Book of Household Management — 076 - Recipes. Chapter 31. Part 4.

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 scum 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 pass 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 glass 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.

The addition of the currant juice is a very great improvement to this preserve, as it gives it a piquant taste, which the flavour of the raspberries seems to require.

_Time_.

--1/4 hour to simmer the fruit without the sugar; 1/4 hour after it is added.

_Average cost_, from 6d.

to 8d.

per lb.

pot.

_Sufficient_.

--Allow about 1 pint of fruit to fill a 1-lb.

pot.

_Seasonable_ in July and August.

RASPBERRY JELLY.

1589. INGREDIENTS.

--To each pint of juice allow 3/4 lb.

of loaf sugar.

_Mode_.

--Let the raspberries be freshly gathered, quite ripe, and picked from the stalks; put them into a large jar, after breaking the fruit a little with a wooden spoon, and place this jar, covered, in a saucepan of boiling water.

When the juice is well drawn, which will be in from 3/4 to 1 hour, strain the fruit through a fine hair sieve or cloth;

measure the juice, and to every pint allow the above proportion of loaf sugar.

Put the juice and sugar into a preserving-pan, place it over the fire, and boil gently until the jelly thickens when a little is poured on a plate; carefully remove all the scum as it rises, pour the jelly into small pots, cover down, and keep in a dry place.

This jelly answers for making raspberry cream, and for flavouring various sweet dishes, when, in winter, the fresh fruit is not obtainable.

_Time_.

--3/4 to 1 hour to draw the juice.

_Average cost_, from 9d.

to 1s.

per lb.

pot.

_Sufficient.

_--From 3 pints to 2 quarts of fruit should yield 1 pint of juice.

_Seasonable_.

--This should be made in July or August.

RHUBARB JAM.

1590. INGREDIENTS.

--To every lb.

of rhubarb allow 1 lb.

of loaf sugar, the rind of 1/2 lemon.

_Mode_.

--Wipe the rhubarb perfectly dry, take off the string or peel, and weigh it; put it into a preserving-pan, with sugar in the above proportion; mince the lemon-rind very finely, add it to the other ingredients, and place the preserving-pan by the side of the fire; keep stirring to prevent the rhubarb from burning, and when the sugar is well dissolved, put the pan more over the fire, and let the jam boil until it is done, taking care to keep it well skimmed and stirred with a wooden or silver spoon.

Pour it into pots, and cover down with oiled and egged papers.

_Time_.

--If the rhubarb is young and tender, 3/4 hour, reckoning from the time it simmers equally; old rhubarb, 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hour.

_Average cost_, 5d.

to 7d.

per lb.

pot.

_Sufficient_.

--About 1 pint of sliced rhubarb to fill a lb.

pot.

_Seasonable_ from February to April.

RHUBARB AND ORANGE JAM, to resemble Scotch Marmalade.

1591. INGREDIENTS.

--1 quart of finely-cut rhubarb, 6 oranges, 1-1/2 lb.

of loaf sugar.

_Mode_.

--Peel the oranges; remove as much of the white pith as possible, divide them, and take out the pips; slice the pulp into a preserving-pan, add the rind of half the oranges cut into thin strips, and the loaf sugar, which should be broken small.

Peel the rhubarb, cut it into thin pieces, put it to the oranges, and stir altogether over a gentle fire until the jam is done.

Remove all the scum as it rises, put the preserve into pots, and, when cold, cover down.

Should the rhubarb be very old, stew it alone for 1/4 hour before the other ingredients are added.

_Time_.

--3/4 to 1 hour.

_Average cost_, from 6d.

to 8d.

per lb.

pot.

_Seasonable_ from February to April.

RASPBERRY AND CURRANT, or any Fresh Fruit Salad.

(_A Dessert Dish_.

) 1592. _Mode_.

--Fruit salads are made by stripping the fruit from the stalks, piling it on a dish, and sprinkling over it finely-pounded sugar.

They may be made of strawberries, raspberries, currants, or any of these fruits mixed; peaches also make a very good salad.

After the sugar is sprinkled over, about 6 large tablespoonfuls of wine or brandy, or 3 tablespoonfuls of liqueur, should be poured in the middle of the fruit; and, when the flavour is liked, a little pounded cinnamon may be added.

In helping the fruit, it should be lightly stirred, that the wine and sugar may be equally distributed.

_Sufficient.

_--1-1/2 pint of fruit, with 3 oz.

of pounded sugar, for 4 or 5 persons.

_Seasonable_ in summer.

STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM.

1593. INGREDIENTS.

--To every pint of picked strawberries allow 1/3 pint of cream, 2 oz.

of finely-pounded sugar.

_Mode_.

--Pick the stalks from the fruit, place it on a glass dish, sprinkle over it pounded sugar, and slightly stir the strawberries, that they may all be equally sweetened; pour the cream over the top, and serve.

Devonshire cream, when it can be obtained, is exceedingly delicious for this dish; and, if very thick indeed, may be diluted with a little thin cream or milk.

_Average cost_ for this quantity, with cream at 1s.

per pint, 1s.

_Sufficient_ for 2 persons.

_Seasonable_ in June and July.

STRAWBERRY JAM.

1594. INGREDIENTS.

--To every lb.

of fruit allow 1/2 pint of red-currant juice, 1-1/4 lb.

of loaf sugar.

_Mode_.

--Strip the currants from the stalks, put them into a jar; place this jar in a saucepan of boiling water, and simmer until the juice is well drawn from the fruit; strain the currants, measure the juice, put it into a preserving-pan, and add the sugar.

Select well-ripened but sound strawberries; pick them from the stalks, and when the sugar is dissolved in the currant juice, put in the fruit.

Simmer the whole over a moderate fire, from 1/2 to 3/4 hour, carefully removing the scum as it rises.

Stir the jam only enough to prevent it from burning at the bottom of the pan, as the fruit should be preserved as whole as possible.

Put the jam into jars, and when cold, cover down.

_Time_.

--1/2 to 3/4 hour, reckoning from the time the jam simmers all over.

_Average cost_, from 7d.

to 8d.

per lb.

pot.

_Sufficient.

_--12 pints of strawberries will make 12 lb.

pots of jam.

_Seasonable_ in June and July.

PRESERVED STRAWBERRIES IN WINE.

1595. INGREDIENTS.

--To every quart bottle allow 1/4 lb.

of finely-pounded loaf sugar; sherry or Madeira.

_Mode_.

--Let the fruit be gathered in fine weather, and used as soon as picked.

Have ready some perfectly dry glass bottles, and some nice soft corks or bungs.

Pick the stalks from the strawberries, drop them into the bottles, sprinkling amongst them pounded sugar in the above proportion, and when the fruit reaches to the neck of the bottle, fill up with sherry or Madeira.

Cork the bottles down with new corks, and dip them into melted resin.

_Seasonable_.

--Make this in June or July.

TO PRESERVE STRAWBERRIES WHOLE.

1596. INGREDIENTS.

--To every lb.

of fruit allow 1-1/2 lb.

of good loaf sugar, 1 pint of red-currant juice.

_Mode_.

--Choose the strawberries not too ripe, of a fine large sort and of a good colour.

Pick off the stalks, lay the strawberries in a dish, and sprinkle over them half the quantity of sugar, which must be finely pounded.

Shake the dish gently, that the sugar may be equally distributed and touch the under-side of the fruit, and let it remain for 1 day.

Then have ready the currant-juice, drawn as for red-currant jelly No. 1533; boil it with the remainder of the sugar until it forms a thin syrup, and in this simmer the strawberries and sugar, until the whole is sufficiently jellied.

Great care must be taken not to stir the fruit roughly, as it should be preserved as whole as possible.

Strawberries prepared in this manner are very good served in glasses and mixed with thin cream.

_Time_.

--1/4 hour to 20 minutes to simmer the strawberries in the syrup.

_Seasonable_ in June and July.

TO MAKE EVERTON TOFFEE.

1597. INGREDIENTS.

--1 lb.

of powdered loaf sugar, 1 teacupful of water, 1/4 lb.

of butter, 6 drops of essence of lemon.

_Mode_.

--Put the water and sugar into a brass pan, and beat the butter to a cream.

When the sugar is dissolved, add the butter, and keep stirring the mixture over the fire until it sets, when a little is poured on to a buttered dish; and just before the toffee is done, add the essence of lemon.

Butter a dish or tin, pour on it the mixture, and when cool, it will easily separate from the dish.

Butter-Scotch, an excellent thing for coughs, is made with brown, instead of white sugar, omitting the water, and flavoured with 1/2 oz.

of powdered ginger.

It is made in the same manner as toffee.

_Time_.

--18 to 35 minutes.

_Average cost_, 10d.

_Sufficient_ to make a lb.

of toffee.

DESSERT DISHES.

[Illustration: DISH OF NUTS.

] [Illustration: BOX OF FRENCH PLUMS.

] [Illustration: DISH OF MIXED FRUIT.

] 1598. The tazza, or dish with stem, the same as that shown in our illustrations, is now the favourite shape for dessert-dishes.

The fruit can be arranged and shown to better advantage on these tall high dishes than on the short flat ones.

All the dishes are now usually placed down the centre of the table, dried and fresh fruit alternately, the former being arranged on small round or oval glass plates, and the latter on the dishes with stems.

The fruit should always be gathered on the same day that it is required for table, and should be tastefully arranged on the dishes, with leaves between and round it.

By purchasing fruits that are in season, a dessert can be supplied at a very moderate cost.

These, with a few fancy biscuits, crystallized fruit, bon-bons, &c. , are sufficient for an ordinary dessert.

When fresh fruit cannot be obtained, dried and foreign fruits, compotes, baked pears, stewed Normandy pippins, &c. &c. , must supply its place, with the addition of preserves, bon-bons, cakes, biscuits, &c. At fashionable tables, forced fruit is served growing in pots, these pots being hidden in more ornamental ones, and arranged with the other dishes.

--(See coloured plate W1.

) A few vases of fresh flowers, tastefully arranged, add very much to the appearance of the dessert; and, when these are not obtainable, a few paper ones, mixed with green leaves, answer very well as a substitute.

In decorating a table, whether for luncheon, dessert, or supper, a vase or two of flowers should never be forgotten, as they add so much to the elegance of the _tout ensemble_.

In summer and autumn, ladies residing in the country can always manage to have a few freshly-gathered flowers on their tables, and should never be without this inexpensive luxury.

On the continent, vases or epergnes filled with flowers are invariably placed down the centre of the dinner-table at regular distances.

Ices for dessert are usually moulded: when this is not the case, they are handed round in glasses with wafers to accompany them.

Preserved ginger is frequently handed round after ices, to prepare the palate for the delicious dessert wines.

A basin or glass of finely-pounded lump sugar must never be omitted at a dessert, as also a glass jug of fresh cold water (iced, if possible), and two goblets by its side.

Grape-scissors, a melon-knife and fork, and nutcrackers, should always be put on table, if there are dishes of fruit requiring them.

Zests are sometimes served at the close of the dessert; such as anchovy toasts or biscuits.

The French often serve plain or grated cheese with a dessert of fresh or dried fruit.

At some tables, finger-glasses are placed at the right of each person, nearly half filled with cold spring water, and in winter with tepid water.

These precede the dessert.

At other tables, a glass or vase is simply handed round, filled with perfumed water, into which each guest dips the corner of his napkin, and, when needful, refreshes his lips and the tips of his fingers.

[Illustration: BOX OF CHOCOLATE.

] [Illustration: DISH OF APPLES.

] [Illustration: ALMONDS AND RAISINS.

] [Illustration: DISH OF STRAWBERRIES.

] After the dishes are placed, and every one is provided with plates, glasses, spoons, &c. , the wine should be put at each end of the table, cooled or otherwise, according to the season.

If the party be small, the wine may be placed only at the top of the table, near the host.

DISH OF NUTS.

1599. These are merely arranged piled high in the centre of the dish, as shown in the engraving, with or without leaves round the edge.

Filberts should always be served with the outer skin or husk on them; and walnuts should be well wiped with a damp cloth, and then--with a dry one, to remove the unpleasant sticky feeling the shells frequently have.

_Seasonable_.

--Filberts from September to March, good; may be had after that time, but are generally shrivelled and dry.

Walnuts from September to January.

HAZEL NUT AND FILBERT.

--The common Hazel is the wild, and the Filbert the cultivated state of the same tree.

The hazel is found wild, not only in forests and hedges, in dingles and ravines, but occurs in extensive tracts in the more northern and mountainous parts of the country.

It was formerly one of the most abundant of those trees which are indigenous in this island.

It is seldom cultivated as a fruit-tree, though perhaps its nuts are superior in flavour to the others.

The Spanish nuts imported are a superior kind, but they are somewhat oily and rather indigestible.

Filberts, both the red and the white, and the cob-nut, are supposed to be merely varieties of the common hazel, which have been produced, partly by the superiority of soil and climate, and partly by culture.

They were originally brought out of Greece to Italy, whence they have found their way to Holland, and from that country to England.

It is supposed that, within a few miles of Maidstone, in Kent, there are more filberts grown than in all England besides; and it is from that place that the London market is supplied.

The filbert is longer than the common nut, though of the same thickness, and has a larger kernel.

The cob-nut is a still larger variety, and is roundish.

Filberts are more esteemed at the dessert than common nuts, and are generally eaten with salt.

They are very free from oil, and disagree with few persons.

WALNUTS.

--The Walnut is a native of Persia, the Caucasus, and China, but was introduced to this kingdom from France.

The ripe kernel is brought to the dessert on account of its agreeable flavour; and the fruit is also much used in the green state, but before the stone hardens, as a pickle.

In Spain, grated walnuts are employed in tarts and other dishes.

The Walnut abounds in oil which is expressed and which, being of a highly drying nature, and very limpid, is much employed for delicate painting.

This, on the continent, is sometimes used as a substitute for olive-oil in cooking, but is very apt to turn rancid.

It is also manufactured into a kind of soap.

The mare, or refuse matter after the oil is extracted, proves very nutritious for poultry or other domestic animals.

In Switzerland, this is eaten by poor people under the name of _pain amer.

_ BOX OF FRENCH PLUMS.

1600. If the box which contains them is exceedingly ornamental, it may be placed on the table; if small, on a glass dish; if large, without one, French plums may also be arranged on a glass plate, and garnished with bright-coloured sweetmeats, which make a very good effect.

All fancy boxes of preserved and crystallized fruit may be put on the table or not, at pleasure.

These little matters of detail must, of course, be left to individual taste.