Read Ebook: The American Housewife Containing the Most Valuable and Original Receipts in All the Various Branches of Cookery; and Written in a Minute and Methodical Manner by Anonymous

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Take an equal quantity of young tender ocra chopped fine, and ripe tomatoes skinned, an onion cut into slices, a small lump of butter, a little salt and pepper. Put the whole in a stew pan, with a table spoonful of water, and stew it till tender.

Pick over the rice, rinse it in cold water a number of times, to get it perfectly clean; drain off the water, then put it in a pot of boiling water, with a little salt. Allow as much as a quart of water to a tea-cup of rice, as it absorbs the water very much while boiling. Boil it seventeen minutes; then turn the water off very close; set the pot over a few coals, and let it steam fifteen minutes with the lid of the pot off. The beauty of rice boiled in this way, is, that each kernel stands out by itself, while it is quite tender. Great care is necessary to be used in the time of boiling and steaming it, as a few moments variation in the time, makes a great deal of difference in the looks of it. The water should boil hard when the rice is put in, and not suffered to stop boiling, till turned off to have the rice steamed. The water that the rice is boiled in, makes good starch for muslin, if boiled a few minutes by itself.

Vinegar for pickling should be good, but not of the sharpest kind. Brass utensils should be used for pickling. They should be thoroughly cleaned before using, and no vinegar should be allowed to cool in them, as the rust formed by so doing is very poisonous. Boil alum and salt in the vinegar, in the proportion of half a tea cup of salt, and a table spoonful of alum, to three gallons of vinegar. Stone and wooden vessels are the only kinds of utensils that are good to keep pickles in. Vessels that have had any grease in will not do for pickles, as no washing will kill the grease that the pot has absorbed. All kinds of pickles should be stirred up occasionally. If there is any soft ones among them, they should be taken out, the vinegar scalded, and turned back while hot--if very weak, throw it away, and use fresh vinegar. Whenever any scum rises, the vinegar needs scalding. If you do not wish to have all your pickles spiced, it is a good plan to keep a stone pot of spiced vinegar by itself, and put in a few of your pickles a short time before they are to be eaten.

Procure those that are fresh and green. If you do not like them very fiery, cut a small slit in them, and take the seeds out carefully with a small knife, so as not to mangle the pepper. Soak them in salt and water, eight or nine days, changing the water each day. Keep them in a warm place. If you like them stuffed, chop white cabbage fine, season it highly with cloves, cinnamon, mace, and fill the peppers with it--add nasturtions if you like--sew them up carefully, and put them in cold spiced vinegar. Tomatoes when very small and green are good pickled with the peppers.

Procure muskmelons as late in the season as possible--if pickled early, they are not apt to keep well. Cut a small piece from the side that lies upon the ground while growing, take out the seeds, and if the citron or nutmeg melons are used for mangoes, the rough part should be scraped off. The long common muskmelons make the best mangoes. Soak the melons in salt and water, three or four days; then take them out of the water; sprinkle on the inside of the melons, powdered cloves, pepper, nutmeg; fill them with small strips of horseradish, cinnamon, and small string beans. Flag root, nasturtions, and radish tops, are also nice to fill them with. Fill the crevices with American mustard seed. Put back the pieces of melon that were cut off, and bind the melon up tight with white cotton cloth, sew it on. Lay the melons in a stone jar, with the part that the covers are on, up. Put into vinegar for the mangoes, alum, salt and peppercorns, in the same proportion as for cucumbers--heat it scalding hot, then turn it on to the melons. Barberries or radish tops pickled in bunches, are a pretty garnish for mangoes. The barberries preserve their natural color best by being first dried. Whenever you wish to use them, turn boiling vinegar on them, and let them lie in it several hours to swell out.

The nuts for pickling should be gathered as early as July, unless the season is very backward. When a pin will go through them easily, they are young enough to pickle. Soak them in salt and water a week--then drain it off. Rub them with a cloth, to get off the roughness. To a gallon of vinegar put a tea-cup of salt, a table-spoonful of powdered cloves and mace, mixed together, half an ounce of allspice, and peppercorns. Boil the vinegar and spices, and turn it while hot on to the nuts. In the course of a week, scald the vinegar, and turn it back on them while hot. They will be fit to eat in the course of a fortnight.

Take those of a full growth, but perfectly green, put them in salt and water, strong enough to bear up an egg. When they have been in a week, take them out, and wipe them carefully with a soft cloth. Lay them in a pickle jar. Put to a gallon of vinegar half an ounce of cloves, the same quantity of peppercorns, sliced ginger and mustard seed--add salt, and boil the vinegar--then turn it on to the peaches scalding hot. Turn the vinegar from them several times. Heat it scalding hot, and turn it back while hot.

Purple cabbages are the best for pickling. Pull off the loose leaves, quarter the cabbages, put them in a keg, and sprinkle a great deal of salt, on each one--let them remain five or six days. To a gallon of vinegar put an ounce of mace, one of peppercorns and cinnamon, Heat the vinegar scalding hot, put in a little alum, and turn it while hot on to the cabbages--the salt should remain that was sprinkled on the cabbages. Turn the vinegar from the cabbages six or seven times--heat it scalding hot, and turn it back while hot, to make them tender. Cauliflowers are pickled in the same manner. Cauliflowers cut into bunches, and pickled with beet roots sliced, look very prettily.

Chop cabbage fine, leaving out the stalks, together with three or four onions, a root of horseradish, and a couple of green peppers to each cabbage. Soak the whole in salt and water three or four days. Spice some vinegar very strong with mace, cloves, allspice and cinnamon. Heat it scalding hot--add alum and salt, and turn it on to the cabbage, onions and pepper, which should previously have all the brine drained from them. This pickle will be fit to eat in the course of three or four weeks.

Gather them while quite small and tender. Keep them in salt and water, till you get through collecting them--changing the water as often as once in four or five days. Then scald them with hot salt and water, let them lie in it till cool, then turn on hot vinegar spiced with peppercorns, mace and allspice. The radish top, if pickled in small bunches, are a pretty garnish for other pickles.

Take them when small and green--put them in salt and water--change the water once in three days. When you have done collecting the nasturtions, turn off the brine, and pour on scalding hot vinegar.

Procure samphire that is fresh and green--let it lay in salt for three days--then take it out, and for a peck of samphire spice a gallon of vinegar with a couple of dozen of peppercorns--add half a tea-cup of salt--heat the vinegar scalding hot, and turn it on to the samphire while hot--cover it close. In the course of ten days, turn the vinegar from the samphire, heat it scalding hot, and turn it back.

Peel and boil them in milk and water ten minutes. To a gallon of vinegar put half an ounce of cinnamon and mace, a quarter of an ounce of cloves, a small tea-cup of salt, and half an ounce of alum. Heat the vinegar, together with the spices, scalding hot, and turn it on to the onions, which should previously have the water and milk drained from them. Cover them tight till cold.

Soak the artichokes in salt and water, for several days, then drain and rub them till you get all the skin off. Turn boiling vinegar on them, with salt, alum, and peppercorns in it, in the same proportion as for cucumbers. Let them remain a week, then turn off the vinegar, scald it, and turn it back while hot on to the artichokes. Continue to turn boiling vinegar on to the artichokes till thoroughly pickled.

Gather those that are small and green, and of a quick growth. Turn boiling water on them as soon as picked. Let them remain in it four or five hours, then put them in cold vinegar, with alum and salt, in the proportion of a table spoonful of the former and a tea cup of the latter, to every gallon of vinegar. When you have done collecting the cucumbers for pickling, turn the vinegar from the cucumbers, scald and skim it till clear, then put in the pickles, let them scald without boiling, for a few minutes; then turn them while hot into the vessel you intend to keep them in. A few peppers, or peppercorns, improve the taste of the cucumbers. Cucumbers to be brittle need scalding several times. If the vinegar is weak, it should be thrown away, and fresh put to the cucumbers, with more alum and salt. Another method of pickling cucumbers, which is good, is to put them in salt and water, as you pick them--changing the salt and water once in three or four days. When you have done collecting your cucumbers for pickling, take them out of the salt and water, turn on scalding hot vinegar, with alum, salt and peppercorns in it.

Put them in strong brine--keep them in a warm place. When they turn yellow, drain off the brine, and turn hot vinegar on them. Let them remain in it till they turn green, keeping them in a warm place. Then turn off the vinegar--add fresh scalding hot vinegar, spiced with mace, allspice, and peppercorns--add alum and salt, in the same proportion as for cucumbers.

Take the oysters from the liquor, strain and boil it. Rinse the oysters, if there are any bits of the shells attached to them. Put them into the liquor while boiling. Boil them one minute, then take them out of it, and to the liquor put a few peppercorns, cloves, and a blade or two of mace--add a little salt, and the same quantity of vinegar as oyster juice. Let the whole boil fifteen minutes, then turn it on to the oysters. If you wish to keep the oysters for a number of weeks, bottle and cork them tight as soon as cold.

Peel and stew them, with just water enough to prevent their sticking at the bottom of the pan. Shake them occasionally, to prevent their burning. When tender, take them up, and put them in scalding hot vinegar, spiced with mace, cloves, and peppercorns--add a little salt. Bottle and cork them tight, if you wish to keep them long.

For six common sized loaves of bread, take three pints of boiling water, and mix it with five or six quarts of flour. When thoroughly mixed, add three pints of cold water. Stir it till the whole of the dough is of the same temperature. When lukewarm, stir in half a pint of family yeast, a table-spoonful of salt, knead in flour till stiff enough to mould up, and free from lumps. The more the bread is kneaded, the better it will be. Cover it over with a thick cloth, and if the weather is cold, set it near a fire. To ascertain when it has risen, cut it through the middle with a knife--if full of small holes like a sponge, it is sufficiently light for baking. It should be baked as soon as light. If your bread should get sour before you are ready to bake it, dissolve two or more tea-spoonsful of saleratus in a tea-cup of milk or water, strain it on to the dough, work it in well--then cut off enough for a loaf of bread--mould it up well, slash it on both sides, to prevent its cracking when baked--put it in a buttered tin-pan. The bread should stand ten or twelve minutes in the pans before baking it. If you like your bread baked a good deal, let it stand in the oven an hour and a half. When the wheat is grown, it makes better bread to wet the flour entirely with boiling water. It should remain till cool before working in the yeast. Some cooks have an idea that it kills the life of the flour to scald it, but it is a mistaken idea--it is sweeter for it, and will keep good much longer. Bread made in this way is nearly as good as that which is wet with milk. Care must be taken not to put the yeast in when the dough is hot, as it will scald it, and prevents its rising. Most ovens require heating an hour and a half for bread. A brisk fire should be kept up, and the doors of the room should be kept shut, if the weather is cold. Pine and ash, mixed together, or birch-wood, is the best for heating an oven. To ascertain if your oven is of the right temperature, when cleaned, throw in a little flour; if it browns in the course of a minute, it is sufficiently hot; if it turns black directly, wait several minutes, before putting in the things that are to be baked. If the oven does not bake well, set in a furnace of live coals.

For four loaves of bread, take three quarts of wheat flour, and the same quantity of boiling water--mix them well together. Let it remain till lukewarm, then add a tea-cup full of family, or half a tea-cup of distillery yeast. Set it in a warm place to rise. When light, knead in flour till stiff enough to mould up, then let it stand till risen again, before moulding it up.

Wet up rye flour with lukewarm milk, Put in the same proportion of yeast as for wheat bread. For four or five loaves of bread, put in a couple of tea-spoonsful of salt. A couple of table-spoonsful of melted butter makes the crust more tender. It should not be kneaded as stiff as wheat bread, or it will be hard when baked. When light, take it out into pans, without moulding it up--let it remain in them about twenty minutes, before baking.

Brown bread is made by scalding Indian meal, and stirring into it, when lukewarm, about the same quantity of rye flour as Indian meal--add yeast and salt in the same proportion as for other kinds of bread. Bake it between two and three hours.

Mix Indian meal with cold water, stir it into boiling water, let it boil half an hour--stir in a little salt, take it from the fire, let it remain till lukewarm, then stir in yeast and Indian meal, to render it of the consistency of unbaked rye dough. When light, take it out into buttered pans, let it remain a few minutes, then bake it two hours and a half.

Boil the potatoes very soft, then peel and mash them fine. Put in salt, and very little butter--then rub them with the flour--wet the flour with lukewarm water--then work in the yeast, and flour till stiff to mould up. It will rise quicker than common wheat bread, and should be baked as soon as risen, as it turns sour very soon. The potatoes that the bread is made of should be mealy, and mixed with the flour in the proportion of one-third of potatoes to two-thirds of flour.

Boil a pint of rice till soft--then mix it with a couple of quarts of rice or wheat flour. When cool, add half a tea-cup of yeast, a little salt, and milk to render it of the consistency of rye bread. When light, bake it in small buttered pans.

Turn a quart of lukewarm milk on to a quart of flour. Melt a couple of ounces of butter, and put to the milk and flour, together with a couple of eggs, and a tea-spoonful of salt. When cool, stir in half a tea-cup of yeast, and flour to make it stiff enough to mould up. Put it in a warm place. When light, do it up into small rolls--lay the rolls on flat buttered tins--let them remain twenty minutes before baking.

Boil a small handful of hops in a couple of quarts of water. When the strength is obtained from them, strain the liquor--put it back on the fire--take a little of the liquor, and mix smoothly with three heaping table-spoonsful of wheat flour--stir it into the liquor when it boils. Let it boil five or six minutes--take it from the fire. When lukewarm, stir in a tea-cup of yeast--keep it in a warm place till risen. When of a frothy appearance, it is sufficiently light. Add a table-spoonful of salt, turn it into a jar, and cover it tight. Some people keep yeast in bottles, but they are apt to burst--some use jugs, but they cannot be cleaned so easily as jars. Whenever your yeast gets sour, the jar should be thoroughly cleaned before fresh is put in--if not cleaned, it will spoil the fresh yeast. Yeast made in this manner will keep good a fortnight in warm weather; in cold weather longer. If your yeast appears to be a little changed, add a little saleratus to it before you mix it with your bread. If it does not foam well, when put in, it is too stale to use. Milk yeast makes sweeter bread than any other kind of yeast, but it will not keep good long. It is very nice to make biscuit of. Take half the quantity of milk you need for your biscuit--set it in a warm place, with a little flour, and a tea-spoonful of salt. When light, mix it with the rest of the milk, and use it directly for the biscuit. It takes a pint of this yeast for five or six loaves of bread. Another method of making yeast, which is very good, is to take about half a pound of your bread dough, when risen, and roll it out thin, and dry it. When you wish to make bread, put a quart of lukewarm milk to it, set it near the fire to rise--when light, scald the flour, and let it be till lukewarm--then add the yeast and salt. This will raise the bread in the course of an hour. The dough will need a little fresh hop liquor put to it, in the course of three or four times baking. Potato yeast makes very nice bread, but the yeast does not keep good as long as when made without them. It is made in the following manner: boil a couple of good, sized potatoes soft--peel and rub them through a sieve--put to it a couple of table-spoonsful of wheat flour, and a quart of hot hop tea--when lukewarm, stir in half a tea-cup of yeast--when light, put in a couple of tea-spoonsful of salt, put it in your yeast-jar, and cover it up tight.

Stir into a pint of good lively yeast a table-spoonful of salt, and rye or wheat flour to make a thick batter. When risen, stir in Indian meal till of the right consistency to roll out. When risen again, roll them out very thin, cut them into cakes with a tumbler, and dry them in the shade in clear windy weather. Care must be taken to keep them from the sun, or they will ferment. When perfectly dry, tie them up in a bag, and keep them in a cool dry place. To raise four or five loaves of bread, take one of these cakes, and put to it a little lukewarm milk or water. When dissolved, stir in a couple of table-spoonsful of flour, set it near the fire--When light, use it for your dough. Yeast cakes will keep good five or six months. They are very convenient to use in summer, as common yeast is so apt to ferment.

Melt a tea-cup of butter--mix it with two-thirds of a pint of milk, Put in a tea-spoonful of salt, half a tea-cup of yeast, --stir in flour till it is stiff enough to mould up. A couple of eggs improve the biscuit, but are not essential. Set the dough in a warm place when risen, mould the dough with the hand into small cakes, lay them on flat tins that have been buttered. Let them remain half an hour before they are baked.

Dissolve a couple of tea-spoonsful of saleratus in a tea-cup of sour milk--mix it with a pint of butter-milk, and a couple of tea-spoonsful of salt. Stir in flour until stiff enough to mould up. Mould it up into small cakes, and bake them immediately.

Weigh out four pounds of flour, and rub three pounds and a half of it with four ounces of butter, four beaten eggs, and a couple of tea-spoonsful of salt. Moisten it with milk, pound it out thin with a rolling-pin, sprinkle a little of the reserved flour over it lightly--roll it up and pound it out again, sprinkle on more of the flour--this operation continue to repeat till you get in all the reserved flour--then roll it out thin, cut it into cakes with a tumbler, lay them on flat buttered tins, cover them with a damp cloth, to prevent their drying. Bake them in a quick oven.

Put a couple of tea-spoonsful of saleratus in a pint of sour milk. If you have not any sour milk, put a table-spoonful of vinegar to a pint of sweet milk, set it in a warm place--as soon as it curdles, mix it with the saleratus--put in a couple of table-spoonfuls of melted butter, and flour to make them sufficiently stiff to roll out. Mould them up into small biscuit, and bake them immediately.

Boil mealy potatoes very soft, peel and mash them. To four good-sized potatoes, put a piece of butter, of the size of a hen's egg, a tea-spoonful of salt. When the butter has melted, put in half a pint of cold milk. If the milk cools the potatoes, put in a quarter of a pint of yeast, and flour to make them of the right consistency to mould up. Set them in a warm place--when risen, mould them up with the hand--let them remain ten or fifteen minutes before baking them.

Stir into a pint of lukewarm milk half a tea-cup of melted butter, a tea-spoonful of salt, half a tea-cup of family, or a table-spoonful of brewers' yeast, add flour till it is a very stiff batter. When light, drop this mixture by the large spoonful on to flat, buttered tins, several inches apart. Let them remain a few minutes before baking. Bake them in a quick oven till they are a light brown.

Rub six ounces of butter with two pounds of flour--dissolve a couple of tea-spoonsful of saleratus in a wine glass of milk, and strain it on to the flour--add a tea-spoonful of salt, and milk enough to enable you to roll it out. Beat it with a rolling-pin for half an hour, pounding it out thin--cut it into cakes with a tumbler--bake them about fifteen minutes, then take them from the oven. When the rest of your things are baked sufficiently, take them out, set in the crackers, and let them remain till baked hard and crispy.

Mix half a pint of thick cream with the same quantity of milk, four eggs, and flour to render them just stiff enough to drop on buttered tins. They should be dropped by the large spoonful several inches apart, and baked in a quick oven.

Take three tea-cups of raised dough, and work into it, with the hand, half a tea-cup of melted butter, three eggs, and milk to render it a thick batter. Turn it into a buttered bake pan--let it remain fifteen minutes, then put on a bake pan, heated so as to scorch flour. It will bake in half an hour.

Mix a pint of rice boiled soft with a pint of milk, a tea-spoonful of salt, and three eggs, beaten to a froth. Stir in rice or wheat flour till of the right consistency to fry. If you like them baked, add two more eggs, and enough more flour to make them stiff enough to roll out, and cut them into cakes.

To a pint of rice flour put boiling water or milk sufficient to make a thick batter. Beat four eggs, and put in, together with a tea-spoonful of salt. Drop this mixture by the large spoonful into hot fat.

Mix a quart of buckwheat flour with a pint of lukewarm milk, and a tea-cup of yeast--set it in a warm place to rise. When light, add a tea-spoonful of salt--if sour, the same quantity of saleratus, dissolved in a little milk, and strained. If they are too thick, thin them with cold milk or water. Fry them in just fat enough to prevent their sticking to the frying pan.

Rusked bread, or that which is old and sour, can be made into nice cakes. The bread should be cut into small pieces, and soaked in cold water till very soft. Then drain off the water, mash the bread fine--to three pints of the bread pulp put a couple of beaten eggs, three or four table-spoonsful of flour, and a little salt--dissolve a tea-spoonful of saleratus to a tea-cup of milk, strain it, then stir it into the bread--add more milk till it is of the right consistency to fry. The batter should be rather thicker than that of buckwheat cakes, and cooked in the same manner. Another way of making them, which is very good, is to mix half a pint of wheat flour with enough cold milk or water to render it a thick batter, and a couple of table-spoonsful of yeast. When light, mix the batter with the bread, add salt, and a tea-spoonful of saleratus, dissolved in a little milk. Fry them in just fat enough to prevent their sticking to the frying pan.

Mix a pint of grated green corn with three table-spoonsful of milk, a tea-cup of flour, half a tea-cup of melted butter, one egg, a tea-spoonful of salt, and half a tea-spoonful of pepper. Drop this mixture into hot butter by the spoonful, let the cakes fry eight or ten minutes. These cakes are nice served up with meat for dinner.

Stir into a quart of sour or butter-milk a couple of tea-spoonsful of saleratus, a little salt, and sifted Indian meal to render it a thick batter--a little cream improves the cake--bake it in deep cake pans about an hour. When sour milk cannot be procured, boil sweet milk, and turn it on to the Indian meal--when cool, put in three beaten eggs to a quart of the meal--add salt to the taste.

Scald a quart of Indian meal--when lukewarm, turn, stir in half a pint of flour, half a tea-cup of yeast, and a little salt. When light, fry them in just fat enough to prevent their sticking to the frying pan. Another method of making them, which is very nice, is to turn boiling milk or water on to the Indian meal, in the proportion of a quart of the former to a pint of the latter--stir in three table-spoonsful of flour, three eggs well beaten, and a couple of tea-spoonsful of salt.

Scald a quart of sifted Indian meal with sufficient water to make it a very thick batter. Stir in two or three tea-spoonsful of salt--mould it with the hand into small cakes. In order to mould them up, it will be necessary to rub a good deal of flour on the hands, to prevent their sticking. Fry them in nearly fat enough to cover them. When brown on the under side, they should be turned. It takes about twenty minutes to cook them. When cooked, split and butter them. Another way of making them, which is nice, is to scald the Indian meal, and put in saleratus, dissolved in milk and salt, in the proportion of a tea-spoonful of each to a quart of meal. Add two or three table-spoonsful of wheat flour, and drop the batter by the large spoonful into a frying pan. The batter should be of a very thick consistency, and there should be just fat enough in the frying pan to prevent the cakes sticking to it.

Scald a quart of Indian meal with just water enough to make a thick batter. Stir in a couple of tea-spoonsful of salt, and two table-spoonful of butter. Turn it into a buttered bake pan, and bake it half an hour.

Mix a quart of wheat flour smoothly with a pint and a half of lukewarm milk, half a tea-cup of yeast, a couple of beaten eggs, a heaping tea-spoonsful of salt, and a couple of table-spoonsful of lukewarm melted butter. Set the batter in a warm place to rise. When light, butter your muffin cups, turn in the mixture, and bake the muffins till a light brown.

Stir into a quart of flour sufficient lukewarm milk to make a thick batter. The milk should be stirred in gradually, so as to have it free from lumps. Put in a table-spoonful of melted butter, a couple of beaten eggs, a tea-spoonsful of salt, and half a tea-cup of yeast. When risen, fill your waffle-irons with the batter, bake them on a hot bed of coals. When they have been on the fire between two and three minutes, turn the waffle-irons over--when brown on both sides, they are sufficiently baked. The waffle-irons should be well greased with lard, and very hot, before each one is put in. The waffles should be buttered as soon as cooked. Serve them up with powdered white sugar and cinnamon.

Mix flour and cold milk together, to make a thick batter. To a quart of the flour put six beaten eggs, a table-spoonful of melted butter, and a tea-spoonful of salt. Some cooks add a quarter of a pound of sugar, and half a nutmeg. Bake them immediately.

Take a tea-cup and a half of boiled rice--warm it with a pint of milk, mix it smooth, then take it from the fire, stir in a pint of cold milk, and a tea-spoonful of salt. Beat four eggs, and stir them in, together with sufficient flour to make a thick batter.

Melt a quarter of a pound of butter, and mix it with a pound of rice flour, a tea-spoonful of salt, and a wine glass of wine. Beat four eggs, and stir in, together with just cold milk enough to enable you to roll them out easily. They should be rolled out as thin as possible, cut with a wine glass into cakes, and baked in a moderate oven, on buttered flat tins.

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