The Whitehouse Cookbook (1887), Hugo Ziemann [world of reading .TXT] 📗
- Author: Hugo Ziemann
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PICKLE OF RIPE CUCUMBERS.
This is a French recipe and is the most excellent of all the high-flavored condiments; it is made by sun-drying thirty old, full grown cucumbers, which have first been pared and split, had the seeds taken out, been salted and let stand twenty-four hours. The sun should be permitted to dry, not simply drain them. When they are moderately dry, wash them with vinegar and place them in layers in a jar, alternating them with a layer of horse-radish, mustard seed, garlic and onions for each layer of cucumbers. Boil in one quart of vinegar, one ounce of race ginger, half an ounce of allspice and the same of turmeric; when cool pour this over the cucumbers, tie up tightly and set away. This pickle requires several months to mature it, but is delicious when old, keeps admirably, and only a little is needed as a relish.
PICKLED OYSTERS.
One gallon of oysters; wash them well in their own liquor; carefully clear away the particles of shell, then put them into a kettle, strain the liquor over them, add salt to your taste, let them just come to the boiling point, or until the edges curl up; then skim them out and lay in a dish to cool; put a sprig of mace and a little cold pepper and allow the liquor to boil some time, skimming it now and then so long as any skum rises. Pour it into a pan and let it cool. When perfectly cool, add a half pint of strong vinegar, place the oysters in a jar and pour the liquor over them.
RIPE CUCUMBER PICKLES. (Sweet.)
Pare and seed ripe cucumbers. Slice each cucumber lengthwise into four pieces, or cut it into fancy shapes, as preferred. Let them stand twenty-four hours covered with cold vinegar. Drain them; then put them into fresh vinegar, with two pounds of sugar and one ounce of cassia buds to one quart of vinegar, and a tablespoonful of salt. Boil all together twenty minutes. Cover them closely in a jar.
PICCALILLI.
One peck of green tomatoes; eight large onions chopped fine, with one cup of salt well stirred in. Let it stand over night; in the morning drain off all the liquor. Now take two quarts of water and one of vinegar, boil all together twenty minutes. Drain all through a sieve or colander. Put it back into the kettle again; turn over it two quarts of vinegar, one pound of sugar, half a pound of white mustard seed, two tablespoonfuls of ground pepper, two of cinnamon, one of cloves, two of ginger, one of allspice, and half a teaspoonful of cayenne pepper. Boil all together fifteen minutes or until tender. Stir it often to prevent scorching. Seal in glass jars.
A most delicious accompaniment for any kind of meat or fish.
PICKLED EGGS.
Pickled eggs are very easily prepared and most excellent as an accompaniment for cold meats. Boil quite hard three dozen eggs, drop in cold water and remove the shells, and pack them when entirely cold in a wide-mouthed jar, large enough to let them in or out without breaking. Take as much vinegar as you think will cover them entirely and boil it in white pepper, allspice, a little root ginger; pack them in stone or wide-mouthed glass jars, occasionally putting in a tablespoonful of white and black mustard seed mixed, a small piece of race ginger, garlic, if liked, horse-radish ungrated, whole cloves, and a very little allspice. Slice two of three green peppers, and add in very small quantities. They will be fit for use in eight or ten days.
AN ORNAMENTAL PICKLE.
Boil fresh eggs half an hour, then put them in cold water. Boil red beets until tender, peel and cut in dice form, and cover with vinegar, spiced; shell the eggs and drop into the pickle jar.
EAST INDIA PICKLE.
Lay in strong brine for two weeks, or until convenient to use them, small cucumbers, very small common white onions, snap beans, gherkins, hard white cabbage quartered, plums, peaches, pears, lemons, green tomatoes and anything else you may wish. When ready, take them out of the brine and simmer in pure water until tender enough to stick a straw through—if still too salt, soak in clear water; drain thoroughly and lay them in vinegar in which is dissolved one ounce of turmeric to the gallon. For five gallons of pickle, take two ounces of mace, two of cloves, two of cinnamon, two of allspice, two of celery seed, a quarter of a pound of white race ginger, cracked fine, half a pound of white mustard seed, half a pint of small red peppers, quarter of a pound of grated horse-radish, half a pint of flour mustard, two ounces of turmeric, half a pint of garlic, if you like; soak in two gallons of cider vinegar for two weeks, stirring daily. After the pickles have lain in the turmeric vinegar for a week, take them out and put in jars or casks, one layer of pickle and one of spice out of the vinegar, till all is used. If the turmeric vinegar is still good and strong, add it and the spiced vinegar. If the turmeric vinegar be much diluted do not use it, but add enough fresh to the spiced to cover the pickles; put it on the fire with a pound of brown sugar to each gallon; when boiling, pour over the pickle. Repeat this two or three times as your taste may direct.
MIXED PICKLES.
Scald in salt water until tender cauliflower heads, small onions, peppers, cucumbers cut in dice, nasturtiums and green beans; then drain until dry and pack into wide-mouthed bottles. Boil in each pint of cider vinegar one tablespoonful of sugar, half a teaspoonful of salt and two tablespoonfuls of mustard; pour over the pickle and seal carefully. Other spices may be added if liked.
BLUEBERRY PICKLES.
For blueberry pickles, old jars which have lost their covers, or whose edges have been broken so that the covers will not fit tightly, serve an excellent purpose as these pickles must not be kept air-tight.
Pick over your berries, using only sound ones; fill your jars or wide-mouthed bottles to within an inch of the top, then pour in molasses enough to settle down into all the spaces; this cannot be done in a moment, as molasses does not run very freely. Only lazy people will feel obliged to stand by and watch its progress. As it settles, pour in more until the berries are covered. Then tie over the top a piece of cotton cloth to keep the flies and other insects out and set away in the preserve closet. Cheap molasses is good enough, and your pickles will soon be "sharp." Wild grapes may be pickled in the same manner.
PICKLED BUTTERNUTS AND WALNUTS.
These nuts are in the best state for pickling when the outside shell can be penetrated by the head of a pin. Scald them and rub off the outside skin, put them in a strong brine for six days, changing the water every other day, keeping them closely covered from the air. Then drain and wipe them (piercing each nut through in several places with a large needle) and prepare the pickle as follows: For a hundred large nuts, take of black pepper and ginger root each an ounce; and of cloves, mace and nutmeg, each a half ounce. Pound all the spices to powder and mix them well together, adding two large spoonfuls of mustard seed. Put the nuts into jars (having first stuck each of them through in several places with a large needle), strewing the powdered seasoning between every layer of nuts. Boil for five minutes a gallon of the very best cider vinegar and pour it boiling hot upon the nuts. Secure the jars closely with corks. You may begin to eat the nuts in a fortnight.
WATERMELON PICKLE.
Ten pounds of watermelon rind boiled in pure water until tender; drain the water off, and make a syrup of two pounds of white sugar, one quart of vinegar, half an ounce of cloves, one ounce of cinnamon. The syrup to be poured over the rind boiling hot three days in succession.
SWEET PICKLE FOR FRUIT.
Most of the recipes for making a sweet pickle for fruit, such as cling-stone peaches, damsons, plums, cherries, apricots, etc., are so similar, that we give that which is most successfully used.
To every quart of fruit, allow a cup of white sugar and a large pint of good cider vinegar, adding half an ounce of stick cinnamon, one tablespoonful of whole cloves, the same of whole allspice. Let it come to a boil, and pour it hot over the fruit; repeat this two or three days in succession; then seal hot in glass jars if you wish to keep it for a long time.
The fruit, not the liquor, is to be eaten, and used the same as any pickle. Some confound this with "Spiced Fruit," which is not treated the same, one being a pickle, the other a spiced preserve boiled down thick.
Damsons and plums should be pricked with a needle, and peaches washed with a weak lye, and then rubbed with a coarse cloth to remove the fur.
PEAR PICKLE.
Select small, sound ones, remove the blossom end, stick them with a fork, allow to each quart of pears one pint of cider vinegar and one cup of sugar, put in a teaspoonful allspice, cinnamon and cloves to boil with the vinegar; then add the pears and boil, and seal in jars.
SPICED CURRANTS.
Seven pounds of fruit, four pounds of sugar, one pint of good cider vinegar, one tablespoonful of ground cinnamon, one teaspoonful of cloves. Put into a kettle and boil until the fruit is soft; then skim out the fruit, putting it on dishes until the syrup is boiled down thick. Turn the fruit back into the syrup again, so as to heat it all through; then seal it hot in glass jars, and set it in a cool, dark place.
Any tart fruit may be put up in this way, and is considered a very good embellishment for cold meats.
SPICED PLUMS.
Seven pounds of plums, one pint of cider vinegar, four pounds of sugar, two tablespoonfuls of broken cinnamon bark, half as much of whole cloves and the same of broken nutmeg; place these in a muslin bag and simmer them in a little vinegar and water for half an hour; then add it all to the vinegar and sugar, and bring
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