Part 9

Take green tomatoes, turn boiling water on them, and let them remain in it a few minutes--then strip off the skin, cut the tomatoes in slices, and put them in deep pie plates. Sprinkle sugar over each layer, and a little ginger. Grated lemon peel, and the juice of a lemon, improve the pie. Cover the pies with a thick crust, and bake them slowly for about an hour.

246. _Lemon Pie._

For one pie, take a couple of good sized fresh lemons, squeeze out the juice, and mix it with half a pint of molasses, or sufficient sugar to make the juice sweet. Chop the peel fine, line a deep pie plate with your pastry, then sprinkle on a layer of your chopped lemon peel, turn in part of the mixed sugar or molasses, and juice, then cover the whole with pie crust, rolled very thin--put in another layer of peel, sweetened juice, and crust, and so on, till all the lemon is used. Cover the whole with a thick crust, and bake the pie about half an hour.

247. _Cherry and Blackberry Pie._

Cherries and blackberries for pies should be ripe. Bake them in deep pie plates, sweeten them with sugar, and put in cloves or cinnamon to the taste. Bake them about half an hour.

248. _Grape Pie._

Grapes make the best pies when very tender and green. If not very small, they should be stewed and strained, to get out the seeds, before they are made into pies--sweeten them to the taste when stewed. They do not require any spice. If made into a pie without stewing, put to each layer of grapes a thick layer of sugar, and a table-spoonful of water.

249. _Currant and Gooseberry Pie._

Currants and gooseberries are the best for pies when of a full growth, just before they begin to turn red--they are tolerably good when ripe. Currants mixed with ripe raspberries or mulberries, make very nice pies. Green currants and gooseberries for pies are not apt to be sweet enough without the sugar is scalded in before they are baked, as the juice of the currants is apt to run out while they are baking, and leave the fruit dry. Stew them on a moderate fire, with a tea-cup of water to a couple of quarts of currants--as soon as they begin to break, add the sugar, and let it scald in a few minutes. When baked without stewing, put to each layer of fruit a thick layer of sugar. There should be as much as a quarter of a pound of sugar to a pint of currants, to make them sufficiently sweet. Green currant pies are good sweetened with molasses and sugar mixed.

250. _Prune Pie._

Prunes that are too dry to eat without stewing, can be made into good pies. Turn enough boiling water on the prunes to cover them, set them on a few coals, and let them remain till swelled out plump. If there is not water sufficient to make a nice syrup for the pies, add more, and season them with cinnamon or cloves. The juice and grated peel of a lemon gives them a fine flavor. Add sugar to the taste, and bake them in deep pie plates.

251. _Pumpkin Pie._

Halve the pumpkin, take out the seeds--rinse the pumpkin, and cut it into small strips--stew them, over a moderate fire, in just sufficient water to prevent their burning, to the bottom of the pot. When stewed soft, turn off the water, and let the pumpkin steam, over a slow fire, for fifteen or twenty minutes, taking care that it does not burn. Take it from the fire, and strain it, when cool, through a sieve. If you wish to have the pies very rich, put to a quart of the stewed pumpkin two quarts of milk, and twelve eggs. If you like them plain, put to a quart of the pumpkin one quart of milk, and three eggs. The thicker the pie is of the pumpkin, the less will be the number of eggs required for them. One egg, with a table-spoonful of flour, will answer for a quart of the pumpkin, if very little milk is used. Sweeten the pumpkin with sugar, and very little molasses--the sugar and eggs should be beaten together. Ginger, the grated rind of a lemon, or nutmeg, is good spice for the pies. Pumpkin pies require a very hot oven. The rim of the pies is apt to get burnt before the inside is baked sufficiently. On this account, it is a good plan to heat the pumpkin scalding hot when prepared for pies, before turning it into the pie plates. The pies should be baked as soon as the plates are filled, or the under crust to the pies will be clammy. The more the number of eggs in the pies, the less time will be required to bake them. If you have pumpkins that have begun to decay, or those that are frozen, they can be kept several months, in cold weather, by cutting the good part up, stewing it till soft, then stirring it, and adding sugar and molasses, to make it very sweet. Make it strong of ginger, then scald the seasoning in well. Keep it in a stone jar, in a cool place--whenever you wish to use any of it for pies, take out the quantity you wish, and put milk and eggs to it.

252. _Carrot Pie._

Scrape the skin off from the carrots, boil them soft, and strain them through a sieve. To a pint of the strained pulp put three pints of milk, six beaten eggs, two table-spoonsful of melted butter, the juice of half a lemon, and the grated rind of a whole one. Sweeten it to your taste, and bake it in deep pie plates without an upper crust.

253. _Potato Pie._

Boil Carolina or mealy Irish potatoes, till very soft--when peeled, mash and strain them. To a quarter of a pound of potatoes, put a quart of milk, three table-spoonsful of melted butter, four beaten eggs, a wine glass of wine--add sugar and nutmeg to the taste.

254. _Sweet Marlborough Pie._

Procure sweet mellow apples, pare and grate them. To a pint of the grated pulp put a pint of milk, a couple of eggs, two table-spoonsful of melted butter, the grated peel of a lemon, and half a wine glass of brandy. Sweeten it to the taste with nice brown sugar. The eggs should be beaten to a froth, then the sugar stirred into them, and mixed with the rest of the ingredients. A little stewed pumpkin, mixed with the apples, improves the pie. Bake the pie in deep plates, without an upper crust.

255. _Marlborough Tarts._

Take tart juicy apples--quarter them, and stew them till soft enough to rub through a sieve. To twelve table-spoonsful of the strained apple, put twelve of sugar, the same quantity of wine, six table-spoonsful of melted butter, four beaten eggs, the juice and grated rind of a lemon, half a nutmeg, and half a pint of milk. Turn this, when the ingredients are well mixed together, into deep pie plates that are lined with pastry, and a rim of puff paste round the edge. Bake the tarts about half an hour.

256. _Cocoanut Pie._

Cut off the brown part of the cocoanut--grate the white part, and mix it with milk, and set it on the fire, and let it boil slowly eight or ten minutes. To a pound of the grated cocoanut allow a quart of milk, eight eggs, four table-spoonsful of sifted white sugar, a glass of wine, a small cracker, pounded fine, two table-spoonsful of melted butter, and half a nutmeg. The eggs and sugar should be beaten together to a froth, then the wine stirred in. Put them into the milk and cocoanut, which should be first allowed to get quite cool--add the cracker and nutmeg--turn the whole into deep pie plates, with a lining and rim of puff paste. Bake them as soon as turned into the plates.

257. _Small Puffs._

To make a dozen puffs, take a pound and a quarter of flour, a pound of butter, and one egg. Put them together according to the directions for puff pastry, No. 238. Divide it when made into three equal portions--roll one of them out half an inch thick, cut it into cakes with a tumbler--roll out the rest of the pastry, cut it into strips with a jagging iron, and lay the strips round those that are cut with a tumbler, so as to form a rim. Lay the puffs on buttered flat tins--bake them in a quick oven till a light brown, then fill them with any small preserved fruit you may happen to have.

258. _A Plain Custard Pie._

Boil a quart of milk with half a dozen peach leaves, or the rind of a lemon. When they have flavored the milk, strain it, and set it where it will boil. Mix a table-spoonful of flour, smoothly, with a couple of table-spoonsful of milk, and stir it into the boiling milk. Let it boil a minute, stirring it constantly--take it from the fire, and when cool, put in three beaten eggs--sweeten it to the taste, turn it into deep pie plates, and bake the pies directly in a quick oven.

259. _A Rich Baked Custard._

Beat seven eggs with three table-spoonsful of rolled sugar. When beaten to a froth, mix them with a quart of milk--flavor it with nutmeg. Turn it into cups, or else into deep pie plates, that have a lining and rim of pastry--bake them directly, in a quick oven. To ascertain when the custards are sufficiently baked, stick a clean broom splinter into them--if none of the custard adheres to the splinter, it is sufficiently baked.

260. _Boiled Custards._

Put your milk on the fire, and let it boil up--then remove it from the fire, and let it cool. Beat for each quart of the milk, if liked rich, the yelks and half the whites of six eggs, with three table-spoonsful of rolled sugar--stir them into the milk when it is cool. If you wish to have your custards very plain, four eggs to a quart of the milk is sufficient. Season the custard with nutmeg or rosewater, and set it on a few coals, and stir it constantly until it thickens, and becomes scalding hot. Take it from the fire before it gets to boiling, and stir it a few minutes, then turn it into the cups. Beat the reserved whites of the eggs to a froth, and turn them on the top of the custards just before they are to be eaten.

261. _Mottled Custards._

Stir into a quart of milk, while boiling, the beaten yelks of six eggs. Beat the whites of the eggs with three table-spoonsful of powdered white sugar, if the custards are liked very sweet--if not, a less quantity will answer. Stir in the whites of the eggs a minute after the yelks have set, so as to be thick. Season the custard with essence of lemon or rosewater--stir it till it becomes thick and lumpy, then turn it into cups.

262. _Cream Custards._

Sweeten a pint of cream with powdered white sugar--set it on a few coals. When hot, stir in white wine until it curdles--add rosewater or essence of lemon to the taste, and turn it into cups. Another way of making them, which is very nice, is to mix a pint of cream with one of milk, five beaten eggs, a table-spoonful of flour, and three of sugar. Add nutmeg to the taste, and bake the custards in cups or pie plates, in a quick oven.

263. _Almond Custards._

Blanch and pound fine, with a table-spoonful of rosewater, four ounces of almonds. Boil them four or five minutes in a quart of milk, with sufficient white sugar to sweeten the milk. Take it from the fire, and when lukewarm, stir in the beaten yelks of eight, and the whites of four eggs. Set the whole on the fire, and stir it constantly until it thickens--then take it up, stir it till partly cooled, and turn it into cups. If you wish to have the custards cool quick, set the cups into a pan of cold water--as fast as it gets warm, change it. Just before the custards are to be eaten, beat the reserved whites of the eggs to a froth, and cover the top of the custards with them.

264. _Apple Custards._

Take half a dozen tart mellow apples--pare and quarter them, and take out the cores. Put them in a pan, with half a tea-cup of water--set them on a few coals. When they begin to grow soft, turn them into a pudding dish, sprinkle sugar on them. Beat eight eggs with rolled brown sugar--mix them with three pints of milk, grate in half a nutmeg, and turn the whole over the apples. Bake the custard between twenty and thirty minutes.

265. _Directions for making Puddings._

A bag that is used for boiling puddings, should be made of thick cotton cloth. Before the pudding is turned in, the bag should be dipped into water, wrung out, and the inside of it floured. When the pudding is turned in, tie the bag tight, leaving plenty of room for the pudding to swell out in. Indian and flour puddings require a great deal of room. Put them in a pot of boiling water, with an old plate at the bottom of the pot, to keep the pudding bag from sticking to it. When the pudding has been in a few minutes, turn the bag over, or the pudding will settle, and be heavy. There should be water enough in the pot to cover the pudding, and it should not be allowed to stop boiling a minute--if so, the pudding will not be nice. A tea-kettle of boiling water should be kept on the fire, to turn in as the water boils away. When the pudding is done, dip the bag into cold water for a minute--the pudding will then come out easily. When puddings are baked, the fruit should not be put in till the pudding has begun to thicken, otherwise they will sink to the bottom of the pudding.

266. _Hasty Pudding._

Wet sifted Indian meal with cold water, to make a thick batter. Stir it into a pot of boiling water gradually. Boil it an hour, then stir in sifted Indian meal, by the handful, till it becomes quite thick, and so that the pudding stick may be made to stand up in it. It should be stirred in very gradually, so that the pudding may not be lumpy. Add salt to the taste. Let it boil slowly, and stir it frequently, to keep it from burning on the inside of the pot. If you do not wish to fry the pudding, it will boil sufficiently in the course of an hour and a half. If it is to be fried, it will be necessary to boil it an hour longer; and a little flour stirred in, just before it is taken up, will make it fry better. It must get perfectly cold before it is fried. When you wish to fry it, cut it in slices half an inch thick, flour them, and fry them brown in a little lard.

267. _Corn Puddings._

Grate sweet green corn--to three tea-cups of it, when grated, put two quarts of milk, eight eggs, a couple of tea-spoonsful of salt, half a tea-cup of melted butter, and a grated nutmeg. Bake the pudding an hour--serve it up with sauce.

268. _Cracker Pudding._

Mix ten ounces of finely pounded crackers with a wine glass of wine, a little salt, and half a nutmeg, three or four table-spoonsful of sugar, two of melted butter. Beat eight eggs to a froth--mix them with three pints of milk, and turn them on to the rest of the ingredients. Let it remain till the crackers begin to soften, then bake it.

269. _Boiled Indian Pudding._

Stir enough sifted Indian meal into a quart of boiling milk or water, to make a very stiff batter--then stir in a couple of table-spoonsful of flour, three of sugar or molasses, half a spoonful of ginger, or a couple of tea-spoonsful of cinnamon, and a couple of tea-spoonsful of salt. Two or three eggs improve the pudding, but are not essential--some people like a little chopped suet in them. The pudding will boil, so as to be very good, in the course of three hours, but it is better for being boiled five or six hours. Some cooks boil them eight or nine hours--when boiled so long, it is necessary to boil them several hours the day before they are to be eaten.

270. _Baked Indian Pudding._

Boil a quart of milk, and turn it on to a pint of sifted Indian meal. Stir it in well, so as to scald the meal--then mix three table-spoonsful of wheat flour with a pint of milk. The milk should be stirred gradually into the flour, so as to have it mix free from lumps. Turn it on to the Indian meal--mix the whole well together. When the whole is just lukewarm, beat three eggs with three table-spoonsful of sugar--stir them into the pudding, together with two tea-spoonsful of salt, two of cinnamon, or a grated nutmeg, and a couple of table-spoonsful of melted butter, or suet chopped fine. Add, if you wish to have the pudding very rich, half a pound of raisins--they should not be put in till the pudding has baked five or six minutes. If raisins are put in, an additional half pint of milk will be required, as they absorb a great deal of milk. A very good Indian pudding may be made without eggs, if half a pint more of meal is used, and no flour. It takes three hours to bake an Indian pudding without eggs--if it has eggs in, it will bake in much less time.

271. _Minute Pudding._

Put a pint and a half of milk on the fire. Mix five large table-spoonsful of either wheat or rye flour, smoothly, with half a pint of milk, a tea-spoonful of salt, and half of a grated nutmeg. When the milk boils, stir in the mixed flour and milk. Let the whole boil for one minute, stirring it constantly--take it from the fire, let it get lukewarm, then add three beaten eggs. Set it back on the fire, and stir it constantly until it thickens. Take it from the fire as soon as it boils.

272. _Boiled Bread Pudding._

Take about three-quarters of a pound of bread, cut it into small pieces, and soak them soft in cold water--then drain off the water, mash the bread fine, and mix with it two table-spoonsful of flour, three eggs, a tea-spoonful of salt, a table-spoonful of melted butter, and cold milk sufficient to make it a thick batter. Mix the whole well together, then turn it into a floured pudding bag--tie it up, so as to leave room for the pudding to swell--boil it an hour and a half, without any intermission. Serve up the pudding with rich sauce.

273. _A Plain Baked Bread Pudding._

Pound rusked bread fine--to five heaping table-spoonsful of it, put a quart of milk, three beaten eggs, three table-spoonsful of rolled sugar, a tea-spoonful of salt, half a nutmeg, and three table-spoonsful of melted butter. Bake it about an hour--it does not need any sauce.

274. _Rich Bread Pudding._

Cut a pound loaf of bakers' bread into thin slices--spread butter on them as for eating--lay them in a pudding dish--sprinkle between each layer of bread seeded raisins, and citron, cut in small strips. Beat eight eggs with four table-spoonsful of rolled sugar--mix them with three pints of milk, half of a grated nutmeg. Turn the whole on to the bread, and let it remain until the bread has absorbed full half of the milk--then bake it about three-quarters of an hour.

275. _Flour Pudding._

Into a pint and a half of sifted flour stir gradually, so that it may not be lumpy, a quart of milk. Beat seven eggs, and put in, together with a couple of table-spoonsful of melted butter, and a couple of tea-spoonsful of salt. Grate in half of a nutmeg--add, if you want the pudding very rich, half a pound of raisins. They should not be put into a baked pudding till it has been cooking long enough to thicken, so that the raisins will not sink to the bottom of it. A pudding made in this manner is good either baked or boiled. It takes two hours to boil, and an hour and a quarter to bake it. When boiled, the bag should not be more than two-thirds full, as flour puddings swell very much. It should be put into boiling water, and kept boiling constantly. If the water boils away, so as to leave any part of the bag uncovered, more boiling water should be added. When the pudding has boiled eight or nine minutes, the bag should be turned over, otherwise the pudding will be heavy. Flour puddings should be eaten as soon as cooked, as they fall directly. Serve them up with rich sauce.

276. _Boiled Rice Pudding._

Put two tea-cups of rice into a quart of boiling water--add a couple of tea-spoonsful of salt, and let the rice boil till soft. Then take it from the fire, stir in a quart of cold milk, and half a pound of raisins; or omit the raisins, and substitute any other fruit that you may like. Beat a couple of eggs, and put in, together with half of a grated nutmeg. Set the whole on the fire, and let it boil till the fruit is soft. Serve it up with butter and sugar.

277. _A Baked Rice Pudding, without eggs._

Pick over and wash two small tea-cups of rice, and put it into two quarts of milk. Melt a small tea-cup of butter, and put in, together with two of sugar, a grated nutmeg, and a couple of tea-spoonsful of salt, and bake the pudding about two hours. This pudding does not need any sauce, and is good either hot or cold. If you wish to have the pudding very rich, add, when it has been baking five or six minutes, half a pound of raisins.

278. _Rice Pudding, with eggs._

Boil a quarter of a pound of unground rice in a quart of milk till soft, then stir in a quarter of a pound of butter--take it from the fire, put in a pint of cold milk, a couple of tea-spoonsful of salt, and a grated nutmeg. When it is lukewarm, beat four eggs with a quarter of a pound of sugar, and stir it into the pudding--add half a pound of raisins, and turn the whole into a buttered pudding dish, and bake it three-quarters of an hour.

279. _Ground Rice Pudding._

Mix a pint and a half of ground rice, smooth, with a quart of milk--stir in a glass of wine, a quarter of a pound of melted butter, a tea-spoonful of salt, and spice to the taste. Beat eight eggs, and stir them in--turn the whole into a buttered pudding dish, and when it has baked a few minutes, add half a pound of raisins, or Zante currants.

280. _Rice Snow Balls._

Pare small, tart apples, and take out the cores with a small knife--fill the cavity with a stick of cinnamon or mace. Put each one in a small floured bag, and fill the bags about half full of unground rice. Tie up the bags so as to leave a great deal of room for the rice to swell. Put them in a pot of water, with a table-spoonful of salt to a couple of quarts of water. The bags of rice should be boiled in a large proportion of water, as the rice absorbs it very much. Boil them about an hour and twenty minutes, then turn them out of the bags carefully into a dessert dish, and garnish them with marmalade cut in slices. Serve them up with butter and sugar.

281. _Cream Pudding._

Beat six eggs to a froth--then mix with them three table-spoonsful of powdered white sugar, the grated rind of a lemon. Mix a pint of milk with a pint of flour, two tea-spoonsful of salt--then add the eggs and sugar. Just before it is baked, stir in a pint of thick cream. Bake it either in buttered cups or a pudding dish.

282. _Custard Pudding._

Stir a quart of milk very gradually into half a pint of flour--mix it free from lumps, and put to it seven eggs, beaten with three table-spoonsful of sugar, a tea-spoonful of salt, and half of a grated nutmeg. Bake it three-quarters of an hour.

283. _Rennet Pudding._

Put cleaned calf's rennet into white wine, in the proportion of a piece three inches square to a pint of wine. It will be fit for use in the course of seven or eight hours. Whenever you wish to make a pudding, put three table-spoonsful of the wine to a quart of sweet milk, and four table-spoonsful of powdered white sugar--flavor it with rosewater or essence of lemon. Stir it twenty minutes, then dish it out, and grate nutmeg over it. It should be eaten in the course of an hour after it is made, as it soon curdles.

284. _Fruit Pudding._

Make good common pie crust--roll it out half an inch thick, and strew over it any one of the following kinds of fruit: Cherries, currants, gooseberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, or cranberries. A thick layer of marmalade spread on, is also very nice. Sprinkle over the fruit a little cinnamon or cloves, and sugar. If the pudding is made of gooseberries, currants, or cranberries, a great deal of sugar will be necessary. Roll the crust up carefully, join the ends so that the fruit will not drop out, and lay the pudding in a thick white towel, that has been previously dipped into water, and floured. Baste up the towel, and lay it carefully in a pot of boiling water, with a plate at the bottom of it. Boil it an hour, and serve it up with rich liquid sauce. For a baked fruit pudding, make a batter of wheat flour, or Indian meal, with milk and eggs. Mix the ingredients in the proportion of a pint of flour and six eggs to a quart of milk. Put to each quart of milk a pint of fruit, and sugar to the taste.

285. _A Quaking Pudding._