The Book of Household Management Part 196

PRESERVED PLUMS.

1581. INGREDIENTS.--To every lb. of fruit allow 3/4 lb. of loaf sugar; for the thin syrup, 1/4 lb. of sugar to each pint of water.

_Mode_.--Select large ripe plums; slightly p.r.i.c.k them, to prevent them from bursting, and simmer them very gently in a syrup made with the above proportion of sugar and water. Put them carefully into a pan, let the syrup cool, pour it over the plums, and allow them to remain for two days. Having previously weighed the other sugar, dip the lumps quickly into water, and put them into a preserving-pan with no more water than hangs about them; and boil the sugar to a syrup, carefully skimming it.

Drain the plums from the first syrup; put them into the fresh syrup, and simmer them very gently until they are clear; lift them out singly into pots, pour the syrup over, and when cold, cover down to exclude the air.

This preserve will remain good some time, if kept in a dry place, and makes a very nice addition to a dessert. The magnum-bonum plums answer for this preserve better than any other kind of plum. Greengages are also very delicious done in this manner.

_Time_.--1/4 hour to 20 minutes to simmer the plums in the first syrup; 20 minutes to 1/2 hour very gentle simmering in the second.

_Seasonable_ from August to October.

TO PRESERVE PLUMS DRY.

1582. INGREDIENTS.--To every lb. of sugar allow 1/4 pint of water.

_Mode_.--Gather the plums when they are full-grown and just turning colour; p.r.i.c.k them, put them into a saucepan of cold water, and set them on the fire until the water is on the point of boiling. Then take them out, drain them, and boil them gently in syrup made with the above proportion of sugar and water; and if the plums shrink, and will not take the sugar, p.r.i.c.k them as they lie in the pan; give them another boil, skim, and set them by. The next day add some more sugar, boiled almost to candy, to the fruit and syrup; put all together into a wide-mouthed jar, and place them in a cool oven for 2 nights; then drain the plums from the syrup, sprinkle a little powdered sugar over, and dry them in a cool oven.

_Time_.--15 to 20 minutes to boil the plums in the syrup. _Seasonable_ from August to October.

PLUMS.--The wild sloe is the parent of the plum, but the acclimated kinds come from the East. The cultivation of this fruit was probably attended to very early in England, as Gerrard informs us that, in 1597, he had in his garden, in Holborn, threescore sorts. The sloe is a shrub common in our hedgerows, and belongs to the natural order _Amygdaleae_; the fruit is about the size of a large pea, of a black colour, and covered with a bloom of a bright blue. It is one of the few indigenous to our island. The juice is extremely sharp and astringent, and was formerly employed as a medicine, where astringents were necessary. It now a.s.sists in the manufacture of a red wine made to imitate port, and also for adulteration. The leaves have been used to adulterate tea; the fruit, when ripe, makes a good preserve.

STEWED FRENCH PLUMS.

(_A Dessert Dish_.)

1583. INGREDIENTS.--1-1/2 lb. of French plums, 3/4 pint of syrup No.

1512, 1 gla.s.s of port wine, the rind and juice of 1 lemon.

_Mode_.--Stew the plums gently in water for 1 hour; strain the water, and with it make the syrup. When it is clear, put in the plums with the port wine, lemon-juice, and rind, and simmer very gently for 1-1/2 hour.

Arrange the plums on a gla.s.s dish, take out the lemon-rind, pour the syrup over the plums, and, when cold, they will be ready for table. A little allspice stewed with the fruit is by many persons considered an improvement.

_Time_.--1 hour to stew the plums in water, 1-1/2 hour in the syrup.

_Average cost_,--plums sufficiently good for stewing, 1s. per lb.

_Sufficient_ for 7 or 8 persons.

_Seasonable_ in winter.

PRESERVED PUMPKIN.

1584. INGREDIENTS.--To each lb. of pumpkin allow 1 lb. of roughly pounded loaf sugar, 1 gill of lemon-juice.

_Mode_.--Obtain a good sweet pumpkin; halve it, take out the seeds, and pare off the rind; cut it into neat slices, or into pieces about the size of a five-shilling piece. Weigh the pumpkin, put the slices in a pan or deep dish in layers, with the sugar sprinkled between them; pour the lemon-juice over the top, and let the whole remain for 2 or 3 days.

Boil altogether, adding 1/4 pint of water to every 3 lbs. of sugar used until the pumpkin becomes tender; then turn the whole into a pan, where let it remain for a week; then drain off the syrup, boil it until it is quite thick; skim, and pour it, boiling, over the pumpkin. A little bruised ginger and lemon-rind, thinly pared, may be boiled in the syrup to flavour the pumpkin.

_Time_.--From 1/2 to 3/4 hour to boil the pumpkin tender.

_Average cost_, 5d. to 7d. per lb. pot.

_Seasonable_ in September and October; but better when made in the latter month, as the pumpkin is then quite ripe.

_Note_.--Vegetable marrows are very good prepared in the same manner, but are not quite so rich.

QUINCE JELLY.

1585. INGREDIENTS.--To every pint of juice allow 1 lb. of loaf sugar.

_Mode_.--Pare and slice the quinces, and put them into a preserving-pan with sufficient water to float them. Boil them until tender, and the fruit is reduced to a pulp; strain off the clear juice, and to each pint allow the above proportion of loaf sugar. Boil the juice and sugar together for about 3/4 hour; remove all the sc.u.m as it rises, and, when the jelly appears firm when a little is poured on a plate, it is done.

The residue left on the sieve will answer to make a common marmalade, for immediate use, by boiling it with 1/2 lb. of common sugar to every lb. of pulp.

_Time_.--3 hours to boil the quinces in water; 3/4 hour to boil the jelly.

_Average cost_, from 8d. to 10d. per lb. pot.

_Seasonable_ from August to October.

QUINCE MARMALADE.

1586. INGREDIENTS.--To every lb. of quince pulp allow 3/4 lb. of loaf sugar.

_Mode_.--Slice the quinces into a preserving-pan, adding sufficient water for them to float; place them on the fire to stew, until reduced to a pulp, keeping them stirred occasionally from the bottom, to prevent their burning; then pa.s.s the pulp through a hair sieve, to keep back the skin and seeds. Weigh the pulp, and to each lb. add lump sugar in the above proportion, broken very small. Place the whole on the fire, and keep it well stirred from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon, until reduced to a marmalade, which may be known by dropping a little on a cold plate, when, if it jellies, it is done. Put it into jars whilst hot; let it cool, and cover with pieces of oiled paper cut to the size of the mouths of the jars. The tops of them may be afterwards covered with pieces of bladder, or tissue-paper brushed over on both sides with the white of an egg.

_Time_.--3 hours to boil the quinces without the sugar; 3/4 hour to boil the pulp with the sugar.

_Average cost_, from 8d. to 9d. per lb. pot.

_Sufficient_.--Allow 1 pint of sliced quinces for a lb. pot.

_Seasonable_ in August, September, and October.

RAISIN CHEESE.

1587. INGREDIENTS.--To every lb. of raisins allow a lb. of loaf sugar; pounded cinnamon and cloves to taste.

_Mode_.--Stone the raisins; put them into a stewpan with the sugar, cinnamon, and cloves, and let them boil for 1-1/2 hour, stirring all the time. Let the preparation cool a little, pour it into a gla.s.s dish, and garnish with strips of candied lemon-peel and citron. This will remain good some time, if kept in a dry place.

_Time_.--1-1/2 hour. _Average cost_, 9d. _Sufficient_.--1 lb. for 4 or 5 persons. _Seasonable_ at any time.

RASPBERRY JAM.

1588. INGREDIENTS.--To every lb. of raspberries allow 1 lb. of sugar, 1/4 pint of red-currant juice.

_Mode_.--Let the fruit for this preserve be gathered in fine weather, and used as soon after it is picked as possible. Take off the stalks, put the raspberries into a preserving-pan, break them well with a wooden spoon, and let them boil for 1/4 hour, keeping them well stirred. Then add the currant-juice and sugar, and boil again for 1/2 hour. Skim the jam well after the sugar is added, or the preserve will not be clear.