FoodNetArchive

The hearthstone; or, Life at home

1883

Page 331 · 4 recipe records on this page

Presented as published in 1883. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
Pickled Onions. — One gallon of pickling onions, salt and water, milk ; to each half a gallon of vinegar, one ounce of bruised ginger, one-quarter teaspoonful of cayenne, one ounce of allspice, one ounce of whole black pepper, one-quarter ounce of whole nutmeg bruised, eight cloves, one-quarter ounce of mace. Gather the onions, which should not be too small, when they are quite dry and ripe ; wipe off the dirt, but do not pare them ; make a strong solution of salt and water, into which put the onions, and change this morning and night for three days, and save the last brine they are put in. Then take the outside skin off, and put them into a tin saucepan capable of hold- ing them all, as they are always better done together. Now take equal quantities of milk and the last salt and water the onions were in, and pour this to them ; to this add two large spoonfuls of salt, put them over the fire, and watch them very attentively. Keep con- stantly turning the onions about with a wooden skimmer, those at the bottom to the top, and vice versa ; and let the milk and water run through the holes of the skimmer. Remember the onions must never boil, for if they do they will be good for nothing; and they should be quite transparent. Keep the onions stirred for a few minutes, and, in stirring them, be particular not to break them ; then have ready a pan with a colander, into which turn the onions to drain, covering them with a cloth to keep in' the steam. Place on a table an old cloth, two or three times double ; put the onions on it when quite hot, and over them an old piece of blanket; cover this closely over them to keep in the steam; let them remain till the next day, when they will be quite cold, and look yellow and shrivelled ; take off the COOKERY RECIPES. 513 shrivelled skins, when they should be as white as snow. Put them in a pan, make a pickle of vinegar and the remainijig ingredients ; boil all these up, and pour hot over the pan ; cover very closely to keep in all the steam, and let them stand till the following day, v/hen they will be quite cold. Put them into jars and bottles well bunged, and a tablespoonful of the best olive-oil on the top of each jar or bottle. Tie them down with bladder, and let them stand in a cool place for a month or six weeks, when they will be fit for use. They should be beautifully white, and eat crisp, without the least softness, and will keep good many months. Spanish Onions — Pickled. — Onions, vinegar; salt and cayenne to taste; cut the onions in thin slices ; put a layer of them in the bottom of a jar ; sprinkle with salt and cayenne ; then add another layer of onions, and season as before ; proceeding in this manner till the jar is full, pour in sufficient vinegar to cover the whole, and the pickle will be fit for use in a month. Pickled Plums (i). — Take damsons, wipe and prick them; place them in ajar; to one gallon of vinegar put six pounds of brown sugar ; dilute the vinegar with water if it is too strong ; then pour it in a kettle and boil and skim it several times ; then pour the vinegar over the plums. Pickled Plums (2). — Four pounds of. sugar to seven pounds of plums ; two ounces of stick cinnamon, one of clovesPickled Plums (2) ; scald the vine- gar and pour it over the plums three mornings in succession.