PICKLES
In the warm days when the thought of “sweets” brings no desire, but rather an aversion for them, it requires courage to put up preserves, and a certain amount of faith is necessary to make the housewife feel that she will ever want to eat the rich and cloying dainties. But with pickles it is another story. During the dog-days the thought of the biting acid is pleasing, and the recollection of pungent spices tempts the appetite. So the housewife enters into the preparation of her pickles with zest that makes the task a pleasure.
To be on the safe side one should, in making pickles, always use a porcelain or agate-lined preserving kettle, as the action of sharp acid upon a copper vessel may, unless great care be practiced, produce a corroding poison.
Wax for sealing jars and bottles
Make a mixture of one-third resin and two-thirds beeswax. Heat together, mix well and put away until needed. When it is to be used lay a lump of it on top of the jar or bottle to be sealed, and press it down with a hot shovel. This will melt it, and thus seal the cork.
Cucumber pickles
Choose only small cucumbers, as they make pretty, as well as tender, pickles. Lay one hundred and fifty small cucumbers in cold water for an hour. Remove and drain, then turn into a perfectly clean stone crock, and pour over them cold brine, so strong that an egg will float on the surface. After standing in this for three days the pickles may be removed, drained and dried on a clean towel. Wash the stone crock and return the cucumbers to it. Cover with pure water until the next day. Have ready on the range hot vinegar in which you have boiled two minced onions, twenty cloves, an ounce, each, of mustard and celery seed and a few blades of mace. Fill the jar with this boiling mixture, and add a cupful of sugar, stirring the cucumbers up from the bottom. Cover tightly. In a week scald the vinegar again, and return to the jar. Let the pickles stand for six weeks before using. Six months is even better.
Sliced cucumber pickles
Slice three dozen large yellow cucumbers and boil them for half an hour in enough vinegar to cover them. Meanwhile, into a gallon of cold vinegar stir a tablespoonful, each, of onion juice, ground horseradish, cinnamon, black pepper, ginger, a half-teaspoonful of paprika, a tablespoonful of celery seed and a half-pound of sugar. Drain the boiled cucumbers, turn them into the spiced vinegar, put all into a kettle and simmer for two hours before putting into glass jars.
Pickled onions
Select the small white “button onions” for pickling. Lay them in a strong brine for four or five days. Drain and put into a fresh supply of brine boiling hot. Cook five minutes. Drain and lay in clear, cold water for a day. Drain once more, turn the onions into pint jars and pour scalding spiced vinegar upon them. Allow them to become tender before using.
Pickled butternuts
These should be picked when tender enough to be pierced with a needle. Cover with very strong brine and keep the nuts in this for three days; drain and recover with brine. At the end of three days drain again and leave in fresh cold water for six hours. Bring to a boil a gallon of vinegar in which you have stirred a cupful of sugar, two tablespoonfuls, each, of whole cloves and peppercorns, a tablespoonful of allspice and eight blades of mace. Boil for ten minutes, pack the nuts in a crock and pour the scalding vinegar over them. At the end of three days drain off the vinegar, bring it to the boil, and pour it again over the nuts. Cover and set aside for six weeks before eating.
Peter Piper’s pickled peppers
Cut a slit in the sides of large green peppers and extract the seeds. Lay in strong brine for three days and in cold water for one. Make a stuffing of eight tablespoonfuls of chopped cabbage, four tablespoonfuls of English mustard seed, a teaspoonful of celery seed, two teaspoonfuls of chopped onion, a teaspoonful, each, of grated horseradish, whole peppercorns and ground mace, a half-teaspoonful of ground mustard and a heaping tablespoonful of brown sugar. Moisten to a paste with salad oil and stuff the peppers with it, closing the slit afterwards, and wrapping with soft string. Pack in a stone crock and fill the crock with scalding vinegar to which has been added a half-cup of brown sugar. Scald the vinegar a week later and return to the crock. Cover and let it stand six months before using.
Stuffed mangoes or peppers
Cut the tops from green peppers, and with a sharp knife remove the seeds. Fill the peppers with salt and cover with cold water. Let them stand thus for two days, then drain; leave in cold water for a day and fill with a stuffing made of two tablespoonfuls of minced cabbage, two tablespoonfuls of horseradish, grated, a teaspoonful of minced onion, a half-teaspoonful, each, of powdered mace, nutmeg and ginger, a teaspoonful, each, of celery seed, peppercorns and ground mustard, a teaspoonful of sugar and a tablespoonful of salad oil. When the peppers are stuffed tie on the tops with soft twine, pack in a crock and fill the crock with boiling vinegar. Repeat the scalding a week later. Cover, and let them stand for several months before using.
Pickled pepper hash
Wash and dry five large green peppers and one red one, cut them open and remove all the seed, then chop the shells quite fine. Next, take a good-sized head of cabbage, remove all imperfect leaves, cut it up and chop fine. Place both cabbage and peppers in a bowl and mix well together; add two tablespoonfuls of brown mustard seed, three tablespoonfuls of salt, one of sugar and enough good cider vinegar to cover the whole; stir all well together and put into pickle bottles. This will be ready for use in two days, or it will keep for winter use.
Pickled cherries
Bring to the boiling point a pint and a half of vinegar, into which you have stirred half a cupful of brown sugar, a tablespoonful of whole cloves and a dozen blades of mace. Boil all together for five minutes, and set aside to cool.
Have ready three quarts of firm, tart cherries (leaving the stones in them) and put them into glass jars. Strain the spices from the cold vinegar, and pour the vinegar over the fruit, filling the jars to the brim. Seal at once.
Martinia pickles
Gather when a needle will pierce the vegetables; wash and pack down in a stone jar, then cover with cold brine strong enough to bear up an egg. Let the pickles stand in this for three days, stirring them up each day from the bottom. Drain and pour cold water over them, letting them stand for twenty-four hours in it. Drain this off, and pack the pickles in quart jars. Have ready scalding vinegar in which you have boiled for ten minutes a dozen whole cloves and peppercorns, four blades of mace and two teaspoonfuls of mustard seed. Fill the jars with the boiling vinegar, add a tablespoonful of sugar for each quart of vinegar, and screw on the covers. Let the pickles stand for six weeks before using.
Pickled string beans
Remove the strings and boil the beans until tender in slightly salted boiling water; put into glass jars, pour heated spiced vinegar over them and seal up tightly, as you would canned beans.
Green tomato pickle
Slice a gallon of unpeeled green tomatoes and six large onions and mix them together. Stir into these a quart of vinegar, one cupful of brown sugar, a tablespoonful, each, of salt, pepper and mustard seed, and a half-tablespoonful, each, of ground allspice and cloves. Stew all until the tomatoes are very tender, then put into glass jars and seal.
India relish (No. 1)
One pint of young string beans, cut into inch lengths; one pint of very small cucumbers (an inch long), each cut into three pieces; three sliced cucumbers, one pint of button onions (peeled), four long red peppers, cut small; one cup of green nasturtium seed, one medium-sized cauliflower, cut into small clusters.
Put all these ingredients into a stone crock in layers thickly strewn with salt, the uppermost layer being of salt. Cover with cold water, put a plate on top, weighted with a stone to keep the vegetables from floating, and leave in the cellar for three days.
Drain off the brine, rinse with cold water by putting the vegetables in a colander and holding it under the faucet; return to the crock, cover with cold fresh water and leave for twenty-four hours.
Have ready three quarts of vinegar, one teaspoonful of Hungarian sweet pepper (paprika), one teaspoonful of cloves, one teaspoonful of celery seed, two tablespoonfuls of curry powder, one teaspoonful of ground mustard, one teaspoonful of mace, one teaspoonful of grated horseradish, one and a half cupfuls of brown sugar. Let this mixture come to a boil, put in the drained vegetables, and simmer ten minutes after it begins to boil. Turn into a stone crock; cover closely and let all stand forty-eight hours.
Drain off the vinegar and bring it to a boil; pour over the pickles and leave them for a day longer. Fill small glass jars with the relish, cork and seal. Keep in a dark closet. It will not be ready for use under three weeks. Six weeks are better.
India relish (No. 2)
Two pounds of citron melon or watermelon rind, two heads of cabbage, white and firm; six white onions, one large cupful of sugar, one heaping teaspoonful, each, of ground cinnamon, mace, paprika (Hungarian sweet pepper), mustard and powdered alum, one tablespoonful of curry powder, one quart of vinegar, two tablespoonfuls of celery seed, one tablespoonful of salt.
Prepare the melon by cutting off the green rind and scraping away the softer inner coating, leaving less than an inch, firm and white, to be treated. Cut into thin strips, put into an agate-iron or porcelain-lined kettle, cover with cold water and sprinkle a tablespoonful of powdered alum over it. Cover closely and cook gently—never fast—for three hours. Drain well and cover with ice-water. Change the water twice in four hours, and then wipe the melon dry.
Cut the cabbage into quarters, cook in boiling water slightly salted for fifteen minutes. Let it get perfectly cold. Parboil the onions and allow them also to get cold and stiff.
Now chop cabbage, melons and onions separately, and very fine. Mix all together in a large crock, and pour over them the scalding hot vinegar, in which have been boiled for one minute the spices, sugar and celery seed.
Leave the crock covered twenty-four hours, strain off the vinegar, bring it to a boil and pour again over the mixture in the crock. Repeat this for three days in succession, after which pack in small jars, cover closely and set away to ripen. It will be ready for use in six weeks, but improves by keeping. The result will repay the housewife for the trouble of making.
Pickled watermelon rind
Allow three pounds of brown sugar to each quart of vinegar. Bruise four ounces of stick cinnamon and two ounces of cloves; tie in a mustard bag and boil five minutes with the vinegar. Pour this over the pared and sliced rind and let it remain twenty-four hours. Drain off the liquid, reheat and pour over the rind again, and let it stand for twenty-four hours. Then boil all together for a short time, and put into jars.
Pickled nutmeg melons
Young musk or nutmeg melons, four tablespoonfuls of English mustard seed mixed with two tablespoonfuls of scraped horseradish, one teaspoonful of ground mace and nutmeg, two teaspoonfuls of chopped garlic, a little ginger, one dozen whole peppercorns; one-half tablespoonful of ground mustard to a pint of the mixture—allowing one tablespoonful of sugar to the same amount; one tablespoonful best salad oil to each pint of the mixture; one teaspoonful of celery seed. Cut a slit in the side of the melon and extract the seeds. If you can not get them out in this way cut a slender slit out, saving it to replace. Lay the melons in strong brine for three days. Drain off the brine and freshen in pure water for twenty-four hours. “Green” as you would cucumbers—that is, have a kettle lined with green vine leaves, and lay the melons evenly within it, scattering powdered alum over the layers. A piece of alum as large as a pigeon’s egg will be enough for a two-gallon kettleful. Fill with cold water; cover with vine leaves, three deep; put a close lid or inverted pan over all, and steam over a slow fire five or six hours, not allowing the water to boil. When the melons are a fine green remove the leaves and lay the melons in cold water until cold and firm. Fill with the stuffing; sew up the slit, or tie with pack thread. Pack in a deep stone jar and pour scalding vinegar over them. Repeat this process three times more at intervals of two days; then cover and set away in a cool, dry place. They will not be “ripe” under four months, but are very fine when they are. They will keep several years.
Pickled gherkins
Put the “prickly cucumbers” by the layer in a stone crock, strewing each layer thickly with salt; then pour in enough cold water to cover them. Lay a heavy plate on the top of all to keep them from floating. Leave the pickles in brine for a fortnight, frequently stirring them up from the bottom. Pick all over, rejecting such as are soft, and lay the firm ones in a kettle lined with grape leaves, sprinkling a generous pinch of alum over each layer of gherkins. Cover with cold water and three thicknesses of grape leaves over the surface of the water; put on a closely-fitting top and steam over a low fire for half a day. Drain the pickles and throw into cold water. Have ready a gallon of vinegar to which have been added eighteen allspice, three dozen cloves, three dozen black peppercorns, a dozen blades of mace, and a cup of sugar. Boil this vinegar for five minutes, then pack the cold gherkins in jars and fill the jars with the scalding vinegar.
Ripe cucumber pickle
Select rather small ripe cucumbers of uniform size. Steam them for three hours in a closely-covered preserving kettle, lining this and covering the cucumbers with vine leaves if you can procure these. To a kettleful of material allow two teaspoonfuls of powdered alum, scattering it over each layer of the cucumbers. Of water there should be only just enough to cover the vegetables. When the period of steaming is at an end drain off the water and throw the cucumbers into very cold water. Change this four times in four hours.
Weigh the cucumbers and allow for every pound of these a pound of sugar and a half-cupful of cold water. Heat these two together gradually, and when they are hot lay in the cucumbers. Let them simmer very slowly until tender; take them out and spread upon dishes while you add to the syrup on the stove a pint of vinegar for every pound of the rind, and to every eight pounds of it a tablespoonful, each, of ground cloves, cinnamon and mace.
Chow-chow
Prepare a mixture of string beans, tiny cucumbers, small onions (peeled), a cauliflower (cut into clusters) and green tomatoes (sliced). Add to these four small, long, red peppers, and arrange the vegetables in a wide-mouthed jar, alternating each layer of these with one of salt. When all are in cover with cold water, laying a board with a weight upon it on top of the contents of the jar to keep them from floating. Leave them thus for three days, drain the pickles, wash them with fresh water and let them lie in unsalted water for a day. Make a pickle vinegar by cooking together a gallon of vinegar, a teaspoonful, each, of celery seed, white mustard seed, whole cloves, whole mace and whole black peppers, and one of ground horseradish, two teaspoonfuls of turmeric, three tablespoonfuls of ground mustard, and a cupful and a half of brown sugar. Put over the fire in a preserving kettle, and, when it reaches a boil, drop in the pickles. Be careful that there are no decayed ones among them. After they have simmered five minutes take them out with a skimmer and put into a stone jar. Pour the vinegar over them, and let them stand for two days. Drain the vinegar off; put it back on the fire, add to it a tablespoonful of curry powder, and, when the vinegar is boiling, pour it over the pickles in the crock. When cold, put the pickles into small jars and seal. Ready for use in two or three weeks.
Red cabbage pickle
Quarter the cabbage and lay in a jar. Cover with salt and let it stand for twenty-four hours. Drain off the brine; wipe dry and cover with cold water for twelve hours. Bring two quarts of vinegar to the boil, spicing it, as you do so, with equal quantities of whole cloves, white peppers and blades of mace broken into tiny bits, a half cupful of sugar and two tablespoonfuls of celery seed. Pack the cabbage into a crock, and, after the vinegar and spices have boiled together for ten minutes, cover the cabbage with the scalding vinegar. Cover, and keep in a cool place. It must not be used under six weeks or two months.
SWEET PICKLES
In putting up sweet pickles bear in mind that the fruit of which they are made must be very thoroughly cooked. If this precaution is not taken fermentation may possibly set in and the contents of your jars will be spoiled. Under the head of sweet pickles may be included such relishes as spiced grapes and currants, as well as the larger fruits.
Pickled peaches
Choose firm, freestone peaches for pickling. Morris whites are good for this purpose. Peel the peaches, dropping them into cold water as you do so, to preserve the color. Drain and weigh the fruit, allowing to every three pounds of it a pound and a half of sugar (granulated) and a cupful of vinegar. Stick a whole clove into each peach and put the fruit and sugar in layers in a porcelain-lined preserving kettle. Put the vinegar on to boil in a separate saucepan with a cheese-cloth bag containing a tablespoonful, each, of mace, cinnamon and cloves. Boil this for five minutes, then remove the spice bag. Cook the sugar and peaches together for five minutes more, and add the vinegar. Boil until the fruit looks clear, and is tender, but not broken. Remove the fruit carefully with a skimmer and spread upon platters to cool while you boil the syrup for fifteen minutes longer, or until it is very thick. Pack the peaches in jars set in a pan of hot water; fill with boiling syrup, and seal.
Unpeeled pickled peaches
Rub the down from peaches of uniform size, using a coarse towel to do this. Prick each peach with a fork, weigh them, and put them into a preserving kettle with barely enough water to cover them. When the water is just short of the boil remove the peaches, and to the water in the kettle add sugar in the proportion of three pounds to every seven pounds of the fruit. Boil for fifteen minutes, skimming two or three times. For every seven pounds of the fruit put in three pints of vinegar, one tablespoonful, each, of ground cinnamon, mace and allspice, and one teaspoonful, each, of cloves and celery seed, all well mixed and tied up in tiny bags made of thin muslin. Let all cook together for ten minutes after they have come to a boil; put in the fruit and let it stew slowly until tender. Remove it from the syrup with a skimmer, spread it on plates to cool, and let the syrup boil until thick. Put the peaches into glass jars, pour in the syrup and seal.
Sweet cucumber pickles
Lay small cucumbers in brine for three days, then drain and lay in fresh water for a day. Line a kettle with grape leaves and arrange the cucumbers in it in layers, scattering a pinch of alum over each layer. Cover with cold water and three layers of leaves; fit a lid on the kettle and steam the pickles (without letting them boil) over a slow fire for six hours. Drain the cucumbers, throw into cold water, and when they are firm pack in jars. Fill the jars with boiling vinegar that has been seasoned with a cupful of sugar to each quart, eight whole cloves, eight black peppers, six allspice and six blades of mace. Seal the jars at once. They will be fit for use in three months.
Pickled plums
Wipe firm plums with a damp cloth and prick each in several places to prevent bursting. Allow the same quantity of sugar, vinegar and spices to each pound of fruit as in recipe for pickled peaches. Put each kind of spice in a cheese-cloth bag by itself and the sugar, vinegar and spices all on the fire to boil at the same time. When the syrup is hot add the plums and stew until tender. Remove the plums to the heated jars, take the spice bags from the syrup, and pour this into the jars.
Pickled crabapples (No. 1)
Do not peel the apples, but wipe each one carefully. Weigh, and allow four and a half pounds of sugar to seven pounds of apples. Put the sugar and fruit in the kettle and add just enough water to cover the lower layer of fruit. Bring slowly to a boil, and cook until the apples are clear and tender, but not broken. When they can be pierced with a stiff straw they are done. Have ready boiling a pint of vinegar that has been spiced with cinnamon, cloves and mace. (The cloves may be whole, the mace and cinnamon broken into bits, and all boiled in the vinegar for ten minutes.) Add the spiced vinegar to the boiling fruit five minutes before the apples are ready to take out. Remove the apples, spread on platters; boil the syrup and vinegar until thick; pack the apples in jars, and fill these to overflowing with the boiling liquid. Seal at once.
Pickled crabapples (No. 2)
Weigh and peel fourteen pounds of Siberian crabapples, and measure out a quart of vinegar and eight pounds of granulated sugar. Put the apples in a kettle with a pint of warm water and stew gently for ten minutes. Drain, remove the apples from the kettle, and then put them back in layers, strewing each layer with sugar. Bring to a boil. Have ready boiling the vinegar, into which has been stirred three tablespoonfuls of broken stick cinnamon and whole cloves, and a tablespoonful of ground mace. Pour this spiced vinegar over the apples and boil for five minutes. With a perforated skimmer remove the fruit, spread it on platters to cool, boil the syrup until thick, pack the apples in jars, and fill the jars with the boiling syrup. Seal immediately.
Pickled beets
Select nice red beets and boil until tender. Plunge each one separately into cold water, and with your hands give a little twist to strip off the skin. Cut lengthwise into strips. Place these, not too closely, in glass jars, leaving room that the liquor may surround each piece. To two quarts of vinegar add four pounds of brown sugar and one-half teaspoonful of alum, powdered. Let this boil. After skimming, add one teaspoonful, each, of cloves, allspice, mustard, a few peppercorns—all unground and tied in a bag. Boil again, adding a little cayenne and salt. Pour over the beets. Next day drain off the syrup, bring to a boil, pour over the beets again, then seal. This pickle will be of a rich red color and very delicious.
Spiced cranberries
These are good with roast duck or game. Wash a quart of cranberries and put them into a saucepan with a half cupful of cold water. Tie in a small cheese-cloth bag a dozen cloves, a dozen allspice, two sticks of cinnamon (broken) and several blades of mace. Put this bag into the cranberries and water, and stew all together until the fruit is broken to bits. Remove the spice bag, rub the berries through a colander, add two teacupfuls of brown sugar, stir over the fire until dissolved, and set away to get cold.
Spiced grapes (No. 1)
Stem, pulp and seed the grapes, then weigh them. To five pounds of fruit allow two and a half pounds of granulated sugar and a teacupful of vinegar. Put all over the fire with two ounces, each, of stick cinnamon, broken into bits, and whole cloves. Boil until very thick. This will take about half an hour. The mixture should be so thick that the juice will not run. When this point is reached put the fruit into jelly glasses set in a pan of hot water. Cover the tops of the glasses with rounds of tissue paper and fasten on metal covers.
The wild or “fox” grape is good for spicing, when half-ripe. The grapes must always be firm, and not overripe.
Spiced currants
See preceding recipe.
Spiced grapes (No. 2)
Remove the skins from grapes, put the pulp over the fire and stew gently until it can be rubbed through a strainer that will not allow the seeds to pass. Weigh the pulp, and to every five pounds of this add a pint of cider vinegar, four pounds of brown sugar, three tablespoonfuls of ground cinnamon, and two of ground cloves. Stew all together until very thick. Pour into jelly glasses and cover with closely-fitting tops.
Spiced rhubarb
To two and a half pounds of rhubarb, washed and cut into inch bits, add a cupful of vinegar, two pounds of sugar and a tablespoonful, each, of cinnamon and cloves. Put all into a preserving kettle and boil steadily for half an hour. Put up in jelly glasses, as you would jelly.
Olive oil pickles
(Contributed)
Peel and slice fifteen large cucumbers and six onions. Salt down heavily and let them stand all night. In the morning drain; pour over them half a gallon of cider vinegar and let them stand four hours. Drain off the vinegar and heat with half a bottle of olive oil. Add some chopped red peppers and celery seed for seasoning and when thoroughly heated pour over the cucumbers and onions, put into glass jars and seal at once.
Sweet green tomato pickles
(Contributed)
Slice one peck of green tomatoes and two quarts of small white onions, and sprinkle over them a large cupful of salt. Let them stand over night in the brine. In the morning drain well and let them stand in cold water for a few minutes. Pour this water off and add enough vinegar to cover. Add two pounds of brown sugar, one-fourth of a pound of mustard seed and two tablespoonfuls each of allspice, whole cloves and stick cinnamon. Cook all together until the pickles are tender; put into jars and seal.
Pickled cauliflower
(Contributed)
Break the heads into small flowerlets, and boil ten or fifteen minutes in salt and water; take from the fire and drain carefully. When cold place in a jar, and pour over it hot vinegar in which have been scalded whole cloves, pepper, allspice and white mustard. Have the spices tied in a bag, and remove when well scalded. For each quart of hot vinegar add two tablespoonfuls of French mustard and half a cupful of white sugar. Be sure to cover the pickle with vinegar and keep covered closely.
Dill pickles
(Contributed)
Make a brine strong enough to bear an egg, then add half as much more water as you have brine. Wash the cucumbers in cold water, and into a stone jar put first a layer of cucumbers, then a layer of grape-leaves and a layer of dill, using leaves and stems. Continue in this way until the jar is full. Pour the brine over all and cover, first with a cloth, then with a plate, and put a weight on top of the plate. The cloth must be taken off and washed frequently as in making sauerkraut.
Peach mangoes
Halve firm, free-stone peaches when you have washed and wiped them to get rid of the “fur,” and remove the stones. Lay them in brine for two days and in fresh water for one. Stuff with a mixture of grated horseradish and mustard seed, adding a little celery seed. Tie the halves into shape with soft pack-thread; pack in a stone jar and pour spiced and sweetened vinegar over them. Cover closely. Scald the vinegar and cover the peaches with it again once a fortnight for two months. They will be fit to use in four months.