Domestic Cookery, Useful Receipts, and Hints to Young Housekeepers
by Elizabeth E. Lea · English · Gutenberg #9101 · 471,779 chars · public domain (US)
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Title: Domestic Cookery, Useful Receipts, and Hints to Young Housekeepers
Author: Elizabeth E. Lea
Release date: October 1, 2005 [eBook #9101]
Most recently updated: January 2, 2021
Language: English
Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/9101
Credits: Produced by Steve Schulze and Distributed Proofreaders
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DOMESTIC COOKERY, USEFUL RECEIPTS, AND HINTS TO YOUNG HOUSEKEEPERS ***
Produced by Steve Schulze and Distributed Proofreaders
DOMESTIC COOKERY, USEFUL RECEIPTS, AND HINTS TO YOUNG HOUSEKEEPERS.
BY ELIZABETH E. LEA
"The Source of Liberal Deeds is Wise Economy."
ADVERTISEMENT TO THIRD EDITION.
This Work having passed through two editions, and having met with a very
favorable reception, the Authoress has been induced to thoroughly revise
and re-arrange the whole work. Numerous additions have also been made,
particularly under the heads Miscellaneous Receipts and Hints to Young
Housekeepers, which she hopes will be found to have enhanced its value.
INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS.
The compiler of "Useful Receipts and Hints to Young Housekeepers" having
entered early in life upon a train of duties, was frequently embarrassed
by her ignorance of domestic affairs. For, whilst receipt books for
elegant preparations were often seen, those connected with the ordinary,
but far more useful part of household duties, were not easily procured;
thus situated, she applied to persons of experience, and embodied the
information collected in a book, to which, since years have matured her
judgment, she has added much that is the result of her own experiments.
Familiar, then, with the difficulties a young housekeeper encounters,
when she finds herself in reality the mistress of an establishment,
the Authoress offers to her young countrywomen this Work, with the
belief that, by attention to its contents, many of the cares
attendant on a country or city life, may be materially lessened; and
hoping that the directions are such as to be understood by the most
inexperienced, it is respectfully dedicated to those who feel an
interest in domestic affairs.
MEATS AND POULTRY.
To Boil Fresh Meat.
In boiling fresh meat, care is necessary to have the water boiling all
the time it is in the pot; if the pot is not well scummed, the
appearance of the meat will be spoiled.
Mutton and beef are preferred, by some, a little rare; but pork and veal
should always be well done. A round of beef that is stuffed, will take
more than three hours to boil, and if not stuffed, two hours or more,
according to the size; slow boiling is the best. A leg of mutton
requires from two to three hours boiling, according to the size; a
fore-quarter from an hour to an hour and a half; a quarter of lamb,
unless, very large, will boil in an hour. Veal and pork will take rather
longer to boil than mutton.
All boiled fresh meat should have drawn butter poured over it, after it
is dished, and be garnished with parsley.
The liquor that fresh meat, or poultry, is boiled in, should be saved,
as an addition of vegetables, herbs, and dumplings make a nourishing
soup of it.
A large turkey will take three hours to boil--a small one half that
time; secure the legs to keep them from bursting out; turkeys should be
blanched in warm milk and water; stuff them and rub their breasts with
butter, flour a cloth and pin them in. A large chicken that is stuffed
should boil an hour, and small ones half that time. The water should
always boil before you put in your meat or poultry. When meat is
frozen, soak it in cold water for several hours, and allow more time in
the cooking.
To Boil a Turkey.
Have the turkey well cleaned and prepared for cooking, let it lay in
salt and water a few minutes; fill it with bread and butter, seasoned
with pepper, salt, parsley and thyme; secure the legs and wings, pin it
up in a towel, have the water boiling, and put it in, put a little salt
in the water; when half done, put in a little milk. A small turkey will
boil in an hour and a quarter, a middle sized in two hours, and a large
one in two and a half or three hours; they should boil moderately all
the time; if fowls boil too fast, they break to pieces--half an hour
will cook the liver and gizzard, which should be put round the turkey;
when it is dished, have drawn butter, with an egg chopped and put in it,
and a little parsley; oyster sauce, and celery sauce are good, with
boiled turkey or chicken.
To Boil Beef Tongue, Corned Beef &c.
If the tongue is dry, let it soak for several hours, put it to boil in
cold water, and keep it boiling slowly for two hours; but if it is just
out of the pickle, the water should boil when it goes in.
Corned or pickled beef, or pork, require longer boiling than that which
is dry; you can tell when it is done by the bones coming out easily.
Pour drawn butter over it when dished.
To Boil a Ham.
A large ham should boil three or four hours very slowly; it should be
put in cold water, and be kept covered during the whole process; a small
ham will boil in two hours. All bacon requires much the same
management,--and if you boil cabbage or greens with it, skim all the
grease off the pot before you put them in. Ham or dried beef, if very
salt, should be soaked several hours before cooking, and should be
boiled in plenty of water.
To Boil Calf's Head.
Cut the upper from the lower jaw, take out the brains and eyes, and
clean the head well; let it soak in salt and water an hour or two; then
put it in a gallon of boiling water, take off the scum as it rises, and
when it is done, take out the bones; dish it, and pour over a sauce,
made of butter and flour, stirred into half a pint of the water it was
boiled in; put in a chopped egg, a little salt, pepper, and fine
parsley, when it is nearly done. You can have soup of the liquor, with
dumplings, if you wish.
To Boil Veal.
Have a piece of the fore quarter nicely washed and rubbed with Hour;
let it boil fast; a piece of five pounds will boil in an hour and a
half; dish it up with drawn butter. Oyster sauce is an improvement to
boiled veal.
Roasting Meat.
Roasting either meat or poultry requires more attention than boiling or
stewing; it is very important to baste it frequently, and if the meat
has been frozen, it should have time to thaw before cooking. Beef,
veal, or mutton, that is roasted in a stove or oven requires more flour
dredged on it than when cooked before the fire in a tin kitchen. There
should be but little water in the dripping pan, as that steams the meat
and prevents its browning; it is best to add more as the water
evaporates, and where there is plenty of flour on the meat it
incorporates with the gravy and it requires no thickening; add a little
seasoning before you take up the gravy. Meat that has been hanging up
some time should be roasted in preference to boiling, as the fire
extracts any taste it may have acquired. To rub fresh meat with salt
and pepper will prevent the flies from troubling it, and will make it
keep longer.
To Roast a Turkey--to make Gravy, &c.
A very large turkey will take three hours to roast, and is best done
before the fire in a tin oven. Wash the turkey very clean, and let it
lay in salt and water twenty minutes, but not longer, or it changes the
color; rub the inside with salt and pepper; have ready a stuffing of
bread and butter, seasoned with salt, pepper, parsley, thyme, an onion,
if agreeable, and an egg; if the bread is dry, moisten it with boiling
water; mix all well together, and fill the turkey; if you have fresh
sausage, put some in the craw; have a pint of water in the bottom of the
dripping pan or oven, with some salt and a spoonful of lard, or butter;
rub salt, pepper and butter over the breast; baste it often, and turn it
so that each part will be next the fire.
Gravy may be made from the drippings in the oven by boiling it in a
skillet, with thickening and seasoning. Hash gravy should be made by
boiling the giblets and neck in a quart of water, which chop fine,
then season and thicken; have both the gravies on the table in
separate tureens.
Cranberry and damson sauce are suitable to eat with roast poultry.
To Roast a Goose.
Make a stuffing of bread, butter, salt, pepper, sage, thyme and
onions; it requires but little butter, as geese are generally fat;
wash it well in salt and water, wipe it, and rub the inside with salt
and pepper. A common sized goose will roast in an hour, and a small
one in less time; pour off nearly all the fat that drips from the
goose, as it will make the gravy too rich. Make hash gravy of the
giblets the same as for turkey.
Ducks.
Wild ducks are generally cooked without stuffing, and for those that
like them rare, fifteen or twenty minutes will be long enough; for
common ducks, a stuffing should be made the same as for a goose; they
will roast in half an hour. Currant jelly and apple sauce should be
eaten with ducks and geese.
Chickens.
A large fowl will roast in an hour, and a small one in half an hour;
boil the livers and gizzards in a skillet with a pint of water; thicken
and season for gravy. The breasts of the chickens should be rubbed with
butter or lard to keep them from breaking. Tie the legs in, to keep them
from bursting out. When butter is scarce, it is a good way to make rich
short cake to stuff poultry with; it will require nothing added but
pepper, parsley, &c.
To Roast Beef.
Season the beef with pepper and salt, and put it in the tin kitchen,
well skewered to the spit, with a pint of water in the bottom: baste and
turn it frequently, so that every part may have the fire. A very large
piece of beef will take three hours to roast; when it is done, pour the
gravy out into a skillet, let it boil, and thicken it with flour mixed
with water; if it be too fat, skim off the top, which will be useful for
other purposes.
To Roast Veal and Lamb.
Veal should be well seasoned, and rubbed with lard; when it begins to
brown, baste it with salt and water; a large loin will take from two to
three hours to roast, the thin part of the fore-quarter an hour; it
should be well done; boil up and thicken the gravy. A leg of veal or
mutton may be stuffed before baking. Lamb and mutton do not require to
be rubbed with lard, as they are generally fatter than veal; make the
gravy as for veal. A quarter of lamb will roast in an hour; a loin of
mutton in two hours.
To Roast a Pig--Hash Gravy, &c.
Have a pig of a suitable size, clean it well, and rub the inside with
pepper and salt. Make a stuffing of bread, butter, parsley, sage and
thyme; if the bread is stale, pour a little boiling water on it; mix
altogether; fill the pig, and sew it up with strong thread; put in the
skewers and spit, and tie the feet with twine; have a pint and a half of
water in the bottom of the tin kitchen, with a spoonful of lard and a
little salt, with this baste it and turn it, so as each part will have
the benefit of the fire. It should be basted until the skin begins to
get stiff with the heat of the fire; then grease it all over with butter
or lard, and continue to turn it before the fire, but baste no more, or
the skin will blister. A pig will take from two to three hours to roast,
according to the size; when it is done, pour the water out in a skillet;
season it and thicken it with flour and water. To make hash gravy, put
the liver and heart to boil in three pints of water; after they have
boiled an hour, chop them very fine, put them back in the pot and stir
in a thickening of flour and water, with salt, pepper, parsley and
thyme. Have the gravies in separate tureens on either side of the pig.
Apple sauce and cold slaw are almost indispensable with pig.
To Roast Pork.
After washing the pork, cut the skin in squares or stripes; season it
with salt and pepper, and baste it with salt and water; thicken, and
boil up the gravy.
To Bake a Stuffed Leg of Veal.
Cut off the shank, and make holes round the hone for stuffing, which
should be of bread and butter, the yelk of an egg, and seasoning; fill
the holes with this, and spread it over the top, with little pieces of
the fat of ham; dust salt and pepper over, put it in the dutch-oven, or
dripping pan, and bake it brown; put a pint of water in the bottom, and
if it should dry up, put in more; when it is done, dust in some flour
for the gravy. If done carefully, meat is almost as good roasted in the
stove as before the fire. If you let the gravy boil over in the stove,
it makes an unpleasant smell through the house, and spoils the flavor of
the meat. The ham of fresh pork is good, done in the same way.
To Bake a Pig's Head.
Have the head nicely cleaned, with the eyes taken out, and the ears cut
off; season it with salt and pepper; rub crumbs of bread over, with a
spoonful of lard; put it in the dutch-oven, or dripping pan, with a pint
of water; bake it an hour; thicken and season the gravy.
To Cook Pigeons.
Pigeons should be roasted about fifteen minutes before a quick fire;
as the meat is dry, they should have a rich stuffing, and be basted
with butter.
You may bake them in a dutch-oven or stew them in a pot, with water
enough to cover them, and some crumbs of bread or flour dusted over
them; let them cook slowly half an hour; mix together flour and water,
with salt, pepper, and parsley to season, and a lump of butter; stir
this in and let it boil up; put them in a deep dish and pour the gravy
over. Pigeons make a very nice pie in the same way as chickens.
To Bake a Ham.
Make a dressing of bread, seasoned with pepper and herbs, moisten it
with about five eggs, instead of water. Take a ham that has been cut at
the table, either fresh or salt, fill up the place where it has been
cut, and cover the top with the dressing, bake it half an hour, and
garnish it with parsley before sending it to the table.
To Bake Beef's Heart.
After washing the heart, make a rich stuffing with bread and suet,
highly seasoned; fill it with this, and put it in a dutch-oven, or the
dripping pan of a stove, with half a pint of water; let it bake an hour
and a half; the gravy will not need any thickening, as some of the
stuffing will fall out. Put the gravy in the dish.
Beef A la mode.
Take part of a round of beef, bone it, and make holes for stuffing,
which is made of bread, suet, thyme, parsley, chopped onions, mace,
cloves, pepper, salt and a raw egg; stuff the meat, bind it with tape,
and put it in a dutch-oven, with a plate in the bottom to keep it from
burning; just cover it with water, and let it stew from three to four
hours according to the size.
Make gravy with some of the water it was stewed in, seasoned with claret
and butter, and thickened with flour. If you wish it to taste of any
other sort of wine, add a glass to the gravy.
Beef Steak.
Choose the tenderest part of beef, cut it an inch thick, broil it gently
over good coals, covered with a plate; have butter, salt, pepper, and a
little water in a dish; and when you turn the beef, dip it in this; be
careful to have as much of the juice as you can. When done, put it in a
warm dish, and pour the basting over, with some more butter.
Mutton Chops.
Cut some pieces of mutton, either with or without bone, about an inch
thick; have the gridiron hot, first rubbing it with a little suet; put
on the chops, turning them frequently, and butter and season them with
pepper and salt as you cook them; then dish them on a hot dish and add
more butter.
Rabbits and Squirrels.
Rabbits and squirrels, or birds, may be fried as chickens, or stewed in
a pot with a little water. If you make a pie of rabbits or squirrels,
they should be stewed first to make them tender, and then made in the
same way as chicken pie. Rabbits ace very good cooked with chopped
onions, in a pot with a little water, and thickening of milk and flour
stirred in when they are nearly done. Squirrels make very good soup.
To Fry Ham.
Slice the ham and if it is very salt, pour boiling water on it, and let
it soak a while; then fry it with a small piece of lard; when done, dish
it; mix together flour, milk, parsley and pepper, let it boil, and pour
it over the ham.
To Fry Beef with Kidney.
Cut the kidney in small pieces; take out all the strings and let it
soak several hours in salt and water; wash and drain it; season some
pieces of beef and kidney, and put them in a frying pan, with hot lard
or drippings of any kind; dust a little flour over; when it is fried
on both sides, take it up in a dish; mix a spoonful of flour in some
water with salt and pepper, and pour in; when it has boiled, pour it
over the beef.
To Fry Liver.
Liver should be cut across the grain in slices about half an inch thick;
pour boiling water over it, drain and season it with pepper and salt;
flour each piece and drop it in a frying-pan of hot bacon drippings; do
not fry it any longer than it is done, or it will he hard; take it up in
a dish, make gravy as for beef, and pour over it.
Veal Cutlets.
Cut the veal in slices near an inch thick; wash, drain, and season it;
beat up an egg, and have ready some pounded crackers or bread crumbs;
dip the slices first in the egg, and then in the bread, and fry them in
hot lard; mix a gravy of flour and water, with salt, pepper and parsley;
when the veal is taken up, pour it in; let it boil a few minutes and
pour it over the dish, and grate a little nutmeg over.
To Fry Veal, Lamb or Pork.
Cut up the meat in thin slices, and season it; dip it in flour and drop
it in a pan of hot lard; when brown, take it up, and make gravy with
flour, milk, parsley, pepper and salt, which stir in.
To Stew Veal, Lamb or Pork.
Cut the meat small, season it, and put it in a pot with water enough to
cover it; let it cook for half an hour; then pour in thickening of flour
and milk, with parsley and thyme, and a piece of butter, (if the meat is
not fat;) take it up in a deep dish.
Brains and Tongue.
Pour boiling water on the brains, and skin them; tie them tight in a
cloth, and boil them and the tongue with the head; when done put them on
a plate, chop three leaves of green sage fine, and beat up with the
brains, spread them round a small dish, and after skinning the tongue,
place it in the middle.
Veal Hash.
Take the lights, heart, and some of the liver, boil them in a pint of
water, when done, take them out and chop them fine, season it with salt,
pepper and a little sweet marjoram, put it hack in the pot, and thicken
it with butter and flour. Let it boil a few minutes, and dish it in a
small tureen.
Brain Cakes.
When the head is cloven, take out the brains and clear them of strings,
beat them up with the yelks of two eggs, some crumbs of bread, pepper,
salt, fine parsley, a spoonful of cream, and a spoonful of flour; when
they are well mixed, drop them with a spoon into a frying-pan with a
little hot butter, and fry them of a light-brown color.
Force Meat Balls.
Take a pound of veal, half a pound of suet, two slices of ham, and some
crumbs of bread, chop them very fine, and put in the yelks of two eggs,
season it with parsley, thyme, mace, pepper and salt, roll it into small
balls, and fry them brown. They are nice to garnish hashes, roast veal
or cutlets, and to put in soup.
To Fry Veal's Liver.
Cut the liver and heart across the grain, wash it well, pour boiling
water on, and let it stand a few minutes, then drain and season it with
salt and pepper, flour it and drop it in hot lard; when it is brown on
both sides, dish it, dust a little flour in the pan, and pour in some
water, let it boil a minute, stirring in a seasoning of parsley, thyme,
or sweet marjoram; pour the gravy over the liver. This is a good
breakfast dish.
To Fry Veal Sweet Breads.
Dip them in the yelk of an egg beaten, then in a mixture of grated
bread, or flour and salt and pepper, fry them a nice brown.
To Stew Sweet Breads.
Stew them in a little water, with butter, flour, and a little cream;
season with salt, pepper, parsley and thyme.
To Brown A Calf's Head With The Skin On.
After scalding and washing the head clean, take out the eyes, cut off
the ears, and let it boil half an hour, when cold, cleave the upper from
the lower jaw, take out the tongue, strike off the nose, score the part
which has the skin on, rub it over with beaten egg, sprinkle it over
with salt, parsley, cayenne and black pepper, lay pieces of butter over
it, and put it in a dutch-oven to brown, basting it often, cut down the
lower part in slices, skin the tongue and palate, and cut them up, put
them in a pot with a little water, when done, thicken it with brown
flour and butter, season it with pepper, salt, some pickled oysters,
wine or brandy (if you like it,) and let it stew fifteen minutes. Lay
the baked head in a dish and put the hash around it, and lay force meat
balls or brain cakes round the edge of the dish.
Bacon Fraise.
Cut streaked bacon in small thin slices, make a batter of a pint of
milk, two eggs, and two large spoonsful of flour; some salt and pepper;
put some lard or dripping in a frying-pan, and when it is hot pour in
half of the batter, and strew the bacon over it; then pour on the
remainder of the batter; let it fry gently, and be careful in turning,
that the bacon does not come to the pan.
Irish Stew.
Take five thick mutton chops, or two pounds of the neck or loin, two
pounds of potatoes, peel them and cut them in halves, six onions or half
a pound of onions, peel and slice them also. First put a layer of
potatoes at the bottom of your stew-pan, then a couple of chops and some
onions, then again potatoes, and so on till the pan is quite full;
season with pepper and salt, and three gills of broth or gravy, and two
tea-spoonsful of mushroom catsup; cover it very close to prevent the
escape of steam, and stew on a slow fire for an hour and a half; a slice
of ham is an addition. Great care should be taken not to let it brown.
To Brown Flour for Gravy, &c.
Put some flour in a dutch-oven and set it over some hot coals; keep
stirring it until it is of a light-brown color; in this way several
pounds can be done at once, and kept in a jar covered; and is very
convenient to thicken brown soups and gravies with.
Drawn Butter.
Put half a pint of water in a skillet; rub a quarter of a pound of
butter in a large spoonful of flour; when the water boils, stir it in
and let it boil a few minutes, season it with parsley, chopped fine.
Stuffing or Dressing.
Stuffing for poultry is made of bread and butter, an egg, salt, pepper,
chopped parsley or thyme, mixed together; if the bread is dry, it should
have a little boiling water poured on it.
Egg Sauce.
This is made as drawn butter, with one or two eggs boiled hard and
chopped into it, and a little salt.
Celery Sauce.
Take a large bunch of celery, cut it fine, and boil it till soft, in a
pint of water; thicken it with butter and flour, and season it with
salt, pepper, and mace.
Bacon Dumplings.
Cut slices of cooked bacon, and pepper them; roll out crust as for apple
dumplings; slice some potatoes very thin, and put them in the crust with
the meat; close them up, and let them boil fast an hour; when done, take
them out carefully with a ladle.
Drop Dumplings.
These are good for almost any kind of soup, and may be made of a quart
of flour, two eggs, a spoonful of butter, some salt and pepper, wet with
milk and water; drop them in while it is boiling, and let them boil ten
or fifteen minutes.
Vermicelli.
Beat three fresh eggs very light, make them into a stiff paste, with
flour and water; knead it well, and roll it very thin, cut it in narrow
strips, give them a twist, and dry them quickly, on tin sheets or
dishes, in the sun or a moderate oven; soak them a few minutes in cold
water, and put them in chicken soup. They are very good and convenient.
Hash made of Fowls.
Take the bones and pieces that have been left of roast or boiled fowls,
either turkeys or chickens, crack the bones, cut off the meat, and chop
it fine, put it in a small iron pot, or stew pan, cover it with water,
put in the gravy that may be left from the fowls, season with pepper and
salt, put in some chopped celery, crumbs of bread, a lump of butter, and
if it requires it, dust in a little flour, if you like it you may slice
in an onion.
Beef Steak Pudding.
Take two pounds of beef from the round or sirloin, and after taking out
the bone, season it according to fancy; some prefer a seasoning of
pepper, salt, onions, thyme, marjoram or sage; others the pepper and
salt alone. Then prepare a plain stiff crust, either with or without
butter or lard; spread the crust over a deep dish or bowl, put in the
beef, and if you like it, add some butter; cover it close with a crust
which must be closely turned in to prevent the water from penetrating;
tie it up tight in a cloth, put it in a pot of boiling water and let it
boil quickly for an hour. The cloth should be dipped in hot water, and
floured, as for other boiled puddings.
Beef Steak Pie.
Take some fine beef steaks, beat them well with a rolling pin, and
season them with pepper and salt according to taste. Make a good crust;
lay some in a deep dish or tin pan; lay in the beef, and fill the dish
half full of water; put in a table-spoonful of butter and some chopped
thyme and parsley, and cover the top with crust; bake it from one to two
hours, according to the size of the pie, and eat it while hot.
Baked Beef Pudding.
Par-boil some tender pieces of beef, in water enough to barely cover it;
grease a pan with lard, season the beef and lay it in; make a batter of
eggs, milk and flour, with a little salt, and pour it over; bake it an
hour in a stove or dutch-oven, and when done keep it hot till it is
eaten. Save the water the beef was boiled in, add a little butter,
flour, pepper, salt and chopped parsley, thyme or sweet marjoram, and
boil it up; when you dish up the pudding pour this over, or put it in a
gravy dish to be served hot at the table.
Pork Stew Pie.
Take small bones and pieces of pork that will not do for sausage; roll
out some crust with but little shortening; lay in the meat and small
pieces of crust alternately; sprinkle in flour and seasoning, cover it
with water, and put on a crust.
Spiced Beef in the Irish Style.
To a round weighing from twenty to twenty-five pounds, take a pint of
salt, one ounce of saltpetre, two ounces of pepper, two ounces of
cloves, one ounce of allspice, four ounces of brown sugar, all well
pulverized, and mixed together; rub the round well with it, and lay it
in a small tub or vessel by itself. Turn and rub it once a day for ten
days. It will not injure if it remain a week longer in the spices, if it
should not be convenient to bake it. When you wish to have it cooked,
strew over the top of the round a small handful of suet. Be particular
to bind it tight round with a cord, or narrow strip of muslin, which
must be wrapped several times round to keep it in shape; put it in a
dutch-oven, and add three pints of water when it is first put down; keep
water boiling in the tea-kettle, and add a little as it seems necessary,
observing not to add too much. It will require a slow heat, and take
four hours to bake.
This is a very fine standing dish, and will be good for three
weeks after cooking. Keep the gravy that is left to pour over it
to keep it moist.
To Bake Fowls.
Season and stuff them the same as for roasting; put them in a dutch-oven
or stove, with a pint of water; when they are half done, put in the
giblets; when these are done, chop them with a knife, and put in
thickening and a lump of butter.
If chickens are young, split them down the back, and put them in a
dutch-oven, with a plate in the bottom, and a pint of water; when they
are done, stir in a spoonful of flour, mixed in half a pint of milk, a
piece of butter, salt, pepper and parsley; let it boil up and dish them.
To Fry Chickens.
After cutting up the chickens, wash and drain them; season them with
salt and pepper; rub each piece in flour, and drop them separately in a
frying-pan or dutch-oven of hot lard; when brown, turn the other side to
fry; make a thickening of rich milk, flour, a piece of butter, salt, and
chopped parsley; take up the chicken on a dish; pour a little water in
the pan to keep the gravy from being too thick; put in the thickening,
stir it, and let it boil a few minutes; then pour it over the chicken.
Chickens Fried in Batter.
Make a batter of two eggs, a tea-cup of milk, a little salt, and
thickened with flour; have the chickens cut up, washed and seasoned; dip
the pieces in the batter separately, and fry them in hot lard; when
brown on both sides, take them up on a dish, and make a gravy as for
fried chickens.
Lard fries much nicer than butter, which is apt to burn.
Chickens in Paste.
Make a crust as for pies, and roll it out in cakes, large enough to
cover a chicken. The chickens should be very nicely picked and washed,
and the inside wiped dry; put in each a small lump of butter, a little
salt, pepper, and parsley; have the pot boiling, close the chickens in
the dough, pin them up in separate cloths, and boil them three-quarters
of an hour; dish them, and pour drawn butter over. Pigeons can be cooked
in the same manner.
To Fricassee Chickens.
Cut up the chickens, and put them in a pot with just water enough to
cover them; let it boil half an hour; have ready some thickening made of
milk, flour, and butter, seasoned with parsley, thyme, pepper, and salt;
let it boil a few minutes longer, and when it is dished, grate a little
nutmeg over, if you like it. This is one of the easiest, cheapest and
best ways of cooking chickens.
Chicken Pie.
Cut up the chickens, and if they are old, boil them fifteen minutes in a
little water, which save to put in the pie; make a paste like common pie
crust, and put it round your pan, or dish; lay in the chicken, dust
flour over, and put in hotter, pepper, and salt; cover them with water,
roll out the top crust quite thick, and close the pie round the edge;
make an opening in the middle with a knife; let it bake rather more than
an hour. If you warm a pie over for the next day, pour off the gravy and
warm it separately, and add it to the pie.
Pot Pie.
Cut up two large chickens; grease your pot, or dutch-oven, with lard;
roll out crust enough in two parts, to go round it, but not to cover the
bottom, or it will burn before the pie is done. As you put in the pieces
of chicken, strew in flour, salt, and pepper, some, pieces of the crust
rolled thin, and a few potatoes; cover this with water, and put on a
covering of paste, with a slit cut in the middle; let it cook slowly for
about two hours; have hot water in a tea kettle, and if it should dry up
too much, pour some in; just before you dish it, add a little parsley
and thyme.
Veal, lamb and pork pies, may be made in the same way. If you like more
top crust, cook it in a dutch-oven, and when the first crust is done,
take it off in a pan and set it near the fire, and cover the pie again
with dough.
Giblet Pie and Soup.
If you can get livers and gizzards from market, you can have a very nice
pie made, the same as chicken pie, or soup with dumplings made of milk,
egg and flour, beaten together, and dropped in when the soup is nearly
done, and season it with parsley, pepper, and salt.
Chicken Stewed with New Corn.
Cut up the chickens as for pies; season them well; have green corn cut
off the cob; put a layer of chicken in the bottom of a stew pan, and a
layer of corn, and so till you fill all in; sprinkle in salt, pepper and
parsley, and put a piece of butter in; cover it with water, and put on a
crust, with slits cut in it; let it boil an hour; when done, lay the
crust in a deep dish; dip out the chicken and corn, and put it on the
crust; stir in the gravy a thickening of milk and flour; when this boils
up, pour it in with the corn and chicken. Chicken and corn boiled
together in a pot, make very nice soup, with dumplings.
To Broil Chickens.
Split the chickens down the back; season them, and put them on the
gridiron over clear coals; cover them over with a plate, (which will
make them cook faster,) baste with melted butter: be careful not to let
them burn. Make gravy of the giblets, boiled in water and chopped fine;
put in butter, thicken and season it; pour this in a dish, and put the
chickens on the top.
Chicken Pudding.
Make a batter of six eggs, milk, flour and a little salt; par-boil the
chickens; have each joint cut, grease a pan with lard, and lay the
pieces in; put in some lumps of butter, and season it well with pepper
and salt; then pour the batter over, and bake it an hour, in a stove or
dutch-oven. Veal or beef makes a very nice pudding, done in the same
way; but the batter need not be as rich as for chicken, and it requires
no butter. Or it makes a good dish, if you cut slices of ham, after it
will not do to appear on the table; make a batter, as for other pudding;
put in a little butter and pepper, and bake it in a pan.
Cold Chicken With Vinegar.
Cut up the chicken in small pieces, and crack the bones; season it with
salt and pepper, and put it in a deep baking plate, with a lump of
butter and a table-spoonful of vinegar; cover it with hot water, put a
plate over, and let it stew on a stove or hot embers.
Chicken Salad.
Cut up the white parts of a cold chicken, season it with oil, or drawn
butter, mustard, pepper, salt, and celery, chopped very fine, and a
little vinegar. Turkey salad is made in the same manner as above.
Stewed Chickens With Rice.
The rice must first be soaked in water, and very nicely washed, or it
will not be white; two tea-cupsful of rice are sufficient to serve with
one chicken, and must be boiled in a quart of water, which should be
boiling when you put the rice in; add a dessert-spoonful of salt;
generally half an hour is long enough to boil rice, and it must not be
too long in the water after it is done, or it is less wholesome. Drain
the water off, if the rice has not absorbed it, and place it in the
bottom of the dish; the chicken must be in preparation at the same time
with the rice, and should be cut up at the joints, as for fried or
fricasseed chicken, and salted and seasoned; boil it in a little more
water than sufficient to cover it; and when it is done, take it out, and
lay it over the rice on the dish; then rub a small piece of butter with
sufficient flour to thicken it, and stir both together in the liquor,
which must remain over the fire for about two minutes; and just before
it is taken up, add the yelk of an egg well beaten, and some chopped
parsley; it must then be immediately poured over the chicken. In
preparing this dish, take care that it does not get smoked.
SOUPS.
In making soup, allow yourself plenty of time. Dumplings should be put
in about half an hour before the soup is done, and herbs a quarter of an
hour--vegetables, about an hour,--rice, twenty minutes. If herbs are put
in too soon, the flavor will fly off and be lost.
Chicken Soup.
Cut up the chicken; cut each joint, and let it boil an hour; make
dumplings of a pint of milk, an egg, a little salt and flour, stirred in
till quite stiff; drop this in, a spoonful at a time, while it is
boiling; stir in a little thickening, with enough pepper, salt and
parsley, to season the whole; let it boil a few minutes longer, and take
it up in a tureen. Chopped celery is a great improvement to chicken
soup; and new corn, cut off the cob, and put in when it is half done,
gives it a very nice flavor.
Brown Calf's Head Soup.
Scald and clean the head, and put it to boil with two gallons of water,
a shank of veal, three onions, two carrots, a little bacon, and a bunch
of sweet herbs. When they have boiled half an hour, take out the head
and shank of veal, and cut all the meat off the bones into pieces of two
inches square; let the soup boil half an hour longer, when strain it,
and put in the meat; season it with salt, cayenne and black pepper, and
cloves, if you like; thicken it with butter and browned flour, and let
it boil nearly an hour; put some fried force meat balls in the tureen,
and just before you pour out the soup, stir into it a table-spoonful of
sugar, browned in a frying pan, and half a pint of wine. This resembles
turtle soup.
Beef Shin Soup, Mutton Soup, &c.
Crack the shin in several pieces, and wash it through three waters;
put it in a pot of water four hours before dinner; when it begins to
boil, take off the scum as it risen, and keep it covered; an hour
before it is done, skim off all the fat, and put in potatoes, onions,
turnips, carrots, and cut cabbage, if you like it; either beat up
dumplings with eggs and milk, or roll them out of dough made as pie
crust; a few minutes before it is done, stir in thickening with
parsley, thyme, pepper and salt, and tomatoes, if they are in season;
then dish it for dinner.
A shin will make a good dinner for a large family, and will do to warm
up, if any is left. To eat pickles with it, or pour a little vinegar in
your plate, is an improvement.
Soup made of mutton, veal and lamb, does not require many vegetables;
carrots and potatoes are the most suitable. A shank of veal or mutton
will make a small pot of very good soup. Celery, cut fine, is very nice
seasoning.
Gumbo Soup.
Take two pounds fresh beef; put this in a dinner-pot, with two gallons
of water; after boiling two hours, throw in a quarter of a peck of ocra,
cut into small slices, and about a quart of ripe tomatoes, peeled and
cut up; slice four or five large onions; fry them brown, and dust in
while they are frying from your dredge box, several spoonsful of flour;
add these, with pepper, salt and parsley, or other herbs, to your taste,
about an hour before the soup is finished; it will require six hours
moderate boiling.
Another Way.
Cut up a large fat chicken; boil it in two gallons of water, adding at
the time you put in the chicken the same quantity of ocra, two large
onions cut fine; season with pepper, salt, thyme and parsley; and when
nearly done, drop in dumplings made of one egg, half a pint of rich
milk, and flour sufficient to make them so that they will drop from a
spoon. This soup requires from four to five hours moderate boiling. Just
before serving, take up the chicken, and after taking out all the bones,
return the chicken into the soup, and dish it up.
Pea Soup.
Leave a pint of peas in the pot, with the water they were boiled in;
make a thickening of flour, milk and butter, seasoned with salt, pepper,
parsley and thyme; toast two or three slices of bread; cut it up in the
tureen; and when the soup has boiled about ten minutes, pour it over.
Children are mostly fond of pea soup, and it seldom disagrees with them.
A few slices of fat ham will supply the place of butter.
Soup of Dried White Beans, &c.
Dried beans or peas should be soaked before boiling; they make very good
soup with a small piece of bacon or salt pork boiled with them; put them
to boil in plenty of water, and after they have boiled an hour, pour it
off, and put in cold water--and the meat or bones, and let them boil an
hour longer; stir in a little thickening, with pepper, salt, parsley and
thyme; mix up some dumplings, and drop in half an hour before the soup
is done. Where you have a large family, you should always be provided
with dried beans for winter use.
A Vegetable Soup.
Take an onion, a turnip, two pared potatoes, a carrot, a head of celery;
boil them in three pints of water till the vegetables are cooked; add a
little salt; have a slice of bread toasted and buttered, put it into a
bowl, and pour the soup over it. Tomatoes when in season form an
agreeable addition.
FISH, OYSTERS, &c.
To Bake a Rock Fish.
Rub the fish with salt, black pepper, and a dust of cayenne, inside and
out; prepare a stuffing of bread and butter, seasoned with pepper, salt,
parsley and thyme; mix an egg in it, fill the fish with this, and sew it
up or tie a string round it; put it in a deep pan, or oval oven and bake
it as you would a fowl. To a large fish add half a pint of water; you
can add more for the gravy if necessary; dust flour over and baste it
with butter. Any other fresh fish can be baked in the same way. A large
one will bake slowly in an hour and a half, small ones in half an hour.
To Stew a Rock Fish.
Rub the fish with salt and pepper, and a little cayenne on the inside;
put it in an oval stew-pan. To a fish that weighs six pounds, put a pint
of water; when it is about half done; season it well with salt and
pepper, and a little mace or cloves; rub a quarter of a pound of butter
in a half a tea-cup of flour, with a little parsley and thyme; stir this
in with a pint of oysters. Serve it with the gravy in the dish. A large
fish should be allowed an hour, small ones half an hour.
To Broil Shad.
Soak a salt shad a day or night previous to cooking, it is best to drain
an hour before you put it to the fire; if it hangs long exposed to the
air, it loses its flavor: grease the gridiron to keep it from sticking;
have good coals, and put the inside down first. Fresh shad is better to
be sprinkled with salt, an hour before it is put to broil; put a plate
over the top to keep the heat in. In broiling shad or other fresh fish
you should dust them with corn meal before you put them down.
To Bake a Fresh Shad.
Make a stuffing of bread, butter, salt, pepper and parsley; fill a large
shad with this, and bake it in a stove or oven.
To Fry Fresh Fish.
Have the fish well scalded, washed and drained; cut slits in the sides
of each; season them with salt and pepper, and roll them in corn flour;
have in your frying-pan hot lard or bacon drippings; if the fish have
been kept several days, dip them in egg before rolling them in corn
flour, to keep them from breaking; fry them light brown on both sides.
To Fry Clams.
After opening them as oysters, wash them in their own liquor and drain
then; make a batter of an egg, flour and pepper; dip them in this, and
fry them in butter.
To Stew Clams.
Strain the liquor and stew them in it for about twenty minutes; make a
thickening of flour, water and pepper; stir this in and let it boil
up; have some bread toasted and buttered in a deep dish, and pour the
clams over.
Clam soup may be made by putting an equal quantity of water with the
liquor, and putting in toasted bread, crackers or dumplings.
To Pot Fresh Herring.
Scale and wash them well; cut off the heads and fins, and season them
with salt, pepper and cloves; pack them neatly in a large jar, and pour
on enough cold vinegar to cover them; put a plate over the top of the
jar, and set it in a moderately warm oven, or on the top of a stove, in
a pan of hot water, for five or six hours; they will keep in a cool
place several weeks, and are an excellent relish. The jar or pan should
be of stone ware, or fire-proof yellow ware.
To Boil Salt Cod.
Put your fish to soak over night; change the water in the morning, and
let it stay till you put it on, which should be two hours before dinner;
keep it at scalding heat all the time, but do not let it boil, or it
will get hard; eat it with egg sauce or drawn butter. If you have any
cod fish left from dinner, mix it with mashed potatoes, and enough flour
to stick them together; season with pepper; make it into little cakes,
and fry them in ham drippings.
To Boil Salt Shad, Mackerel Or Herring.
Wash the fish from the pickle; put it in a frying-pan; cover it with
water, and let it boil fifteen minutes; take it up and drain it between
two plates; put a little butter over and send it hot to the table: or,
after boiling, you can flour, and fry it in drippings of any kind.
To Boil Salt Salmon.
Let salmon soak over night, and boil it slowly for two hours; eat it
with drawn butter. To pickle salmon after it has been boiled, heat
vinegar scalding hot, with whole peppers and cloves; cut the fish in
small square pieces; put it in a jar, and pour the vinegar over. Shad
may be done in the same way.
To Boil Fresh Fish.
After being well cleaned, rub the fish with salt, and pin it in a towel;
put it in a pot of boiling water, and keep it boiling fast;--a large
fish will take from half to three-quarters of an hour--a small one, from
fifteen to twenty minutes. A fat shad is very nice boiled, although rock
and bass are preferred generally; when done, take it up on a fish dish,
and cover it with egg sauce or drawn butter and parsley. Pickled
mushrooms and walnuts, and mushroom catsup, are good with boiled fish.
To Stew Terrapins.
Wash four terrapins in warm water; then throw them in a pot of boiling
water, which will kill them instantly; let them boil till the shells
crack; then take them out, and take off the bottom shell; cut each
quarter separate; take the gall from the liver; take out the eggs; put
the pieces in a stew-pan, pour in all the liquor, and cover them with
water; put in salt, cayenne, and black pepper, and a little mace; put in
a lump of butter the size of an egg, and let them stew for half an hour;
make a thickening of flour and water, which stir in a few minutes before
you take it up, with two glasses of wine; serve it in a deep covered
dish; put in the eggs just as you dish it.
Oyster Soup.
Strain the liquor from the oysters, and put it on to boil, with an equal
quantity of water; take off the scum as it rises; put in pepper, salt,
parsley, thyme and butter; stir in a thickening of flour and water;
throw in the oysters, and let them scald. If you have cream, put in half
a pint just before you take them up.
Another Way.
Strain the liquor from a gallon of oysters, and add to it an equal
quantity of water; put it on the fire, and boil and skim it before you
add the seasoning; then put in six large blades of mace, a little
cayenne, and black or white pepper; (the latter, on account of the
color, is preferable, as it is desirable to have the soup as white as
possible;) afterwards, permit all to boil together about five minutes;
then pour in the oysters and a quarter of a pound of butter, into which
a dessert-spoonful of wheat flour has been rubbed fine; keep this at
boiling heat until the oysters begin to look plump--when it is ready for
the table, and must be served up very hot. If you can procure a pint of
good cream, half the amount of butter will answer,--if you believe the
cream to be rather old, even if it seems to be sweet, add before it goes
into the soup, half a small tea-spoonful of soda, well mixed with it;
after you put in the cream, permit it to remain on the fire long enough
to arrive at boiling heat again, when it must be taken up, or it may
curdle; throw into the tureen a little finely cut parsley.
Scolloped Oysters.
Toast several slices of bread quite brown, and butter them on both
sides; take a baking dish, and put the toast around the sides, instead
of a crust.
Pour your oysters into the dish, and season, to your taste, with butter,
pepper and salt, adding mace or cloves.
Crumb bread on the top of the oysters, and bake it with a quick heat
about fifteen minutes.
To Fry Oysters.
Pick out the largest oysters and drain them; sprinkle them with pepper
and salt; beat up an egg, and dip them first in it, and then in pounded
crackers, and fry them in butter. It is a plainer way to dip them in
corn meal.
Oyster Fritters.
Make a thick batter with two eggs, some crumbs of bread and flour, and a
little milk; season this well with pepper and salt; have in a frying-pan
equal parts of lard and butter; drop in a spoonful of the batter and put
into it one large oyster, or two small ones, let them brown slowly, so
as not to burn; turn them carefully. This is a good way to have oysters
at breakfast.
To Stew Oysters.
Open them and throw them in a stew-pan, with a lump of butter; make a
thickening of flour and water, salt and pepper, and stir it in just as
the oysters boil; when they are done, take them up in a deep covered
dish, with buttered toast in the bottom.
A Rich Oyster Pie.
Strain off the liquor from the oysters, and put it on to boil, with some
butter, mace, nutmeg, pepper and salt; just as it boils, stir in a
thickening of milk and flour; put in the oysters, and stir them till
they are sufficiently stewed; then take them off, and put in the yelks
of two eggs, well beaten; do not put this in while it is boiling, or it
will curdle. Line a dish, not very deep, with puff paste; fill it with
white paper, or a clean napkin, to keep the top paste from falling in;
put on a lid of paste, and bake it. When done, take off the lid
carefully; take out the paper or napkin, and pour in the oysters. Send
it hot to table.
A Baltimore Oyster Pie.
Make a crust after the directions given for puff paste; grease the
bottom of a deep dish, cover it with paste; then season two quarts of
raw oysters, (without the liquor,) with spices to your taste, (some
preferring nutmeg, mace, cayenne pepper,--others, black pepper
alone,) add butter and a heaped tea-cup of grated bread; put all
together in the dish; then cover it with your paste, cut in strips,
and crossed, or ornamented as your fancy dictates; a pound of butter
to two quarts of oysters makes a rich pie; if the oysters are fine,
less butter will answer.
A pie of this size will bake in three-quarters of an hour, if the oven
is in good order; if the heat is not quick allow it an hour.
If in baking, the crust is likely to become too brown, put a piece of
paper doubled over it, and the light color will be retained; when taken
from the oven, if it should look dry, pour some of the liquor that was
drained from the oysters in the dish, having previously strained and
boiled it.
As paste always looks more beautiful when just from the oven,
arrange your dinner so that the pie may be placed on the table
immediately it is done.
Plain Oyster Pie.
Take from the shell as many oysters as you want to put in the pie;
strain the liquor, put it with them over the fire and give them one
boil; take off the scum, put in, if you wish to make a small pie, a
quarter of a pound of butter, as much flour mixed in water as will
thicken it when boiled, and mace, pepper, and salt to your taste; lay a
paste in a deep dish, put in the oysters and cover them with paste; cut
a hole in the middle, ornament it any way you please, and bake it. A
shallow pie will bake in three-quarters of an hour.
Oyster Sauce.
Plump the oysters for a few minutes over the fire; take them out and
stir into the liquor some flour and butter mixed together, with a little
mace and whole pepper, and salt to your taste; when it has boiled long
enough, throw in the oysters, and add a glass of white wine, just as you
take it up. This is a suitable sauce for boiled fowls.
To Pickle 100 Oysters.
Drain off the liquor from the oysters, wash them and put to them a
table-spoonful of salt, and a tea-cup of vinegar; let them simmer over
the fire about ten minutes, taking off the scum as it rises; then take
out the oysters, and put to their own liquor a table-spoonful of whole
black pepper, and a tea-spoonful of mace and cloves; let it boil five
minutes, skim, and pour it over the oysters in a jar.
Oysters Pickled another way.
Wash and drain the oysters, and put them in salt and water, that
will bear an egg; let them scald till plump, and put them in a glass
jar, with some cloves and whole peppers, and when cold cover them
with vinegar.
To Brown Oysters in their own Juice.
Take a quart of large oysters, wash them in their own juice, drain and
dip them in the yelk of eggs; heat butter in a frying-pan, and after
seasoning them with pepper and salt, put them in separately; when they
are brown on both sides, draw them to one side of the pan; strain the
liquor, and put it in with a piece of butter and flour enough to
thicken it.
A Dish of Poached Eggs.
Have ready a kettle of boiling water, pour it in a pan or speeder, which
is set on coals; have the eggs at hand; put a little salt in the water,
and break them in, one at a time, till you get all in; let them remain
till the white is set, and take them out with an egg-spoon, and put on a
dish that has buttered toast on it.
Fried Eggs.
Slice and fry any kind of bacon, dish it; have the eggs ready in a
dish, and pour them into the gravy; when done, take them up and lay
them on the meat.
Fried Eggs another way.
Have your lard or butter boiling hot; break in one egg at a time; throw
the hot fat over them with an egg slice, until white on the top; slip
the slice under and take them out whole, and lay them on the dish or
meat without breaking; season with salt.
Omelet.
Beat six or eight eggs, with some chopped parsley and a little salt;
have the pan or speeder nicely washed; put in a quarter of a pound of
butter, when it is hot, pour in the eggs; stir it with a spoon till
it begins to form; when it is of a light-brown on the under side it
is done; turn it out on a plate, and send to table immediately.
Grated bread, soaked in cream, put in the omelet, some think an
improvement. The dripping of a nice ham, some persons use for omelet
instead of butter.
To Boil Eggs.
Have the water boiling, and look at your watch as you put them in; two
minutes and a half will cook them to please most persons; if you want
them very soft, two minutes will be sufficient, or if less soft three
minutes. If you wish them hard, as for lettuce, let them boil ten
minutes. Spoons that have been used in eating eggs should be put in
water immediately, as the egg tarnishes them.
VEGETABLES.
To Boil Green Corn.
Pick out ears near the same size, and have the water boiling when you
put them in; half an hour is long enough for young corn; that which is
old and hard will take an hour or more; if young corn is boiled too
long, it becomes hard and indigestible.
To Fricassee Corn.
Cut green corn off the cob; put it in a pot, and just cover it with
water; let it boil half an hour; mix a spoonful of flour with half a
pint of rich milk, pepper, salt, parsley, thyme and a piece of butter;
let it boil a few minutes, and take it up in a deep dish. Corn will do
to cook in this way when too old to boil on the cob.
To Keep Corn for Winter.
When boiled, cut the corn off the cob, and spread it on dishes; set
these in the oven to dry after the bread comes out. If you have no oven,
it can be dried in a stove of moderate heat, or round a fire. When
perfectly dry, tie it up in muslin bags, and hang them in a dry place;
when you use it, boil it till soft in water; mix flour, milk, butter,
pepper and salt together, and stir in.
Corn Fritters.
Cut the corn through the grain, and with a knife scrape the pulp from
the cob, or grate it with a coarse grater, and to about a quart of the
pulp, add two eggs beaten, two table-spoonsful of flour, a little salt
and pepper, and a small portion of thin cream, or new milk; beat the
whole together; have the butter or lard hot in the pan, and put a
large spoonful in at a time, and fry brown, turning each fritter
separately; this makes an agreeable relish for breakfast, or a good
side dish at dinner.
Hominy.
Large hominy, after it is washed; must be put to soak over night; if you
wish to have it for dinner, put it to boil early in the morning, or it
will not be done in time; eat it as a vegetable.
Small hominy will boil in an hour; it is very good at breakfast or
supper to eat with milk or butter, or to fry for dinner.
Both large and small hominy will keep good in a cool place several days.
Be careful that the vessel it is cooked in, is perfectly clean, or it
will darken the hominy.
To Fry Hominy.
Put a little lard in your frying-pan, and make it hot; mash and salt the
hominy; put it in, and cover it over with a plate; let it cook slowly
for half an hour, or longer if you like it very brown; when done, turn
it out in a plate. If you do not like it fried, mash it well, with a
little water, salt, and butter, and warm it in a frying-pan.
To Boil Potatoes.
When the potatoes are old, pare them, put them in plenty of boiling
water, and boil them till you can run a fork through easily; if you wish
to have them whole, pour off all the water, throw in some salt, and let
them stand a few minutes over coals, to let the steam go off; they will
then be white and mealy.
It is a mistaken notion, to boil potatoes in but little water, as they
are sure to turn dark and taste strong. In cold weather they may be
kept pared several days in a pan of water, by changing the water every
day, and will be whiter. If you like mashed potatoes, take them up
when barely done, sprinkle them with salt and mash them; put in a
spoonful of cream and a small lump of butter; keep them hot till they
are taken to table.
In the summer when potatoes are young, put them in a small tub, with a
little water, and rub them with a piece of brick, to break the skin; you
can then peel enough for dinner with a knife in a few minutes. When they
are older, boil them with the skins on, and squeeze them separately in a
cloth, to make them mealy. New potatoes are nice with cream and butter
over them.
In boiling old potatoes, some persons cut them round without paring,
which allows the moisture to escape; this is an improvement: you can
then either peel them or send them to table without peeling.
To Stew Potatoes.
Chop or slice cold potatoes; season with pepper and salt; stew them,
with a little butter and milk, and a dust of flour; when nearly done,
stir in a yelk of egg with some chopped parsley--they will cook in a few
minutes, and may be sliced over night if you wish an early breakfast.
Sweet Potatoes.
To boil sweet potatoes, put them in a pot with plenty of water; let them
boil fast till you can run a fork through the largest; then pour off the
water, and leave them in the pot a quarter of an hour; you can then peel
the skin off or leave it on. Some prefer them baked in a dutch-oven;
they should have a quick heat; large potatoes will take an hour to bake.
It has been found a good way to boil them, till nearly done; then peel
and bake them--they are drier and nicer.
To Fry Potatoes.
Cold potatoes are very good fried for breakfast with scraps of bacon; if
they have been mashed, make them out in cakes with a little flour, and
fry them brown, or slice them.
Tomatoes.
If you wish to bake tomatoes in the oven with bread, pour boiling water
on, and skin them; cut them in small pieces; season with salt and
pepper, and put them in a pan with crumbs of bread and butter; cover the
pan with a plate, and bake three-quarters of an hour; when done, mash
them and take them out on a dish.
To Fry Tomatoes.
Slice them, season with pepper and salt, and fry in hot butter; if they
are green, dip them in flour after being seasoned.
Tomato Omelet.
Pour boiling water on the tomatoes, skin and cut them fine; to one quart
of this, put two chopped onions and a lump of butter the size of an egg;
let them boil half an hour, then mash them; put in grated bread, pepper,
salt, and the yelks of two eggs.
To Stew Tomatoes.
Wash and pour boiling water over them; peel off the skins, and cut them
up; season them with pepper and salt; put in a lump of butter, and boil
them in their own juice for half an hour; stir in enough crumbs of bread
to thicken them; let them cook slowly ten minutes longer; be careful
that the bread does not burn.
To Bake Tomatoes.
Take out the inside of large tomatoes, make a stuffing of bread, butter,
pepper, salt and an egg; fill them with this, and set them in a deep
pie-plate; let them bake slowly half an hour.
Tomato Jelly, to eat with Roast Meat.
Wash the tomatoes, and put them in a bell-metal kettle, with a little
water; let them boil thirty minutes; take them out and strain them
through a sieve, till you get all the pulp; let it settle and pour off
the top; put the thick part in deep plates, and set them in the oven
after the bread is drawn; season it with pepper and salt to your taste,
and put it away in a jar. It can either be eaten cold, or warmed up with
crumbs of bread and butter. Some persons slice tomatoes, and dry them on
dishes in an oven.
To Fricassee Tomatoes.
Wash and cut them in two, if large; if small, leave them whole, but do
not peel them or they go too much to pieces; have a broad speeder or
stove-pan; put in a half spoonful of butter; season the tomatoes with
pepper and salt, and flour them; cover them with a plate; they will cook
in ten minutes, stirring them once; pour in half a tea-cup of cream just
as they are done; let them boil up and dish them while hot: this dish is
much liked either for breakfast, dinner or tea.
To Broil Tomatoes for Breakfast.
Take large round tomatoes, wash and wipe them, and put them on the
gridiron over lively coals--the stem side down; when this is brown, turn
them and let them cook till quite hot through; place them on a hot dish
and send them quickly to table, where each one may season for himself
with pepper, salt and butter.
To Bake Tomatoes for Breakfast.
Season them with pepper and salt; flour and bake them in a stove, in a
deep plate with a little butter over them.
Tomatoes sliced with Onions.
Pick the best tomatoes; let them stand a little while in cold water,
then peel and slice them. To about six tomatoes, you may add two red
onions, also sliced; season with pepper, plenty of salt, and a small
portion of vinegar.
To put up Tomatoes for Winter.
Gather a quantity of tomatoes, wash, scald, skin and cut them up; season
them highly with pepper and salt, and put them in a large stone jar; set
this in the oven with your bread, and leave it till it is cold; stir
them, and set them in the oven every time you bake for several weeks;
when the juice is nearly dried up, put a piece of white paper over the
jar, melt some lard and pour on it. When you use them, stew them with
bread, butter and water.
Baked Egg Plant.
Boil them ten minutes; then cut them in half and take out the seeds,
fill them with a stuffing of crumbs of bread, seasoned with butter,
pepper, salt, the yelk of an egg, and if you choose, the juice of a
tomato; close them and tie each one with a string; put a little water in
the dutch-oven, and lay them in with some of the stuffing on the top;
let them cook slowly half an hour, basting them with butter; take them
out, thicken the gravy, and pour it over them on the dish.
To Fry Egg Plant.
Cut them in slices half an inch thick; sprinkle them with salt, and let
them stand a few minutes to extract the bitter taste; wash them in cold
water, and wipe them dry; season with salt and pepper; dip them in
flour, and fry them in butter.
Another way of cooking them is to cut them in thin slices, and bake them
on a bake-iron that is hot enough to bake cakes.
Salsify, or Oyster Plant.
Scrape the roots, and boil them till soft; mash them, and put in butter,
pepper, salt, and egg and flour enough to stick them together; make this
in cakes as large as an oyster, and fry them in butter; or after
boiling, you can cut them in slices and stew them in water; then butter
and season, and thicken with a little flour and cream.
To Stew or Fry Mushrooms.
Be careful in gathering mushrooms that you have the right kind; they are
pink underneath, and white on the top, and the skin will peel off
easily, but it sticks to the poisonous ones.
After you have peeled them, sprinkle them with salt and pepper, and put
them in a stew pan, with a little water, and a lump of butter; let them
boil fast ten minutes, and stir in a thickening of flour and cream. They
may be fried in butter, or broiled on a gridiron. They are sometimes
very abundant in the fall, on ground that has not been ploughed for
several years; they appear after a warm rain; they may be peeled,
salted, and allowed to stand some hours before cooking.
Cucumbers, to Fry or Slice.
To fry cucumbers, take off the rinds in long pieces, a quarter of an
inch thick; season them with pepper and salt; dip them in flour, and fry
them in butter.
Many persons think cucumbers unwholesome, and they certainly are if
kept for several days before they are eaten; but if sliced thin, with
onions, pepper, salt and good vinegar, they may generally be eaten
without danger.
Lettuce.
Persons that are fond of lettuce may have it nearly all the year, by
sowing the different kinds, and keeping it covered through the winter;
the most approved way of dressing it is to cut it fine, and season with
oil, mustard, pepper, salt, vinegar, and a hard egg chopped. The essence
of ham is also very good to season lettuce.
Where there is a large family, it is a good and economical way to cut
the fat of ham in small pieces, fry it, and make a gravy with flour,
water and pepper, to eat with lettuce. To cook lettuce you must fry a
little ham; put a spoonful of vinegar into the gravy; cut the lettuce,
put it in the pan; give it a stir, and then dish it.
Cold Slaw.
Cut hard white cabbage across the leaves, and put it in a deep plate,
scald two large spoonsful of vinegar with a piece of butter, some pepper
and salt; pour this over the slaw; have an egg boiled hard; chop it
fine, and spread it over the top. Some persons like it heated in a pan
with vinegar and water, and the yelk of a raw egg mixed through it.
Cauliflowers, &c.
Have a pot with half milk, and the rest water; when this boils, put in
the cauliflowers, and let them boil till tender; put in some salt just
before you take them up; have ready drawn butter with parsley, to pour
over them, or a sauce of cream and butter. Good heads of yellow Savoy
cabbage, cooked in this way, resemble cauliflowers. Brocolli is a
delightful vegetable, and may be cooked in the same manner.
To Boil Cabbage.
In summer, you should allow a large head of cabbage an hour to boil, but
when it has been tendered by the frost, it will boil in half that time.
Most persons prefer cabbage boiled with ham; the pot should be well
skimmed before it goes in or the grease will penetrate the cabbage, and
make it unwholesome; take it up before it boils to pieces. It is very
good boiled with corned beef or pork, or with milk and water, with a
little salt added. Some like it with a little salaeratus thrown in while
boiling, as that tenders it and makes it of a more lively green.
To Boil Greens and Poke.
After skimming the pot that the bacon has been boiled in, put in cabbage
sprouts, and let them boil till the stalks are tender; all greens are
best boiled in a net. Spinach cooks in a few minutes; some persons
prefer it when boiled in salt and water; you should have drawn butter or
hard eggs to eat with it when done in this way. There are several kinds
of wild greens to be found in the country in the spring, as wild
mustard, poke and lambs-quarter, which are very good cooked as cabbage
sprouts. Pour boiling water on poke, after tying it in bunches, as
asparagus, let it stand a few minutes; pour off the water; boil it with
a little salt in the water, and if you choose a little salaeratus; dress
it with butter, and dish it as asparagus.
String Beans.
String beans, if boiled in salt and water, will require fully two hours;
but if boiled in a net, in a pot with bacon, they will not take so long;
if they are cooked in the same pot with cabbage, it will injure the
flavor. It is a good way to boil a very small piece of pork or bacon, or
a ham-bone in the pot with beans; when they are done, season them with
cream, butter, salt and pepper.
Lima Beans.
Shell them, and wash them in cold water; let them boil about an hour;
when done, dip them from the water, and season with salt, pepper, cream
or butter; keep them hot till they are sent to table.
Dried Lima beans should be soaked over night, and boiled two hours or
longer, if they are not soft.
Peas.
Early peas require about half an hour to boil, and the later kinds
rather longer; the water should boil when they are put in; when they are
tough and yellow, they may be made tender and green, by putting in a
little pearl-ash, or ashes tied up in a rag, just before they are taken
up; this will tender all green but do not put too much--when done, dip
them out: drain and season them with butter, pepper and salt; put a
bunch of parsley in the middle of the dish.
To Keep Green Beans for Winter.
Boil salt and water to make a strong pickle; string the beans, and put
them in a tight wooden firkin; sprinkle them with salt as they go in;
when the pickle is cold, pour it on, and put on a weight to keep the
beans under; they will keep in the cellar till the next spring. They
should soak several hours in cold water before they are boiled.
Asparagus.
All persons that have a garden should have an asparagus-bed; it is
valuable as being one of the first vegetables in the spring. Put the
stalks of the same length, in bunches together, and tie them with
strings; boil it three-quarters of an hour in clear water; (if you put
salt in, it turns it dark;) have buttered toast in the bottom of a deep
dish; untie the strings, and put the asparagus in; sprinkle it over with
pepper and salt, and put butter on. Asparagus is also agreeable in
chicken soup.
Cymlings, or Squashes.
In cultivating this vegetable, the small bunch cymling is the best, as
it takes so little room in the garden, and comes soon to maturity; if
they are so hard that a pin will not run in easily, they are unfit for
use. Boil the cymlings till soft; cut them open, and take out the seeds;
put them in a colander, and mash them; when the water is drained off,
put them in a small pot, and stew them with cream and butter for ten
minutes; just as you dish them, season with pepper and salt. If boiled
with salt meat, they require but little seasoning.
Pumpkins.
Young pumpkins resemble cymlings, when cooked in the same way. When they
are ripe, they should be pared and cut up, and boiled till soft in a
good deal of water; take them up as soon as they are done, or they will
soak up the water; mash them and season them with salt, pepper and
butter. They are good to eat with roast or boiled beef.
To Bake Pumpkins.
The long striped pumpkin, with a thick long neck, called by some potato
pumpkin, is the best for baking; cut it up in slices, leaving on the
rind; put it in a dutch-oven or dripping-pan, and let it bake an hour
with a quick heat. Where sweet potatoes cannot be had, pumpkins make a
very good substitute. If you put ripe pumpkins that have not been
frosted; in a dry place, they will keep to make puddings till spring.
To Dry Pumpkins.
Pare them, and cut them in thin slices; have a strong thread, and
string them on it with a needle; hang them out in the sun till dry,
taking them in at night; tie them up in a muslin bag, and hang them in
a dry place. Soak them before they are stewed, and they are nearly as
good for puddings as when in season. Some dry them, as apples, by
spreading on boards.
Parsnips.
Scrape and split them, and boil until quite soft, either in salt and
water, or with meat; they are very good served up in this way, with
plenty of butter. They may, when boiled, either be baked with a few
slices of salt meat, and require no seasoning but pepper, or made into
small round cakes, seasoned with butter, pepper and salt, and fried.
Carrots. Carrots should be scraped, and boiled till soft, in plenty of
water; when they are done, take them up, and slice them thin; season
them with salt, pepper and butter. They are suitable to eat with boiled
meat or fowls.
Turnips.
Pare and quarter the turnips, and put them in a pot of clear water, or
with fresh meat; boil them half an hour; drain, and season them with
butter, pepper and salt; mash them.
Onions.
After they are peeled, boil them in milk and water; if small, they will
cook in half an hour; when they are done, pour off the water; put in
cream, butter and salt, and let them stew a few minutes. Small onions
are much better for cooking, as they are not so strong.
Beets.
Wash the beets; cut the tops off, and put them in boiling water; the
early turnip beet is best for summer, and will boil in less than an
hour; the long winter beet should be boiled two hours,--when they are
done, drop them in cold water for a minute; peel and slice them; season
with butter, pepper and salt; send them hot to table.
To pickle beets, put them in a jar after they have been boiled; fill it
up with weak vinegar; put in salt, cayenne and black pepper.
To Boil Rice.
Pick a pint of rice, wash it clean--put it in three pints of boiling
water: it should boil fast, and by the time the water evaporates, the
rice will be sufficiently cooked; set it where it will keep hot, until
you are ready to dish it.
To Keep Vegetables in Winter.
Beets, parsnips, carrots and salsify should he dug up before the frost
is severe; those wanted for use in the winter should be put in barrels,
and covered with sand; what you do not want till spring should be buried
in the garden, with sods on the top. Celery may be dug in November, and
set in a large box covered with sand, in the cellar, with the roots
down; it will keep till the frost is out of the ground. Or it may be
left in the ground all winter, and dug as you want it for use.
BREAD, &c.
As bread is the most important article of food, great care is necessary
in making it, and much judgment, as the weather changes so often.
In warm weather, the rising should be mixed with water nearly cold; if
there should be a spell of damp weather in the summer, have it slightly
warm and set it to rise on a table in the kitchen.
In winter it should be mixed with warm water, and left on the warm
hearth all night. If the yeast is fresh, a small quantity will do; if
several weeks old, it will take more. If you use dry yeast, let it soak
fifteen minutes, and put in a tea-spoonful of salaeratus to prevent it
from getting sour.
Light Bread, Baking in a Stove, &c.
For two loaves of bread, thicken a quart of water with flour, till it
will just pour easily; put in a table-spoonful of salt and half a
tea-cup of yeast; this should be done in the evening. If the weather is
cold, set it where it will be warm all night; but, if warm, it will rise
on a table in the kitchen. (If it should not be light in the morning,
and the water settles on the top, stir in a little more yeast, and set
it in a pan of hot water for a few minutes;) knead in flour till it is
nearly as stiff as pie crust, and let it rise again. Have your baking
pans greased, and when it is light, mould out the bread, and put it in
them; set it by the fire, covered with a cloth, till it begins to crack
on the top--when it is light enough to bake. To bake in a stove
requires care to turn it frequently; if it browns too fast at first,
leave the door open a little while; a thick loaf will bake in an hour,
and a small one in less time. In trying the heat of a stove, drop a few
drops of water on the top, if it boils gently it is in good order, and
the heat should be kept at this point.
To Bake a Dutch-oven Loaf.
If you wish to make a large loaf, it will take three pints of water,
more than half a tea-cup of yeast, and two spoonsful of salt; when the
rising is light, knead it up, have the dutch-oven greased; put it in,
and set it near the fire, but not so near that it will scald. When it
rises so as to crack on the top, set the oven on coals; have the lid
hot, cut the loaf slightly across the top, dividing it in four; stick it
with a fork and put the lid on, when it is on a few minutes, see that it
does not bake too fast, it should have but little heat at the bottom,
and the coals on the top should be renewed frequently, turn the oven
round occasionally.
If baked slowly, it will take an hour and a half when done, wrap it in a
large cloth till it gets cold.
To Bake in a Brick Oven.
If you have a large family, or board the laborers of a farm, it is
necessary to have a brick oven, so as to bake but twice a week; and to
persons that understand the management of them, it is much the easiest
way. If you arrange every thing with judgment, half a dozen loaves of
bread, as many pies or puddings, rusk, rolls or biscuit may be baked at
the same time. Some persons knead up their bread over night in winter,
to do this, the sponge should be made up at four o'clock in the
afternoon. If you wish to put corn flour in your bread, scald one quart
of it to six loaves, and work it in the flour that you are going to stir
in the rising, to make six loaves of bread, you should have three quarts
of water and a tea-cup of yeast.
Scalded corn flour, or boiled mashed potatoes, assists bread to rise
very much in cold weather. Have a quart of potatoes well boiled and
rolled fine with a rolling-pin on your cake board; mix them well in the
rising after it is light; if the oven is not ready, move the bread to a
cool place. If the bread is sour before you mould it out, mix a heaped
tea-spoonful of salaeratus in a little water, spread out the bread on the
board, dust a little flour on it, and spread the salaeratus and water
over, and work it well through. This quite takes away the sour taste,
but if the bread is made of good lively yeast, it seldom requires it;
let it rise in the pans about half an hour. Many persons that make their
own bread, are in the constant practice of using salaeratus, putting in
the rising for six loaves a heaped tea-spoonful, dissolved in a little
warm water; in this there is no disadvantage, and it insures sweet
bread, and will also answer in making rolls or light cakes.
Common sized loaves will bake in an hour in the brick oven. If they slip
easily in the pans, and, upon breaking a little piece from the side, it
rises from the pressure of the finger, it is done; but if it should not
rise, put it back again; when the bread is taken out of the oven, wrap
it in a cloth till quite cold.
You should have a large tin vessel with holes in the top, to keep
bread in; in this way, it will be moist at the end of the week in
cool weather.
Coarse brown flour or middlings makes very sweet light bread, by putting
in scalded corn meal, say, to two loaves, half a pint, and is also good
to use for breakfast made as buckwheat cakes.
Directions for Heating a Brick Oven, &c.
It is very important to have good oven wood split fine, and the oven
filled with it as soon as the baking is out; by this precaution it is
always ready and dry. Early in the morning, take out half of the wood,
and spread the remainder over the oven, in such a way as it will take
fire easily; light a few sticks in the fire, and put them in; when it
burns well, turn the wood about, and occasionally add more till it is
all in; when it is burnt to coals, stir them about well with a
long-handled shovel made for the purpose.
When it looks bright on the top and sides, it is hot enough; let the
coals lay all over the bottom till near the time of putting in the
bread, when draw them to the mouth, as it is apt to get cool the
quickest. If you have biscuit to bake, put some of the coals on one side
near the front, as they require a quick heat, and should be put in
immediately after the coals are taken out; they will bake in fifteen or
twenty minutes.
When all the coals are taken out, if the bottom of the oven sparkles, it
is very hot, and should wait a few minutes; but if not, you may put in
the bread first, and then the pies; if you have a plain rice pudding to
bake, it should be put in the middle of the front, and have two or three
shovels of coals put round it, if the oven is rather cool. Close the
oven with a wooden stopper made to fit it; after they have been in a few
minutes, see that they do not brown too fast; if so, keep the stopper
down a little while. Pies made of green fruit will bake in
three-quarters of an hour; but if the fruit has been stewed, half an
hour will be long enough.
Rusk, or rolls, take about half an hour to bake in a brick oven; if you
should have to open the oven very often before the bread is done, put in
a few shovels of coals and shut it up.
When all is taken out, fill the oven with wood ready for the next
baking.
There is nothing in any department of cooking that gives more
satisfaction to a young housekeeper than to have accomplished what is
called a good baking.
Graham Bread.
Take six quarts of unbolted flour, one tea-cup of good yeast, and six
spoonsful of molasses; mix them with a pint of milk, warm water, and a
tea-spoonful of salaeratus; make a hole in the flour and stir this
mixture in it, till it is like batter; then proceed as with fine flour.
Mould it, when light, into four loaves Have your oven hotter than for
other bread, and bake it fully one hour and a half. It is an excellent
article of diet for dyspeptic and sedentary persons.
Dyspepsy Bread.
This is three-fourths unbolted flour, and the remaining fourth common
flour, and is risen and made as other light bread, but should be baked
rather more.
Yeast.
It is important to those that make their own bread, to make their own
yeast, or they cannot judge of its strength. The best is the
old-fashioned hop yeast, which will keep for six weeks in winter.
Put a pint of hops in a pot, with a quart of water; cover it tightly,
and let it boil slowly for half an hour; strain it while boiling hot on
a pint of flour, and a heaped table-spoonful of salt; stir it well, and
let it stand till nearly cool; when put in a tea-cupful of good yeast;
if it is not sweet, put in a little salaeratus, just as you stir it in;
keep it in a warm place till it rises, when put it in a stone jug, and
cork it tightly. Keep it in a cool place in summer, but do not let it
freeze in winter; shake it before you use any.
When your yeast jug is empty, fill it with water, and let it soak; wash
it well, and if it should smell sour, rinse it with salaeratus water. If
you have a garden, raise your own hops by all means; pick them by the
first of September, or they will lose their strength; dry them on sheets
spread on the garret floor.
If you buy hops, choose light green ones, with the yellow dust about
them. Brown hops have generally stayed too long on the vines.
Another Method.
Put two handsful of hops into three pints of water; let it boil to one
quart; when cold, strain it on to a pint of best flour, a table-spoonful
of salt, half a pint of sugar-house molasses, and a tea-cup of good
yeast: as it rises, skim off the top several times, when the yeast looks
white bottle it up tight and it will keep for several weeks.
Corn Flour Dry yeast.
Put a large handful of good hops in a quart of water; cover it close,
and let it boil nearly half away, when strain it over corn flour; it
must all be wet, but not so soft as for bread; put in a large spoonful
of salt, and mix it well; when about milk warm, put in two
table-spoonsful of yeast, (observe that the yeast is lively,) rub it
through with your hands; it must be so stiff as just to stick together;
set it in a warm place to rise, which it should do in a few hours. When
light, rub in more corn flour, and scatter it in dishes, very thin, (or
put it on a cloth on a large waiter, spread thinly.) It should be dried
quickly, or it may turn sour, either in the sun, (which is best,) or a
warm stove room; stir it over frequently; when perfectly dry, cover it
close, either in a jar or wooden box, and keep it in a dry closet.
Select a sunny day, and begin early in the morning, as by this method
you may have your yeast dry by night. Half a tea-cupful is enough for
two loaves of wheat bread, (it should be soaked in water some minutes
before using it,) and it is generally best to put in half a
tea-spoonful of salaeratus, as dry yeast is more apt to turn sour than
the liquid yeast.
Some good housekeepers use this yeast where hops are scarce, and it
answers very well. It will keep good six weeks or two months.
Potato Yeast.
Boil four large potatoes with a tea-cupful of hops tied loosely in a
bag; mash the potatoes in a pan, with a spoonful of salt, and four of
flour; pour the hop-water on it, and mix all together; when nearly cold,
put in two table-spoonsful of yeast; put it in a quart jar, and let it
rise; it will do to use in five or six hours. This yeast is much weaker
than the first receipt; but it has this advantage,--that with a pint of
it you may knead up four loaves of bread at night without making rising.
It is best to make this yeast once a week, always being careful to have
the jar sweet before you put it in.
Potato Yeast with Sugar.
To about a quart of potatoes, boiled and made thin enough with warm
water to pass through a sieve, add, when cold, a tea-cupful of sugar, a
table-spoonful of salt, and a gill of common yeast. This is a quick
yeast, but will not keep so long as those before mentioned.
Dry Yeast.
Put a pint of hops in half a gallon of water; cover it close and boil it
down to one half; strain it over flour enough to make a thick batter;
when nearly cold, put in a tea-cup of yeast, and three table-spoonsful
of salt; when well risen, work in as much corn meal as will make it as
stiff as biscuit dough; add a spoonful of sugar and one of ginger; when
it rises again, make it out into little cakes, which must be dried in
the shade, and turned twice a day. If made in dry weather, this yeast
will keep for several months, and is useful when hops are scarce; it
should be kept in a tight box, or a bag hung up in a dry place.
Milk Yeast.
If you have no yeast, you may make some with milk, to rise with. Take a
pint of new milk and stir in it two tea-spoonsful of salt, and half a
tea-cup of flour; keep it moderately warm by the fire, and it will
lighten in about an hour; stir in flour enough to make a large loaf of
bread, with more milk or water. This yeast should be used immediately,
and will do to lighten hop yeast. To thicken half a gallon of water with
a quarter of a pound of sugar, a little salt and flour, makes very good
yeast when you cannot get hops. It will do to use in a day.
Superior Boiled Milk Rolls.
Boil a quart of new milk; pour it on a quart of flour, while boiling
hot, and stir it well; when nearly cold, add two tea-spoonsful of salt,
two table-spoonsful of lard, and half a tea-cup of good yeast; set it in
a warm place to rise for about two hours; when light, work flour in it
on the cake-board, and, when quite smooth, mould it out into rolls, and
put them in a baking-pan, which has been rubbed with lard or butter; set
them in a warm place to rise again;--if the weather is warm, on a table
in the kitchen, but if cold, set them by the fire. When light, put them
in a cool place till you are ready to bake; they should have a moderate
heat, and will bake in half an hour. In winter they may be moulded out
and placed in the bake pan over night for breakfast, or some hours
before wanted for tea, and kept in a cool place till half an hour before
baking, when set them near the stove to rise up. With the addition of
nutmeg and sugar, you may make nice rusk.
Egg Rolls.
Boil a quart of new milk with a quarter of a pound of butter, the same
of lard, and a little salt; beat up two eggs, and pour the boiling milk
on them, stirring all the time; when nearly cold, add a tea-cup of yeast
and as much wheat flour as will make it a thick batter, when quite light
knead it up as bread, and let it lighten before moulding out; grease the
pans, and bake them with a moderate heat. A little sugar and water
rubbed on just before baking rolls makes them glossy.
Soft Rolls.
Rub two ounces of butter into two pounds of flour; stir in as much
boiling milk as will make a soft dough, when cold enough, add half a
tea-cup of yeast, and a little salt; beat it well with a spoon, and
let it rise as long as bread; mould them out in pans, and bake as
other rolls.
Water Rolls.
Make a rising of a quart of warm water, a little salt, a tea-cup of
yeast, two spoonsful of butter and flour; let this rise, and knead it
with as much flour as will make a soft dough, and work it well; when it
has risen again, mould it out, and bake half an hour.
A nice griddle cake may be made by rolling this out, and baking it on
the griddle or dripping-pan of a stove.
Potato Rolls.
Boil potatoes enough to make a quart when mashed, which should be done
with a rolling-pin on a cake-board; mix these with a gallon of flour, a
spoonful of butter, one of lard, and some salt; stir in water sufficient
to make dough, not quite so stiff as for light bread, and a tea-cup of
yeast; knead it for half an hour, and set it to rise; when it is light,
set it away in a cold place, and as you require it, cut off a piece;
mould it in little cakes, and let them rise an hour before baking. These
rolls will keep several days in cold weather. If the dough should get
sour, mix in some salaeratus.
Another Way.
Boil a quart of pared potatoes--pour off the water, mash them, add half
a pint of sweet milk, warmed, and a small table-spoonful of salt; stir
well, and pour it scalding hot into a quart of flour; add cold milk
enough to make it the right consistence for rising; stir in half a tea
cup of yeast, and set it by to rise, it will soon be light, and is then
to be made into dough, with shortened flour, as other rolls, and made
out into cakes; and after standing in a warm place to become light
again, which should not take long, bake with rather a quick heat. These
rolls may be eaten warmed over.
Mush Rolls, without Milk or Eggs.
When milk is scarce, (or for a change,) you can make good rolls with
mush. Take a pint of corn meal, pour on it three pints of boiling
water--stirring it as you pour; put in three ounces of lard, a
table-spoonful of salt, and when milk warm, put in two table-spoonsful
of yeast, then mix in wheat flour, and make it a soft dough; cover the
pan close, set it in a warm place till it begins to rise; as soon as
light, set it in a cold place; mould them out an hour before you bake
them, and allow them to rise in the dripping-pan. It will do to bake in
a large cake rolled out.
Twist Rolls.
Boil a pint of milk, put in a small lump of butter and a little salt;
beat up an egg and put in, when nearly cold, with a spoonful of yeast
and some flour; when light, knead in more flour to make it quite stiff;
work it well, and let it rise again; grease a dutch-oven or spider,
flour your hands, and roll it out in rings, or round several times, a
little higher in the middle. They will be nearly all crust, and suit
delicate persons that cannot eat other warm bread.
French Rolls.
To one quart of sweet milk, boiled and cooled, half a pound of butter,
half a tea cup of yeast, a little salt, and flour enough to make a soft
dough, beat up the milk, butter and yeast in the middle of the flour,
let it stand till light, in a warm place; then work it up with the
whites of two eggs, beaten light; let it rise again, then mould out into
long rolls; let them stand on the board or table, to lighten, an hour or
two, then grease your pans and bake in a oven or stove.
Bread Rolls.
In the morning, when your bread is light, take as much as would make one
loaf; pour boiling water on half a pint of corn meal--stir it well--add
a little salt, spread open the dough and work in the mush, with the
addition of a table-spoonful of lard or butter, and a little flour, work
well and mould out, placing them in your pans, and set them in a
moderately warm place to lighten for tea; bake in a stove, if the
weather is cold. This dough will keep two days, and may be baked as you
need them.
Maryland Biscuit.
Rub half a pound of lard into three pounds of flour; put in a spoonful
of salt, a tea cup of cream, and water sufficient to make it into a
stiff dough; divide it into two parts, and work each well till it will
break off short, and is smooth; (some pound it with an iron hammer, or
axe;) cut it up in small pieces, and work them into little round cakes;
give them a slight roll with the rolling-pin, and stick them, bake them
in a dutch-oven, brick-oven, or dripping-pan of a stove, with a quick
heat. These biscuits are very nice for tea, either hot or cold.
Light Biscuit.
Boil a quart of milk, and when nearly cold, stir it in the middle of
your pan of flour, with two spoonsful of yeast, and one of butter and
salt; let it lighten for two or three hours; knead the flour in it, and
let it rise again: a little while before you bake, roll it out, and cut
it with the top of your dredging-box. Let them rise a few minutes in the
dripping-pan.
Salaeratus Biscuit.
Warm a quart of sweet milk, and put in it half a tea-spoonful of
salaeratus, and a heaped spoonful of lard or butter, and half a spoonful
of salt; pour this in as much flour as will make a stiff dough; work it
a quarter of an hour; mould and bake them as other biscuit.
Quick Biscuit.
Rub a small table-spoonful of lard into a quart of flour, and mix in two
tea-spoonsful of finely powdered cream of tartar, with a tea-spoonful of
salt; put a tea-spoonful of super carbonate of soda in a pint of warm
milk,--work it in and make the paste of ordinary consistence for biscuit
or pie crust, adding flour or milk, if either is needed; make it out in
biscuit form, or roll it about half an inch thick, and cut in
shapes,--bake them about twenty minutes.
Tea Biscuit.
Melt half a pound of butter in a quart of warm milk; add a spoonful of
salt, sift two pounds of flour, make a hole in the centre, put in three
table-spoonsful of yeast, add the milk and butter; make a stiff paste;
when quite light, knead it well, roll it out an inch thick, cut it with
a tumbler, prick them with a fork, bake in buttered pans, with a quick
heat; split and butter before sending them to table.
Dyspepsy Biscuit.
Make them as Maryland biscuit, except that, instead of either lard or
butter, you must use a portion of rich cream, beat or work them well,
and roll them moderately thin.
Salaeratus Cake.
Warm a pint of butter-milk, put in it a tea-spoonful of powdered
salaeratus, and a piece of lard the size of an egg; stir it into flour
till it is a soft dough; roll it out, and bake it on the griddle, or in
the dripping-pan of a stove. If you have no sour milk, put a
table-spoonful of vinegar in sweet milk.
Wafer Cakes.
Rub half a pound of lard into two pounds and a half of flour, add a
little salt and water sufficient to make a stiff dough: work it well for
half an hour, make it in small round lumps, and roll these until they
are as thin as possible; bake them with a slow heat and they will look
almost white. These are nice cakes for tea either hot or cold.
Short Cake.
To three quarts of flour take three-quarters of a pound of lard, and a
spoonful of salt; rub the lard in the flour, and put in cold water,
sufficient to make a stiff dough; roll it out without working in thin
cakes; have the bake-iron hot, flour it, and bake with a quick heat;
when one side is brown, turn and bake the other; when baked in the
dripping-pan of a stove, they do without turning;--you may cut them in
round cakes, if you choose. Some use half milk and half water; in that
case, less lard is required.
Cold Water Muffins.
Sift a quart of flour, add to it a little salt, a large spoonful of
yeast, beat the white of a fresh egg to a froth; after mixing the flour
up with cold water into a soft dough, add the egg; set it in a
moderately warm place. Next morning beat it well with a spoon, put it on
the bake-iron in round cakes; when one side is nicely brown, turn them;
keep them hot till sent to table, split and butter them. If you wish to
have muffins for tea, they should be made up early in the Morning.
Smith Muffins.
Boil a quart of new milk, have three pounds of flour, three eggs well
beaten, a quarter of a pound of lard, a table-spoonful of salt; rub the
lard in the flour and while the milk is still warm, (but not hot,) stir
it in the flour, put in the eggs, and a tea-cup of good yeast: beat all
well, and set them in a warm place to rise, when light they should be
set in a cool place till you are ready to bake them, which should be in
rings, or round cakes on the bake-iron, in a dutch-oven, or the
dripping-pan of a stove, butter just as you send them to table. If the
batter is kept in a cold place it will keep good for two days in winter.
Before baking muffins, or any kind of light cakes, taste the batter, and
if at all sour, put in a small portion of salaeratus, (previously
dissolved in hot water.)--In this way superior muffins may be made.
Mansfield Muffins.
Take a quart of milk, three eggs, quarter of a pound of butter or lard,
a tea-cup of yeast, and flour to make a soft dough; heat the whites of
the eggs alone, the yelks with the milk; melt the butter and stir it in
after all is mixed; bake them in rings, or in round cakes on the
griddle: split and butter before sending them to table.
Rice Muffins.
Pour a quart of milk on four heaped spoonsful of rice flour, stir it
well, and put in a little salt and wheat flour, to make it a proper
thickness, two eggs and two spoonsful of yeast, allow it four hours to
rise, and bake in rings, or thin it and bake as batter cakes.
Muffins.
Warm a pint of milk, and stir into it a pound and a quarter of flour, (a
quart of flour is about equal to a pound and a quarter,) and two eggs,
the yelks beaten with the batter, the whites alone, mix with these two
spoonsful of lively yeast and a little salt, let them rise, and when you
are nearly ready to bake them, stir in a large spoonful of melted
butter, butter the rings and bake on a griddle, or in the dripping-pan
of a stove. Split and butter before sending them to table.
Mush Muffins.
Make a quart of mush, put into it a lump of butter or lard, the size of
two eggs, and a little salt, previously to making the mush, have ready a
pint of light rising, stir into it a pint of new milk, and the mush,
with as much wheat flour as will make it a very thick batter, let it
rise four or five hours, and when light, set it in a cold place, till
you are ready to bake, dip a spoon in water each time, and put the
batter on the griddle in small cakes, or bake in rings. You may make it
a little stiffer, and roll it out to bake in large cakes. If it should
sour, put in a little salaeratus. If you have no milk, water will do
instead. They will be nice toasted.
A Loaf of Muffin Batter.
Stir into a pint of mush a small lump of butter, a little salt, a pint
of milk, and wheat flour to make a thick batter; stir into it half a tea
cup of yeast, and let it rise, when it is light, butter a pan, pour it
in and bake, eat it hot, at breakfast or supper. It will bake in a
shallow pan in half an hour, if in a deep vessel, allow more time.
Boiled Milk Muffins.
Boil a quart of new milk, and pour it boiling hot, on as much flour as
will make a thick batter, put in a table-spoonful of butter, and the
same of lard, two tea-spoonsful of salt, half a tea cup of yeast, one
egg beaten; allow time to rise from six to eight hours; when perfectly
light, set them in a cool place, till you are ready to bake, when you
may use rings, or not, as you please--but be sure to butter the rings.
Cream Muffins.
Take a quart of sour cream, and two eggs well beaten, a tea-spoonful of
salt; stir the eggs into the cream, gradually; add sifted flour enough
to make a thick batter, dissolve a tea-spoonful of salaeratus in as much
vinegar as will cover it, and stir it in at the last; bake in small
cakes on the griddle, or in muffin rings in the dripping-pan of a stove.
Waffles.
Make a batter of a pound and a half of flour, quarter of a pound of
melted butter, and two large spoonsful of yeast; put in three eggs, the
whites and yelks beaten separately; mix it with a quart of milk, and put
in the butter just before you bake, allow it four hours to rise; grease
the waffle-irons, fill them with the batter--bake them on a bed of
coals. When they have been on the fire two or three minutes, turn the
waffle-irons over,--when brown on both sides, they are sufficiently
baked. The waffle-irons should be well greased with lard, and very hot
before each one is put in. The waffles should be buttered as soon as
cooked. Serve them up with powdered white sugar and cinnamon.
Quick Waffles.
Take a pint of milk, and beat into it three eggs, and enough wheat flour
to make a thick batter; add a table-spoonful of melted butter, and a
little salt; bake them immediately. Some persons add two table-spoonsful
of sugar, and a little cinnamon; others dust loaf sugar and cinnamon, or
nutmeg over each waffle, as it is baked.
Rice Waffles.
To six spoonsful of soft boiled rice, add two tea-cups of water or
milk, and some salt, stir in three tea-cups of ground rice, and bake as
other waffles.
Flannel Cakes.
Warm a quart of milk, put in a spoonful of butter, a little salt, and
two eggs well beaten, stir in flour till it is a thin batter, and two
spoonsful of yeast; beat all well together, adding the eggs at the
last; allow it five hours to rise, and bake it on the griddle in cakes,
the size of a breakfast plate. Do not butter them till you send them to
the table.
Mush Flannel Cakes.
Mix a pint of corn mush with two of wheat flour, a spoonful of butter or
lard, two eggs and half a tea-cup of yeast; make it in a batter with
water or milk, and bake like buckwheat cakes.
Bread Batter Cakes.
Soak slices of stale bread in cold sweet milk for half an hour, then put
it over the fire, and let it come to a boil; and mash it well, when
nearly cool, add wheat flour enough to make a stiff batter, beat this
together with two eggs, a tea-spoonful of salt, and a table-spoonful of
good yeast, let it rise and bake as buckwheat cakes, if light before you
are ready, set them in a cold place.
Butter-milk Cakes.
You may make a very good batter cake without eggs. To a quart of
butter-milk, put a piece of lard, the size of an egg; warm them
together, and stir in a tea-spoonful of salaeratus; make it in a thin
batter with flour; beat it a few minutes, and bake it as other cakes.
Buckwheat Cakes.
Take quart of buckwheat flour, half a pint of wheat flour, and a
spoonful of salt; make them into a thick batter, with milk-warm water,
put in a half tea-cup of yeast, and beat it well, set it by the fire to
rise, and if it should be light before you are ready to bake, put a
tea-cup of cold water on the top, to prevent it from running over, if it
should get sour, pour in a tea-spoonful of salaeratus, dissolved in hot
water, just before you bake.
It is best to make them up quite thick, and thin them with a little warm
water before you bake; butter them just as you send them to table. If
you can get brewers' yeast, it is much better for buckwheat cakes. In
very cold weather, they may be kept made up for several days, and baked
as required.
Sally Lunn.
Warm a quart of milk with a quarter of a pound of butter, and a heaped
spoonful of sugar, beat up three eggs, and put in, with a little salt,
and flour enough to make it stiffer than pound cake, beat it well, put
in a tea cup of yeast, and let it rise, butter a fluted pan and pour it
in, bake it in a quick oven, slice and butter it. If you wish tea at six
o'clock, set it to rise at ten in the morning. Bake it an hour.
Butter-milk Batter Cakes.
Soak pieces of dry stale bread in a quart of butter-milk, until soft,
break in two eggs, add a little butter or lard, and salt and flour
enough to make it stick together, beat it well, add a tea-spoonful of
salaeratus, dissolved in warm water; thin it with a little sweet milk,
and bake as other batter cakes. They may be prepared in a short time.
Toast.
Cut your bread (which is better to be stale) in tolerably thick slices,
brown it slowly before the fire on each side; you may either butter it
dry, or mix butter in water, with a little salt added, and after making
it boiling hot, pour over each slice as you send it to table.
A Dish of Milk Toast for Breakfast.
Boil a quart of rich milk, take it off, and stir in half a pound of
fresh butter, mixed with a small spoonful of flour, let it again come to
a boil; have ready a dish of toast, pour it from a spoon over each
piece, and what remains, pour over the whole, keep it covered and hot,
till you send to table.
General Remarks on making Bread of Indian Corn Meal.
A wooden spoon with a long handle, is the best for stirring and mixing
the bread or cakes. It requires more salt than other bread, and should
be well mixed or beaten. If it is mixed over night, it should generally
be done with cold water, and set in the cellar or some cool place in
summer, in winter it requires rather a warmer place to stand. It sours
more easily than bread made of other flour. In the morning, if you find
that it is at all acid, dissolve half a tea-spoonful of salaeratus in
warm water, and stir it just before it is put to bake. Where milk is
used, it should be baked immediately, and the richer the milk, the more
palatable it is. Whatever you bake this bread in, should be well greased
first, as it is more apt to adhere to the oven than some other kinds of
flour. It should bake with a quick heat.
When you buy salaeratus, pound it fine, put it in a wide-mouthed bottle,
and cork it tight. Some persons keep it dissolved in water, but you
cannot judge of the strength of it so well.
Corn Meal Porridge.
Put on to boil in a sauce-pan a quart of milk, mix a small tea-cup of
corn meal with half a pint of cold water, (let it settle, and pour off
what swims on the top,) then stir it in well to keep it from being
lumpy; let it boil only a few minutes; add salt to the taste. This makes
a good breakfast for children, and is a light diet for an invalid. It
can be seasoned with sugar.
Mush, Mush Cakes, and Fried Mush.
Mush will keep for several days in cool weather; the best way of making
it is to have a pot of boiling water, and stir in corn meal, mixed with
water, and salt enough to season the whole; let it boil, and if it is
not thick enough you can add more meal; keep stirring all the time to
prevent it from being lumpy. It should boil an hour.
To make the cakes, take a quart of cold mush, mix in it half a pint of
wheat flour, and a little butter or lard, make it out in little cakes
with your hands, flour them and bake them on a griddle or in a dripping
pan. Fried mush is a good plain dessert, eaten with sugar and cream. Cut
the cold mush in slices, half an inch thick, or make them into small
cakes, dip them in flour, and fry them in hot lard.
Journey Cake.
Pour boiling water on a quart of meal, put in a little lard and salt,
and mix it well, have an oak board with a rim of iron at the bottom, and
an iron handle fastened to it that will prop it up to the fire; put some
of the dough, on it, dip your hand in cold water and smooth it over;
score it with a knife, and set it before coals to bake.
Corn Batter Cakes.
Take a quart of good milk, three eggs, a little salt, and as much sifted
corn meal as will make a thin batter; beat all well together, with a
spoonful of wheat flour to keep them from breaking, bake in small cakes,
keep them hot, and butter just as you send to table. Another way to make
corn batter cakes, is to take a quart of corn meal, two eggs, a small
lump of butter or lard, and mix it up with milk, or half water, if milk
is scarce, and bake them either thin or thick.
Rice Cakes.
Take a pint of soft boiled rice, a pint of milk, a little salt, and as
much corn meal as will make a thin batter with two eggs; beat all
together, and bake as corn batter cakes, or make it thicker and bake
it in a pan.
Corn Bannock.
To one quart of sour milk, put a tea-spoonful of salaeratus, dissolved
in water; warm the milk slightly, beat up an egg, and put in corn meal
enough to make it as thick as pudding batter, and some salt; grease a
pan and bake it, or you may put it in six or eight saucers.
Virginia Pone.
Beat three eggs, and stir them in a quart of milk, with a little salt, a
spoonful of melted butter, and as much sifted corn meal as will make it
as thick as corn batter cakes; grease the pans and bake quick.
Lightened Pone.
Take half a gallon of corn meal, and pour boiling water on one-third of
it; mix it together with warm water till it is a thick batter; put in
two table-spoonsful of lively yeast, and one of salt; stir it well and
set it by the fire to rise; when it begins to open on the top, grease
the dutch-oven and put it to bake, or bake it in a pan in a stove.
Cold Water Pone.
Make a stiff batter with a quart of Indian meal, cold water and a little
salt; work it well with the hand; grease a pan or oven, and bake it
three-quarters of an hour. Eat it hot at dinner, or with milk at supper.
Indian Bread with Butter-milk.
To one quart of butter-milk, slightly warmed, put a tea-spoonful of
salaeratus, dissolved in water, two eggs, well beaten, a table-spoonful
of melted butter or lard, a little salt; stir in with a spoon as much
Indian meal as will make a thick batter; beat it for a few minutes,
grease your pans, and bake quickly. If you bake this quantity in two
pans, a half hour will be sufficient, or if in one, it will take an
hour. Look at it often while baking, as it is liable to burn. An
excellent recipe.
Little Indian Cakes.
Put a spoonful of lard in a quart of meal, and two tea-spoonsful of
salt, pour boiling water on half the meal, stir it; then add as much
cold water as will enable you to make it out in cakes of a convenient
size, bake on the bake-iron over the fire.
Maryland Corn Cakes.
Mix a pint of corn meal with rich milk, a little salt, and an egg, it
should be well beaten with a spoon, and made thin enough to pour on the
iron; take in cakes the size of a breakfast plate; butter and send them
hot to table.
A Virginia Hoe Cake.
Pour warm water on a quart of Indian meal, stir in a spoonful of lard or
butter, some salt, make it stiff, and work it for ten minutes, have a
board about the size of a barrel head, (or the middle piece of the head
will answer,) wet the board with water, and spread on the dough with
your hand, place it before the fire, prop it aslant with a flat-iron,
bake it slowly, when one side is nicely brown, take it up and turn it,
by running a thread between the cake and the board, then put it back,
and let the other side brown. These cakes used to be baked in Virginia
on a large iron hoe, from whence they derive their name.
Batter Bread with Yeast.
Rub a piece of butter the size of an egg, into a quart of com meal, add
a little salt, make it in a batter with two eggs and some new milk, add
a spoonful of yeast, set it by the fire an hour to rise, butter little
pans, and bake with a quick heat.
Carolina Corn Rolls.
Take a pint of corn meal; pour over it sufficient boiling water to make
a very stiff dough, then add a table-spoonful of salt, and permit it to
stand until about milk-warm; work it well with the hand, then make out
the rolls, of an oblong shape, and bake them from half to three-quarters
of an hour, according to their size. The addition of a small lump of
butter or lard is an improvement. If they are rightly made, they will
split on the top in baking, and can be eaten by those who cannot partake
of other preparations made of corn flour.
Mixed Bread.
Put a little salt, and a spoonful of yeast, into a quart of flour; make
it sufficiently soft with corn meal gruel; let it rise; bake in a mould.
New England Hasty Pudding, or Stir-about.
Boil three quarts of water in an iron pot; mix a pint of Indian meal in
cold water, and make it thin enough to pour easily; when the water
boils, pour it in; stir well with a wooden stick kept for the purpose;
it takes about an hour to boil; salt to your taste; stir in dry meal to
make it thick enough, beating it all the time. Eat it with milk or
molasses, or butter and sugar. This is said to be a wholesome diet for
dyspeptic patients, and makes a good meal for children.
Corn Muffins.
Warm three pints of milk, and stir into it as much corn meal as will
make it as thick as pudding batter, add two handsful of wheat flour,
two tea-spoonsful of salt, three eggs, and a tea-cup of yeast. Beat the
whole well together, and let it rise about six hours, when bake as
other muffins.
Soaked Crackers for Tea.
Pour boiling water on crackers, put in some butter and a little salt;
cover them close and keep them warm till tea is ready; if you have milk,
boil it, and pour over instead of water. This is easily prepared.
PIES, PUDDINGS, CAKES, &c.
To Make Common Pies.
One pound of lard to a gallon of flour will make very good common pies.
Work the lard in the flour, put in some salt, and wet it with water,
make it so that it can just be rolled out, when you have put in the
fruit, wet the crust with water, put on the top and close it up, stick
it with a fork on the top.
To Stew Fruit for Pies.
All fruits that are not fully ripe should be stewed and sweetened. To
boil a gallon of molasses at a time, and keep it to sweeten pies, is
cheaper than sugar, and answers a very good purpose, where there is a
large family. When fruit is fully ripe it does very well to bake in
pies, without being stewed.
After washing the dried fruit, put it on to stew in a bell-metal kettle
over the fire, or in a tin pan in a stove, let it have plenty of water,
as it swells very much, and if it seems dry, put in more water. Apples
take longer to stew than peaches, and should have more water. Fruit
stewed in this way is very good to put on the table to eat with meat. Do
not stir the fruit while it is stewing, or it will burn. Dried cherries
and damsons may be stewed in the same manner, adding the sugar before
they are quite done.
Pie Crust.
Sift a pound and a half of flour, and take out a quarter for rolling;
cut in it a quarter of a pound of lard, mix it with water, and roll it
out; cut half a pound of butter, and put it in at two rollings with the
flour that was left out.
For making the bottom crust of pies, cut half a pound of lard into a
pound of flour, with a little salt; mix it stiff, and grease the
plates before you make pies; always make your paste in a cold place,
and bake it soon.
Some persons prefer mixing crust with milk instead of water.
Paste for Puddings.
Sift a pound of flour, have half a pound of butter and quarter of a
pound of lard, save out a quarter of the flour for rolling, cut the lard
into the remainder, and mix it with water; roll it out, and flake in
half of the butter; dust over it some of the flour, close it up; roll it
again, and put in the rest of the butter. This quantity will make crust
for five or six puddings.
Another Way.
To three and a half pounds of sifted flour, put two pounds of lard, and
a piece of volatile salts (as large as a full sized nutmeg) dissolved in
a little water;--make a pretty stiff paste; then roll in three-quarters
of a pound of butter. This will make about eight pies and twelve shells.
Puff Paste.
Sift a pound of flour, and take out a quarter for rolling, divide a
pound of butter into four parts, cut one part of the butter into the
flour with a knife, make it a stiff dough with water, roll it out, and
flake it with part of the butler, do this three times till it is all in,
handle it as little as possible, and keep it in a cool place. This
quantity will make crust sufficient for three puddings and ten puffs.
They should bake with a quick beat, but do not let them burn, they will
take from ten to fifteen minutes to bake, according to the number of
layers of paste. Do not put on the preserves till a short time before
they are eaten.
Rich Mince Pies.
Take four pounds of beef, boiled and chopped fine, pick and chop three
pounds of suet, wash two pounds of currants, and one of raisins; grate
the peel of two lemons, and put in the juice, pound a spoonful of dried
orange peel, slice an ounce of citron, and chop twelve large apples, mix
these together with three pounds of sugar, half a pint of wine, and the
same of brandy--and sweet cider to make it a proper thickness, put in
mace and nutmeg to your taste. If the cider is not sweet, you must put
in more sugar before the pies are baked, cut several places in the top
of each with a pair of scissors.
Mince Pies not so Rich.
Take four pounds of beef after it has been boiled and chopped, one of
suet, two of sugar, two of raisins, and four of chopped apples, mix
these together with a pint of wine and cider, to make it thin enough,
season to your taste with mace, nutmeg and orange peel; if it is not
sweet enough, put in more sugar. Warm the pies before they are eaten.
Where persons are not fond of suet, put butter instead, and stew the
apples instead of so much cider.
Farmers' Mince Pies.
When you kill a beef, save the head for pies; it is some trouble to
prepare it, but it is very nice for the purpose. Split the head, take
out the brains and eyes, wash it well in cold water, and soak it all
night with two hog's heads that have been cleaned; in the morning, boil
them till you can take out the bones easily; skim off the froth as it
rises, or it will stick to the meat; pick out the bones, and chop it
fine, with three pounds of suet. This should be done the day before you
want to bake.
Mix to this quantity of meat, two gallons of chopped apples, four pounds
of raisins, half a gallon of boiled molasses, a pint of currant wine, a
tea-cup of rose brandy, an ounce of cinnamon, orange peel and mace, from
two to four nutmegs, and sweet cider enough to make it the right
thickness; if the cider is not sweet, put in more molasses; when all is
mixed, it is best to bake a small pie, as you can alter the seasoning,
if it is not to your taste. If you have not raisins, dried cherries or
small grapes, that have been preserved in molasses, are very good, or
stewed dried apples, instead of green; and where you have no cider, stew
the apples in plenty of water, so as to have them very soft; a little
good vinegar, sweetened and mixed with water, also does instead of
cider, but is not so good.
This will make about forty pies, and if you have a convenient way of
keeping them, you may bake all at once, as they will keep for two months
very readily when the weather is cold. If you do not bake all at once,
put what is left in a jar, cover the top with melted suet, and over this
put a piece of white paper, with a tea-cup of spirits poured on the
top; tie it up and keep it where it will not freeze. Where persons have
a large family, and workmen on a farm, these pies are very useful.
Rhubarb Pie.
Peel the stalks, cut them in small pieces, and stew them till very soft
in a little water; when done, mash and sweeten with sugar; set it away
to cool; make a puff paste, and bake as other pies. Some prefer it
without stewing, cutting the stems in small pieces, and strewing sugar
over them before the crust is put on. These pies will lose their fine
flavor after the first day. They take less sugar than gooseberries.
Peach Pie.
Take mellow clingstone peaches, pare, but do not cut them; put them in
a deep pie plate lined with crust, sugar them well, put in a
table-spoonful of water, and sprinkle a little flour over the peaches;
cover with a thick crust, in which make a cut in the centre, and bake
from three-quarters to one hour.
Sweet Potato Pie.
Boil the potatoes, skin and slice them; put a layer of potatoes and a
layer of good apples sliced thin in a deep dish; put potatoes and apples
alternately till the dish is filled, mix together wine, water, sugar,
butter and nutmeg, and pour over, cover it with crust, and bake as
oyster pie.
Pork Mince Pies.
Take pieces of fresh pork that have been left from sausage meat, or any
trimmings of the hams or shoulders; boil them, then chop. Have two heads
nicely washed and cleaned, boil, pick out the bones and chop them; mix
with the other meat, and season as you do other mince pies, they do not
require any suet. The lower crust of mince pies need not be so rich as
the top; always cut several places in the top crust with scissors, to
keep the juice from wasting. When you warm mince pies, do it gradually,
and do not have the crust scorched. Some prefer them cold. When the pies
are very plain, a little preserve syrup, and a glass of wine added is an
improvement.
Currant Pie.
After stemming green currants, scald them, and allow them to stand
awhile; pour off the water; have the crust in your plates; put in the
currants, sweeten them well; put in a little water, a dust of flour and
a little orange peel. Gooseberries are prepared in the same way, but
require more sugar. Cherries should not be scalded.
Pumpkin Pudding.
Choose a yellow pumpkin, with a fine grain, pare and cut it in small
pieces, boil it in plenty of water, and take it up as soon as it is
done, or it will soak up the water; to a gallon of pumpkin, stewed and
mashed, put two quarts of milk, eight eggs, half a pound of butter, half
a tea-cup of lemon or rose brandy; nutmeg and sugar to your taste; bake
it in deep plates, with a bottom crust.
Apple Pudding.
Take three pints of stewed apples, well mashed, melt a pound of
butter, beat ten eggs with two pounds of sugar, and mix all together
with a glass of brandy and wine; pat in nutmeg to your taste, and bake
in puff paste.
Quince Pudding
Take six quinces, pare them, cut them in quarters, and stew them, in a
little water with lemon peel; cover them and let them cook gently till
soft, when mash, or rub them through a sieve; mix them with sugar till
very sweet, season with mace and nutmeg; beat up four eggs and stir in
with a pint of cream; bake it in paste.
Potato Pudding.
Take a pound and a half of well mashed potatoes; while they are warm put
in three-quarters of a pound of butter; beat six eggs with
three-quarters of a pound of sugar, rolled fine, mix all well together,
and put in a glass of brandy; season with nutmeg, mace or essence of
lemon, and bake in paste.
Cocoanut Pudding.
Take three-quarters of a pound of grated cocoanut, with the brown skin
taken off, half a pound of sugar, the same of butter, the whites of six
eggs, beaten light, half a pint of cream, a glass of brandy, or
rose-water, and a quarter of a pound of crackers, pounded fine, beat
them together and bake in paste. If you wish the pudding rich, take a
pound of butter, the same quantity of cocoanut, of sugar and whites of
eggs, omitting the crackers and cream. Season as above. This quantity
will fill six dessert plates of large size.
Sweet Potato Pudding.
Boil the potatoes, take off the skin, mash and strain them while warm;
to a pound of potatoes put half a pound of butter; beat six eggs with
half a pound of loaf-sugar, add a little mace or nutmeg; mix all
together, and bake with or without paste.
Lemon Pudding.
Grate the rind of six fresh lemons, squeeze the juice from three, and
strain it; beat the yelks of sixteen eggs very light, put to them
sixteen table-spoonsful of powdered sugar, not heaped, with four
crackers finely powdered; beat it till light; put a puff paste in your
dish and bake in a moderate oven.
Another Way.
Take one pound of potatoes strained through a sieve, half a pound of
butter, the same of rolled sugar, the juice of two lemons and the
peel of one; beat five eggs, and mix all together with a glass of
wine and a nutmeg.
A Preserve Pudding.
Take a deep dish, butter it well and spread a layer of preserves,
without syrup--either quinces, citron, apples or peaches; rub together a
pound of fresh butter, and the same of powdered loaf-sugar, and add the
yelks of sixteen eggs well beaten; pour this on the preserves, bake it
in a quick oven for half an hour; it may be set by till the next day;
beat the whites of the eggs as for island, seasoning with currant jelly,
and spread it over the pudding cold, just as it goes to table. This
makes a rich dish and is eaten without sauce. This quantity will bake in
four ordinary pie plates.
Arrow Root Pudding.
Take four table spoonsful of arrow root, mixed in a little cold milk;
pour on this a quart of boiling milk, beat six eggs with three table
spoonsful of sugar, and stir all together with a spoonful of butter,
bake it twenty minutes in paste.
Rice Pudding.
Pour a quart of boiling milk on a pint of rice flour, stir it well, and
put in six spoonsful of sugar, one of butter, and four eggs, beat all
together, and bake in deep plates, with or without crust.
Another Way.
Boil half a pound of rice till soft, when nearly cold stir in half a
pound of white sugar, a quarter of a pound of butter, and three eggs
well beaten; grate in half a nutmeg, stir in a pint of rich milk; pour
all in a yellow dish and bake half an hour; then, put a thick coating of
loaf sugar on the top, and eat hot, with or without cream.
Pudding Of Whole Rice.
Boil a pint of washed rice in milk or water, till soft, put in a lump of
butter, five eggs, and sugar to your taste, season with essence of
lemon, or lemon peel, and mix in cream to make it thin enough to pour,
bake it in paste, in deep plates.
A Pudding Of Corn Meal.
Pour three pints of boiling milk on nearly half a pint of sifted
corn meal, stir in half a pound of butter, add four eggs, a little
nutmeg, rose brandy, and the grated peel of a lemon, sweeten it, and
bake it in paste.
Corn Pudding in Paste.
To two pounds of mush moderately warm, put three-quarters of a pound of
butter, the yelks of six eggs, the rind of one lemon, and juice of two;
sugar and nutmeg to your taste, and bake in paste as potato puddings.
This is much admired.
Richmond Pudding.
Take one pound of raisins, stoned and chopped, half a pound of currants
rubbed in flour, a pound and a half of grated bread, a pound of suet
shred fine, eight eggs, two glasses of brandy, and two of wine; beat
them all together, adding the eggs at the last; dip your bag or cloth in
boiling water and flour it well; pour in the pudding and tie it up,
leaving room for it to swell; allow it four hours to boil; eat it with
white sauce.
Suet Pudding.
Take half a pound of suet chopped fine, four tea-cups of flour, and five
eggs; beat these together with a quart of milk, and half a spoonful of
salt; put in three tea-cups of raisins just before you tie it up; they
should be rubbed in flour to prevent them from sinking; dried cherries,
or pared dried peaches, are very good instead of raisins; scald the
cloth and flour it; leave room for the pudding to swell. If you put
one-fourth corn meal, you can do with fewer eggs.
Cheese Cakes.
Take one quart of curd, after the whey has been strained off, mix with
it half a pound of fresh butter, an ounce of pounded blanched almonds,
the whites of three eggs, a tea-cup of currants; season with sugar and
rose water to your taste, and bake in plates with paste.
Baked Apples.
Wash and core your apples, and in the vacancy left by the core, put
brown sugar, and bake them in a stove or oven.
Batter Pudding with Green Fruit.
Make a batter as for suet pudding. If you have small fruit, put it in
whole; if apples, chop them fine; boil it three hours.
Custard Bread and Butter Pudding.
Fill a pan with slices of buttered bread, with raisins, grated nutmeg
and sugar over each slice; beat six eggs with a tea-cup of sugar; add
two quarts of rich milk, and pour it over the bread and butter; bake it
in a stove or oven.
Balloon Puddings.
Mix a pint of rich milk with a pound and a quarter of flour; break
nine eggs; beat the yelks with the batter, the whites alone; when they
are mixed, stir in three-quarters of a pound of melted butter; grease
cups or bowls with butter; pour in the batter, and bake them half an
hour; if in a dutch-oven, put some water in the bottom; eat them with
white sauce.
Plain Rice Pudding.
Put two quarts of good milk in a tin pan, with a tea-cup of whole rice,
the same of stemmed raisins, and a little nutmeg or cinnamon, and sugar
to your taste. If you bake it in a dutch-oven, it is best to put a
little water in the bottom before you set it in; bake it till the rice
is soft, and there is a brown crust on the top.
A Rice Dish with Fruit.
Put a tea-cup of rice in a quart of milk, and boil it very slowly to
keep it from burning; when done, add a little salt, a tea-cup of cream,
and sugar enough to sweeten it; have ready, in a deep dish, any fruit
that is in season,--cherries, blackberries or apricots, apples, or
peaches, cut up and well sweetened, but uncooked; spread the rice
roughly over, and bake it slowly two hours. It may be eaten with cream,
and nutmeg, and is quite as good cold as warm.
Bread Pudding.
Bread pudding is made out of bread that is too dry to use; cut it fine,
boil it in milk, and mash it well; beat four eggs and put in, with half
a pound of raisins; boil it an hour and a half, or bake it.
Bread and Apple Pudding.
_To be eaten with Sauce_.
Put a layer of buttered bread in the bottom of a well buttered dish,
with chopped apples, sugar, grated bread and butter, and a little
pounded cinnamon; fill up the dish with alternate layers of these
articles, observing that it is better to have the inner layer of bread
thinner than that of the top and bottom. This is a nice dish for those
who cannot partake of pastry.
Custard Hasty Pudding.
Put a quart of new milk on to boil; then mix a tea-cup of rice flour
with a little milk, two eggs, and three spoonsful of sugar; beat it, and
when your milk boils, stir it in; let it boil five minutes--when pour it
out on some buttered toast, in a bowl or dish, and grate nutmeg over it.
Elkridge Huckleberry Pudding.
One pound of flour, one of light-brown sugar, eight eggs--beat as
sponge cake, and add one quart of berries, nicely picked, washed, and
allowed to dry, bake as sponge cake. This maybe served with sauce;
either Lot or cold.
Huckleberry Pudding.
Make a batter of five eggs to a quart of milk, and a little butter;
pick, wash, and rub in flour a pint or more of huckleberries, put them
in, and bake as long as other puddings, or boil it in a bag.
Green Corn Pudding.
Cut the green corn through the grain, and scrape it off the cob with the
back of a knife; prepare a batter made of a quart of rich milk, two
eggs, and wheat flour, and a little salt; then add the corn, and beat it
well for a few minutes: it should be of a consistence to pour easily;
grease the pan, and pour it in; bake with quick heat in a stove or
spider, about half an hour. Six ears of corn will be enough for a quart
of milk, or you may double the quantity; eat it with butter, sugar and
cream, molasses, or any sauce that is convenient.
Baked Pudding.
Boil a quart of milk, and stir into it half a pint of corn meal and a
tea-spoonful of salt--mix this well together; beat two eggs, stir in
when nearly cold; add a tea-cup of chopped suet, two table-spoonsful of
sugar, a little spice--grease a pan, and pour it in; bake three-quarters
of an hour. Eat it with sugar and cream, or molasses sauce.
A Boiled Indian Pudding.
Boil a quart of milk, and stir in meal to make it a thick batter; put in
a tea-spoonful of salt, a tea-cup of suet, a spoonful of sugar; mix;
these well together, add two eggs, well beaten. If you have dried
peaches, soak them; sprinkle them with dry flour, and put them in, or
put in raisins, previously rubbed with wheat flour-beat it well; have
your pot boiling, scald the bag, flour it, and put in the pudding,--it
will boil in two hours. Eat with sugar and cream, molasses, or any kind
of pudding sauce.
Boiled Bread Pudding.
Take a loaf of stale light bread, tie it in a cloth, boil it an hour,
and eat it with sauce.
A Bird's Nest Pudding.
Pare and core some apples, enough to fill a deep dish, they should be
ripe, and such as will cook easily. Make a custard of five eggs, to a
quart of milk, and sugar and nutmeg to taste; pour this over, and bake
half an hour.
Little Puddings in Pans.
Beat four eggs very light; make a batter of two tea-cups of flour, three
of milk, and one of cream; pour in the eggs, and beat all well together;
put in a spoonful of melted butter; grease your shallow pins or cups,
and bake from twenty to thirty minutes; eat them with sauce, or sugar,
cream and nutmeg.
Switzerland Pudding.
Make a hatter of five eggs, a quart of milk and flour; pare and core
enough good apples to cover the bottom of your pan, fill the holes
where the cores came out with sugar, grease the pan, lay them in, and
pour the batter over, bake it an hour and a half, and make wine sauce
to eat with it.
Boiling Puddings.
In boiling puddings, you must observe to have plenty of water in the
pot; the pudding should be turned frequently, have the water boiling
when it goes in, and do not let it stop. Have a tea-kettle of water by
the fire to pour in as it evaporates. When the pudding is done, it
should be dipped in a pan of cold water, to prevent its adhering to
the cloth.
Screw Dumplings.
Roll out some paste thin, in a long strip, lay in preserves of any
kind, or stewed fruit, well sweetened, roll it up and close it tight,
pin it up in a towel, and boil it an hour, eat it with butter, sugar
and cream, or sauce.
Large Dumplings.
Take green fruit of any kind--peaches, apples, cherries, blackberries,
or huckleberries, make crust as for pies, roll it out, put in the fruit,
and pin it in a cloth, boil it two hours.
Peach and Apple Dumplings.
Make crust as for plain pies, cut it in as many pieces as you want
dumplings, pare and core the apples, roll out the crust, and close them
up, have the water boiling when they go in, and let them boil
three-quarters of an hour. Peaches pared and stoned make very good
dumplings, eat them with sauce of any kind, or sugar, cream and butter.
Light Bread Dumplings
Take as much lightened dough as will make a loaf of bread, work into it
half a pound of stemmed raisins, tie it up in a cloth, and boil it an
hour and a half.
Rice Dumplings
Wash and pick a pint of rice, boil it in water till it is soft; have
some apples pared and cored whole, fill the holes with sugar, cover them
over with the rice, and tie each one separately in a cloth; boil them
till the apples are done.
Indian Suet Dumplings
Chop beef suet fine, and to a pint of Indian meal, take a table-spoonful
of the suet and a little salt; pour on boiling water enough to make a
stiff dough, work it well, make into round cakes, and boil in clear
water. These are good when vegetables are scarce, to eat with meat, or
as a dessert with sugar or molasses.
Corn Dumplings.
When you boil corned beef, new bacon, or pork, you can make dumplings,
by taking some grease out of the pot, with some of the water, and
pouring it hot on a quart of Indian meal, mix and work it well, (it will
not require salt,) make it into little round cakes; (they should be
stiff, or they will boil to pieces;) take out the meat when it is done,
and boil the dumplings in the same water for half an hour. They may be
eaten with molasses, and make a good common dessert.
Pan Cakes.
Take five eggs to a quart of milk, make a thin batter with flour, have a
little hot lard in the frying-pan, and pour in enough batter to cover
the bottom; turn and fry the other side; if eggs are scarce, a
tea-spoonful of salaeratus will supply the place of two. Eat them with
wine and sugar.
Water Pan Cakes--a cheap Dessert.
Stir a quart of warm water in sufficient flour to make a batter of
moderate thickness; dissolve a tea-spoonful of salaeratus, with a little
salt, into a tea-cupful of butter-milk, or sour cream; beat it well; put
a little lard in a frying-pan, and when it is hot, fry them. They are
much better to be eaten hot, with sauce, sugar and cream, or any thing
you may fancy. This is a very cheap dessert, and has been thought nearly
equal to pan cakes made with milk and eggs.
Apple Fritters.
Allow four eggs to a quart of milk; make a thick batter with flour, and
beat it well; stir in a quart of apples, chopped fine: have a frying-pan
with hot lard, and drop a spoonful in a place; fry them light brown on
both sides, and eat with sugar and wine, or sweet cider.
Rice Fritters.
To a pint of rice flour add a tea-spoonful of salt and a pint of boiling
water; beat four eggs and stir them in, have hot lard in a frying-pan,
and fry them as other fritters.
Indian Meal Fritters.
Take a quart of butter-milk, (in which dissolve a tea-spoonful of
salaeratus,) stir in meal to make a batter of suitable thickness, a
tea-spoonful of salt and two eggs; beat all well together, and fry in
hot lard, as other fritters. If you like, you can put in chopped apples.
Eat with sugar or molasses.
Snow Fritters.
Take of light new fallen snow, three table-spoonsful for every egg you
would otherwise use--that is, if you would wish the quantity that three
eggs would make in the usual way, take nine table-spoonsful of snow,
and stir in a quart of rich milk that has been setting in a very cold
place, so that it will not melt the snow, and destroy its lightness; put
in a tea-spoonful of salt, and enough wheat flour to make a stiff
batter; have ready a frying-pan with boiling lard, and drop a spoonful
in a place as with other fritters, and set the remainder in a cold place
till the first are done. Eat them with wine sauce, or sugar, butter and
cream, or any thing you fancy.
Rice Flummery.
Rice that is ground coarse, in a hand-mill, is much better for making
flummery than the flour you buy: put three pints of milk to boil, mix
with water two tea-cups of ground rice, and stir it in the milk when it
boils; while the milk is cold, put in it two dozen peach kernels,
blanched, and rolled with a bottle; wet your moulds with cold cream or
water; keep stirring the rice till it is thick, when pour it out in the
moulds; just before dinner turn them out on dishes, have cream, sugar
and nutmeg mixed, to eat with it.
Rice Milk.
Take a tea-cupful of rice, boil it till about half done, and let all
the water be evaporated; then add the milk, and beat an egg with some
flour, and stir in; let it boil n few minutes, and season with sugar
and nutmeg.
Wine Sauce for Puddings.
Mix a spoonful of flour in a tea-cup of water, with two spoonsful of
sugar and one of butter; stir this in half a pint of boiling water; let
it boil a few minutes, when add a glass of wine and some nutmeg.
White Sauce.
Take half a pound of powdered white sugar, and quarter of a pound of
butter, beat them well together with a glass of wine, and grate in half
a nutmeg. A little currant jelly is preferred by some in this sauce
instead of wine.
Cream Sauce.
Boil half a pint of cream, thicken it a very little, and put in a lump
of butter; sweeten it to your taste, and after it gets cold add a glass
of white wine; this is good to eat with boiled rice, plain pudding, or
apple dumplings.
Molasses Sauce.
Put half a pint of molasses to boil in a skillet, with a piece of butter
the size of an egg; when it has boiled a few minutes, pour in a tea-cup
of cream, and grate in half a nutmeg; this is the most economical way of
making sauce.
Egg Sauce.
Take the whites of three eggs and the yelks of two, beat them till
very light, and add a large table-spoonful of butter ready creamed,
with sugar and nutmeg to your taste; boil three glasses of wine, and
pour over the other ingredients, put it over the fire, and let it
boil two minutes, stirring all the time. This is nice sauce for any
kind of pudding.
Cherry Toast.
Stone and stew a quart of ripe cherries, sweeten them, place some slices
of buttered toast in a deep dish, and put the stewed cherries over them.
A little powdered cinnamon or grated nutmeg may be put on the toast.
Apple Custard.
Lay a crust in your pie plates, slice apples thin and half fill the
plates, pour over a custard made of four eggs to a quart of milk,
sweeten and season it; bake it slowly.
Custard baked in Cups.
Beat up five eggs with two heaped spoonsful of sugar, mix these with a
quart of rich milk and a little nutmeg; fill the cups, pour water in the
bottom of a dutch-oven or dripping-pan, and set them in and bake them
till thick.
Boiled Custard.
Put on to boil a quart of new milk; have ready a dozen peach kernels,
scalded, peeled, and rubbed fine with a bottle, beat five or six eggs,
with some sugar, and when the milk boils stir them in with the kernels;
keep stirring till it thickens, but do not let it boil, or it will
curdle; then take it off the fire, pour it in a pitcher, and continue to
stir till it is nearly cold, when pour it into your cups, and grate
nutmeg over the top of each. If you wish to have it flavored with lemon,
boil some peel with the milk. This custard may be put in a glass bowl,
and an island on the top.
Cold Custard.
Sweeten half a gallon of milk, put into it a table-spoonful of rennet
wine, and let it stand in a warm place till it begins to come, when it
should be set in cold water till dinner time; just as you take it to
table, pour some cream on it, and grate nutmeg over the top.
Cream Custard.
To a pint of thin cream, take one egg, and beat and season as other
custard; bake it in a plate with paste; this quantity is sufficient
for one large plate, and is more delicate than custard made in the
usual way.
Ice Custard with Vanilla.
Boil three pints of rich milk with as much vanilla as will give it a
good flavor; sweeten it to your taste; have ready four eggs well beaten,
pour the boiling milk on them, and keep stirring till cool; when put it
to freeze.
Custard with Raisins.
Stone and cut a tea-cup of raisins, put them in a quart of milk; when it
boils stir in five eggs well beaten, with two table-spoonsful of sugar,
and a little lemon peel; keep stirring till it boils again, then take it
off the fire, and stir till nearly cold; when put it in cups, or in a
large bowl; beat the whites of three eggs with sugar, and when quite
cold put them on the top of the custard.
To Boil Custard in Water.
Beat the eggs, sugar and seasoning together, and put it in a pitcher or
nice stone jar; put in the milk and stir it well together; set the
pitcher in a pot of boiling water, and stir till it is cooked, when take
the pitcher out and stir till nearly cool. Custard should never be
boiled or baked two much--a minute too long will sometimes spoil it.
Whips.
Grate the peel of a lemon in a pint of cream, sweeten it with loaf
sugar, and whip it well; beat the whites of three eggs and mix with it;
put apple jelly, seasoned with lemon, in the bottom of your glasses, and
as the froth rises put it on the top of the jelly.
Trifle.
Put slices of sponge cake or Naples biscuit in the bottom of a deep
glass dish; on this put slices of preserved citron, or apples preserved
with lemon; pour over this a boiled custard, and on the top put a whip
made by the foregoing receipt.
Floating Island.
Beat the whites of five eggs till the beater will stand up in them; then
add, a little at a time, four spoonsful of powdered loaf-sugar, and
currant jelly, or preserved syrup of any kind; put rich milk in the
bottom of a glass, or china bowl, and put the island on the top. In
making floating island, you should allow the whites of six eggs to six
persons. You can have very good custards at the same time with the yelks
of the eggs.
Apple Float.
To a quart of apples, slightly stewed and well mashed, put the whites of
three eggs, well beaten, and four table-spoons heaping full of loaf
sugar, heat them together for fifteen minutes, and eat with rich milk
and nutmeg.
Carrageen or Irish Moss Blancmange.
Wash in three waters half an ounce of Carrageen moss; drain and put it
in two quarts of new milk, let it boil for a few minutes, strain it in
a pitcher, wet the moulds, and pour it in while hot; let it stand till
it becomes thick, when it may be eaten with sugar and cream, seasoned
with peach or rose water, or with a lemon rolled in the sugar. Some
prefer seasoning the blancmange before putting it in the moulds. It
will keep in a cool place two days, and is better to be made the day
before it is eaten.
To Keep Suet for several Months.
Chop the suet you wish to preserve until summer as fine as for mince
pies or puddings, then add a table-spoonful of salt to three
table-spoonsful of suet; mix all well together, and put it in jars. Keep
it tied up close, as exposure to the air makes it strong. It should be
soaked an hour before you wish to use it, to remove the salt taste.
Skim Curds.
Put to boil a gallon of sweet milk; when it fairly boils, pour in a
quart of butter-milk; in a few minutes the curd will rise, which skim
off and set by, to cool for dessert; season it as you help to it at
table, with cream and sugar to the taste.
Whey Skim Curds.
Boil the whey, and put in a pint of sour butter-milk; when the curds
rise to the top take them off, and set them in a cold place; they make a
nice dessert to eat with sugar, cream and nutmeg.
Cheese Curds.
Put to boil a gallon of skim milk, stir into it two spoonsful of rennet
wine; when it turns, dip up the curds and set them away to cool; eat
them with sweetened cream and nutmeg.
Rennet Wine for cold Custards or Curds.
Rub the salt from a nicely dried rennet, and cut it up; put it in a
bottle, and fill it up with good wine. If care is taken to keep it
filled up, it will last for several years, to make cold custard and
cheese curds.
To Preserve Milk to use at Sea.
To every quart of new milk put a pound of loaf-sugar; let it boil very
slowly in an iron pot, over clear coals, till it is as thick as thin
cream--stirring it all the time, pour it out in a pitcher, and stir till
it is cold; put in bottles, cork it tight, and put sealing wax over the
corks; it must be shaken before it is used.
SYRUPS, ICES, &c.
Lemon Syrup.
Clarify a pound of loaf or Havana sugar, or if you wish to make a large
quantity, allow half a pint of water to every pound of sugar, and boil
it, skimming it when the scum arises, until it is of the consistency of
honey; then to every pound of sugar, add an ounce of tartaric acid. If
you do not find it sour enough, after it has stood two or three days,
add more of the acid. If you like the taste of oil of lemon, add a few
drops. A small quantity of the syrup prepared in this way, poured into
cold water, makes a refreshing drink in warm weather.
Lemon Syrup for Seasoning.
Pare the lemons very thin, and put the peel to boil in a quart of water;
cover it, to keep in the flavor; put two pounds of loaf sugar to the
peel of a dozen lemons, and boil it till it becomes a rich syrup; keep
it corked up in a bottle, to season ice cream.
Syrup of Lemon Juice.
Dissolve three pounds of loaf-sugar in three quarts of water, squeeze
and strain lemons enough to make a quart of juice; boil it slowly with
the water and sugar, and take off the scum as it rises; when it is quite
clear, strain and bottle it. It will supply the place of fresh lemons
when they cannot be had.
Pine Apple Syrup.
Pare the pine apples, cut them in pieces, and to three pounds of pine
apple put a quart of water; cover it and let it boil till very soft,
when mash and strain it; to a pint of this juice put a pound of sugar,
boil it till it is a rich syrup, and keep it corked up in bottles to
season ice cream.
Almond Cream.
Take a pound of blanched almonds, and roll them fine with a bottle; mix
them with a few drops of rose-water, and stir them into a quart of cream;
sweeten it with loaf-sugar, put it in a pot over the fire, and stir it
till it thickens.
Tincture of Vanilla.
Vanilla beans, well bruised, half an ounce; French brandy, one gill; let
it stand one week, and it will be fit for use. Keep it corked tight.
This article will keep any length of time, and is very convenient for
seasoning ices.
Superior Receipt for Ice Cream.
One gallon of cream, two pounds rolled loaf-sugar, one tea-spoonful of
oil of lemon. If for vanilla cream; use a table-spoonful of tincture
of vanilla, two eggs beaten; mix well and freeze in the usual way. The
seasoning should be well mixed with the sugar, before it is added to
the cream; by this means, it will be all flavored alike. This has been
much admired.
Coloring for ice cream, may be made in this way: take of powdered
cochineal, cream of tartar and powdered alum, each two drachms; of salts
of tartar, ten grains; pour upon the powders half a pint of boiling
water; let it stand for two hours to settle, or filter through paper.
Use as much of this infusion as will give the desired shade. This
produces a brilliant pink color.
Freezing Ice Cream.
Take a bucket of ice and pound it fine; mix with it two quarts of salt;
put your cream in a freezer; cover it close, and immerse it in the
bucket; draw the ice round it, so as to touch every part; after it has
been in a few minutes, put in a spoon, and stir it from the edge to the
centre. When the cream is put in a mould, close it and move it in the
ice, as you cannot use a spoon without waste.
Ice Cream with Lemon.
Roll two fresh lemons, in as much powdered loaf-sugar as will sweeten a
quart of cream; if you wish the juice, you can put some in with more
sugar; freeze it. A good plan is to rub the lemon on a large lump of
sugar, and then use the sugar in sweetening the cream.
Ice Cream with Fruit.
Mix the juice of the fruit with as much sugar as will be wanted before
you add the cream, which need not be very rich.
Pokeberry Juice to Stain Ices.
Mash and strain ripe pokeberries; to each pint of juice put a pound of
sugar; boil them together till it becomes a jelly; when cold put it in
a jar and tie it close; use a small quantity of this to stain ice
cream or jelly.
Isinglass Jelly.
To one ounce of shaved isinglass, put a quart of water; boil it down, to
a pint, and strain it through a flannel bag; add some sugar and wine;
stir it and put it in glasses.
Blancmange.
Shave an ounce of isinglass, and dissolve it in boiling water; then boil
it in a quart of new milk; strain it and sweeten it to your taste;
season as you prefer, with rose water, cinnamon, or vanilla.
Blancmange of Jelly.
To one pint of calf's foot jelly, add a pint of cream, a little mace,
and a quarter of a pound of loaf-sugar; boil it fifteen minutes,
stirring it constantly; strain it through a flannel bag, and when nearly
cold put in n glass of white wine; wet your moulds with cold cream
before putting it in.
Calf's Foot Jelly.
Split the feet, and soak them in cold water, four or five hours; wash
them clean, and put them to boil in six quarts of water; when it has
boiled down to one-half, strain it through a colander, and skim off all
the fat that is on the top; set it away to cool, and when the jelly is
quite stiff, wipe it with a towel, to take off any grease that should
remain; cut it in pieces, and pare of the discolored parts; put it in
your preserving kettle, with half a pint of wine, the juice and peel of
two lemons, mace and sugar to your taste, and the whites and shells of
six eggs; after it has boiled twenty minutes, pour in a little cold
water, to make it settle; if any scum arises, take it off; let it boil
five minutes longer, and take it off the fire; keep it covered for about
an hour, when strain it through a bag that has been dipped in hot water,
and put it in your glasses.
When eggs are used in calf's foot and other jellies, care should be
taken to have the ingredients cool. If the jelly is hot when the eggs
are added, it cannot be clarified so well--they should only cook by
heating the jelly after they have been diffused, by stirring them
through it.
Raisins in Syrup.
Make a syrup of half a pound of sugar to a pint of water, boil and skim
it; put in five bunches of raisins, and let them boil twenty minutes; if
you prefer, you can pick off the stems.
To Blanch Almonds and Peach Kernels.
Pour boiling water on them, which will make them peel easily; either
roll them with a bottle on the cake board or pound in a mortar, with a
little loaf-sugar; they should not be pounded too much or they will be
oily; peach kernels make a fine flavoring for custard, but as they
contain prussic acid, do not use too many.
Snow Cream.
Take the richest cream you can procure, season it with a few drops of
essence of lemon, or syrup of lemon peel, and powdered white sugar, and
if you choose a spoonful of preserve syrup, and just as you send it to
table, stir in light newly fallen snow till it is nearly as stiff as
ice cream.
Kisses.
Beat the whites of eight eggs till they will stand alone; put with them,
a little at a time, a pound of powdered sugar; roll a lemon in some of
the sugar till the flavor is extracted. After it is beaten very well,
drop it in heaps about the size of half an egg on a sheet of paper;
smooth them over with a spoon, and let them be of a regular shape; bake
them in an oven that has been moderately heated, till they are of a pale
brown color; do not have the oven too cool, or they will run together;
take them from the papers carefully, and stick two together.
CAKES.
Remarks on Making and Baking Cake.
The materials for making cake should be of the best quality, as your
success very much depends on it. Flour should be dried and sifted, sugar
rolled fine, spices pounded and sifted. Where brown sugar is used, it
should be spread on a dish and dried before rolling it. I have known
very good pound cake made with brown sugar; also jumbles, &c. Persons
that make their own butter sometimes use it fresh from the churn, which
prevents the necessity of washing the salt out of it for cake, and it
mixes more readily than hard butter. Currants should be picked over,
washed and dried; raisins should be stemmed and stoned. When these
preparations are made the day before, it is a great assistance. Eggs
should be fresh, or they will not beat light: in beating the whites,
take a broad flat dish, and beat them until you can hold the dish upside
down,--this is a test of their lightness. A large bowl is best for
mixing and beating cake. You must use your hand for mixing the sugar and
butter, and as you add the other ingredients, you may take a large
wooden spoon; beat it some time after all is mixed. The oven should be
ready to bake immediately, as standing makes cake heavy. A brick oven is
the most certain,--and over your pans of cake, you should spread
several layers of newspaper, to prevent its browning too suddenly. Cake
requires more time than bread: a large cake should stay in the oven from
an hour and a half to two hours, turning and looking at it from time to
time; when you think it is sufficiently baked, stick a broad bright
knife in the centre; if it is dry and free from dough when drawn out,
the cake is likely to be done, though sometimes this is not a certain
test, and you will have to draw a little from the centre of the cake
with the knife. A broom straw will sometimes answer in a small cake
instead of a knife. A large stone pan, with a cover, is the best for
keeping cake, or a large covered bowl.
Icing for Cake.
Roll and sift a pound of loaf-sugar; whip the whites of three eggs; put
in the sugar gradually, and beat it for half an hour; if it is so thick
that it will not run, put in some rose water; let the cake be nearly
cool; dry it in an oven that is nearly cool.
Another Way.
Put the white of one egg and a little rose water into half a pound of
pulverized sugar, and heat them together till they stand; when it is
nearly light enough, add a few drops of lemon juice, or a small portion
of tartaric acid, dissolved in a _little_ water. It must be beaten in a
bowl which has never had any thing greasy in it, (either cream or
butter). The cake must have a little flour sifted over it, and wiped off
with a towel, then cover it with a thin coat of the icing, set it under
the stove or in a place that is a little warm, and let it harden; then
add the second coat thicker; this will he perfectly white, but the first
is always dark and has crumbs through it.
A Rich Fruit Cake.
Have the following articles prepared before you begin the cake: dry and
sift four pounds of flour, four pounds of butter with the salt washed
out, two pounds of loaf-sugar pounded, one ounce of nutmegs grated, an
ounce of mace pounded; wash four pounds of currants; dry, pick, and rub
them in flour; stone and cut two pounds of raisins; slice two pounds of
citron, blanch a pound of sweet almonds and cut them in very thin
slices; break thirty eggs, separate the whites and yelks, and beat them
till very light; work the butter with your hand till it is soft as
cream; put in alternately the flour, sugar and eggs. When all are mixed
in, and the cake looks very light, add the spice, fruit, almonds, and
half a pint of brandy; set it in a well heated oven to bake; when it has
risen, and the top is beginning to brown, cover it with paper; let it
bake four hours, and when it is nearly cool, ice it. This will keep a
long time in a stone pan, covered close.
A cheaper Fruit Cake.
Take four pounds of flour, three of butter, three of sugar, two of
raisins, one of currants, two dozen eggs, an ounce of mace, three
nutmegs, and a half pint of brandy; if you want it dark, put in a little
molasses; mix the ingredients together, as the above fruit cake, and
bake it from two to three hours.
Fruit or Plum Cake.
Dry and sift a pound of flour, roll a pound of sugar, and beat it with a
pound of butter, and the yelks of ten eggs well beaten; wash and dry a
pound of currants and rub them in flour; stone and cut half a pound of
raisins, and mix in with a glass of rose brandy, and a grated nutmeg, or
mace; when all the rest are well mixed together, beat up the whites of
the eggs, and add them; bake it an hour and a half.
Pound Cake.
Wash the salt from a pound of butter, and beat it with a pound of loaf
sugar till it is as soft as cream; have a pound of flour sifted, and
beat ten eggs, the whites and yelks separately; put alternately into the
butter and sugar the flour and eggs, continue to beat till they are all
in, and the cake looks light; add some grated lemon peel, a nutmeg, and
half a wine-glass of brandy; butter the pan, and bake it an hour; when
it is nearly cold, ice it. If you want a very large cake, double the
quantity. You can tell when a cake is done by running in a broom-straw,
or the blade of a bright knife; if it comes out without sticking, it is
done, but if not, set it back. You can keep a cake a great while in a
stone pan that has a lid to fit tight.
White Cake.
Beat the whites of twenty eggs; wash the salt out of a pound of butter;
sift a pound of flour, roll a pound of loaf-sugar, blanch a pound of
almonds; roll them fine with a bottle, and mix them with rose water.
Work the butter, sugar and almonds together till they look like cream;
have the eggs beaten very light, and add them and the flour alternately
till you get all in; beat the whole together till it is very light; have
a pan buttered, and put it in a heated oven to bake; when it begins to
brown, put white paper over the top; bake it about three hours; when it
is nearly cold, prepare an icing, flavored with rose water; put it on
the top and sides.
Washington Cake.
Take a pound and three-quarters of sugar, the same of flour,
three-quarters of a pound of butter, eight eggs, a pint of milk, and mix
them as a pound-cake; just as it is ready to bake, dissolve a
tea-spoonful of salaeratus in a little sour cream, and stir in; season
with nutmeg and rose brandy, or essence of lemon; bake it as pound cake.
Some persons put in a tea-spoonful of lemon juice just before baking.
Madison Cake.
Take a pound and a quarter of flour, and the same of sugar and butter;
five eggs, a pound, of raisins, and one of currants; two glasses of wine
or brandy; mace, nutmeg, and a tea-spoonful of salaeratus, dissolved in a
pint of new milk; bake it as pound cake.
Indian Pound Cake.
Take three-quarters of a pound of Indian meal sifted, and one-quarter
of wheat flour; roll a pound of sugar, work into it three-quarters of a
pound of butter; season with nutmeg and rose brandy; add four eggs
beaten light; mix and bake as other pound cake.
Rice Flour Pound Cake.
Take seven eggs, a pound of rice flour, one of sugar, and half a pound
of butter; season it with rose water and nutmeg; mix and bake it as
other pound cake, and ice it.
Sponge Cake.
Balance twelve fresh eggs with sugar, and six with flour; beat the eggs
very light, the whites and yelks separately; mix alternately the sugar
and eggs, and add the grated peel of a lemon; butter a large pan, or
several small ones; add the flour just as it is put in the oven,
stirring it just sufficiently to mix. Beating it after the flour is
added makes it heavy; pour it in, and put it to bake as soon as
possible. This makes a good pudding, with white sauce. One-half rice
flour is an improvement.
Rice Sponge Cake.
Take three-quarters of a pound of rice flour, one pound of white sugar,
finely powdered, and ten eggs; beat the yelks with the sugar, the
whites alone; add them and the flour to the yelks and sugar, a little
at a time; season it with rose brandy and nutmeg, and bake it in
shallow pans.
Sponge Cake in Small Pans.
Take twelve eggs, with the weight of them in sugar, and the weight of
six of them in flour; beat the yelks with the sugar, the whites alone;
season with nutmeg or grated lemon peel; put all together, adding the
flour the last; stir it quickly after the flour is added, as it will
make it heavy to beat it much; grease several small pans and pour it in,
bake with a quick heat, and they will be done in half an hour, or less,
according to the size. They are pretty iced.
Lemon Sponge Cake.
Take ten eggs, separate them, a pound of loaf-sugar, half a pound of
flour, the grated peel of two lemons and the juice of one; beat the
yelks with the sugar, the whites alone, when add them and sift in the
flour by degrees; beat well, have your pan buttered, and bake with a
quick heat either in a stove or dutch-oven, or a brick oven, the heat
should not be quite so great as for light bread--it will bake in
about an hour.
Cup Cake.
Take four cups of flour, three of sugar, one of melted butter, one of
sour cream, with a tea-spoonful of salaeratus dissolved in it, and three
eggs; season it with brandy and nutmeg; mix, and bake it as pound cake.
Loaf Cake.
Take about a pound of risen bread dough, work into it a tea-cup of
butter, three eggs beaten, a pound of sugar, a nutmeg grated and a
glass of brandy or wine; a pound of raisins, stoned and chopped,
should be added after it is well beaten; half a pint of cream slightly
warmed, with a table-spoonful of vinegar, and a tea-spoonful of
dissolved salaeratus should be stirred in just as you are ready to bake
it; also sifted flour enough to make it the proper consistence; bake
in a large pan, in a brick oven or stove, and it will require an hour
and a quarter.
Queen Cake.
Mix a pound of dried flour, the same of sifted sugar, and currants; wash
a pound of butter, add rose water--beat it well--a tea-cup of cream;
then mix with it eight eggs, yelks and whites beaten separately; add the
dry ingredients by degrees; beat the whole an hour, bake in little tins,
or saucers, filling only half.
Rich Jumbles.
Rub a pound of butter into a pound and a quarter of flour; beat four
eggs with a pound and a quarter of sugar; when very light, mix them with
the butter and flour; mix in a glass of rose water, and a nutmeg; roll
them in rings, and bake them slowly; sift powdered sugar over after they
are baked.
Common Jumbles.
Take a pound of flour, half a pound of butter, and three-quarters of
sugar, three eggs, a little nutmeg and rose brandy; mix the butter and
sugar together, and add the flour and eggs; mould them in rings, and
bake them slowly.
Molasses Jumbles.
Beat three-quarters of a pound of sugar, the same of butter, and three
eggs together; stir in half a pint of molasses; add rose brandy and
nutmeg, and enough flour to make a soft dough; roll it in rings, and
bake as other jumbles. By the addition of half a pint of molasses and a
tea-spoonful of salaeratus, you will have a common black cake, which may
be baked in one large pan.
Jumbles for Delicate Persons.
Roll a heaped pint of light-brown sugar, and rub it in two pints or
flour, half a pound of butter, and a dessert spoonful of cinnamon; beat
an egg, and mix it with half a tea-cup of rich milk (in which a very
small lump of salaeratus has been dissolved;) stir all together with a
wine glass of rose brandy; work it well, roll thin and cut them
out--bake with moderate heat.
Cup Jumbles.
Five tea-cups of flour, three of sugar, one heaped of butter, one of
sweet cream, three eggs and the peel of one lemon grated, or nutmeg, or
mace if you like; roll them thin, and bake in a quick oven.
Jackson Jumbles.
Three tea-cups of sugar, one of butter, five of flour, one tea-spoonful
of salaeratus in a cup of sour cream and two eggs; bake in a quick oven;
season them with the peel of a fresh lemon grated, and half a wine-glass
of brandy.
Macaroons.
Blanch a pound of almonds, beat them in a mortar, and put with them a
little rose water to keep them from oiling, the white of an egg, and a
large spoonful of flour; roll a pound of loaf-sugar, and beat the whites
of four eggs; beat them all together; shape them on white paper with a
spoon, and bake them on tin plates in a slow oven; let them be quite
cold before you remove them from the paper.
Naples Biscuit.
Beat twelve eggs till light; add to them a pound of dried flour and one
of powdered sugar; beat all together till perfectly light; put in some
rose water and nutmeg, and bike it in small shallow pans in a moderately
heated oven.
New Year Cake.
Mix together three pounds of flour, a pound and a half of sugar, and
three-quarters of a pound of butter: dissolve a tea-spoonful of
salaeratus in enough new milk to wet the flour; mix them together;
grate in a nutmeg, or the peel of a lemon; roll them out, cut them in
shapes, and bake.
Cider Cake.
Take a pound and a half of flour, three-quarters of sugar, and a quarter
of a pound of butter; dissolve a tea-spoonful of salaeratus in as much
cider as will make it a soft dough, and bake it in shallow pans; season
it with spice to your taste.
Dover Cake.
One pound of flour, one of sugar, half a pound of butter, six eggs, half
a nutmeg, a spoonful of rose brandy; beat the butter and sugar together,
adding the other ingredients, the whites of the eggs beaten separately;
bake as pound cake.
Jelly Cake.
This cake can be made by the sponge, cup, or Dover cake recipe; have
shallow tin pans or plates of the same size, butter them, and pour in
the batter so as to be about half an inch thick when baked; they take
but a few minutes to bake of a light-brown; and as you take them from
the oven, put them on a china plate, with a layer of jelly between each
cake, till you have four or five layers; cut the cake in slices before
handing it. Currant jelly is to be preferred, but quince will answer, or
peach marmalade.
Almond Cake.
Ten eggs, one pound of loaf-sugar, half a pound of almonds, half a pound
of flour, one nutmeg; beat the yelks first, then put in the sugar,
beating them very light; blanch the almonds and pound them in a mortar,
with rose water or the juice of a lemon; add them alternately with the
flour, and the whites of the eggs well beaten. If you bake in one large
cake, it will require an hour and a half in a slow oven; in small pans,
it will take less time, and in either case, will require watching.
Raised Plum Cake.
Take three pounds of flour, and mix to it as much new milk as will make
a thick batter, and a tea-cup of yeast; when it is light, beat together
a pound of butter, a pound of sugar, and four eggs; mix this in with a
pound of raisins, stoned and cut, half a pound of currants, a grated
nutmeg, and a glass of rose brandy; bake it two hours.
Black Cake.
Rub a pound and a half of softened butter in three pounds of flour, add
a pound of brown sugar, rolled fine, a pint of molasses, a
table-spoonful of rose brandy, a nutmeg or some mace, four eggs well
beaten, a pound of raisins stoned and chopped; mix the whole well, and
before baking add a tea-cup of sour cream with a tea-spoonful of soda
dissolved in it--beat it up again, have the pans well buttered, and put
in about three parts full; this quantity will make about six cakes, in
bread pans; bake as bread and if it brown too much, put paper on it, if
it seems too stiff, add a little more molasses or cream. It will keep
several weeks in cold weather.
Bunns.
Take a pound and a quarter of flour, half a pound of butter, and
three-quarters of a pound of sugar, six eggs, half a pound of currants,
half a nutmeg, a glass of brandy, and a pint of new milk; mix all well
together, and put in half a tea-cup of yeast; let it rise, and when
light, bake it in shallow pans.
Butter-milk Cakes.
One pound of sugar, a quarter of a pound of butter, three eggs, a
tea-cup of butter-milk, nutmeg or cinnamon to taste; add as much flour
as will make a dough that will roll out; cut in round cakes and bake
with a quick heat.
A Composition Cake.
One pound of sugar, one of flour, half a pound of butter, six eggs, two
and a half wine-glasses of milk, one tea-spoonful of soda and one of
tartaric acid; warm the milk and butter; add the sugar, then the yelks
of the eggs beaten light, then the whites and the flour alternately,
then the soda, (to be dissolved in half a wine-glass of water;) season
with nutmeg, mace, or a little essence of lemon, and add lastly, the
tartaric acid, dissolved in half a wine-glass of water. Bake it one hour
in an oven, as hot as is usual for bread; when brown at the top, cover
it with paper. A pound of dried currants is an agreeable addition.
Ginger Cup-cake.
Three cups of flour, one of sugar, one of molasses, one of butter, a
table-spoonful of ginger, one tea-spoonful of salaeratus, and three eggs;
bake in pans. A pound of stoned and chopped raisins is an improvement.
Light Ginger bread.
Take three cups of molasses, five of flour, one of sugar, three eggs,
and a tea-spoonful of salaeratus, dissolved in a cup of sour cream; work
the sugar with a quarter of a pound of butter; beat two dozen cloves,
and put in with two table-spoonsful of ginger; mix all together, and
bake in shallow pans or cups.
Crisp Ginger-cake.
Take three pounds of flour, one of sugar, and one of butter; mix these
together with three table-spoonsful of ginger, some cloves and anise
seed, and wet it with molasses; roll it thin; cut it in shapes, and bake
with a quick heat.
Ginger-bread Nuts.
Take a pound and a half of flour, three-quarters of a pound of sugar,
the same of butter, some cloves and cinnamon pounded fine, and an ounce
of ginger; mix these well together, and make it into a stiff dough, with
molasses; roll it thin, and cut it in small cakes.
Crullers.
Take two pounds of flour, three-quarters of a pound of sugar, half a
pound of butter, six eggs, and some mace or nutmeg; mix the flour, sugar
and butter together, and wet it with the eggs; if too stiff, put in some
cream, roll the dough thin; cut it in shapes, and fry them in boiling
lard. The more lard there is, the less they will soak it up.
Rusk.
Take a quart of milk, a tea-cup of cream, half a pound of lard, quarter
of a pound of butter, a spoonful of salt, and boil them together; beat
well two eggs with a pound of sugar, and pour the boiling milk on them
gradually, stirring all the time; when nearly cold, add a tea-cup of
yeast, and flour sufficient to make a stiff batter; when quite light,
knead it up as bread, and let it lighten again before molding out; when
they are moulded out, wet them over with sugar and cream, and let them
rise a few minutes and bake them; grate a little sugar over when they
come out of the oven.
Rusk for Drying.
Boil a quart of milk, and put in it half a pound of butter, and a little
salt; when nearly cold, stir in a tea-cup of yeast, a pound of sugar,
and flour to make a batter; when it is light, knead it up with flour,
and let it rise again; grease your pans, and make it out in cakes, about
the size of a tea-cup, and an inch thick; put two layers in each part,
and bake them three-quarters of an hour; when take them out, break them
apart, and put the top ones in other pans, and let them dry slowly in
the oven for an hour or more.
This rusk will keep for months, and is very useful in sickness, to make
panada; it is also good for delicate persons that rich cake disagrees
with, or to take on a journey. Nutmeg or mace to your taste.
If you like it richer, two eggs may be put in.
Bread Rusk.
Take as much lightened dough, as would make a loaf of bread, spread it
open, and put in a tea-cup of sugar, some nutmeg and a piece of butter;
work it well, mould it out, and bake it with your bread; wet the top
with sugar and cream before it goes in the oven.
Dough-nuts.
Boil a quart of new milk and melt in it half a pound of butter; beat
three eggs with two pounds of sugar, and pour on them the boiling milk,
stirring all the time; when it is nearly cold, star in a tea-cup of
yeast, a spoonful of salt, and flour enough to make a stiff batter; when
this is quite light, knead in flour to make a soft dough, two grated
nutmegs and a little mace; let it rise again till it is very light; roll
it out thin, cut it in shapes, and fry them in hot lard; dust over
cinnamon and loaf-sugar, pounded fine, while they are hot.
Common Dough-nuts.
Pour a pint of boiling water into a pint of new milk, put in a quarter
of a pound of lard, and a table-spoonful of salt; stir in a tea-cup of
yeast and flour to make a stiff batter; let it rise, and when very light
put in two pounds of light-brown sugar, two nutmegs, and enough flour to
make a soft dough; work it well and let it rise again till it is very
light; roll out and fry as other dough-nuts.
PRESERVES, JELLIES, &c.
To Clarify Sugar.
To every four pounds of sugar put a quart of water and the whites of two
eggs; if you put in the egg after it gets hot, it will cook before it
has the desired effect; when it comes to a boil, and the scum rises,
pour in a little cold water; let it boil up; take it off to settle, and
skim it well; let it boil up, and skim it three times, when it will be
fit to preserve with. You should always clarify white Havana sugar.
Apples.
Apples should be preserved in November, and they will keep till June.
Take firm pippins, pare them and take out the cores, leaving them whole;
or after you have cored them, cut them across in two pieces, they will
then be in rings; put them in cold water as fast as they are pared, to
keep them from turning dark; make a syrup of a pound of loaf-sugar, and
half a pint of water to each pound of apples; wipe the apples, and put
in as many as will go in, without one laying on another; let them boil
swiftly till they look clear, then take them up carefully on dishes, and
put in some more; when all are done, if the syrup should seem too thin,
boil it up after the apples are taken out; cut the peel of several
lemons in thin rings, boil them in a little water till they are soft,
and throw them in the syrup after the apples are taken out; put the
syrup in a bowl, and set all away till the next day, when put the apples
in glass jars or large bowls, spread the lemon peel about them and put
the syrup on the top; paste several thicknesses of paper over, and set
them in a dry cool closet.
If you only want the apples to keep a few weeks, they may be done with
half a pound of sugar to a pound of apples, and will look and taste
quite as well.
Apples with Brown Sugar.
Pare and halve your apples, either pippins, red-streaks or wine-saps;
make a syrup of light-brown sugar, allowing half a pound to a pound of
the fruit; after boiling and clarifying the syrup, pour it over the
fruit, and set it by for two days, then cook them, and seasoned with
green ginger root they are excellent; they will not require much
cooking, and should be of a light-brown color.
Crab Apples.
Put the crab apples in a kettle with grape leaves in and around them,
with some alum; keep them at scalding heat for an hour, take them out,
skin them, and take out the seeds with a small knife, leaving on the
stems; put them in cold water, make a syrup of a pound of sugar to a
pound of apples; wipe the apples and put them in; let them stew gently
till they look clear; take them out, and let the syrup boil longer.
Currants.
Make a syrup of one pint of currant juice to three pounds of sugar; if
it is brown sugar, put in the white of an egg to clarify it; let it boil
and skim it; have three pounds of currants picked and stemmed; put them
in the syrup, and let them boil slowly, about twenty minutes; take them
up and let the syrup boil longer.
Pine Apples.
Pare and slice the pine apples, and make a syrup of a pound of sugar and
half a pint of water to a pound of fruit; clarify and skim it, then put
in the apples and let them cook gently for half an hour; if you do not
want to keep them long, much less sugar will do.
Blackberries.
Allow a pint of currant juice and a pint of water to six pounds of
blackberries; give them their weight in brown sugar; let them boil till
they appear to be done, and the syrup is rich. Blackberry jelly can be
made as currant jelly, and is good for sick children, mixed with water.
Blackberry Flummery.
Stew three pints of blackberries with one pint of sugar--soak a
tea-cup full of ground rice--and when the berries have been stewing
about fifteen minutes, stir in the rice, and stir the whole time
until it becomes thick. This should be eaten cold with cream, and
will keep two days.
Cherries.
To preserve four pounds of cherries, take one pint of currant juice,
into which put five pounds of sugar; when this boils up, take off any
scum that rises, and put in half of the cherries, with part of each stem
on; when they look so clear that you can see the stone, they are done;
take these up on a dish and put in the rest, and let them do slowly the
same length of time; take them up and let the syrup boil a few minutes
longer; do not put them in the jars till they are quite cold. Glass jars
are the best to keep all early fruits in, as you can then see if they
begin to ferment; if they do, you must boil them over; always put them
in a window where they will be exposed to the sun.
Common Cherries.
Stone the light-colored common cherries, and to every pound of
fruit, allow a pound of sugar, which boil up with the juice; after
you have skimmed it, throw in the cherries, and let them boil till
the syrup is rich.
Cherries for Common Use.
Stone twelve pounds of morel cherries; allow half a pound of brown sugar
to each pound of fruit, after it is stoned, let them cook slowly for two
hours; examine them through the summer, and if they show any signs of
fermentation, set them in a brick-oven, after the bread is done, or in a
dutch-oven of hot water, which keep at boiling heat for an hour.
It is a good plan to know the weight of your preserving kettle, as you
can then weigh the fruit in it, with a pair of steelyards.
Apricots.
Pour boiling water on the apricots and wipe them dry; then cut them in
half and take out the stone; make a syrup of their weight in sugar, and
a little water; when this has boiled, put in the fruit, and let it cook
slowly till it is clear, and the syrup is rich.
Ginger.
Scrape the outside from the green ginger, and boil it in a little water,
till it is soft; then take it out, and scrape off any spots that are on
it; make a syrup of half a pint of water to a pound of sugar and a pound
of ginger; let it boil slowly about half an hour; take it up and boil
the syrup a little longer.
Green Gage Plums.
Take an equal quantity of fruit and sugar, pour boiling water on the
plums, and wipe them dry; stick them over with a pin; make a syrup of
the sugar and some water, and when it boils, put in half of the
plums; let them do slowly till they are clear, then take them out and
put in the rest; if the syrup should be thin, let it boil longer. Do
not put them in the jars till the next day. Egg plums may be done in
the same way.
Green Lemons.
Take the young lemons, cut them in half, scrape them, and take out the
pulp; cut them in such shapes as you please; put them in a preserving
kettle and cover them with water; put in a little alum to green them,
and let them boil till they are transparent, then take them out and
drain them on a cloth; give the kettle another cleansing, and put them
in with their weight in sugar; let them stew gently, but be careful that
they do not boil; let them cook till the syrup is rich.
Raspberries.
Boil three pounds of raspberries in a pint of currant juice, for ten
minutes; put in four pounds of sugar, and let them boil half an hour, or
until it is a jelly. Paste paper over the jar.
Citron Melon.
Pare the melon and cut it in slices half an inch thick, without the
seeds; let it lay in salt and water for an hour, then wash the salt off,
and boil it in strong ginger tea; make a thin syrup and boil it again,
then make a syrup of a pound of loaf-sugar to a pound of citron, and
boil it in this till it is clear; season it with mace and lemon peel.
Watermelon Rinds.
Cut the rinds in any form you please; put them in strong salt and water,
with cabbage leaves over and around them, and set them in a warm place
till they become yellow; then wash them, and put them in a kettle with
alum and water, and grape or cabbage leaves over and through them; set
them on the fire, and keep it at scalding heat for two hours--but do not
let them boil. If they are not of a fine green color, change the water
and leaves; when they are green enough, put them in cold soft water for
three days, changing the water twice a day; then make a syrup of rather
more than a pound of sugar to a pound of melon, some sliced ginger, the
peel of a lemon, and a little mace; let them boil slowly fifteen
minutes, take them up, and boil them again at the end of a week.
Cantelopes, Cucumbers, or Melons.
Take young watermelons, cucumbers or cantelopes; scrape the melons, and
cut the rinds in shapes--leave the cucumbers whole; put them in a
preserving kettle with alum and water; cover them, and let them boil
till they are transparent; take them out, wash them in cold water, and
wipe each piece separately; have your kettle nicely cleaned, and give
them rather more than their weight in sugar; put a layer of sugar, and a
layer of melon, some slices of green ginger, and the rind and juice of a
lemon; let them stew over the fire till the syrup is rich; take them up,
and stew them over again in about a week.
Cranberries.
To preserve cranberries, allow them their weight in sugar; make a syrup
of the proportions of half a pint of water to two pounds of the sugar;
boil and skim it before you put the fruit in; then let them boil until
clear. To make sauce to eat with roast fowls, put three-quarters of a
pound of sugar to a pound of fruit.
Gooseberries.
Take the large gooseberries, pick off the stems and blossoms, give
them their weight in sugar; put them in the kettle alternately, with
the sugar, and pour over them a pint of water to four pounds of fruit;
let them boil gently till the scum arises; when this is taken off, let
them cook faster; when clear, take them up on dishes, and boil the
syrup longer.
Peaches.
Have sweet, white clingstone peaches--pare and stone them; to each
pound, take a pound of sugar made in a syrup, put the peaches in, and
when they look clear, take them up on dishes; let the syrup boil longer.
A New Mode of Preserving Peaches.
Pare, halve and weigh the peaches; put them in a preserving kettle of
boiling water, and to six pounds of peaches, put a tea-spoonful of soda
or pearl-ash; let them boil one minute; then take them out, and throw
them in cold water; scrape off the black scum which adheres to the
peaches; wipe and lay them on a dish; have the kettle cleaned, and put
the peaches in layers, with half their weight in sugar; they will not
require any water; let them cook slowly at first, then boil till
clear--when take them out, and let the syrup boil till it becomes rich.
The flavor of the peach is retained, and they are not so sweet as in
the old way.
Damsons.
Weigh out as much sugar as you have fruit; if it is brown you must
clarify it; put a pint of water to three pounds of sugar, make a syrup,
wash the damsons, put them in and let them cook slowly for half an
hour; then take them out on dishes, and let them dry in the sun for two
days, taking them in the house at night; boil the syrup half an hour
after the fruit is taken out; when done in this way they will be whole
and clear. You can make a jam by boiling them slowly for two hours; or
a jelly as currants.
To Preserve Strawberries.
Gather the strawberries in the mid-day, pick out the largest and best,
stem them, and to each pound of strawberries put a pound of loaf-sugar
and a glass of white wine; let them stand four or five hours; take off
the syrup so as not to mash the fruit, and clarify it; then put in the
strawberries, and to each pound put as much fine alum as will lay on
the blade of a penknife; let them boil up several times, and shake
them round in the kettle, but do not stir them with a spoon, as that
will mash them; a few minutes boiling is sufficient; after you take
out the fruit, let the syrup boil up, and when it is nearly cold pour
it over them in the jar; put a piece of white paper over the top, and
pour a spoonful of brandy on it; paste several thicknesses of paper
over the jar.
If you like your preserved strawberries, cherries, or peaches, to
have a fine pale color, allow them to bob half the time recommended
in the receipt, then spread the fruit thin on dishes, with but little
syrup, pour the rest of the syrup also on dishes, and set them daily
in the sun; if the weather be clear and the sun hot, four days will
be sufficient. Preserves done in this manner do not ferment. You
should spread a piece of gauze or netting over them to keep out
insects or dust.
Another Way.
To each pound of the fruit take a pound of crushed sugar; put them in
the preserving kettle, a layer of sugar and a layer of fruit; let them
stand a little while to make syrup before putting them over the fire;
they should boil fast for twenty minutes; watch them all the time,
taking off the scum as it rises; stir them gently without mashing the
berries; put them in jars, put brandy papers over them and paste or
tie them close. Preserves should never be put in jars that have had
pickles in them.
Tomatoes.
Take solid round tomatoes, scald and peel them, give them their weight
in sugar, put a layer of sugar and of tomatoes alternately; let them
boil slowly till the syrup forms, then boil faster, till clear, and the
syrup is rich; season with lemon peel, ginger or mace; some prefer the
yellow tomato for preserving.
Quinces.
Pick out the finest quinces, pare them, and cut them in halves, or in
rings; take the best of the parings and the seed, and boil them in water
till they are very soft, strain the liquor, and have the kettle cleaned
again, wash and weigh the quinces, and give them their weight in sugar,
put the sugar in the water the parings were boiled in--skin it, and put
in the quinces, let them boil very slowly till clear, take them up on
dishes, and boil the syrup longer.
Green Peppers.
Get peppers that have a sweet taste, take out the seeds, leaving on the
stems, lay them in salt and water for three days, changing the water
each day, then put them in a kettle with leaves around them, and a small
piece of alum, let them scald, but not boil, for two hours, take them
out, and let them lay in water three days, changing it twice each day,
then boil them in sugar and water fifteen minutes, then make a syrup,
allowing them their weight in sugar, and boil them gently in it half an
hour, take them out and boil the syrup longer.
Pumpkin.
Choose a fine grained, high colored pumpkin, fully ripe, cut it in thin
slices, about four inches long and two wide, to two pounds of pumpkin,
put two pounds of sugar in a bowl, cut the peel of two lemons in rings,
and squeeze the juice over the pumpkin, let it stand all night, the next
day put it on to preserve with two tea cups of water, let it cook gently
till the pumpkin seems clear and crisp, take it up, scald the lemon
peel, and boil it in the syrup, cool it on dishes, and put it in a jar.
Green Fox-Grape Jelly.
Fill a kettle with grapes, and let them boil with a pint of water till
the skins burst, mash and strain them, put a pound of sugar to a pint of
juice, and let it boil half and hour. Ripe fox-grapes may be made into
very nice jelly in the same way, and is very good to drink in sickness,
mixed with water.
Pears.
Pare and core the fruit, but leave the stems on; put them in a syrup
of a pound of sugar, and a half a pint of water to a pound of pears,
with some green ginger or lemon peel; boil the syrup half an hour
after they are done.
Ripe Fox-Grape Jam.
To two quarts of grapes, allow three pounds of brown sugar, and a pint
of water; have the grapes picked over and washed; put them all together
and let them boil more than an hour; take them up on shallow dishes, and
pick out as many seeds as you can with a spoon. This makes a good common
preserve when other fruits are scarce; they are also very good for pies.
Currant Jelly.
Pick the leaves from the currants and fill your kettle with them; put a
tea-cup of water to keep them from sticking; cover them with a plate and
let them boil slowly half an hour; take them out, and strain them
through a flannel bag; to every pint of juice put a pound of loaf-sugar;
let it boil till it is a thick jelly, which will be in about fifteen
minutes, and put it in tumblers or jars.
Lemon Butter or French Honey.
Take half a pound of butter, melt it in an earthen dish and squeeze in
the juice of six lemons; beat twelve eggs with two pounds of brown
sugar, stir it in with the rind of two lemons grated, mix it all
together, and let it boil twenty minutes, when it will be about the
consistency of honey; the flavor is agreeable, and it may be eaten on
bread, or as a sauce for boiled pudding.
Currant Syrup.
Prepare the currants as for jelly; to every pint of juice put a pint of
water and a pound of sugar; let it boil half an hour and skim it well;
if the flavor of the raspberry is preferred, it may be added in the
proportion of one pint of it to four of currant juice. It is a very
pleasant drink mixed with water in warm weather.
Quince Jelly.
Wash and wipe the quinces; cut them in small pieces, and take out the
seeds carefully; have your kettle cleaned and half full of water; throw
the quinces and seeds in till you get it full; cover them over and let
them boil till very soft; mash them well and strain them; to every pint
of juice put a pound of sugar; clean the kettle again, pour in the juice
and sugar, and let it boil till it forms a jelly; it should be put into
tea-cups, if you want to turn it out whole, with brandy papers on top,
and pasted over. It is a nice jelly to use with whips or trifle.
Apple Jelly.
Pare and quarter a preserving kettle full of pippin apples; cover them
with water, and lay a plate close over them; let them boil until
perfectly soft, taking the plate off to skim them; spread a coarse thin
cloth over a large bowl; pour the apples on the cloth, and let the juice
run through, without squeezing; hold the towel by the corners, and move
it gently; take three-quarters of a pound of loaf-sugar to a pint of the
juice, and boil it fast, skimming it, until it becomes jelly, which will
be in from ten to fifteen minutes, pour it in tumblers or glass jars,
and when quite cold, paste them over. This will keep a year. Red streak
apples make a fine red jelly, boiled with the skins on them. If you have
currant or grape jelly that has candied, they can be restored by making
some apple syrup, and mixing it hot; it will not require any more
sugar--about one-third apple juice; let it boil a few minutes. Very
sweet preserves that have candied can be improved by this process.
Apple Marmalade.
Apples make a very good marmalade when other fruits are scarce, and can
be done at any time through the fall, or winter, pare the apples, cut
them up, and put them to boil, with some water and green ginger scraped,
and tied up in a bag, after they have boiled an hour, take out the
ginger, and put in half a pound of sugar to one of fruit, let it cook an
hour longer.
Peach Marmalade.
Take soft yellow peaches, pare them, and cut them in quarters, give them
their weight in sugar, put the peaches in the preserving kettle with a
pint of water, without the sugar, and let them boil till they are well
cooked, covered over with a plate, when done, mash them in the kettle
till very fine, and stir in the sugar, let them cook slowly an hour, or
they may be finished in a stone jar in the oven, or set in a stove
boiler, and the water kept boiling all the time, they are not then so
likely to burn as when finished over the fire, they will do with less
sugar, if they are dried in the sun two days previous to preserving.
Another Way.
Pare and quarter the peaches, and to eight pounds of peaches, allow five
pounds of sugar, put them on, sugar and peaches at once, mixing them
through, let them stew slowly until a syrup forms, when they may cook
pretty fast for several hours, without once stirring, then take them up,
and mash them well, if the marmalade is not thick enough, spread it on
dishes, and dry in your oven after the bread is taken out. Quinces and
apples may be done in the same way.
Quince Marmalade.
Pare the quinces and cut them up fine, put the parings and cores to
boil, then strain them, put in the quinces, and let them boil till
soft-when mash them fine, and put in three-quarters of a pound of sugar
to a pound of fruit, let them cook gently for two hours, and take them
up in pint bowls; when cold, put brandy papers on the top of each, and
paste them over, they will turn out whole to put on table.
Marmalade of Mixed Fruits.
Pare equal quantities of peaches, apples, pears and quinces, cut them
fine, and put them to boil with a pint of water to six pounds of fruit,
let them cook thoroughly, but do not let them burn, take them out, and
mash them well, clean the kettle, and put them back, with half their
weight in sugar, let them cook very slowly for two hours.
Lemon Marmalade.
Soak the peel of lemons that have been left after making lemonade,
changing the water twice a day for three days, to extract the bitter,
boil them till soft, then mash and put in enough sugar to make it
pleasant to the taste; stew it a short time after the sugar is put in;
put it in a bowl, and when cold, cut it in slices for the table; it will
keep several weeks.
To Conserve Pears.
Have the nicest pears you can get, pare them, and leave on the stems;
take half a pound of loaf-sugar to a pound of pears; put them in the
kettle together, with water enough to moisten the sugar; if the pears
are very juicy, they will not need any; cover them over with a plate,
and let them boil very gently for two hours; take them out on dishes,
and boil the syrup to jelly, and put it away by itself; set the pears in
the sun, or in a moderately heated oven; when quite dry, sprinkle them
with loaf-sugar, and put them away in glass jars.
Peaches in Cider.
Scald and wipe the peaches; cut them from the stone, and dry them in the
sun two days; boil a gallon of sweet cider half away; put in the
peaches, and let them stew slowly till done; they will keep without any
sugar, but you can put some in, if you wish them sweeter.
Pears can be kept in the same way.
Peaches, &c. in Brandy.
Take fresh yellow peaches, or large clingstones, pour boiling water on
them, and wipe off the down; make a syrup of half a pound of sugar to
a pound of fruit, and boil and skim it; put in the peaches, and let
them cook for fifteen minutes; take them up without any syrup, and
cool them on dishes; boil the syrup down to half, and put an equal
quantity of peach or French brandy, pour this over the peaches after
they are in jars.
Plums or cherries may be done in the same way.
Grapes in Brandy.
Put some close bunches of grapes, not too ripe, in a jar, and prick each
one with a needle, strew over them half their weight in pounded rock
candy, and fill up the jar with brandy.
To Conserve Peaches.
Take the yellow peaches, pare them, and cut them from the stone in one
piece, to six pounds of peaches have two pounds of sugar, make a syrup
of three-quarters of a pound of sugar, and a little water, put them in,
and let them stay till they are quite clear, then take them up carefully
on a dish, and set them in the sun to dry, pound the sugar fine, and
strew over them, turning them over to let each part have some, do not
put much on at a time, and if any syrup is made, remove them to fresh
dishes, when they are sufficiently dry, lay them lightly in a jar, with
a little sugar between each layer.
If the peaches are sweet clings, three pounds of sugar to twelve of
peaches will be enough, if you dry them a day in the sun before they
are stewed.
Sauce of Cherries, or Damsons.
Allow half a pound of brown sugar to every pound of fruit, and to each
seven pounds a pint of molasses, and one of strong vinegar, let them
cook slowly, so as not to break the skins, take them up in a jar, put in
a few cloves, let the syrup boil longer, and pour it over.
Frosted Fruit.
Take large ripe cherries, apricots, plums or grapes; if cherries, cut
off half of the stem; have in one dish some white of an egg beaten, and
in another some powdered loaf-sugar; take the fruit, one at a time, and
roll them first in the egg, and then in the sugar; lay them on a sheet
of white paper in a sieve, and set it on the top of a stove or near a
fire till the icing is hard.
Grapes for Pies.
After the first frost, pick the wild grapes, and put them in a jar, free
from stems; fill it with boiling molasses, and tie it up close; set it
on a hot hearth, or on the top of a stove, in a pan of water, for
several days. These are very useful to make common pies in the winter.
Green Tomatoes for Pies.
Pick the green tomatoes before they are much frosted; scald them and
take off the skins; put them in your kettle and let them boil for half
an hour; cut them up, and put in a pound of sugar to three pounds of
tomatoes, and let them cook for half an hour longer; season them with
the juice and peel of a lemon, and put them away in jars. They make very
good pies in the winter, and resemble gooseberries.
Conserve of Roses.
Gather the leaves of the damask rose, while they are fresh; spread a
pound of loaf-sugar on your cake-board, and roll in about half a pound
of rose leaves, or as many as will work into it, have your kettle
cleaned, and stew them in it very gently for about half an hour; put it
in tumblers to use when you have a cough. It is very good for children
that are threatened with the croup; you should have some by the side of
the bed to use at night.
To keep Damsons for Pies.
To every twelve pounds of damsons take seven pounds of brown sugar; put
them togeth
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