Part 2
In making Cheddar cheese, the night’s milk is placed in a vat, and left until the following morning, being kept fairly cool. If much cream has risen by the morning, this must be skimmed off, added to the morning’s milk, and well stirred. The morning’s milk must then be heated by the pan being placed in a vessel containing hot water until its temperature is raised to a point not far short of, but never exceeding, 95° F. The evening’s milk is then added to it, and the joint temperature brought to about 80° to 85° F. Rennet is added, as in the case of Stilton cheese. In about an hour, when the curd breaks readily and clearly, as if cut, the curd is to be cut by a long thin knife into two-inch cubes. In about five minutes the curd is to be further broken up for about fifty minutes by the “breaker” until the pieces are of the size of peas, the whey keeping green all the while. Allow the whey to drain and separate for five or ten minutes, when it should be partly baled or syphoned off, heated to 130° F., and returned so as to raise the total temperature to 90° to 95° F., the curd being well stirred during the return of the heated whey, which process should be gradual, extending over ten minutes or more. The whey should now rest above the hard and shotty curd, which sinks to the bottom of the vat. In about a quarter of an hour the whey is drawn off, the curd is cut up, and the pieces are piled in a mound. Keep it warm by covering it with cloths, and in a quarter of an hour again cut it into pieces, turn it, and arrange it afresh in a mound. It is again covered for half an hour, then removed to a cooler, cut into small pieces, and covered for another half an hour. This is often again and again repeated until the curd is ripe for grinding. The curd having been ground, pure salt at the rate of an ounce to three pounds should be carefully dredged over, and mixed into it. The curd should then be placed in the cloth-lined moulds, and subjected to the press for twelve hours. The cloth is then changed, the cheese turned, and again pressed for twenty-four hours. This is repeated for four days, when the cheese is finally removed from the mould, bandaged after the manner of Stilton, and kept in a temperature of 65° to 70° F. for six weeks, being turned daily the while, and then in a temperature of 60° to 65° F., when it is turned on alternate days for another six or eight weeks.
_Cream Cheese._—There are several soft cheeses well worth the attention of the small dairy owner. Simple cream cheese is the easiest of all, for one has only to take a quart of thick cream, put it with two drops of rennet into a napkin which has been freshly rinsed out in cold spring water, and sprinkle a little salt over it. Tie up the cream in the napkin as tightly as possible, and hang it up in the dairy. It may be eaten in twenty-four hours. The napkin must be changed at night, and again in the morning, for a fresh one wrung out in cold water. When the cream cheese comes out of the dining-room, it must be again tied up in a clean damp napkin and taken immediately to the dairy.
_Grewelthorp Cream Cheese_ is equally simple in its manufacture. Take one quart of new milk, and put it with a few drops of rennet in a warm place, where it must remain for twenty-four hours. Then put in a little salt, stir the milk well, tie it up in a cloth, and hang it up in the dairy to drain. If a richer cheese is required, add half a pint of cream to the new milk.
A number of soft cheeses may be made with the help of some tinned iron cylindrical moulds open at both ends. These moulds may be of various diameters and depths. Some loose squares of wood, some entire and others perforated, of various sizes, to serve as bottoms and tops of the moulds, must also be provided; and straw mats of the same size as the boards are also desirable. A good average size for the moulds is five inches in diameter, and four inches in depth. About two quarts of milk are required to make one cheese for this size mould.
_To make Camembert_, the rennet diluted with water is added to milk of a temperature of about 85° F., and the whole is stirred for three minutes. It is then covered for about four hours, until no curd adheres to the finger when placed on its surface. The curd is then ladled in slices into the moulds, each mould being placed on a straw mat, with a board below, resting on a sloping table. The full moulds are allowed to drain for about six hours in a temperature of 60° F. A clean mat and board are then placed at the top of the mould, the latter inverted, and the previous base removed and cleaned. Repeat this changing and inversing twice a day for two days. Then remove the cheeses from the moulds, sprinkle some salt on top and bottom, and stand them on straw or straw-mats in a temperature of about 50° to 55° F., a free current of air being carried through the drying-room. The cheeses require turning each morning and evening for another three days, then every morning for a week, and afterwards on alternate days. In about a fortnight, when the cheeses cease to stick to the hand when touched, they are put in a cool (about 50° F.), dark, slightly damp cellar to ripen for about another fortnight, being turned on alternate days.
_Gervais Cheese._—Messrs. Long and Morton, in their book “The Dairy,” give directions for preparing a Mignon or Gervais. This cheese is made of a mixture of cream and milk set at a temperature of 65° F. Six drops of Hansen’s rennet are sufficient for two and a half quarts of milk and one quart of cream. The curd is fit to cut in from six to eight hours, when it is removed into a cloth, in which it is allowed to drain until it is sufficiently solid and consistent to press.
Removed into a clean cloth, it is laid within a wooden frame with open sides, and pressed with a close-fitting follower of wood, heavy enough to cause the whey to drain away without any loss of cream. This pressure, with one or two manipulations, with the object of maintaining evenness of consistence, continues until the curd is as thick as an ice cream, when it is pressed into specially made paper-lined moulds. It may be eaten about three days later.
_To pot Cheese._—A pleasant form of potted food is made by pounding together in a mortar a pound of cheese, three ounces of quite fresh butter, and half a table-spoonful each of castor sugar and made mustard. This mixture should be packed in jars, covered with clarified butter, and securely covered. It should not be kept longer than a fortnight.
PICKLING MEAT
IN pickling or salting meat, it is better to let the fresh joint first hang for two or three days untouched. This will make the meat more tender. Before salting it, be careful to remove every pipe or kernel in the meat, and fill up all holes with salt. Do not attempt to pickle meat in very cold frosty weather, or in warm damp weather. It is a good plan to sprinkle the meat with water and then to hang it up for a few hours before salting it: this cleanses it from any blood, and makes the flavour more delicate.
A good brine, sufficient for twenty pounds of beef, is made by mixing together three pounds of salt, three-quarters of a pound of sugar, and two ounces of saltpetre. Boil these ingredients together for twenty minutes in two gallons of water, skimming off all scum. Let the liquid get quite cold before you pour it over the meat, and see that the joint is thoroughly covered with the brine. For a smaller piece of meat the quantities given for the brine can be easily reduced, following the same proportions carefully. The meat must be turned over every day, and well basted with the brine; and the salting pan or tub must be covered with a clean piece of tamis-cloth, or other porous woollen material. The meat will be ready for use in a fortnight.
In cooking pickled or salted meat, two things must be recollected. First, that, in order to make salted meat tender, it must be put into cold water when first placed on the fire. Secondly, that it is next to impossible to cook salted meat too slowly.
_Spiced Round of Beef._—Procure a round of beef weighing from thirty-five to forty pounds; remove the bone, and lay the beef in a stone pan. Well rub into the meat all over (not omitting the sides of the round as well as the top and bottom) a mixture made of four pounds of salt, two pounds of coarse brown sugar, a quarter of a pound of saltpetre, and two ounces of _sal prunella_ from the chemist. Turn the beef every day, and well rub into it the brine which it makes. Let it remain in pickle for one month. When ready for cooking, let the beef be closely bound into shape with coarse webbing. Lay it in a large kettle or pot, and cover the beef with broth as cold as it can be to remain liquid. Add plenty of rough vegetables, such as carrots, turnips, onions, and celery, all sliced. Dry in the oven a sufficient quantity of ginger, cloves, mace, and peppercorns to make two ounces of each when dried and pounded fine in a mortar. Add these to the beef. Bring the broth slowly to a very gentle boil, and then keep it simmering very gently for twelve hours, turning the beef over at the end of six hours. It must on no account be allowed to boil, or it will be hard and tasteless. Remove the kettle from the fire, but let the beef remain in it for two days, when it will have become perfectly cold and firm. Take off the webbing, and the beef will be ready for eating.
_Welsh Beef._—Rub two ounces of saltpetre into a round of beef; let it rest an hour, and then rub it with equal parts of pepper, salt, and allspice. Keep the beef in the brine which this will make for fifteen days, turning and rubbing it every day. Then put the beef into a large earthenware round pan, first coating the bottom of the pan with a layer of suet. Put another layer of suet over the top of the beef, and then cover the pan with a coarse paste of flour and water. Bake in a slow oven for eight hours, then pour off any gravy, and let the beef get cold before it is taken out of the pan.
_To make Sausages._—Sausages are generally put into the thoroughly cleaned skins of the intestine of the pig. But they are sometimes preferred without this covering. Take two pounds of fresh pork, using both fat and lean in equal proportions, but avoiding the coarse fat from the inside of the pig. Mince the pork as finely as possible, and then pass it twice through the mincing machine. Blanch and mince two dessert-spoonfuls of sage, add four ounces of freshly made bread-crumbs, and season with pepper and a dust of salt. Mix all thoroughly together, and keep the sausage-meat in a cool place. When wanted do not use skins, but form the sausage-meat into small round cakes three-quarters of an inch thick, flour them, and fry them in butter from ten to fifteen minutes, turning them often.
_To cook Sausages._—This recipe is for sausages which have been put into skins by the sausage machine. Plenty of time must be allowed for cooking the sausages, for if they are done too quickly the skins will burst. About ten minutes is enough over a low fire, the skins having been well pricked over first. The sausages are much better if they are first pricked, then put into hot water and brought slowly to the boil, simmered for five minutes, drained, and finally fried in bacon fat till they are brown. Serve round a pile of mashed potato, or shape the mashed potato into long ovals, fake them on a buttered baking-tin, and when very hot, lay the potato ovals on a hot dish, and put a sausage on each.
_Ham._—Tastes vary much as to the best size of a ham; some people like a York ham weighing thirty or forty pounds, others prefer a foreign ham not exceeding a few pounds in weight. Monsieur de St. Simon, writing in 1721, said he could never forget the delicious flavour of the little Spanish hams he had once tasted near Burgos. The pigs which furnished these hams lived on the flesh of vipers, and in our own day the hams of the little black pigs of North Carolina, which feed on rattlesnakes, are esteemed an especial delicacy. The peculiar flavour of a Westphalian ham is due to the smoke of a fire of juniper branches over which the ham is hung for three weeks.
It was formerly the custom to put a thick coat of mortar over the inside of a cured ham to keep out the air, and to prevent the mildew, or “rust,” which damp is sure to cause. A better way is to cover the underneath portion of the ham (where the knife has been used), and also the knuckle-end of the bone, with a paste made of flour and water. This paste entirely prevents any “rusting,” or, in other words, the minute fungus caused by damp.
_To cure a Ham weighing from fifteen to eighteen pounds. Norfolk Recipe._—One pound of treacle, half a pound of coarse brown sugar, half a pound of bay-salt (_i.e._ sea-salt), one pound of common salt, one ounce of saltpetre, and two ounces of _sal prunella_ (_i.e._ saltpetre which has been fused, and is sold by chemists). Pound all these together as finely as possible, and rub the ham thoroughly with them. Lay the ham in a tub, covered with the pickle, and let it remain there for a month. It must be turned and basted with the pickle every other day. When taken out of the pickle, let the ham dry for a day or two, standing on end. Then brush it over with Crosse and Blackwell’s essence of smoke. This preparation gives to the ham all the flavour of the chimney-smoke in which hams used to be hung. [This recipe was given to me by a friend in whose family it has been used year by year during four generations.]
_Pickle for Bacon._—Weigh each flitch, and allow for every stone (a stone of meat weighs eight pounds) one pound of salt, two ounces of bay-salt, two ounces of saltpetre, and three ounces of coarse brown sugar. Sprinkle the flitches with salt, and drain them for twenty-four hours. Mix the salt, bay-salt, saltpetre, and sugar thoroughly together, and rub all well into the flitches, rubbing the ends as well as the sides. Do this every day for a month. Then hang up the flitches to dry, sewing a bag of coarse muslin over each. [Do not use paper, as it breaks in damp weather. Muslin is a far better protector from the flies, which are always more partial to salt meat than to any other.] The flitch, from the Old English word, is one side of the pig.
_To cure Pig’s Cheeks._—Do not use any saltpetre, but clear the two cheeks well, take out the bones, rub well with common salt, let the cheeks drain, and next day rub them again with salt, using a fresh supply. Then mix four ounces of salt with five ounces of coarse brown sugar, cover the cheeks with this mixture, and turn them every day. They will be sufficiently cured in twelve days. If saltpetre is used the cheeks will be hard.
_To boil a Ham._—The great point in boiling a ham is to boil it as slowly as possible. If a ham is small and rather fresh, it will need soaking in cold water for only eighteen hours before it is boiled; but as a rule a ham should be soaked for forty-eight hours, the water being changed three or even four times during that period. After the ham has been soaked, scrub it well with a dry, stiff brush, so as to remove all smoke and discoloration from the surface. Trim off any ragged or untidy parts, reserving them for the stock-pot. Now put the ham into a ham-kettle or a large pan, and cover it completely with cold water to the depth of one inch. Let the water heat as slowly as possible, so that it may be an hour and a half or two hours before it comes to the boil. It is a good rule to allow twenty-five minutes’ simmering to each pound of ham. Skim off all scum as it rises. When the liquor is perfectly clear put in one shallot, a stick of celery, two turnips, two or three onions, and three carrots, also add (in a muslin bag) a bunch of parsley, a sprig of thyme and of marjoram, some chopped lemon-peel, and twelve peppercorns. Cover the pan closely, reduce the heat under it, and let the ham simmer very gently for five hours. At the end of that time lift the ham out, peel off the outside skin, and trim it a little if this is needed. Brush the ham over with thin glaze, or cover it with raspings of bread, and set it in a slow oven to brown.
_To steam a Ham._—If the ham is quite small this is an excellent way of cooking it. As soon as the ham has been soaked, scrubbed, and trimmed, put it into the steamer over boiling water. Allow twenty-five minutes to every pound of ham, and keep the water under the steamer boiling hard. Either glaze the ham or cover with raspings.
_To pot Pounded Meat, Chicken, or Fish._—Cook the meat until it is very tender and easily separated from the bones. Mince it, and then pound it with a quarter of its weight of clarified butter, together with pepper and such other spices and herbs as are liked. Then fill the pots with the mixture, press it tightly, and cover with clarified butter.
FISH
_TO smoke Fish._—Having opened and cleaned the fish, place them in salt and saltpetre, eight parts to one, and leave them over the night. Then wipe them, and hang them in a row, by a stout wire passed through their eyes, over a sawdust fire for about twenty-four hours.
_To salt Fish._—Having opened and cleaned the fish, place them in strong brine for twenty hours. Drain them and place them in jars, with layers of salt between the several layers of fish. Securely cover the jars until the fish are wanted. Soak the fish for four hours in lukewarm water and dry before cooking.
_To pickle Fish._—Having opened and cleaned the fish and removed their heads, place them in a jar for twenty-four hours with layers of salt between the several layers of fish. Drain them, and boil them for two minutes with vinegar, onions, cloves, peppercorns, and bay leaves. Place them in jars, pour the liquid over them, and closely fasten down the covers.
_To pot Shrimps._—Boil some shrimps, and as soon as cold remove their shells. Mix with them a little mace, cayenne, salt, and pepper, and pack them tightly in the pots. Bake for about ten minutes in a slow oven, and when cold pour over them a quarter of an inch thickness of melted butter which is just beginning to set.
EGGS
_TO preserve Eggs._—Gather them quite fresh, thoroughly clean them, and place them in a covered vessel containing a 10 per cent. solution of sodium silicate (soluble glass). Eggs thus treated keep perfectly fresh for six months, or even longer.
PICKLING VEGETABLES
FOR pickling, the fruit, or leaves, or bulbs should be in perfect condition and thoroughly cleaned. Strong vinegar of good quality should be used, and the spices should be fresh and good. The mixing and heating of the vinegar is best performed in unglazed stoneware vessels; if these are unavailable, enamelled iron pans should be used. Pickling consists in preserving fruits or other vegetable products in spiced vinegar, the details of the process differing slightly according to the product to be pickled. To make the spiced vinegar, place in a stoneware or enamelled boiling-pan a quart of strong vinegar, from half an ounce to four ounces of black peppercorns, a couple of ounces of crushed ginger, and from two to eight ounces of mustard seed. Boil this mixture for four minutes. If liked, any or all of the following spices may be added to, and boiled with, the vinegar, in addition to those just named: from one to four blades of mace, from two to ten cloves, from four to eight allspice, and from two to eight grains of cayenne pepper.
_Implements._—Unglazed stone jars are of all vessels the most suitable for the containing of pickles, both by virtue of their chemical composition, and on account of their pleasant wholesome look. Glass bottles are next best for the purpose. In any case, the great thing to be remembered is that no metallic substance must be allowed to come into contact with the pickle or with the vinegar which is to be used. Wooden spoons alone should be used for mixing. For closing the mouths of the jars or bottles, corks should be employed, and further security from contact with the air should be ensured by covering the corked mouths with tinfoil, bladder, or parchment-paper. It is desirable that the vessels be furnished with mouths of smaller size than is usually the case, as the larger the mouth the greater the risk of contamination by exposure to the air.
_To pickle Red Cabbage._—Cut the cabbages into shreds, place them in a large jar with plenty of salt well intermingled. Leave them alone for two days, then pour off the liquid, dry the cabbage for a few hours in the air, pack it in the pickling jars to about an inch from the opening, and pour sufficient cold spiced vinegar to fill each jar completely, interspersing some of the spices among the cabbage. Cork and seal at once.
_To pickle Shallots._—Peel the shallots, and place them in a large jar with plenty of salt well intermingled. In two days pour off the liquid, and dry the shallots in the air for a few hours. Then pack them in the pickling jars, and pour boiling spiced vinegar to fill each jar completely, interspersing some of the spices among the shallots. Cork and seal whilst hot. If the vinegar be poured off in a week, reboiled, and returned to the jars, the pickle will keep much longer.
_To pickle Walnuts._—Take walnuts gathered about July, when still young and soft enough to be pierced by a pin, and place them in a large jar, with plenty of salt well interspersed and covering. In eight days pour off the liquid, and wipe and then dry the nuts in the air for a few hours. Pierce each walnut with a stout needle, place them in the pickling jars, and pour boiling spiced vinegar on them so as to fill the jars. Cover with corks, and each week for three weeks pour off the vinegar, reboil it, and fill up the jars with boiling spiced vinegar. Then finally cork and seal.
_To pickle Gherkins._—Place the gherkins in a large jar with plenty of salt over and among them. In six days pour off the liquid and add a little water to it, so that it may be a brine strong enough that an egg will float thereon. Boil this liquid and pour it over the gherkins. In twenty-four hours pour off the liquid, wipe and dry the gherkins in the air, place them in the pickling jars, and fill the latter with boiling spiced vinegar. Cork and seal. If the vinegar be poured off in a week, reboiled, and again placed in the jars, the pickle will keep much longer.
_To make a Green Tomato Pickle._—Take a gallon of green tomatoes and a quart of onions; slice them and cover them with salt. In twenty-four hours pour off the liquid, and slowly boil for about an hour the tomatoes and onions in a quart of spiced vinegar, to which a pound of sugar and a tea-spoonful of celery seed have been added. When tender, take the mixture off the fire, bottle, cork, and seal.
_To make a Ripe Tomato Pickle._—Substitute ripe tomatoes for the tomatoes and onions in the last recipe. Halve the quantity of vinegar, and omit the celery seed.
_To pickle Plums._—Prick four pounds of plums and place them in a fire-proof stoneware pan with two and a half pounds of sugar. Carefully bring to the boil, and add two-thirds of a pint of spiced vinegar. Boil for a few minutes, take out the plums, cool them, and place them in the pickle-jars. Boil up the liquid again, and pour it whilst boiling over the plums so as to fill the jars. Cork and seal at once.
_To pickle Samphire._—Gather samphire whilst it is green, about August, break it into sprigs, place in a jar, and add abundance of salt over and amongst the sprigs. In two days pour off the liquid, and dry the samphire for a few hours in the air. Pack it in jars, pour boiling unspiced vinegar over it so as to fill the jars, and boil in the oven until the samphire is green and crisp, and at once remove. Cork and seal.