The Virginia Housewife: or, Methodical Cook/Pickling
PICKLING.
LEMON PICKLE.
Grate the yellow rind from two dozen fine fresh lemons, quarter them, but leave them whole at the bottom; sprinkle salt on them, and put them in the sun every day until dry; then brush off the salt, put them in a pot with one ounce of nutmegs, and one of mace pounded; a large handful of horse radish scraped and dried, two dozen cloves of garlic, and a pint of mustard seed; pour on one gallon of strong vinegar, tie the pot close, put a board on, and let it stand three months—strain it, and when perfectly clear, bottle it.
TOMATO CATSUP.
Gather a peck of tomatos, pick out the stems, and wash them; put them on the fire without water, sprinkle on a few spoonsful of salt, let them boil steadily an hour, stirring them frequently; strain them through a colander, and then through a sieve; put the liquid on the fire with half a pint of chopped onions, half a quarter of an ounce of mace broke into small pieces; and if not sufficiently salt, add a little more—one table-spoonful of whole black pepper; boil all together until just enough to fill two bottles; cork it tight. Make it in August, in dry weather.
TOMATO MARMALADE.
Gather full grown tomatos while quite green; take out the stems, and stew them till soft; rub them through a sieve, put the pulp on the fire seasoned highly with pepper, salt, and pounded cloves; add some garlic, and stew all together till thick: it keeps well, and is excellent for seasoning gravies, &c. &c.
TOMATO SWEET MARMALADE.
Prepare it in the same manner, mix some loaf sugar with the pulp, and stew until it is a stiff jelly.
TOMATO SOY.
Take a bushel of full ripe tomatos, cut them in slices without skinning—sprinkle the bottom of a large tub with salt, strew in the tomatos, and over each layer of about two inches thick, sprinkle half a pint of salt, and three onions sliced without taking off the skins.
When the bushel of tomatos is thus prepared, let them remain for three days, then put them into a large iron pot, in which they must boil from early in the morning till night, constantly stirring to prevent their sticking and mashing them.
The next morning, pass the mixture through a sieve, pressing it to obtain all the liquor you can; and add to it one ounce of cloves, quarter of a pound of allspice, quarter of a pound of whole black pepper, and a small wine glass of Cayenne; let it boil slowly and constantly during the whole of the day—in the evening, put it into a suitable vessel to cool; and the day after, bottle and cork it well: place it in a cool situation during warm weather, and it will keep for many years, provided it has been boiled very slowly and sufficiently in the preparation. Should it ferment, it must be boiled a second time.
PEPPER VINEGAR.
Get one dozen pods of pepper when ripe, take out the stems, and cut them in two; put them in a kettle with three pints of vinegar, boil it away to one quart, and strain it through a sieve. A little of this is excellent in gravy of every kind, and gives a flavour greatly superior to black pepper; it is also very fine when added to each of the various catsups for fish sauce.
MUSHROOM CATSUP.
Take the flaps of the proper mushrooms from the stems—wash them, add some salt, and crush them; then boil them some time, strain them through a cloth, put them on the fire again with salt to your taste, a few cloves of garlic, and a quarter of an ounce of cloves pounded, to a peck of mushrooms; boil it till reduced to less than half the original quantity—bottle and cork it well.
TARRAGON OR ASTRAGON VINEGAR.
Pick the tarragon nicely from the stem, let it lie in a dry place forty-eight hours; put it in a pitcher, and to one quart of the leaves put three pints of strong vinegar; cover it close, and let it stand a week—then strain it, and after standing in the pitcher till quite clear, bottle it, and cork it closely.
CURRY POWDER.
One ounce turmeric, one do. coriander seed, one do. cummin seed, one do. white ginger, one of nutmeg, one of mace, and one of Cayenne pepper; pound all together, and pass them through a fine sieve; bottle and cork it well—one tea-spoonful is sufficient to season any made dish.
TO PICKLE CUCUMBERS.
Gather them full grown, but quite young—take off the green rind, and slice them tolerably thick; put a layer in a deep dish, strew over it some chopped onion and salt; do this until they are all in; sprinkle salt on the top, let them stand six hours, put them in a colander—when all the liquor has run off, put them in a pot, strew a little cayenne pepper over each layer, and cover them with strong cold vinegar; when the pot is full, pour on some sweet oil, and tie it up close; at the end of a fortnight, pour off the first vinegar, and put on fresh.
OIL MANGOS.
Gather the melons a size larger than a goose egg—put them in a pot, pour boiling salt and water made strong upon them, and cover them up; next day, cut a slit from the stem to the blossom end, and take out the seeds carefully—return them to the brine, and let them remain in it eight days; then put them in strong vinegar for a fortnight, wipe the insides with a soft cloth, stuff them and tie them, pack them in a pot with the slit uppermost; strew some of the staffing over each layer, and keep them covered with the best vinegar.
TO MAKE THE STUFFING FOR FORTY MELONS.
Wash a pound of white race ginger very clean; pour boiling water on it, and let it stand twenty-four hours; slice it thin, and dry it; one pound of horse-radish scraped and dried, one pound of mustard seed washed and dried, one pound of chopped onion, one ounce of mace, one of nutmeg pounded fine, two ounces of turmeric, and a handful of whole black pepper; make these ingredients into a paste, with a quarter of a pound of mustard, and a large cup full of sweet oil; put a clove of garlic into each mango.
TO MAKE YELLOW PICKLE.
Put all the articles intended for the yellow pickle in a pot, and pour on them boiling salt and water—let them stand forty-eight hours, take advantage of a clear hot day, press the water from the articles, and lay them to dry in full sunshine, on a table covered with a thick soft cloth, with the corners pinned securely, that they may not blow up over the things—the cloth absorbs the moisture; and by turning them frequently on a dry place, they become white, and receive the colour of the turmeric more readily—one day of clear sunshine is enough to prepare them for the first vinegar. When dried, put them in a pot of plain cold vinegar, with a little turmeric in it—let them remain in it two weeks to draw off the water from them, and to make them plump—then put them in a clean pot, and pour on the vinegar, prepared by the following directions—this is the most economical and best way of keeping them—mix the turmeric very smoothly, before you add it to your pickles.
TO MAKE GREEN PICKLES.
Put the articles you intend to pickle, in a pot—and cover them with boiling salt and water: put a thick cloth on the top, and then a plate that will fit it—let it stand till the next morning, then pour off the salt and water, boil it again, and cover them as before; do this until your pickles are a good green—then put them in plain cold vinegar, with some turmeric in it; and at the end of a fortnight, put them up, as you do the yellow pickle.
TO PREPARE VINEGAR FOR GREEN OR YELLOW PICKLE.
One pound of ginger sliced and dried, one of horse-radish scraped and dried, one of mustard seed washed and dried, one ounce long pepper, an ounce of mace, and one of nutmegs finely pounded; put all these ingredients in a pot, pour two gallons of strong vinegar on, and let it stand twelve months, stirring it very frequently. When this vinegar is used for the pickles, put two gallons more vinegar, with some mace and nutmegs, and keep it for another year. When the prepared vinegar is poured from the ingredients, do it very carefully, that it may be quite clear. Pickles keep much better when the vinegar is not boiled. Should the green pickles at any time lose their colour, it may be restored by adding a little more turmeric. All pickles are best, when one or two years old.
TO PICKLE ONIONS.
Get white onions that are not too large, cut the stem close to the root with a sharp knife, put them in a pot, pour on boiling salt and water to cover them, stop the pot closely, let them stand a fortnight, changing the salt and water every three days; they must be stirred daily, or those that float will become soft; at the end of this time, take off the skin and outer shell, put them in plain cold vinegar with a little turmeric. If the vinegar be not very pale, the onion will not be of a good colour.
TO PICKLE NASTERTIUMS.
Gather the berries when full grown but young, put them in a pot, pour boiling salt and water on, and let them stand three or four days; then drain off the water, and cover them with cold vinegar; add a few blades of mace, and whole grains of black pepper.
TO PICKLE RADISH PODS.
Cut them in nice bunches as soon as they are fully formed; they must be young and tender—pour boiling salt and water on them, cover with a thick cloth, and pewter plate, to keep in the steam; repeat this every day till they are a good green; then put them in cold vinegar, with mace and whole pepper; mix a little turmeric, with a small portion of oil, and stir it into the vinegar; it will make the pods of a more lively green. They are very pretty for garnishing meats.
TO PICKLE ENGLISH WALNUTS.
The walnuts should be gathered when the nut is so young that you can run a pin into it easily; pour boiling salt and water on, and let them be covered with it nine days, changing it every third day—take them out, and put them on dishes in the air for a few minutes, taking care to turn them over; this will make them black much sooner—put them in a pot, strew over some whole pepper, cloves, a little garlic, mustard seed, and horse-radish scraped and dried; cover them with strong cold vinegar.
TO PICKLE PEPPERS.
Gather the large bell pepper when quite young, leave the seeds in and the stem on, cut a slit in one side between the large veins, to let the water in; pour boiling salt and water on, changing it every day for three weeks—you must keep them closely stopped; if, at the end of this time, they be a good green, put them in pots, and cover them with cold vinegar and a little turmeric; those that are not sufficiently green, must be continued under the same process till they are so. Be careful not to cut through the large veins, as the heat will instantly diffuse itself through the pod.
TO MAKE WALNUT CATSUP.
Gather the walnuts as for pickling, and keep them in salt and water the same time; then pound them in a marble mortar—to every dozen walnuts, put a quart of vinegar; stir them well every day for a week, then put them in a bag, and press all the liquor through; to each quart, put a teaspoonful of pounded cloves, and one of mace, with six cloves of garlic—boil it fifteen or twenty minutes, and bottle it.
TO PICKLE GREEN NECTARINES OR APRICOTS.
Gather them while the shell is soft—green them with salt and water as before directed; when a good green, soak them in plain vinegar for a fortnight, and put them in the yellow pickle pot.
TO PICKLE ASPARAGUS.
Pour boiling salt and water on, and cover them close—next day, take them out, dry them, and after standing in vinegar, put them with the yellow pickle.
OBSERVATIONS ON PICKLING.
The vessels for keeping pickles should be made of stone ware, straight from the bottom to the top, with stone covers to them; when the mouth is very wide, the pickles may be taken out without breaking them. The motive for keeping all pickles in plain vinegar, previous to putting them in the prepared pot, is to draw off the water with which they are saturated, that they may not weaken the vinegar of the pot. Pickles keep much better when the vinegar is not boiled.