Part 30
CURRANT-RAISIN JAM.--Wash, drain, seed, and chop fine two pounds of the best bloom or muscatel raisins, and put them into a large pan till wanted. Having stripped them from the stems, squeeze through a linen bag into a large bowl as many ripe currants as will yield three quarts of juice. Sweeten this juice with two pounds and a half of sugar. Having put the minced raisins into a preserving kettle, pour the currant-juice over them, and give the whole a hard stirring. Set it over the fire, and boil and skim it, (stirring it down after skimming,) till it is thoroughly done, forming a thick smooth jam or marmalade. When cool, put it into jars. Cork them closely, covering the corks with paper tied down over the top, and set them away in a dry place. It is an excellent jam for common use, and very nice with cream.
TO KEEP PINE-APPLES, WITHOUT COOKING.--Take large fine pine-apples--the ripest you can procure. Pare and slice them thin, removing the hard core from the centre. Weigh the slices, and to each pound allow a pound of double-refined powdered loaf-sugar. Spread the slices on large flat dishes, with a layer of sugar both under and over them. Let them stand several hours; then put them up (without any cooking) in large glass tumblers, with the syrup that has issued from them; and put a thick layer of sugar at the top of each tumblerful. Cover the glasses closely, and tie a piece of bladder over each.
If the sugar is of the best quality, and the pine-apples ripe and without blemishes, they will keep perfectly well, done as above, and retain the flavour of the fruit better than when cooked. They must be kept in a dry cool place.
FINE PINE-APPLE MARMALADE.--Take pine-apples of large size, and as ripe as possible. Having removed the green leaves, cut each pine-apple (without paring) into four quarters; and then, with a large coarse tin grater, grate them down as near the rind as you can go. Do this in a large dish, carefully saving the juice. Then weigh the grated pine-apple, and to every pound allow three large quarters of a pound of the best double-refined loaf-sugar, finely powdered. Too much sugar will, after boiling, cause the marmalade to candy in the jars. Mix with the sugar the pine-apple and all its juice, and put them into a preserving kettle over a moderate, but very clear, fire. Boil them slowly together, skimming them when necessary, and frequently stirring them up from the bottom with a silver spoon. Let them boil till they become a very thick smooth mass, of a fine gold colour. Put the marmalade warm into glass jars. Lay upon the surface a double tissue paper, cut circular, and fitting exactly; then cover the jars, and tie a piece of bladder over each.
Instead of grating the pine-apple, you may pare, core, and cut it into small thin pieces; but it will require a longer time to boil, and will be less smooth and beautiful. With a coarse grater the trouble is not much.
MELON MARMALADE.--Take fine large citron melons, and cut them into quarters, having removed the seeds. Weigh the pieces, and to every pound allow a pound of the best double-refined loaf-sugar. To every three pounds of melon allow two lemons, and a tea-spoonful of ground white ginger. Then grate the melon slices on a coarse grater, but not too close to the rind. Grate off the yellow rind of the lemons, and add it with the ginger to the sugar, which must be finely powdered. Then mix the whole with the grated melons in a preserving kettle. Set it over a moderate fire, and boil, skim, and stir it till it is a very thick smooth jam. Put it warm into glass jars, or large tumblers; lay a double round of tissue paper on the surface of the marmalade; cover the jars closely, and tie a piece of bladder over each.
Pumpkin marmalade may be made in the above manner, omitting the ginger.
TOMATO MARMALADE.--Take large fully-ripe tomatoes, and scald them in hot water, so that the skins can be easily peeled off. Weigh the tomatoes; and to every pound, allow a pound of the best sugar; to every three pounds, two lemons and a small tea-spoonful of ground ginger. Grate off the yellow rind of the lemons, and mix it with the sugar and ginger; then add their juice. Put the tomatoes into a preserving kettle, and mash them with the back of a wooden ladle. Then mix in the sugar, &c., stirring the whole very hard. Set the kettle over a moderate fire, and boil it very slowly for three hours, till it is a smooth mass, skimming it well; and stirring it to the bottom after each skimming.
This is an excellent sweet-meat; and as the lemon must on no account be omitted, it should be made when lemons are plenty. The best time is the month of August, as lemons are then to be had in abundance, and the tomatoes are less watery than in the autumn months. For children it may be made with brown sugar, and with less lemon and more ginger. Like all preparations of tomato it is very wholesome.
YANKEE APPLE PUDDING.--Butter the bottom and inside of a deep tin pan. Pare, core, and quarter six or eight large, fine, juicy apples; and strew among them a heaped half-pint or more of broken sugar. Dissolve a tea-spoonful either of soda, sal-eratus, or pearlash, in a pint of _sour_ milk. The soda will take off entirely the acid of the milk, and render the whole very light. Stir the milk, and pour it among the apples. Have ready a good pie-crust, rolled out thick. Lay it over the top of the pan of apples, &c.; trim the edge nicely, and notch it neatly. Put the pudding into a hot oven, and bake it brown. It will require at least an hour, or more, according to its depth. Eat it warm.
This is a good plain family pudding. A similar one may be made of peaches; pared; stoned, and quartered.
[406-*]FILET GUMBO.--Cut up a pair of fine plump fowls into pieces, as when carving. Lay them in a pan of cold water, till all the blood is drawn out. Put into a pot, two large table-spoonfuls of lard, and set it over the fire. When the lard has come to a boil, put in the chickens with an onion finely minced. Dredge them well with flour, and season slightly with salt and pepper; and, if you like it, a little chopped marjoram. Pour on it two quarts of boiling water. Cover it, and let it simmer slowly for three hours. Then stir into it two heaped tea-spoonfuls of sassafras powder. Afterwards, let it stew five or six minutes longer, and then send it to table in a deep dish; having a dish of boiled rice to be eaten with it by those who like rice.
This gumbo will be much improved by stewing with it three or four thin slices of cold boiled ham, in which case omit the salt in the seasoning. Whenever cold ham is an ingredient in any dish, no other salt is required.
A dozen fresh oysters and their liquor, added to the stew about half an hour before it is taken up, will also be an improvement.
If you cannot conveniently obtain sassafras-powder, stir the gumbo frequently with a stick of sassafras root.
This is a genuine southern receipt. Filet gumbo may be made of any sort of poultry, or of veal, lamb, venison, or kid.
[406-* Pronounced Fee_lay_.]
FINE CABBAGE SOUP.--Take a fine large cabbage, and, after removing the outside leaves, and cutting the stalk short, divide the cabbage into quarters, more than half way down, but not quite to the stem. Lay the cabbage in cold water for half an hour or more. Then set it over the fire in a pot _full_ of boiling water, and let it boil for an hour and a half, skimming it frequently. Then take it out, drain it, and laying it in a deep pan, pour on _cold_ water, and let the cabbage remain in it till cold all through. Next (having drained it from the cold water) cut the cabbage into shreds or small pieces, and put it into a clean pot containing three pints of rich boiling milk, into which you have stirred a quarter of a pound of the best fresh butter; adding a very little salt and pepper. Boil it in the milk about two hours, or till thoroughly done, and quite tender. Then cut up some pieces of bread into small squares. Lay them in a tureen, and pour the soup upon them.
This, being made without meat, is an excellent soup for Lent or fast-days.
It is still better when cauliflowers or broccoli are substituted for cabbage; adding a few blades of mace, or some grated nutmeg.
EXCELLENT PICKLED CABBAGE.--Shred very fine, with a cabbage-cutter, a large fresh red cabbage. Pack it down (with a little salt sprinkled between each layer) in a large stone jar. The jar should be three parts full of the shred cabbage. Then tie up, in a bag of very thin clean muslin, two table-spoonfuls of whole black pepper; the same quantity of cloves; and the same of cinnamon, broken very small, but not powdered. Also a dozen blades of mace. Put two quarts of the best cider-vinegar into a porcelain-lined kettle; throw in the bag of spices, and boil it. Five minutes after it has come to a hard boil, take out the bag of spice, and pour the vinegar hot over the cabbage in the jar; stirring it up from the bottom, so that the vinegar may get all through the cabbage. Then lay the bag of spice on the top, and while the pickle is hot, cover the jar closely. It will be fit for use in two days.
If you find, after awhile, that the pickle tastes too much of the spice, remove the spice-bag.
You may pickle white cabbage in the same way; omitting the cloves, and boiling in the vinegar a second muslin bag, with three ounces of turmeric, which will give the cabbage a fine bright yellow colour. Having put up the cabbage into the jar, lay the turmeric-bag half way down, and the spice-bag on the top. But the turmeric-bag need not be put into the jar if the vinegar has sufficiently coloured the cabbage.
Small onions may be pickled, as above, with turmeric. Always, in preparing onions, for any purpose, peel off the thin outer skin.
MADEIRA HAM.--Take a ham of the very finest sort; a Westphalia one, if you can obtain it. Soak it in water all day and all night; changing the water several times. A Westphalia ham should be soaked two days and nights. Early in the morning of the day it is to be cooked, put it over the fire in a large pot, and boil it four hours, skimming it well. Then take it out; remove the skin, and put the ham into a clean boiler, with sufficient Madeira wine to cover it well. Boil, or rather stew it an hour longer, keeping the pot covered, except when you remove the lid to turn the ham. When well stewed take it up, drain it, and strain the liquor into a porcelain-lined saucepan. Have ready a sufficiency of powdered white sugar. Cover the ham all over with a thick coating of the sugar, and set it into a hot oven to bake for an hour.
Mix some orange or lemon-juice with the liquor, adding sugar and nutmeg. Give it one boil up over the fire, and serve it up in a tureen, as sauce to the ham.
What is left of the ham may be cut next day into thin slices, put into a stew-pan, with the remains of the liquor or sauce poured over it, and stewed for a quarter of an hour. Serve it up all together in the same dish. Instead of Madeira you may use champagne. Bottled cider is also a good substitute.
Fresh venison, pheasants, partridges, grouse, or any other game, (also canvas-back ducks,) cut up and stewed with a mixture of Madeira wine, orange, or lemon-juice, sugar, nutmeg, and a little butter will be found very fine. The birds should first be half roasted, and the gravy saved to add to the stew.
NEW WAY OF DRESSING TERRAPINS.--In buying terrapins, select those only that are large, fat, and thick-bodied. Put them whole into water that is boiling hard at the time, and (adding a little salt) boil them till thoroughly done throughout. Then, taking off the shell, extract the meat, and remove carefully the sand-bag and gall; also _all the entrails_. They are disgusting, unfit to eat; and are no longer served up in cooking terrapin for the best tables. Cut the meat into pieces, and put it into a stew-pan with its eggs, and sufficient fresh butter to stew it well. Let it stew till quite hot throughout, keeping the pan carefully covered that none of the flavour may escape; but shake it over the fire while stewing. In another pan, make a sauce of beaten yolk of egg, highly flavoured with Madeira or sherry, and powdered nutmeg and mace, and enriched with a large lump of fresh butter. Stir this sauce well over the fire, and when it has _almost_ come to a boil, take it off. Send the terrapin to table hot in a covered dish, and the sauce _separately_ in a sauce-tureen, to be used by those who like it, and omitted by those who prefer the genuine flavour of the terrapin when simply stewed with butter.
This is now the usual mode of dressing terrapins in Maryland and Virginia, and will be found superior to any other.
No dish of terrapins can be good unless the terrapins themselves are of the best quality. It is mistaken economy to buy poor ones. Besides being insipid and tasteless, it takes more in number to fill a dish. The females are the best.
A TERRAPIN POT-PIE.--Take several fine large terrapins, the fattest and thickest you can get. Put them into a large pot of water that is boiling hard; and boil them half an hour or more. Then take them out of the shell, pulling off the outer skin and the toe-nails. Remove the sand-bag and the gall, taking care not to break it, or it will render the whole too bitter to be eaten. Take out also the entrails, and throw them away; as the custom of cooking them is now, very properly, exploded. Then cut up all the meat of the terrapins, taking care to save all the liquid that exudes in cutting up, and also the eggs. Season the whole with pepper, mace, and nutmeg, adding a little salt; and lay among it pieces of fresh butter slightly rolled in flour.
Have ready an ample quantity of paste, made in the proportion of a pound of butter to two large quarts (or pounds) of flour, or a pound and a half of butter to three quarts of flour, and rolled out thick. Butter the inside of an iron pot, and line the sides with paste, till it reaches within one-third of the top. Then put in the pieces of terrapin, with the eggs, butter, &c., and with all the liquid. Lay among the terrapin, square pieces of paste. Then pour in sufficient water to stew the whole properly. Next, cover all with a circular lid, or top-crust of paste, but do not fit it so closely that the gravy cannot bubble up over the edges while cooking. Cut a slit in the top-crust. Place the pot-pie over a good fire, and boil it till the whole is thoroughly done, which will be from three-quarters to an hour, (after it comes to a boil;) taking care not to let it get too dry, but keeping a kettle of _hot_ water to replenish it if necessary. When done, take it up in a deep dish, and serve it hot. Then let every one add what seasoning they choose.
It may be much improved by mixing among the pieces of terrapin (before putting them into the pie) some yolks of hard-boiled eggs, grated or minced. They will enrich the gravy.
A BEEF-STEAK POT-PIE.--Take a sufficiency of tender beef-steaks from the sirloin, removing all the fat and bone. Season them slightly with pepper and salt; adding also some nutmeg. Put them into a pot with plenty of water, and par-boil them. Meanwhile, make a large portion of paste, (a pot-pie with but little paste is no better than a mere stew,) and roll it out thick. If you use suet for shortening, allow to every two quarts or two pounds of flour a large half-pound of suet, divested of the skin and strings, and minced as finely as possible with a chopping-knife. Sprinkle in a very little salt. Mix the suet with the flour in a large pan, rubbing it fine with your hands, and adding gradually sufficient cold water to make a stiff dough. Then transfer the lump of dough to the paste-board; knead it well with your hands; and beat it hard on all sides with the rolling-pin. Next roll it out into sheets. Line the sides of a pot with a portion of the dough. Then put in the beef; adding for gravy the liquid in which it was boiled, and a little hot water. Also, some potatoes sliced or quartered. Intersperse the meat with square slices of paste. Finish by covering it with a lid of paste, having a slit in the top: but do not fit the lid too closely. Then placing the pot over the fire, let it boil from three-quarters to an hour, (after it comes to a boil,) replenishing it, if necessary, with more hot water. This will be found an excellent family dish.
CHICKEN POT-PIE.--Cut up, and par-boil a pair of large fowls, seasoning them with pepper, salt, and nutmeg. You may add some small slices of cold ham; in which case add _no salt_, as the ham will make it salt enough. Or you may put in some pieces of the lean of fresh pork. You may prepare a suet-paste; but for a chicken pot-pie it is best to make the paste of butter, which should be fresh, and of the best quality. Allow to each quart of flour, a small half-pound of butter. There should be enough for a great deal of paste. Line the sides of the pot, two-thirds up, with paste. Put in the chickens, with the liquor in which they were parboiled. You may add some sliced potatoes. Intersperse the pieces of chicken with layers of paste in square slices. Then cover the whole with a lid of paste, not fitting very closely. Make a slit in the top, and boil the pie about three-quarters of an hour or more.
This pie will be greatly improved by adding some clams to the chickens while par-boiling, omitting salt in the seasoning, as the clams will salt it quite enough.
BROILED MUSHROOMS.--Take the largest and finest fresh mushrooms. Peel them, and cut off the stems as closely as possible. Lay the mushrooms on their backs, upon a large flat dish; and into the hollow or cup of each put a piece of fresh butter, and season it with a little black pepper. Set a clean gridiron over a bed of clear hot coals, and when it is well heated, put on the mushrooms, and broil them thoroughly. The gridiron should be one with grooved bars, so as to retain the gravy. When the first gridiron-full of mushrooms is well broiled, put them with their liquor into a hot dish, and keep them closely covered while the rest are broiling. This is an excellent way of cooking mushrooms.
AN EASY WAY TO PICKLE MUSHROOMS.--Take two quarts of small freshly-gathered mushrooms. With a sharp-pointed knife peel off, carefully, their thin outside skin; and cut off the stalks closely. Prepare eight little bags of very thin clear muslin, and tie up in each bag six blades of mace; six slices of root-ginger; and a small nutmeg (or half a large one) broken small, but not powdered. Have ready four glass jars, such as are considered to hold a quart. Lay a bag of spice in the bottom of each; then put in a pint of the mushrooms, laying a second bag of spice on the top. Have ready a sufficiency of the best cider-vinegar, very slightly seasoned with salt; allowing to each quart of vinegar but a salt-spoon of salt. Fill up the jars with the vinegar, finishing at the top with two table-spoonfuls of sweet oil. Immediately close up the jars, corking them tightly; and pasting thick paper, or tying a piece of leather or bladder closely down over the corks.
These mushrooms will be found very fine; and as they require no cooking, are speedily and easily prepared. When a jar is once opened, it will be well to use them fast. They may be put up in small jars, or in glass tumblers, such as hold but a pint altogether; seeing that the proportions of spice in each jar or tumbler are duly divided, as above. Keep them in a very dry place.
If you wish the mushrooms to be of a dark colour when pickled, add half a dozen cloves to each bag of spice; but the clove-taste will most likely overpower that of the mushrooms. On no account omit the oil.
If you cannot obtain button-mushrooms, cut large ones into four quarters, first peeling them and removing the stems.
BREAKFAST ROLLS.--These rolls must be mixed the night before, near bed-time. Sift three quarts of flour into a deep pan, and cut up into it a half-pint cup-full (or a quarter of a pound) of fresh butter. Rub the butter with your hands into the flour till thoroughly incorporated, and add a very small tea-spoonful of salt. Make a hole in the middle of the flour, and pour in four large table-spoonfuls of excellent yeast. Have ready sufficient warm milk; a pint will generally be enough, (heated but not boiling,) to make it into a light dough. Add the milk gradually; and then knead the dough. Put it into a pan, cover it with a clean thick cloth, and set it in a warm place. Early in the morning, add to the dough a small tea-spoonful of pearl-ash or sal-eratus, or a large tea-spoonful of soda, dissolved in a little warm water. Mix it well in, and knead the dough over again. Then divide it into equal portions, and make each portion into an _oval-shaped_ roll. Draw a deep mark along the top-surface of each with a knife. Put them into a hot oven, and bake them brown.
If intended for tea, mix them in the forenoon; and previous to baking, make out the dough into _round cakes_, pricking them with a fork.
BUCKWHEAT BATTER PUDDING.--Mix early in the day, a quart of buckwheat meal with a large tea-cup full of Indian meal or of wheat flour; and add a tea-spoonful of salt. Have ready some water, warm but not boiling; and stir it gradually into the pan of meal till it makes a thick batter. Then add two large table-spoonfuls of fresh strong yeast from the brewer’s. Of home-made yeast you will require three or four spoonfuls. Stir the whole very hard; cover the pan and set it near the fire to rise. When quite light, and covered with bubbles, melt a small tea-spoonful of soda or pearl-ash in a little warm water, and stir it into the batter. This, added to the yeast, will make the mixture light enough for a pudding without eggs. Have ready on the fire, a pot of boiling water. Dip in the pudding-cloth, then shake it out, spread it into a bread pan, and dredge it with flour. Pour the batter into the cloth as soon as you have added the soda, and tie it tightly, leaving a vacancy of about one-third, to allow for the swelling of the pudding. Put it into the pot while the water is boiling hard, and boil the pudding fast during an hour or more; buckwheat meal requiring much less time than indian or wheat. While boiling, turn the pudding several times in the water. When done, turn it out on a dish, and send it to table hot. Eat it with butter and sugar, or molasses.
This is a good plain pudding; but the batter must be _perfectly_ light before it is tied up in the cloth; and if the water boils away, replenish the pudding-pot with _boiling_ water from a kettle. To put _cold_ water into a boiling pot will most certainly spoil whatever pudding is cooking in it, rendering it heavy, flat, and unfit to eat.
If you intend having buckwheat cakes at breakfast, and this pudding at dinner, mix at once sufficient batter for both purposes, adding the soda at the last, just before you put the pudding into the cloth.
Yeast-powders will be still better than soda; real yeast having previously been used when first mixing the batter. To use yeast-powders, dissolve the contents of the blue paper (super-carbonate of soda) in a little warm water, and stir it into the batter. Then, directly after, melt in another cup the powder from the white paper, (tartaric acid,) and stir that in also.
BUCKWHEAT PORRIDGE.--Boil a quart of rich milk, and when it has come to a hard boil, stir in, gradually, as much buckwheat meal as will make it of the consistence of very thick mush, adding a tea-spoon of salt, (not more,) and a table-spoonful of fresh butter. Five minutes after it is thick enough, remove it from the fire. If the milk is previously boiling hard, and continues to boil while the meal is going in, but little more cooking will be necessary.
Send it to table hot, and eat it with butter and sugar, or with molasses and butter.