their firmness. They should also be served in small dishes, as they crush with their own weight. Where a large quantity is being served, several dishes should be used.Currants.A mixture of red and of white currants makes an attractive breakfast fruit. They may be served on the stems if fine and large clusters.Bananas sliced, sautéd, and fried.Bananas sliced and covered with whipped cream make a good light dessert for luncheon. They may be moistened with orange-juice or with sherry before the cream is added, if desired. Bananas may be cut in two lengthwise, sautéd in a little butter, and served as a vegetable or as an entrée; or they may be cut in two, the ends cut square, so they will resemble croquettes, then rolled in flour, and fried in hot fat to a light color, and served as a dessert with currant jelly sauce. To make the sauce, dilute the jelly with boiling water; add a few chopped blanched almonds and shredded candied orange-peel. The unripe and not fully developed banana is devoid of sweetness and when roasted resembles a baked potato. In hot climates the natives live mostly on bananas, and a nation is said to be cursed where they grow, because the ease with which they get their living makes them lazy.Stewed figs.Soak dried figs in cold water for several hours, then stew them slowly until plump. Drain and pile them on a dish, and serve with whipped cream slightly sweetened and flavored with vanilla, sherry, maraschino, or with essence of almond. Arrange the cream in a circle around the figs.Salpicon of fruits.Mix together lightly an equal proportion of orange-pulp, bananas cut into half-inch dice, and grapes cut in two and the seeds removed. Add sugar if necessary, and a little sherry or liqueur if desired; serve in glasses or in half-orange skins. Grape-fruit may be used in the same way; it may also be combined with the orange salpicon. There should be a good quantity of juice with the mixture.See captionSALPICON OF FRUITS IN ORANGE-SKIN.See captionSALPICON OF FRUITS IN GLASS.Melons.Melons are in perfection in hot dry weather. They absorb water readily and should not be gathered after a heavy rain storm. Small melons are cut in two, the seeds removed, a piece of ice placed in each piece, and a half melon served to each person. Large melons are cut in broad sections and a generous piece served as a portion. Melons may be served at the beginning or the end of any meal. They are usually most acceptable as a first course. They should be thoroughly cold.Frozen fruits.Any of the fruits can be partly frozen and served as an ice. Cut them into pieces, sweeten with sugar syrup, and pack in ice and salt for an hour, but do not leave them long enough to become stiff. Berries are of course left whole.See captionPLUMS.Quinces baked.Pare and core quinces the same as apples. Put them in a shallow earthen dish, with enough water to fill the dish a quarter inch deep. Place them in a moderate oven and bake until tender, basting them often. Serve them hot with butter and sugar as a luncheon dish.Nuts.Nuts with hard shells are cracked, the meats removed and placed in bonbon dishes, or are piled on lace papers in small compotiers. Almonds with paper shells are served whole. Almonds are also served blanched. Peanuts with the shells and skins removed, and served in bonbon dishes, are much liked and seldom recognized as the much-despised nut. Peanuts may be salted the same as almonds.Salted almonds.Blanch the almonds by putting them in boiling water for a few minutes; the skins can then be easily rubbed off. Put the blanched nuts into a pan with a small piece of butter, and place them in a moderate oven. Stir them frequently so they will brown on all sides. Sprinkle them freely with salt as soon as they are taken from the oven.Salted almonds No. 2.Blanch the almonds, and when they are thoroughly dry pour a tablespoonful of oil on every cupful of nuts. Let them stand in the oil for an hour, then add a tablespoonful of fine salt to each cupful. Stir them and place in a shallow pan in the oven until they are colored a light brown. Stir them occasionally while in the oven, so they will be evenly colored. Turn them onto a paper to dry, and shake off the loose salt before serving.Salted English walnuts and filberts.Brown them in the oven with a little butter the same as almonds. Filberts are blanched, but walnuts do not have the skin removed.A mixture of salted almonds, walnuts, and filberts makes a good combination.Salted nuts are served at luncheon or dinner, and are eaten at any and all times during those meals.
Inpoint of general usefulness, apples hold the first place among fruits. Oranges also serve a great number of purposes, and, like apples, can be depended on nearly the whole year. Peaches and apricots, although of short season, can be so successfully preserved that they, as well as berries, render important service in cooking. All of these fruits are excellent prepared as compotes, with pastry, with corn-starch, or with gelatine, making a variety of dishes without number. In the index will be found a list of dishes under each of these heads. In the fruit season one is sometimes at a loss to know how to utilize the abundance there may be at command. Usually the fresh fruit is most acceptable at that time, but the little trouble and slight expense of canning should make one provident enough to secure a year’s store to supply the various purposes which cooked fruit serve.
Fresh fruits are always wholesome, beautiful, and inviting, and should always have a place on every table.Temperature.The practice of leaving fruit on the sideboard in a warm room from one meal to another is a mistake, for fruit should be fresh, firm, and cold to be in its best condition. An exception to this rule may be made for fruits fresh from the garden with the heat of the sun upon them. The small fruits are much more delicious when tasting of the sunshine, but fruitsobtained from markets are better for being chilled.Arranging.Much taste may be shown in arranging fruits for decorating the table. They may be combined in large dishes, giving effect of abundance, or a quantity of one kind massed together for color-effects, or a few choice specimens of a kind placed on separate compotiers. All the ways are good and, if the fruit is fresh and fair, will be most attractive. Green leaves should be combined with fruits; grape-leaves under small groups of peaches, plums, grapes, etc., are much used by the French, who excel in the beautiful arrangements of fruit. White grapes, shading from those with pink tints to white below, give pleasing effects on white dinner-tables.
Apples.Apples should be washed and rubbed until well polished. Fine apples so treated make an attractive centerpiece dish.
Illustrations.A few ways of preparing oranges are given in illustrations.
See captionDIFFERENT WAYS OF PREPARING ORANGES.
See captionSLICED ORANGES.
Oranges,grape-fruit, or shaddocks.The grape-fruit is served at breakfast, or as a first course at luncheon. The pulp must be separated from the thin bitter skin which separates the sections, with a silver knife. A little sugar is added, and sometimes a teaspoonful of sherry, to each portion. The pulp and juice is eaten with a spoon from the peel, one half the shaddock being served to each person, or it may be served in small glasses. The peels prepared as fancy baskets can be kept fresh for several days in water.
See captionGRAPE FRUIT SERVED IN THE HALF PEEL.
See captionGRAPE FRUIT SERVED IN A BASKET MADE OF THE PEEL AND A BRANCH OF HOLLY TIED TO THE HANDLE. (SEE PAGE530.)
See captionGRAPE FRUIT SERVED IN A BASKET MADE OF THE PEEL—GERANIUM LEAVES TIED TO THE HANDLE.
Peaches.Peaches should have the down taken off lightly with a soft brush before being served. A fruit doily should be given at the time they are passed, as peaches stain the table linen.
Strawberries.Large fine strawberries are served with the hulls on and piled in a pyramid. Sugar is passed with them, or they may be served on individual plates around a small mound of sugar, made by pressing the sugar ina wineglass and then unmolding it in the center of the plate.
Berries.No berries should be washed. If strawberries are sandy, cold water must be poured over them and drained off at once, but the berries will no longer be at their best. Sugar should always be passed, and not put over the berries before serving them, as it extracts their juice and destroys their firmness. They should also be served in small dishes, as they crush with their own weight. Where a large quantity is being served, several dishes should be used.
Currants.A mixture of red and of white currants makes an attractive breakfast fruit. They may be served on the stems if fine and large clusters.
Bananas sliced, sautéd, and fried.Bananas sliced and covered with whipped cream make a good light dessert for luncheon. They may be moistened with orange-juice or with sherry before the cream is added, if desired. Bananas may be cut in two lengthwise, sautéd in a little butter, and served as a vegetable or as an entrée; or they may be cut in two, the ends cut square, so they will resemble croquettes, then rolled in flour, and fried in hot fat to a light color, and served as a dessert with currant jelly sauce. To make the sauce, dilute the jelly with boiling water; add a few chopped blanched almonds and shredded candied orange-peel. The unripe and not fully developed banana is devoid of sweetness and when roasted resembles a baked potato. In hot climates the natives live mostly on bananas, and a nation is said to be cursed where they grow, because the ease with which they get their living makes them lazy.
Stewed figs.Soak dried figs in cold water for several hours, then stew them slowly until plump. Drain and pile them on a dish, and serve with whipped cream slightly sweetened and flavored with vanilla, sherry, maraschino, or with essence of almond. Arrange the cream in a circle around the figs.
Salpicon of fruits.Mix together lightly an equal proportion of orange-pulp, bananas cut into half-inch dice, and grapes cut in two and the seeds removed. Add sugar if necessary, and a little sherry or liqueur if desired; serve in glasses or in half-orange skins. Grape-fruit may be used in the same way; it may also be combined with the orange salpicon. There should be a good quantity of juice with the mixture.
See captionSALPICON OF FRUITS IN ORANGE-SKIN.
See captionSALPICON OF FRUITS IN GLASS.
Melons.Melons are in perfection in hot dry weather. They absorb water readily and should not be gathered after a heavy rain storm. Small melons are cut in two, the seeds removed, a piece of ice placed in each piece, and a half melon served to each person. Large melons are cut in broad sections and a generous piece served as a portion. Melons may be served at the beginning or the end of any meal. They are usually most acceptable as a first course. They should be thoroughly cold.
Frozen fruits.Any of the fruits can be partly frozen and served as an ice. Cut them into pieces, sweeten with sugar syrup, and pack in ice and salt for an hour, but do not leave them long enough to become stiff. Berries are of course left whole.
See captionPLUMS.
Quinces baked.Pare and core quinces the same as apples. Put them in a shallow earthen dish, with enough water to fill the dish a quarter inch deep. Place them in a moderate oven and bake until tender, basting them often. Serve them hot with butter and sugar as a luncheon dish.
Nuts.Nuts with hard shells are cracked, the meats removed and placed in bonbon dishes, or are piled on lace papers in small compotiers. Almonds with paper shells are served whole. Almonds are also served blanched. Peanuts with the shells and skins removed, and served in bonbon dishes, are much liked and seldom recognized as the much-despised nut. Peanuts may be salted the same as almonds.
Salted almonds.Blanch the almonds by putting them in boiling water for a few minutes; the skins can then be easily rubbed off. Put the blanched nuts into a pan with a small piece of butter, and place them in a moderate oven. Stir them frequently so they will brown on all sides. Sprinkle them freely with salt as soon as they are taken from the oven.
Salted almonds No. 2.Blanch the almonds, and when they are thoroughly dry pour a tablespoonful of oil on every cupful of nuts. Let them stand in the oil for an hour, then add a tablespoonful of fine salt to each cupful. Stir them and place in a shallow pan in the oven until they are colored a light brown. Stir them occasionally while in the oven, so they will be evenly colored. Turn them onto a paper to dry, and shake off the loose salt before serving.
Salted English walnuts and filberts.Brown them in the oven with a little butter the same as almonds. Filberts are blanched, but walnuts do not have the skin removed.
A mixture of salted almonds, walnuts, and filberts makes a good combination.
Salted nuts are served at luncheon or dinner, and are eaten at any and all times during those meals.
This is served in glasses, in place of and in the same way as frozen punch after the roast. Cut a pineapple into small dice; remove the bitter skin carefully from the segments of three shaddocks and cut them into pieces. Cut in two and remove the seeds from a pound of white grapes; mix the fruit together. Put a cupful of rum and a cupful of sugar into a saucepan on the fire and let them come to the boiling point, then pour them over the fruit and let stand until cold. The rum will not penetrate the fruit so well if put on cold. Put the mixture into a freezing-can and pack in ice and salt forseveral hours, or until ready to serve. Stir the mixture together carefully every little while.
Drain off the liquor; make a rum syrup as above; soak and freeze in the same way.
Cut the pulp of two oranges into small pieces; cut two bananas into dice; cut half a dozen candied cherries into quarters; chop a dozen blanched almonds. Mix all lightly together and turn them into a bowl or a china mold. Soak a half ounce of gelatine in a half cupful of cold water for an hour; dissolve it in a cupful of boiling water; add a half cupful of sugar and stir over the fire until dissolved; then add the juice of half a lemon, the juice which has drained from the fruit, and a tablespoonful of sherry. Turn it into the mold slowly, so it soaks into the fruit, and set aside to cool. Serve with cream if convenient. Any mixture of fresh fruits may be used in the same way; raisins may be used instead of cherries, or both may be omitted. This is a good way to utilize fruits that are going to waste.
The juice of oranges, strawberries, currants, or any fruit makes a delicious first course for luncheon in summer time or the fruit season, when prepared as directed below. It is served cold in small glasses and eaten with a spoon.
Take a quart of fruit-juice; this will require about a dozen oranges, or two quarts of strawberries or other juicy fruit; strain it through filter paper to make it clear (see page415); put it in an earthenware or porcelain-lined saucepan on the fire, and as soon as it steams, stir in three teaspoonfuls of arrowroot moistened in a little cold water. Cook it until clear; then add a half cupful of sugar (or more if an acid fruit), and as soon as the sugar is dissolved turn it into a bowl to cool. At the moment of serving put a piece of ice in each glass.
For plain desserts.Compotesare fresh fruits stewed. They are good served with cake as a plain dessert. In combination with rice or other molded cereals they are a very wholesome sweet for children.Serving.Make a syrup of 28° (see page513). When it is boiling drop the fruit in, a few pieces at a time, so it will not get broken or crushed. Let it cook until tender, but still firm enough to hold its form. Remove it carefully with a skimmer. Arrange the pieces in regular order, overlapping, or piled like uncooked fruit in a glass or silver dish. After the fruit is cooked, let the syrup boil down until thick, or about 32°, and strain it over the fruit. Let it cool before serving.
For plain desserts.Compotesare fresh fruits stewed. They are good served with cake as a plain dessert. In combination with rice or other molded cereals they are a very wholesome sweet for children.
Serving.Make a syrup of 28° (see page513). When it is boiling drop the fruit in, a few pieces at a time, so it will not get broken or crushed. Let it cook until tender, but still firm enough to hold its form. Remove it carefully with a skimmer. Arrange the pieces in regular order, overlapping, or piled like uncooked fruit in a glass or silver dish. After the fruit is cooked, let the syrup boil down until thick, or about 32°, and strain it over the fruit. Let it cool before serving.
Pare and core the apples; leave them whole, or cut them into halves, quarters, or thick round slices. Boil them until tender, and finish as directed above. Have a few slices of lemon in the syrup and serve them with the fruit. Pieces of cinnamon and cloves boiled with the fruit give a good flavor.
For jellied apples boil down the syrup to the jelly point. When partly cooled pour it slowly with a spoon over theapples, so enough will adhere to give them a glaze. The center of the apples may be filled with a bright-colored jelly or jam.
Use pears that are not quite ripe. Cut them in two lengthwise, splitting the stem. Remove the core carefully with a scoop. Boil and serve them as directed above.
Peel the fruit and cut it in halves. Prepare it as directed above. Mix with the syrup some meats taken from the pits.
Peel the oranges down to the pulp, using a sharp knife. Cut them in two crosswise. Remove with a pointed knife the core and seeds from the center. Boil them, one or two at a time, until tender, in a syrup with a little lemon-juice added, and be careful to keep them in good shape. Boil the syrup down until it threads, and pour it over the oranges piled in a glass dish. A candied cherry in the center of each one gives a pretty garnish. Orange compote is good served plain, or with whipped cream, with ice-creams, Bavarians, or corn-starch puddings. Mandarin oranges make a delicious compote.
See captionCOMPOTE OF ORANGES GARNISHED WITH CANDIED CHERRIES. (SEE PAGE536.)
Sterilizing the fruit.Thesuccess of preserving and canning depends upon heating the fruit until all germs are destroyed, then sealing it air-tight while still scalding hot. In this way no new germs of ferment or mold can reach the fruit. Patent jars are generally used, and must be put into scalding water before being filled to prevent their breaking, and also to sterilize them. The preserve must be put into them scalding hot, a spoon-handle run down the sides to liberate any bubbles ofair, the jar filled to the very brim, and the top put on each one at once after it is filled.Use of paraffin.A simple and very effectual way of hermetically sealing fruit is to cover it with paraffin. This can be obtained at any pharmacy. Place the paraffin in a small saucepan on the side of the range; it melts at a low degree of heat. When the jar or glass is filled with hot preserves wipe the glass close to the fruit to free it of syrup. Cover the top with a tablespoonful of liquid paraffin, and do not move the jar until the paraffin has set; it will then adhere closely to the glass. This will be found a very easy and satisfactory way of sealing fruits. The paraffin when taken off the fruit can be washed and kept to use again.Proportions.In preserving, sugar is used in the proportion of three quarters of a pound or one pound of sugar to a pound of fruit, and the fruit is thoroughly cooked. In canning, one quarter of a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit is used, the fruit is only thoroughly scalded, and so retains its flavor better. Fruits should be under rather than overripe for preserving, and only the finest should be selected. Inferior fruit may be used for jams. It is most abundant when at its best, and at this time it is cheapest.Utensils.A porcelain-lined kettle and wooden spoons should be used in the cooking, and a wide-mouthed funnel is a convenience for filling the jars.
Sterilizing the fruit.Thesuccess of preserving and canning depends upon heating the fruit until all germs are destroyed, then sealing it air-tight while still scalding hot. In this way no new germs of ferment or mold can reach the fruit. Patent jars are generally used, and must be put into scalding water before being filled to prevent their breaking, and also to sterilize them. The preserve must be put into them scalding hot, a spoon-handle run down the sides to liberate any bubbles ofair, the jar filled to the very brim, and the top put on each one at once after it is filled.Use of paraffin.A simple and very effectual way of hermetically sealing fruit is to cover it with paraffin. This can be obtained at any pharmacy. Place the paraffin in a small saucepan on the side of the range; it melts at a low degree of heat. When the jar or glass is filled with hot preserves wipe the glass close to the fruit to free it of syrup. Cover the top with a tablespoonful of liquid paraffin, and do not move the jar until the paraffin has set; it will then adhere closely to the glass. This will be found a very easy and satisfactory way of sealing fruits. The paraffin when taken off the fruit can be washed and kept to use again.Proportions.In preserving, sugar is used in the proportion of three quarters of a pound or one pound of sugar to a pound of fruit, and the fruit is thoroughly cooked. In canning, one quarter of a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit is used, the fruit is only thoroughly scalded, and so retains its flavor better. Fruits should be under rather than overripe for preserving, and only the finest should be selected. Inferior fruit may be used for jams. It is most abundant when at its best, and at this time it is cheapest.Utensils.A porcelain-lined kettle and wooden spoons should be used in the cooking, and a wide-mouthed funnel is a convenience for filling the jars.
The skin can easily be removed from peaches, leaving a smooth surface, by placing them in a wire basket and plunging it for a moment into boiling lye. The lye is made by adding two cupfuls of wood ashes to four quarts of water. From the lye put the fruit into cold water and rinse it several times, then rub off the skin. Cut each peach in two and place again in cold water to preserve the color until ready to use. Place in aporcelain-lined kettle three quarters the weight of sugar you have of fruit. Add a very little water to dissolve the sugar. Let it boil a minute, and take off any scum that rises. Then add as much fruit as will float without crowding, and cook until it is transparent, but not until it loses shape. Remove each piece separately as soon as it is cooked. When ready to fill the jars place them carefully in a pan of boiling water; have the tops and rubbers also in hot water. Part of the fruit has become cooled while the rest was cooking, but, as it must go into the jars hot, place it again in the boiling syrup, a little at a time. Use a ladle or cup to dip out the fruit; run a spoon-handle around the inside of the jars after they are filled to liberate any air bubbles. Add enough syrup to fill them to overflowing, and adjust the rubber and top on each jar as it is filled. Any juice that is left over may be boiled down to a jelly, or it may be bottled to use as flavoring or for sauces.
Peel the pears; cut them in two lengthwise, splitting the stem, or they may be left whole if preferred. Place them carefully in jars; fill the jars with a syrup of 30° (see page513); cover the jars without fastening the tops. Place the jars in a boiler of warm water, half covering them. Stand the jars on muffin-rings, slats of wood, or something to raise them off the bottom of the boiler, or they will break while cooking. Cover the boiler and cook the fruit until it is tender and looks clear. Remove the jars carefully, fill them completely full, using more hot syrup, or the contents of one of the cooked jars. Adjust the tops and set them to cool where the air will not strike them. (Seecanning.) Pears may be cooked the same as peaches, but they are such a very tender fruit, it is better to use the method given, as the shape is kept better in this way.
Preserve plums in the same way as directed for peaches or for pears. Remove the skin from them or not. If left on it islikely to crack open and come off if boiled too long. To prevent this, in a measure, prick the plums in several places with a fork before cooking.
Press the pulp out of each grape. Boil the pulps until tender, then pass them through a colander to remove the seeds. Mix the skins with the pulp and juice, add as many cupfuls of sugar as there are of grapes, and boil all together until well thickened.
Seal while hot the same as other preserves.
Green grapes are preserved by cutting each grape in halves, taking out the seeds, then adding an equal quantity of sugar, and boiling all together until of the right consistency.
Select firm, large berries and remove the hulls. To each pound of fruit (one basketful of berries will weigh about a pound) add three quarters of a pound of granulated sugar. Mix it with the berries, and let them stand ten to fifteen minutes, or long enough to moisten the sugar but not soften the berries. Put them in a granite or porcelain-lined saucepan and let them boil slowly five to ten minutes, or until the berries are softened: do not stir them, as that will break the berries, and do not boil long enough for them to lose their shape. Cook one basketful of berries only at a time. A larger quantity crushes by its own weight. A good method is to have two saucepans and two bowls, and leave the berries, after being hulled, in the baskets until ready to use; then put a basketful at a time in a bowl with sugar sprinkled through them; while one bowlful is being cooked, the bowl refilled, and the glasses filled, the other one is ready to use. In this way no time is lost, and the cooking is accomplished in as short a time as though all were put into a preserving kettle together. It is well to put strawberries into glasses. One basketful of berries will fill two half-pint tumblers. Cover the tops with paraffin as directed above, page537.
Fill pint jars with as many berries as they will hold; pour over them a hot syrup of 32° (see page513). After standing a few minutes they will shrivel, and more berries should be added. Cover and cook them in a boiler as directed for preserved pears and canning.
Strawberries require more sugar than other fruits to preserve their color, therefore they do not can well.
Strawberries, if carefully prepared by either of the foregoing receipts, will resemble the Wiesbaden preserves.
Raspberries are preserved the same as strawberries.
Pare and core the citron; cut it into strips and notch the edges; or cut it into fancy shapes. Allow a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit, and to six pounds of the fruit allow four lemons and a quarter of a pound of ginger root. Tie the ginger in a cloth, and boil it in a quart and a half of water until the flavor is extracted; then remove it, and add to the water the sugar and the juice of the lemons; stir until the sugar is dissolved and the syrup is clear; take off any scum; then add the citron, and cook until it is clear, but not soft enough to fall apart. Can and seal while hot.