A Poetical Cook-Book Part 9

It is very important to know when the various seasons commence for picking sweet and savory herbs for drying. Care should be taken that they are gathered on a dry day, by which means they will have a better color when dried. Cleanse them well from dirt and dust, cut off the roots, separate the bunches into smaller ones, and dry them by the heat of the stove, or in a Dutch oven before a common fire, in such quant.i.ties at a time, that the process may be speedily finished, _i. e._ "Kill 'em quick," says a great botanist; by this means their flavor will be best preserved. There can be no doubt of the propriety of drying, &c., hastily by the aid of artificial heat, rather than by the heat of the sun. In the application of artificial heat, the only caution requisite is to avoid burning; and of this a sufficient test is afforded by the preservation of the color. The best method to preserve the flavor of aromatic plants is to pick off the leaves as soon as they are dried, and to pound them, and put them through a hair sieve, and keep them in well-stopped bottles labelled.

PICKLES.

MANGOES.

What lord of old would bid his cook prepare _Mangoes_, potargo, champignons, caviare!

KING.

There is a particular sort of melon for this purpose. Cut a square small piece out of one side, and through that take out the seeds, mix with them mustard seeds and shred garlic, stuff the melon as full as the s.p.a.ce will allow, and replace the square piece. Bind it up with small new pack-thread. Boil a good quant.i.ty of vinegar, to allow for wasting, with peppers, salt, ginger, and pour it boiling over the mangoes, four successive days; the last day put flour of mustard and sc.r.a.ped horseradish into the vinegar just as it boils up. Observe that there is plenty of vinegar. All pickles are spoiled, if not well covered.

PICKLED CABBAGE.

Lives in a cell, and eats from week to week A meal of _pickled cabbage_ and ox cheek.

CAWTHORNE.

Choose two middling-sized, well-colored and firm red cabbages, shred them very finely, first pulling off the outside leaves; mix with them nearly half a pound of salt; tie it up in a thin cloth, and let it hang for twelve hours; then put it into small jars, and pour over it cold vinegar that has been boiled with a few barberries in it. Boil in a quart of vinegar, three bits of ginger, half an ounce of pepper, and a quarter of an ounce of cloves. When cold, pour it over the red cabbage.

Tie the jar closely with bladder.

SWEETMEATS.

TO CLARIFY SUGAR.

'Mongst salts essential, _sugar_ wins the palm, For taste, for color, and for various use.

O'er all thy works let cleanliness preside, Child of frugality; and as the sc.u.m Thick mantles o'er the boiling wave, do thou The sc.u.m that mantles carefully remove.

GRAINGER.

Whereof little More than a little is by much too much.

SHAKSPEARE.

To every three pounds of loaf sugar, allow the beaten white of an egg and a pint and a half of water; break the sugar small, put it into a nicely cleaned bra.s.s pan, pour the water over it; let it stand some time before it be put upon the fire, then add the beaten white of the egg; stir it till the sugar be entirely dissolved; when it boils up, pour in a quarter of a pint of cold water, let it boil up a second time, take it off the fire, let it settle for fifteen minutes, carefully take off all the sc.u.m, let it boil again till sufficiently thick; in order to ascertain which, drop a little from a spoon into a jar of cold water, and if it become quite hard, it is sufficiently done, and the fruit to be preserved must instantly be put in and boiled.

CURRANT JELLY.

He snuffs far off the antic.i.p.ated joy, _Jelly_ and ven'son all his thoughts employ.

COWPER.

Currant, grape, and raspberry jelly are all made precisely in the same manner. When the fruit is full ripe, gather it on a dry day. As soon as it is nicely picked, put it into a jar, and cover it down very close.

Set the jar in a saucepan, about three parts filled with cold water; put it on a gentle fire, and let it simmer for about half an hour. Take the pan from the fire, and pour the contents of the jar into a jelly-bag, pa.s.s the juice through a second time; do not squeeze the bag. To each pint of juice, add a pound and a half of very good lump sugar pounded, when it is put into a preserving pan; set it on the fire, and boil it gently, stirring and skimming it the whole time (about thirty or forty minutes), _i. e._ till no more sc.u.m rises, and it is perfectly clear and fine; pour it warm into pots, and when cold, cover them with paper wetted in brandy.

Half a pint of this jelly dissolved in a pint of brandy or vinegar will give you an excellent currant or raspberry brandy or vinegar.

_Obs._ Jellies from the fruits are made in the same way, and cannot be preserved in perfection without plenty of good sugar. The best way is the cheapest.

APPLE JELLY.

The board was spread with fruits and wine; With grapes of gold, like those that shine On Caslin's hills; pomegranates, full Of melting sweetness, and the pears And sunniest _apples_ that Cabul In all its thousand gardens bears.

MOORE.

Pare and mince three dozen juicy, acid apples; put them into a pan; cover them with water, and boil them till very soft; strain them through a thin cloth or flannel bag; allow a pound of loaf sugar to a pint of juice, with the grated peel and juice of six lemons. Boil it for twenty minutes; take off the sc.u.m as it rises.

CHERRY JELLY.

With rich conserve of _Visna cherries_, Of orange flower, and of those berries That----.

MOORE.

Take the stones and stalks from two pounds of clear, fine, ripe cherries; mix them with a quarter of a pound of red currants, from which the seeds have been extracted; express the juice from these fruits; filter, and mix it with three quarters of a pound of clarified sugar, and one ounce of isingla.s.s. Replace the vessel on the fire with the juice, and add to it a pound and a half of sugar, boiled _a conserve_.

Boil together a few times, and then pour the conserve into cases.

CALVES' FEET JELLY.

Nature hates vacuums, as you know, We, therefore, will descend below, And fill, with dainties nice and light, The vacuum in your appet.i.te.

Besides, good wine and dainty fare Are sometimes known to lighten care; Nay, man is often brisk or dull, As the keen stomach's void or full.

To four feet add four quarts of water; let them boil on a slow fire till the flesh is parted from the bones, and the quant.i.ty reduced to half; strain it carefully, and the next morning remove the feet and sediment.

Add the rind of two lemons, the juice of five lemons, one and a half pounds of white sugar, a stick of cinnamon, a little nutmeg, a pint of sherry wine, half a teacupful of brandy; beat the white of ten eggs to a froth, and put them into the pan with their sh.e.l.ls; let it boil ten minutes, when throw in a teacupful of cold water. Strain it through a flannel bag, first dipped into boiling water.

PINEAPPLE PRESERVE.

And the _sun's child_, the _mail'd anana_, yields His _regal apple_ to the ravish'd taste.

GRAINGER.

Pare your pineapple; cut it in small pieces, and leave out the core. Mix the pineapple with half a pound of powdered white sugar, and set it away in a covered dish till sufficient juice is drawn out to stew the fruit in.

Stew the pineapple in the sugar and juice till quite soft, then mash it to a marmalade with the back of a spoon, and set it away to cool; pour it in tumblers, cover them with paper, gum-arabicked on.

EGGS.

OMELET.