The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary Part 18

ELDER WINE. Pick the berries from the stalk, and to every quart allow two quarts of water. Boil them half an hour, run the liquor and break the fruit through a hair sieve, and to every quart of juice put three quarters of a pound of moist sugar. Boil the whole a quarter of an hour, with some peppercorns, ginger, and a few cloves. Pour it into a tub, and when of a proper warmth, into the barrel, with toast and yeast to work, which there is more difficulty to make it do than most other liquors.

When it ceases to hiss, put a quart of brandy to eight gallons, and stop it up. Bottle it in the spring, or at Christmas.--To make white elder wine, very much like Frontiniac, boil eighteen pounds of white powder sugar with six gallons of water, and two whites of eggs well beaten.

Skim it clean, and but in a quarter of a peck of elder flowers from the tree that bears white berries, but do not keep them on the fire. Stir it when nearly cold, and put in six spoonfuls of lemon juice, four or five spoonfuls of yeast, and beat it well into the liquor. Stir it every day, put into the cask six pounds of the best raisins stoned, and tun the wine. Stop it close, and bottle it in six months. When well kept, this wine will pa.s.s for Frontiniac.

ELDER FLOWER WINE. To six gallons of spring water put six pounds of sun raisins cut small, and a dozen pounds of fine sugar: boil the whole together for about an hour and a half. When the liquor is cold, put in half a peck of ripe elder flowers, with about a gill of lemon juice, and half the quant.i.ty of ale yeast. Cover it up, and after standing three days, strain it off. Pour it into a cask that is quite clean, and that will hold it with ease. When this is done, add a quart of Rhenish wine to every gallon of liquor, and let the bung be lightly put in for twelve or fourteen days. Then stop it down fast, and put it in a cool dry place for four or five months, till it is quite settled and fine: then bottle it off.

ENGLISH BAMBOO. About the middle of May, cut some large young shoots of elder; strip off the outward peel, and soak them all night in some strong salt and water. Dry them separately in a cloth, and have in readiness the following pickle. To a quart of vinegar put an ounce of white pepper, an ounce of sliced ginger, a little mace and pimento, all boiled together. Put the elder shoots into a stone jar, pour on the liquor boiling hot, stop it up close, and set it by the fire two hours, turning the jar often to keep it hot. If not green when cold, strain off the liquor, pour it on boiling again, and keep it hot as before.--Or if it be intended to make Indian pickle, the addition of these shoots will be found to be a great improvement. In this case it will only be necessary to pour boiling vinegar and mustard seed on them, and to keep them till the jar of pickles shall be ready to receive them. The cl.u.s.ter of elder flowers before it opens, makes a delicious pickle to eat with boiled mutton. It is prepared by only pouring vinegar over the flowers.

ENGLISH BRANDY. English or British brandy may be made in smaller quant.i.ties, according to the following proportions. To sixty gallons of clear rectified spirits, put one pound of sweet spirit of nitre, one pound of ca.s.sia buds ground, one pound of bitter almond meal, (the ca.s.sia and almond meal to be mixed together before they are put to the spirits) two ounces of sliced orris root, and about thirty or forty prune stones pounded. Shake the whole well together, two or three times a day, for three days or more. Let them settle, then pour in one gallon of the best wine vinegar; and add to every four gallons, one gallon of foreign brandy.

ENGLISH CHAMPAIGNE. Take gooseberries before they are ripe, crush them with a mallet in a wooden bowl; and to every gallon of fruit, put a gallon of water. Let it stand two days, stirring it well. Squeeze the mixture with the hands through a hop sieve, then measure the liquor, and to every gallon put three pounds and a half of loaf sugar. Mix it well in the tub, and let it stand one day. Put a bottle of the best brandy into the cask, which leave open five or six weeks, taking off the sc.u.m as it rises. Then stop it up, and let it stand one year in the barrel before it is bottled.

ENGLISH SHERRY. Boil thirty pounds of lump sugar in ten gallons of water, and clear it of the sc.u.m. When cold, put a quart of new alewort to every gallon of liquor, and let it work in the tub a day or two. Then put it into a cask with a pound of sugar candy, six pounds of fine raisins, a pint of brandy, and two ounces of isingla.s.s. When the fermentation is over, stop it close: let it stand eight months, rack it off, and add a little more brandy. Return it to the cask again, and let it stand four months before it is bottled.

ENGLISH WINES. During the high price of foreign wine, home-made wines will be found particularly useful; and though sugar is dear, they may be prepared at a quarter of the expence. If carefully made, and kept three or four years, a proportionable strength being given, they would answer the purpose of foreign wines for health, and cause a very considerable reduction in the expenditure. Sugar and water are the princ.i.p.al basis of home-made wine; and when these require to be boiled, it is proper to beat up the whites of eggs to a froth, and mix them with the water when cold, in the proportion of one egg to a gallon. When the sugar and water are boiled, the liquor should be cooled quickly; and if not for wines that require fermenting, it may be put into the cask when cold. If the wine is to be fermented, the yeast should be put into it when it is milk-warm; but must not be left more than two nights to ferment, before it is put into the cask. Particular care should be taken to have the cask sweet and dry, and washed inside with a little brandy, before the wine is tunned, but it should not be bunged up close till it has done fermenting. After standing three or four months, it will be necessary to taste the wine, to know whether it be fit to draw off. If not sweet enough, some sugar should be added, or draw it off into another cask, and put in some sugar-candy: but if too sweet, let it stand a little longer. When the wine is racked, the dregs may be drained through a flannel bag; and the wine, if not clear enough for the table, may be used for sauce.

ESSENCE OF ALLSPICE. Take a dram of the oil of pimento, and mix it by degrees with two ounces of strong spirit of wine. A few drops will give the flavour of allspice to a pint of gravy, or mulled wine.

ESSENCE OF ANCHOVY. Put into a marble mortar ten or twelve fine mellow anchovies, that have been well pickled, and pound them to a pulp. Put this into a clean well-tinned saucepan, then put a table-spoonful of cold water into the mortar, shake it round, and pour it to the pounded anchovies. Set them by the side of a slow fire, frequently stirring them together till they are melted, which they will be in the course of five minutes. Now stir in a quarter of a dram of good cayenne, and let it remain by the fire a few minutes longer. Rub it through a hair sieve with the back of a wooden spoon, and keep it stopped very closely: if the air gets to it, it is spoiled directly. Essence of anchovy is made sometimes with sherry, or madeira, instead of water, or with the addition of mushroom ketchup.

ESSENCE OF CAYENNE. Put half an ounce of cayenne pepper into half a pint of wine or brandy, let it steep a fortnight, and then pour off the clear liquor. This article is very convenient for the extempore seasoning and finishing of soups and sauces, its flavour being instantly and equally diffused.

ESSENCE OF CELERY. Steep in a quarter of a pint of brandy, or proof spirit, half an ounce of celery seed bruised, and let it stand a fortnight. A few drops will immediately flavour a pint of broth, and are an excellent addition to pease, and other soups.

ESSENCE OF CLOVES. Mix together two ounces of the strongest spirit of wine, and a dram of the oil of cloves. Nutmeg, cinnamon, and mace are prepared in the same manner.

ESSENCE OF FLOWERS. Select a quant.i.ty of the petals of any flowers which have an agreeable fragrance, lay them in an earthen vessel, and sprinkle a little fine salt upon them. Then dip some cotton into the best Florence oil, and lay it thin upon the flowers; continue a layer of petals, and a layer of cotton, till the vessel is full. It is then to be closed down with a bladder, and exposed to the heat of the sun. In about a fortnight a fragrant oil may be squeezed away from the whole ma.s.s, which will yield a rich perfume.

ESSENCE OF GINGER. Grate three ounces of ginger, and an ounce of thin lemon peel, into a quart of brandy, or proof spirit, and let it stand for ten days, shaking it up each day. If ginger is taken to produce an immediate effect, to warm the stomach, or dispel flatulence, this will be found the best preparation.

ESSENCE OF LAVENDER. Take the blossoms from the stalks in warm weather, and spread them in the shade for twenty-four hours on a linen cloth; then bruise and put them into warm water, and leave them closely covered in a still for four or five hours near the fire. After this the blossoms may be distilled in the usual way.

ESSENCE OF LEMON PEEL. Wash and brush clean the lemons, and let them get perfectly dry. Take a lump of fine sugar, and rub them till all the yellow rind is taken up by the sugar; sc.r.a.pe off the surface of the sugar into a preserving pot, and press it hard down. Cover it very close, and it will keep for some time. By this process is obtained the whole of the fine essential oil, which contains the flavour.

ESSENCE OF MUSHROOMS. This delicate relish is made by sprinkling a little salt over some mushrooms, and mashing them three hours after.

Next day strain off the liquor, put it into a stewpan, and boil it till reduced one half. It will not keep long, but is preferable to any of the ketchups. An artificial bed of mushrooms would supply this article all the year round.

ESSENCE OF OYSTERS. Take fine fresh Milton oysters, wash them in their own liquor, skim it, and pound them in a marble mortar. To a pint of oysters add a pint of sherry, boil them up, and add an ounce of salt, two drams of pounded mace, and one of cayenne. Let it just boil up again, skim it, and rub it through a sieve. When cold, bottle and cork it well, and seal it down. This composition very agreeably heightens the flavour of white sauces, and white made-dishes. If a gla.s.s of brandy be added to the essence, it will keep a considerable time longer than oysters are out of season.

ESSENCE OF SHALOT. Peel, mince, and pound in a mortar, three ounces of shalots, and infuse them in a pint of sherry for three days. Then pour off the clear liquor on three ounces more of shalots, and let the wine remain on them ten days longer. An ounce of sc.r.a.ped horseradish may be added to the above, and a little thin lemon peel. This will impart a fine flavour to soups, sauces, hashes, and various other dishes.

ESSENCE OF SOAP. For washing or shaving, the essence of soap is very superior to what is commonly used for these purposes, and a very small quant.i.ty will make an excellent lather. Mix two ounces of salt of tartar with half a pound of soap finely sliced, put them into a quart of spirits of wine, in a bottle that will contain twice the quant.i.ty. Tie it down with a bladder, p.r.i.c.k a pin through it for the air to escape, set it to digest in a gentle heat, and shake up the contents. When the soap is dissolved, filter the liquor through some paper to free it from impurities, and scent it with burgamot or essence of lemon.

ESSENCE OF TURTLE. Mix together one wine-gla.s.sful of the essence of anchovy, one and a half of shalot wine, four wine-gla.s.sfuls of Basil wine, two ditto of mushroom ketchup, one dram of lemon acid, three quarters of an ounce of lemon peel very thinly pared, and a quarter of an ounce of curry powder, and let them steep together for a week. The essence thus obtained will be found convenient to flavour soup, sauce, potted meats, savoury patties, and various other articles.

EVACUATIONS. Few things are more conducive to health than keeping the body regular, and paying attention to the common evacuations. A proper medium between costiveness and laxness is highly desirable, and can only be obtained by regularity in diet, sleep, and exercise. Irregularity in eating and drinking disturbs every part of the animal economy, and never fails to produce diseases. Too much or too little food will have this effect: the former generally occasions looseness, and the latter costiveness; and both have a tendency to injure health. Persons who have frequent recourse to medicine for preventing costiveness, seldom fail to ruin their const.i.tution. They ought rather to remove the evil by diet than by drugs, by avoiding every thing of a hot or binding nature, by going thinly clothed, walking in the open air, and acquiring the habit of a regular discharge by a stated visit to the place of retreat.

Habitual looseness is often owing to an obstructed perspiration: persons thus afflicted should keep their feet warm, and wear flannel next the skin. Their diet also should be of an astringent quality, and such as tends to strengthen the bowels. For this purpose, fine bread, cheese, eggs, rice milk, red wine, or brandy and water would be proper.--Insensible perspiration is one of the princ.i.p.al discharges from the human body, and is of such importance to health, that few diseases attack us while it goes on properly; but when obstructed, the whole frame is soon disordered, and danger meets us in every form. The common cause of obstructed perspiration, or taking cold, is the sudden changes of the weather; and the best means of fortifying the body is to be abroad every day, and breathe freely in the open air. Much danger arises from wet feet and wet clothes, and persons who are much abroad are exposed to these things. The best way is to change wet clothes as soon as possible, or to keep in motion till they be dry, but by no means to sit or lie down. Early habits may indeed inure people to wet clothes and wet feet without any danger, but persons of a delicate const.i.tution cannot be too careful. Perspiration is often obstructed by other means, but it is in all cases attended with considerable danger. Sudden transitions from heat to cold, drinking freely of cold water after being heated with violent exercise, sitting near an open window when the room is hot, plunging into cold water in a state of perspiration, or going into the cold air immediately after sitting in a warm room, are among the various means by which the health of thousands is constantly ruined; and more die of colds than are killed by plagues, or slain in battle.

EVE'S PUDDING. Grate three quarters of a pound of bread; mix it with the same quant.i.ty of shred suet, the same of apples, and also of currants.

Mix with these the whole of four eggs, and the rind of half a lemon shred fine. Put it into a shape, and boil it three hours. Serve with pudding sauce, the juice of half a lemon, and a little nutmeg.

EXERCISE. Whether man were originally intended for labour or not, it is evident from the human structure, that exercise is not less necessary than food, for the preservation of health. It is generally seen among the labouring part of the community, that industry places them above want, and activity serves them instead of physic. It seems to be the established law of the animal creation, that without exercise no creature should enjoy health, or be able to find subsistence. Every creature, except man, takes as much of it as is necessary: he alone deviates from this original law, and suffers accordingly. Weak nerves, and glandular obstructions, which are now so common, are the constant companions of inactivity. We seldom hear the active or laborious complain of nervous diseases: indeed many have been cured of them by being reduced to the necessity of labouring for their own support. This shews the source from which such disorders flow, and the means by which they may be prevented. It is evident that health cannot be enjoyed where the perspiration is not duly carried on; but that can never be the case where exercise is neglected. Hence it is that the inactive are continually complaining of pains of the stomach, flatulencies, and various other disorders which cannot be removed by medicine, but might be effectually cured by a course of vigorous exercise. But to render this in the highest degree beneficial, it should always be taken in the open air, especially in the morning, while the stomach is empty, and the body refreshed with sleep. The morning air braces and strengthens the nerves, and in some measure answers the purpose of a cold bath. Every thing that induces people to sit still, except it be some necessary employment, ought to be avoided; and if exercise cannot be had in the open air, it should be attended to as far as possible within doors.

Violent exertions however are no more to be recommended than inactivity; for whatever fatigues the body, prevents the benefit of exercise, and tends to weaken rather than strengthen it. Fast walking, immediately before or after meals, is highly pernicious, and necessarily accelerates the circulation of the blood, which is attended with imminent danger to the head or brain. On the other hand, indolence not only occasions diseases, and renders men useless to society, but it is the parent of vice. The mind, if not engaged in some useful pursuit, is constantly in search of ideal pleasures, or impressed with the apprehension of some imaginary evil; and from these sources proceed most of the miseries of mankind. An active life is the best guardian of virtue, and the greatest preservative of health.

F.

FACSIMILES. To produce a facsimile of any writing, the pen should be made of gla.s.s enamel, the point being small and finely polished, so that the part above the point may be large enough to hold as much or more ink than a common writing pen. A mixture of equal parts of Frankfort black, and fresh b.u.t.ter, is now to be smeared over sheets of paper, and is to be rubbed off after a certain time. The paper thus smeared is to be pressed for some hours, taking care to have sheets of blotting paper between each of the sheets of black paper. When fit for use, writing paper is put between sheets of blackened paper, and the upper sheet is to be written on, with common ink, by the gla.s.s or enamel pen. By this method, not only the copy is obtained on which the pen writes, but also two or more, made by means of the blackened paper.

FAMILY PIES. To make a plain trust for pies to be eaten hot, or for fruit puddings, cut some thin slices of beef suet, lay them in some flour, mix it with cold water, and roll it till it is quite soft. Or make a paste of half a pound of b.u.t.ter or lard, and a pound and a half of flour. Mix it with water, work it up, roll it out twice, and cover the dish with it.

FAMILY WINE. An excellent compound wine, suited to family use, may be made of equal parts of red, white, and black currants, ripe cherries and raspberries, well bruised, and mixed with soft water, in the proportion of four pounds of fruit to one gallon of water. When strained and pressed, three pounds of moist sugar are to be added to each gallon of liquid. After standing open for three days, during which it is to be stirred frequently, it is to be put into a barrel, and left for a fortnight to work, when a ninth part of brandy is to be added, and the whole bunged down. In a few months it will be a most excellent wine.

FATTING FOWLS. Chickens or fowls may be fatted in four or five days, by setting some rice over the fire with skimmed milk, as much as will serve for one day. Let it boil till the rice is quite swelled, and add a tea-spoonful of sugar. Feed them three times a day, in common pans, giving them only as much as will quite fill them at once. Before they are fed again, set the pans in water, that no sourness may be conveyed to the fowls, as that would prevent their fattening. Let them drink clean water, or the milk of the rice; but when rice is given them, after being perfectly soaked, let as much of the moisture as possible be drawn from it. By this method the flesh will have a clean whiteness, which no other food gives; and when it is considered how far a pound of rice will go, and how much time is saved by this mode, it will be found nearly as cheap as any other food, especially if it is to be purchased. The chicken pen should be cleaned every day, and no food given for sixteen hours before poultry is to be killed.

FAWN. A fawn, like a sucking pig, should be dressed almost as soon as it is killed. When very young, it is trussed, stuffed, and spitted the same as a hare. But they are better eating when of the size of a house lamb, and then roasted in quarters: the hind quarter is most esteemed. The meat must be put down to a very quick fire, and either basted all the time it is roasting, or be covered with sheets of fat bacon. When done, baste it with b.u.t.ter, and dredge it with a little salt and flour, till a nice froth is set upon it. Serve it up with venison sauce. If a fawn be half roasted as soon as received, and afterwards made into a hash, it will be very fine.

FEAR. Sudden fear, or an unexpected fright, often produces epileptic fits, and other dangerous disorders. Many young people have lost their lives or their senses by the foolish attempts of producing violent alarm, and the mind has been thrown into such disorders as never again to act with regularity. A settled dread and anxiety not only dispose the body to diseases, but often render those diseases fatal, which a cheerful mind would overcome; and the constant dread of some future evil, has been known to bring on the very evil itself. A mild and sympathizing behaviour towards the afflicted will do them more good than medicine, and he is the best physician and the best friend who administers the consolation of hope.