The Cook's Oracle; and Housekeeper's Manual Part 88

White cabbage, September and October.

Samphire, August.

Horseradish, November and December.

_Walnuts._--(No. 116.)

Make a brine of salt and water, in the proportion of a quarter of a pound of salt to a quart of water; put the walnuts into this to soak for a week; or if you wish to soften them so that they may be soon ready for eating, run a larding-pin through them in half a dozen places--this will allow the pickle to penetrate, and they will be much softer, and of better flavour, and ready much sooner than if not perforated: put them into a stew-pan with such brine, and give them a gentle simmer; put them on a sieve to drain; then lay them on a fish plate, and let them stand in the air till they turn black--this may take a couple of days; put them into gla.s.s, or unglazed stone jars; fill these about three parts with the walnuts, and fill them up with the following pickle.

To each quart of the strongest vinegar put two ounces of black pepper, one of ginger, same of eschalots, same of salt, half an ounce of allspice, and half a drachm of Cayenne. Put these into a stone jar; cover it with a bladder, wetted with pickle, tie over that some leather, and set the jar on a trivet by the side of the fire for three days, shaking it up three times a day, and then pour it while hot to the walnuts, and cover them down with bladder wetted with the pickle, leather, &c.

_Gherkins._--(No. 117.)

Get those of about four inches long, and an inch in diameter, the crude half-grown little gherkins usually pickled are good for nothing. Put them into (unglazed) stone pans; cover them with a brine of salt and water, made with a quarter of a pound of salt to a quart of water; cover them down; set them on the earth before the fire for two or three days till they begin to turn yellow; then put away the water, and cover them with hot vinegar; set them again before the fire; keep them hot till they become green (this will take eight or ten days); then pour off the vinegar, having ready to cover them a pickle of fresh vinegar, &c., the same as directed in the preceding receipt for walnuts (leaving out the eschalots); cover them with a bung, bladder, and leather. Read the observations on pickles, p. 487.

_Obs._--The vinegar the gherkins were greened in will make excellent salad sauce, or for cold meats. It is, in fact, superlative cuc.u.mber vinegar.

_French Beans--Nasturtiums, &c._--(No. 118.)

When young, and most other small green vegetables, may be pickled the same way as gherkins.

_Beet Roots._--(No. 119.)

Boil gently till they are full three parts done (this will take from an hour and a half to two and a half); then take them out, and when a little cooled, peel them, and cut them in slices about half an inch thick. Have ready a pickle for it, made by adding to each a quart of vinegar an ounce of ground black pepper, half an ounce of ginger pounded, same of salt, and of horseradish cut in thin slices; and you may warm it, if you like, with a few capsic.u.ms, or a little Cayenne; put these ingredients into a jar; stop it close, and let them steep three days on a trivet by the side of the fire; then, when cold, pour the clear liquor on the beet-root, which have previously arranged in a jar.

_Red Cabbage._--(No. 120.)

Get a fine purple cabbage, take off the outside leaves, quarter it, take out the stalk, shred the leaves into a colander, sprinkle them with salt, let them remain till the morrow, drain them dry, put them into a jar, and cover them with the pickle for beet roots.

_Onions._--(No. 121.)

The small round silver b.u.t.ton onions, about as big as a nutmeg, make a very nice pickle. Take off their top coats, have ready a stew-pan, three parts filled with boiling water, into which put as many onions as will cover the top: as soon as they look clear, immediately take them up with a spoon full of holes, and lay them on a cloth three times folded, and cover them with another till you have ready as many as you wish: when they are quite dry, put them into jars, and cover them with hot pickle, made by infusing an ounce of horseradish, same of allspice, and same of black pepper, and same of salt, in a quart of best white-wine vinegar, in a stone jar, on a trivet by the side of the fire for three days, keeping it well closed; when cold, bung them down tight, and cover them with bladder wetted with the pickle and leather.

_Cauliflowers or Broccoli._--(No. 122.)

Choose those that are hard, yet sufficiently ripe, cut away the leaves and stalks.

Set on a stew-pan half full of water, salted in proportion of a quarter of a pound of salt to a quart of water; throw in the cauliflower, and let it heat gradually; when it boils take it up with a spoon full of holes, and spread them on a cloth to dry before the fire, for twenty-four hours at least; when quite dry, put them, piece by piece, into jars or gla.s.s tie-overs, and cover them with the pickle we have directed for beet roots, or make a pickle by infusing three ounces of the curry powder (No. 455) for three days in a quart of vinegar by the side of the fire.

Nasturtiums are excellent prepared as above.

_Indian or mixed Pickles--Mango or Piccalilli._--(No. 123.)

The flavouring ingredients of Indian pickles are a compound of curry powder, with a large proportion of mustard and garlic.

The following will be found something like the real mango pickle, especially if the garlic be used plentifully. To each gallon of the strongest vinegar put four ounces of curry powder (No. 455), same of flour of mustard (some rub these together, with half a pint of salad oil), three of ginger bruised, and two of turmeric, half a pound (when skinned) of eschalots slightly baked in a Dutch oven, two ounces of garlic prepared in like manner, a quarter of a pound of salt, and two drachms of Cayenne pepper.

Put these ingredients into a stone jar; cover it with a bladder wetted with the pickle, and set it on a trivet by the side of the fire during three days, shaking it up three times a day; it will then be ready to receive gherkins, sliced cuc.u.mbers, sliced onions, b.u.t.ton onions, cauliflowers, celery, broccoli, French beans, nasturtiums, capsic.u.ms, and small green melons. The latter must be slit in the middle sufficiently to admit a marrow-spoon, with which take out all the seeds; then parboil the melons in a brine that will bear an egg; dry them, and fill them with mustard-seed, and two cloves of garlic, and bind the melon round with packthread.

Large cuc.u.mbers may be prepared in like manner.

Green peaches make the best imitation of the Indian mango.

The other articles are to be separately parboiled (excepting the capsic.u.ms) in a brine of salt and water strong enough to bear an egg; taken out and drained, and spread out, and thoroughly dried in the sun, on a stove, or before a fire, for a couple of days, and then put into the pickle.

Any thing may be put into this pickle, except red cabbage and walnuts.

It will keep several years.

_Obs._--To the Indian mango pickle is added a considerable quant.i.ty of mustard-seed oil, which would also be an excellent warm ingredient in our salad sauces.

HOUSEKEEPERS' MANUAL.

VARIOUS USEFUL FAMILY RECEIPTS.

_To prevent Beer becoming Flat after it is drawn._

Put a piece of toasted bread into it, and it will preserve the spirit for twelve hours after, in a very considerable degree.

_To clean Plate._

_First._--Take care that your plate is quite free from grease.

_Second._--Take some whitening mixed with water, and a sponge, rub it well on the plate, which will take the tarnish off; if it is very bad, repeat the whitening and water several times, making use of a brush, not too hard, to clean the intricate parts.

_Third._--Take some rouge-powder, mix it with water to about the thickness of cream, and with a small piece of leather (which should be kept for that purpose only) apply the rouge, which, with the addition of a little "Elbow Grease," will, in a short time, produce a most beautiful polish.

N.B.--The rouge-powder may be had at all the silversmiths and jewellers.

_Obs._--The above is the actual manner in which silversmiths clean their plate, and was given to me by a respectable tradesman.

_The common Method of cleaning Plate._

First wash it well with soap and warm water; when perfectly dry, mix together a little whitening and sweet oil, so as to make a soft paste; then take a piece of flannel, rub it on the plate; then with a leather, and plenty of dry whitening, rub it clean off again; then, with a clean leather and a brush, finish it.