English Housewifery Part 21

371. _To preserve_ CHERRIES _for drying_.

Take two pounds of cherries and stone them, put to them a pound of sugar, and as much water as will wet the sugar, then set them on the fire, let them boil till they look clear, then take them off the fire, and let them stand a while in the syrrup, and then take them up and lay them on papers to dry.

372. _To preserve_ FRUIT _green all the Year_.

Gather your fruit when they are three parts ripe, on a very dry day, when the sun s.h.i.+nes on them, then take earthen pots and put them in, cover the pots with cork, or bung them that no air can get into them, dig a place in the earth a yard deep, set the pots therein and cover them with the earth very close, and keep them for use.

When you take any out, cover them up again, as at the first.

373. _How to keep_ KIDNEY BEANS _all Winter_.

Take kidney beans when they are young, leave on both the ends, lay a layer of salt at the bottom of your pot, and then a layer of beans, and so on till your pot be full, cover them close at the top that they get no air, and set them in a cool place; before you boil them lay them in water all night, let your water boil when you put them in, (without salt) and put into it a lump of b.u.t.ter about the bigness of a walnut.

374. _To candy_ ANGELICA.

Take angelica when it is young and tender take off all the leaves from the stalks, boil it in the pan with some of the leaves under, and some at the top, till it be so tender that you can peel off all the skin, then put it into some water again, cover it over with some of the leaves, let it simmer over a slow fire till it be green, when it is green drain the water from it, and then weigh it; to a pound of angelica take a pound of loaf sugar, put a pint of water to every pound of sugar, boil and skim it, and then put in your angelica; it will take a great deal of boiling in the sugar, the longer you boil it and the greener it will be, boil it whilst your sugar be candy height by the side of your pan; if you would have it nice and white, you must have a pound of sugar boiled candy height in a copper-dish or stew pan, set it over a chafing dish, and put it into your angelica, let it have a boil, and it will candy as you take it out.

375. _To dry_ PEARS.

Take half a peck of good baking pears, (or as many as you please) pare and put them in a pot, and to a peck of pears put in two pounds of sugar; you must put in no water but lie the parings on the top of your pears, tie them up close, and set them in a brown bread oven; when they are baked lay them in a dripping pan, and flat them a little in your pan; set them in a slow oven, and turn them every day whilst they be through y dry; so keep them for use.

You may dry pippens the same way, only as your turn them grate over them a little sugar.

376. _To preserve_ CURRANS _in bunches_.

Boil your sugar to the fourth degree of boiling, tie your currans up in bunches, then place them in order in the sugar, and give them several covered boilings, skim them quick, and let them not have above two or three seethings, then skim them again, and set them into the stove in the preserving pan, the next day drain them, and dress them in bunches, strow them with sugar, and dry them in a stove or in the sun.

377. _To dry_ APRIc.o.c.kS.

To a pound of apric.o.c.ks put three quarter of a pound of sugar, pare and stone them, to a layer of fruit lie a layer of sugar, let them stand till the next day, then boil them again till they be clear, when cold take them out of the syrrup, and lay them upon gla.s.ses or china, and sift them over with double refined sugar, so set them on a stove to dry, next day if they be dry enough turn them and sift the other side with sugar; let the stones be broke and the kernels blanch'd, and give them a boil in the syrrup, then put them into the apric.o.c.ks; you must not do too many at a time, for fear of breaking them in the syrrup; do a great many, and the more you do in it, the better they will taste.

378. _To make_ JUMBALIS _another Way_.

Take a pound of meal dry, a pound of sugar finely beat, mix them together; then take the yolks of five or six eggs, as much thick cream as will make it up to a paste, and some corriander seeds; roll them and lay them on tins, p.r.i.c.k and bake them in a quick oven; before you set them in the oven wet them with a little rose-water and double refin'd sugar, and it will ice them.

379. _To preserve_ ORANGES _Whole_.

Take what quant.i.ty of oranges you have a mind to preserve, chip off the rind, the thiner and better, put them into water twenty-four hours, in that time s.h.i.+ft them in the water (to take off the bitter) three times; you must s.h.i.+ft them with boiling water, cold water makes them hard; put double the weight of sugar for oranges, dissolve your sugar in water, skim it, and clarify it with the white of an egg; before you put in your oranges, boil them in syrrup three or four times, three or four days betwixt each time; you must take out the inmeat of the oranges very clean, for fear of mudding the syrup.

380. _To make_ JAM _of_ DAMSINS.

Take damsins when they are ripe, and to two pounds of damsins take a pound of sugar, put your sugar into a pan with a jill of water, when you have boiled it put in your damsins, let them boil pretty quick, skim them all the time they are boiling, when your syrrup looks thick they are enough put them into your pots, and when they are cold cover them with a paper dip'd in brandy, tie them up close, and keep them for use.

381. _To make clear_ Cakes _of_ Gooseberries.

Take a pint of jelly, a pound and a quarter of sugar, make your jelly with three or four spoonfuls of water, and put your sugar and jelly together, set it over the fire to heat, but don't let it boil, then put it into the cake pots, and set it in a slow oven till iced over.

382. _To make_ BULLIES CHEESE.

Take half a peck or a quartern of bullies, whether you please, pick off the stalks, put them in a pot, and stop them up very close, set them in a pot of water to boil for two hours, and be sure your pot be full of water, and boil them whilst they be enough, then put them in a hair-sieve to drain the liquor from the bullies; and to every quart of liquor put a pound and a quarter of sugar, boil it over a slow fire, keeping it stirring all the time: You may know when it is boiled high enough by the parting from the pan, and cover it with papers dip'd in brandy, so tie it up close, and keep it for use.

383. _To make_ JAM _of_ BULLIES.

Take the bullies that remained in the sieve, to every quart of it take a pound of sugar, and put it to your jam, boil it over a slow fire, put it in pots, and keep it for use.

384. _To make_ SYRRUP _of_ GILLIFLOWERS.

Take five pints of clipt gilliflowers, two pints of boiling water and put to them, then put them in an earthen pot to infuse a night and a day, take a strainer and strain them out; to a quart of your liquor put a pound and half of loaf sugar, boil it over a slow fire, and skim it whilst any skim rises; so when it is cold bottle it for use.

385. _To pickle_ GILLIFLOWERS.

Take clove gilliflowers, when they are at full growth, clip them and put them into a pot, put them pretty sad down, and put to them some white wine vinegar, as much as will cover them; sweeten them with fine powder sugar, or common loaf; when you put in your sugar stir them up that your sugar may go down to the bottom; they must be very sweet; let them stand two or three days, and then put in a little more vinegar; so tie them up for use.

386. _To pickle_ CUc.u.mBERS _sliced_.

Pare thirty large cuc.u.mbers, slice them into a pewter dish, take six onions, slice and strow on them some salt, so cover them and let them stand to drain twenty four hours; make your pickle of white wine vinegar, nutmeg, pepper, cloves and mace, boil the spices in the pickle, drain the liquor clean from the cuc.u.mbers, put them into a deep pot, pour the liquor upon them boiling hot, and cover them very close; when they are cold drain the liquor from them, give it another boil, and when it is cold pour it on them again; so keep them for use.

387. _To make_ CUPID HEDGE-HOG'S.

Take a quarter of a pound of jordan almonds, and half a pound of loaf sugar, put it into a pan with as much water as will just wet it, let it boil whilst it be so thick as will stick to your almonds, then put in your almonds and let them boil in it; have ready a quarter of a pound of small coloured comfits; take your almonds out of the syrrup one by one, and turn them round whilst they covered over, so lie them on a pewter dish as you do them, and set them before the fire, whilst you have done them all.

They are pretty to put in gla.s.ses, or to set in a desert.

388. _To make_ ALMOND HEDGE-HOGS.

Take half a pound of the best almonds, and blanch them, beat them with two or three spoonfuls of rose-water in a marble-mortar very small, then take six eggs, (leave out two of the whites) beat your eggs very well, take half a pound of loaf sugar beaten, and four ounces of clarified b.u.t.ter, mix them all well together, put them into a pan, set them over the fire, and keep it stirring whilst it be stiff, then put it into a china-dish, and when it is cold put it up into the shape of an hedge hog, put currans for eyes, and a bit of candid orange for tongue; you may leave out part of the almonds unbeaten; take them and split them in two, then cut them in long bits to stick into your hedge hog all over, then rake two pints of cream custard to pour over your hedge hog, according to the bigness of your dish; lie round your dish edge slices of candid or preserved orange, which you have, so serve it up.

389. _To pot_ SALMON _to keep half a Year_.