The Lady's Own Cookery Book, and New Dinner-Table Directory;

Lemons. No. 2

Take twelve lemons pared so thin that not the least of the whites is to be seen; slit them across at each end, and work in as much salt as you can, rubbing them very well within and without. Lay them in an earthen pan for three or four days, and strew a good deal of salt over them; then put in twelve cloves of garlic, and a large handful of horseradish; dry the lemons with the salt over them in a very slow oven, till the lemons have no moisture in them, but the garlic and the horseradish must not be dried so much. Then take a gallon of vinegar, cloves, mace, and nutmegs, broken roughly, half an ounce of each, and the like quantity of cayenne pepper. Give them a boil in the vinegar; and, when cold, stir in a quarter of a pound of flour of mustard, and pour it upon the lemons, garlic, &c. Stir them every day, for a week together, or more. When the lemons are used in made dishes, shred them very small; and, when you use the liquor, shake it before you put it to the sauce, or in a cruet. When the lemons are dried, they must be as hard as a crust of bread, but not burned.

Lemons. No. 3

Take two dozen lemons, cut off about an inch at one end, scoop out all the pulp, fill them with salt, and sew on the tops. Let them continue over the mouth of an oven, or in any slow heat, for about three weeks, till they are quite dried. Take out the salt; lay them in an earthen jar; put to them six quarts of the best vinegar which has been boiled; add some long pepper, mace, ginger, and cinnamon, a few bay-leaves, four cloves of garlic, and six ounces of the best flour of mustard. When quite cold, cover up the jar, and let it stand for three weeks or a month. Then strain off the liquor, and bottle it.

Lemons. No. 4

Quarter the lemons lengthwise, taking care not to cut them so low as to separate; put a table-spoonful of salt into each. Set them on a pewter dish; dry them very slowly in a cool oven or in the sun; they will take two or three weeks to dry properly. For a dozen large lemons boil three quarts of vinegar, with two dozen peppercorns, two dozen allspices, and four races of ginger sliced. When the vinegar is cold, put it, with the lemons, the ingredients, and all the salt, into a jar; add a quarter of a pound of flour of mustard and two dozen cloves of garlic; the garlic must be peeled and softened in scalding water for a little while, then covered with salt for three days, and dried before it is put into the jar. Let the whole remain for two months closely tied down and stirred every day; then squeeze the lemons well; strain and bottle the liquor.

Lemons. No. 5

Select small thick-rinded lemons; rub them with a flannel; slit them in four parts, but not through to the pulp; stuff the slits full of salt, and set them upright in a pan. Let them remain thus for five or six days, or longer if the salt should not be melted, turning them three times a day in their own liquor, until they become tender. Then make a pickle of rape, vinegar, and the brine from the lemons, ginger, and Jamaica pepper. Boil and skim it, and when cold put it to the lemons, with three cloves of garlic, and two ounces of mustard seed. This is quite sufficient for six lemons.

Lemons. No. 6

Boil them in water and afterwards in vinegar and sugar, and then cut them in slices.

Lemons, or Oranges

Select fruit free from spots; lay them gently in a barrel. Take pure water, and make it so strong with bay-salt as that it would bear an egg; with this brine fill up the barrel, and close it tight.

Mango Cossundria, or Pickle

Take of green mangoes two pounds, green ginger one pound, yellow mustard seed one pound; half dried chives, garlic, salt, mustard, oil, of each two ounces; fine vinegar, four bottles. Cut the mangoes in slices lengthwise, and place them in the sun till half dried. Slice the ginger also; put the whole in a jar well closed, and set it in the sun for a month. This pickle will keep for years, and improves by age.

Melons

Scoop your melons clean from the pulp; fill them with scraped horseradish, ginger, nutmeg, sliced garlic, mace, pepper, mustard-seed, and tie them up. Afterwards take the best white wine vinegar, a quartered nutmeg, a handful of salt, whole pepper, cloves, and mace, or a little ginger; let the vinegar and spice boil together, and when boiling hot pour it over the fruit, and tie them down very close for two or three days; but, if you wish to have them green, let them be put over a fire in their pickle in a metal pot, until they are scalding hot and green; then pour them into pots, and stop them close down, and, when cold, cover them with wet bladder and leather.

Melons to imitate Mangoes

Cut off the tops of the melons, so as that you may take out the seeds with a small spoon; lay them in salt and water, changing it every twenty-four hours for nine successive days: then take them out, wipe them dry, and put into each one clove of garlic or two small shalots, a slice or two of horseradish, a slice of ginger, and a tea-spoonful of mustard seed; this being done, tie up their tops again very fast with packthread, and boil them up in a sufficient quantity of white wine vinegar, bay-salt, and spices, as for cucumbers, skimming the pickle as it rises; put a piece of alum into your pickle, about the size of a walnut; and, after it has boiled a quarter of an hour, pour it, with the fruit, into your jar or pan, and cover it with a cloth. Next day boil your pickle again, and pour it hot upon your melons. After this has been repeated three times, and the pickle and fruit are quite cold, stop them up as directed for mushrooms. These and all other pickles should be set in a dry place, and frequently inspected; and, if they grow mouldy, you must pour off the liquor and boil it up as at first.

Melons or Cucumbers, as Mangoes

Pour over your melons or other vegetables boiling hot salt and water, and dry them the next day; cut a piece out of the side; scrape away the seed very clean; and fill them with scraped horseradish, garlic, and mustard seed; then put in the piece, and tie it close. Pour boiling hot vinegar over them, and in about three days boil up the vinegar with cloves, pepper, and ginger: then throw in your mangoes, and boil them up quick for a few minutes; put them in jars, which should be of stone, and cover them close.

The melons ought to be small and the cucumbers large. Should they not turn out green enough, the vinegar must be boiled again.

Mushrooms. No. 1

Gather your mushrooms in August or September, and peel off the uppermost skin; cut the large ones into quarters, and, as you do them, throw them into clear water, but be very careful not to have any worm-eaten ones. You may put the buttons in whole; the white are the best, and look better than the red. Take them out, and wash them in another clear water; then put them into a dry skillet without water; and with a little salt set them on the fire to boil in their own liquor, till half is consumed and they are as tender as you wish them; as the scum rises, take it off. Remove them from the fire: pour them into a colander, and drain off all the water. Have ready pickle, boiled and become cold again, made of the best white wine vinegar; then add a little mace, ginger, cloves, and whole pepper: boil it; put your mushrooms in the pickle when cold, and tie them up close.

Mushrooms. No. 2

Put your mushrooms into salt and water, and wash them clean with a flannel, throw them into water as you do them; then boil some salt and water: when it boils, put in your mushrooms, and let them boil one minute. Take them out, and smother them between two flannels; when cold, put them into white wine vinegar, with what spice you choose. The vinegar must be boiled and stand till cold. Keep them closely tied down with a bladder. A bit of alum is frequently put to keep them firm.

The white mushrooms are done the same way, using milk and water instead of salt and water, distilled vinegar in the room of white wine vinegar, no spices except mace, and a lump of alum.

Mushrooms. No. 3

Cut off the stalks of the small hard mushrooms, called buttons, and wash and rub them dry in a clean flannel. Boil some water and salt, and while boiling put in the mushrooms. Let them just boil, and strain them through a cloth. Make a pickle of white wine vinegar, mace, and ginger, and put to them; then put them into pots, with a little oil over them, and stop them close.

Mushrooms. No. 4

Put young mushrooms into milk and water; take them out, dry them well, and put them into a brine made of salt and spring water. Boil the brine, and put in the mushrooms; boil them up for five minutes; drain them quick, covering them up between two cloths and drying them well. Boil a pickle of double-distilled vinegar and mace; when it is cold, put in the buttons, and pour oil on the top. It is advisable to put them into small glass jars, as they do not keep after being opened. It is an excellent way to boil them in milk.

Mushrooms. No. 5

Put your mushrooms into water; rub them very clean with a piece of flannel; put them into milk and water, and boil them till they are rather tender. Then pour them into an earthen colander, and pump cold water on them till they are quite cold. Have ready some salt and water; put them into it; let them lie twenty-four hours; then dry them in a cloth. Then put them into a pickle made of the best white wine vinegar, mace, pepper, and nutmeg. If you choose to boil your pickle, it must be quite cold before you put in the mushrooms.

Mushrooms. No. 6

Peel your mushrooms, and throw them into clean water; wash them in two or three waters, and boil them in a little water, with a bundle of sweet-herbs, a good quantity of salt, a little rosemary, and spice of all sorts. When well boiled, let them remain in the liquor for twenty-four hours; pour the liquor into a hot cloth, smothering them for a night and a day; then put in your pickle, which make of elder and white wine vinegar, with all kinds of spice, horseradish, ginger, and lemon-juice. Put them into pots, cover with oiled paper, and keep them close for use.

Mushrooms. No. 7

Clean them very well, and take out the gills; boil them tender with a little salt, and dry them with a cloth. Make a strong brine; when it is cold, put in the mushrooms, and in about ten days or a fortnight change the brine, and put them into small bottles, pouring oil on the top.

Brown Mushrooms

Wipe them very clean, put them into a stewpan with mace, cloves, pepper, and salt, and to every quart of mushrooms put about two large spoonfuls of mushroom ketchup; stew them gently over a slow fire for about half an hour, then let them cool. Put them into bottles. To each quart of mushrooms put a quarter of a pint of white wine vinegar boiled and cooled; stop the bottles close with rosin.

Mushrooms, to dry

Cut off their stalks, and cut or scrape out the gills, and with a little salt put them into a saucepan. Set them on the fire, and let them stew in their own liquor; then pour them into a sieve to drain. When dry, put them into a slack oven upon tin plates, and, when quite dry, put them into shallow boxes for use.

The liquor will make ketchup.

Mushroom Liquor and Powder

Take about a peck of mushrooms, wash them, and rub them with a piece of flannel, taking out the gills, but do not peel them. Put to them half an ounce of beaten pepper, four bay-leaves, four cloves, twelve blades of mace, a handful of salt, eight onions, a bit of butter, and half a pint of vinegar; stew all these as quick as possible; keep stirring till the liquor is quite out of the mushrooms; then drain them, and bottle the liquor and spice when cold. Dry the mushrooms in an oven, first on a flat or broad pan, then on sieves, until they can be beaten into powder. This quantity will make about seven ounces. Stop the powder close in wide-mouthed bottles.

Mustard Pickle

Cut cabbages, cauliflowers, and onions, in small pieces or slices; salt them together, and let them stand in the salt for a few days. Then take them up in a strainer that the brine may run off; put them in a jar that will hold three quarts; take enough vinegar to cover them; boil it up, pour it on them, and cover it till next day. Pour the vinegar off, take the same quantity of fresh vinegar, of black pepper, ginger, and Jamaica pepper, each one ounce; boil them up together, let the liquor stand till cold; then mix four tea-spoonfuls of turmeric, and six ounces of flour of mustard, which pour on them cold. Cover the pickle up close; let it stand three weeks; and it will be fit for use. The spices must be put in whole.

Nasturtiums

The seed must be full grown and gathered on a dry day. Let them lie two or three days in salt and water; take them out, well dry them, and put them into a jar. Take as much white wine vinegar as will cover them, and boil it up with mace, sliced ginger, and a few bay leaves, for a quarter of an hour. Pour the pickle upon the seeds boiling hot. This must be repeated three days, keeping them covered with a folded cloth. After the third time, take care to let them be quite cold before you stop them up, which you must do very close.

Onions. No. 1

Take your onions when they are dry enough to lay up for winter, the smaller the better they look: put them in a pot, cover them with spring water, with a handful of salt, and let them boil up; then strain them off. Take off three coats; lay them on a cloth, and let two persons take hold of it, one at each end, and rub them backwards and forwards till they are very dry. Then put them in your jars or bottles, with some blades of mace, cloves, and nutmeg, cut into pieces; take some double-distilled white wine vinegar, boil it up with a little salt; let it stand till it is cold, and put it over the onions. Cork them close, and tie a bladder and leather over them.

Onions. No. 2

Take the smallest onions you can get; peel and put them into spring water and salt made very strong. Shift them daily for six days; then boil them a very little; skim them well, and make a pickle as for cucumbers, only adding a little mustard seed. Let the onions and the pickle both be cold, when you put them together. Keep them stopped very close, or they will spoil.

Onions. No. 3

Peel some small white onions, and boil them in water with salt; strain them, and let them remain till cool in a cloth. Make the pickle as for mushrooms; when quite cold, put them in and cover them down. Should the onions become mouldy, boil them again, carefully skimming off the impurities; then let them cool, and proceed as at first.

Cauliflowers are excellent done in this way.

Onions. No. 4

Put your small onions, after peeling them, into salt and water, shifting them once a day for three or four days; set them over the fire in milk and water till ready to boil; dry them; and, when boiled and cold, pour over a pickle made of double-distilled vinegar, a bay-leaf or two, salt, and mace.

Onions. No. 5

Parboil small white onions, and let them cool. Make a pickle with half vinegar, half wine, into which put some salt, a little ginger, some mace, and sliced nutmeg. Boil all this up together, skimming it well. Let it stand till quite cold; then put in your onions, covering them down. Should they become mouldy, boil the liquor again, but skim it well; let it stand till quite cold before the onions are again put in, and they will keep all the year.

Onions. No. 6

Take the small white round onions; peel off the brown skin. Have ready a stewpan of boiling water; throw in as many onions as will cover the top. As soon as they look clear on the outside, take them up quickly, lay them on a clean cloth, and cover them close with another cloth.

Spanish Onions, Mango of

Having peeled your onions, cut out a small piece from the bottom, scoop out a little of the inside, and put them into salt and water for three or four days, changing the brine twice a day. Then drain and stuff them, first putting in flour of mustard, then a little ginger cut small, mace, shalot cut small, then more mustard, and filling up with scraped horseradish. Put on the bottom piece, and tie it on close. Make a strong pickle of white wine vinegar, ginger, mace, sliced horseradish, nutmeg, and salt: put in your mangoes, and boil them up two or three times. Take care not to boil them too much, otherwise they lose their firmness and will not keep. Put them, with the pickle, into a jar. Boil the pickle again next morning, and pour it over them.

Orange and Lemon Peel

Boil the peels of the fruit in vinegar and sugar, and lay them in the pickle; but be careful to cut them in small long slices, about the length of half the peel of your lemon. It must be boiled in water previously to boiling in sugar and vinegar.

Oysters. No. 1

Take a quantity of large oysters with their liquor; wash well all the grit from them, and to every three pints of clear water put half an ounce of bruised pepper, some salt, and a quarter of an ounce of mace. Let these boil over a gentle fire, until a fourth part is consumed, skimming it; just scald the oysters, and put them into the liquor; put them into barrels or pots; stop them very close, and they will keep for a year in a cool place.

Oysters. No. 2

Parboil some large oysters in their own liquor; make pickle of their liquor with vinegar, a pint of white wine, mace, salt and pepper; boil and skim it, and when cold put in the oysters, and keep them.

Oysters. No. 3

Take whole pepper and mace, of each a quarter of an ounce, and half a pint of white wine vinegar. Set the oysters on the fire, in their own liquor, with a little water, mace, pepper, and half a pound of salt; skim them well as they heat, and only allow them just to boil for fear of hardening them. Take them out to dry, skim the liquor, and then put in the rest of the spice with the vinegar. Should the vinegar be very strong, reduce it a little, and boil it up again for a short time. Let both stand till cold: put your oysters into the pickle: in a day or two, taste your pickle, and, should it not be sharp enough, add a little more vinegar.

Oysters. No. 4

Take the largest oysters you can get, and just plump them over the fire in their own liquor; then strain it from them, and cover the oysters close in a cloth. Take an equal quantity of white wine and vinegar, and a little of the oyster liquor, with mace, white pepper, and lemon-peel, pared very thin, also salt, the quantity of each according to your judgment and taste, taking care that there be sufficient liquor to cover them. Set it on the fire, and, when it boils, put in the oysters; just give them one boil up; put the pickle in a pot, and the oysters closely covered in a cloth till the pickle is quite cold.

Oysters. No. 5

Simmer them, till done, in their own liquor; take them out one by one, strain the liquor from them, and boil them with one third of vinegar. Put the oysters in a jar, in layers, with a little mace, whole and white pepper, between the layers; then pour over them the liquor hot.

Oysters. No. 6

Take whole pepper and mace, of each a quarter of an ounce, and put to them half a pint of white wine vinegar.

Peaches, Mango of

Take some of the largest peaches, when full grown and just ripening, throw them into salt and water, and add a little bay-salt. Let them lie two or three days, covering them with a board; take them out and dry them, and with a sharp knife cut them open and take out the stone; then cut some garlic very fine, scrape a great deal of horseradish, mix the same quantity of mustard seed, a few bruised cloves, and ginger sliced very thin, and with this fill the hollow of the peaches. Tie them round, and lay them in a jar; throw in some broken cinnamon, cloves, mace, and a small quantity of cochineal, and pour over as much vinegar as will fill the jar. To every quart put a quarter of a pint of the best mustard, well made, some cloves, mace, nutmeg, two or three heads of garlic, and some sliced ginger. Mix the pickle well together; pour it over the peaches, and tie them down close with either leather or a bladder. They will soon be fit for use.

In the same manner you may do white plums.

Purslain, Samphire, Broom Buds, &c

Pick the dead leaves from the branches of purslain, and lay them in a pan. Make some strong brine; boil and skim it clean, and, when boiled and cold, put in the purslain, and cover it; it will keep all the year. When wanted for use, boil it in fresh water, having the water boiling before you put it in. When boiled and turned green, cool it, take it out afterwards, put it into wide-mouth bottles, with strong white wine vinegar to it, and close it for use.

Quinces

Cut in pieces half a dozen quinces; put them into an earthen pot, with a gallon of water and two pounds of honey. Mix the whole together, and boil it leisurely in a kettle for half an hour. Strain the liquor into an earthen pot: and, when cold, wipe the quinces clean, and lay them in it. Cover them very close, and they will keep all the year.

Radish Pods

Make a pickle with cold spring water and bay salt, strong enough to bear an egg; put in your pods; lay a thin board on them to keep them under water, and let them stand ten days. Drain them in a sieve, and lay them on a cloth to dry; then take as much white wine vinegar as you think will cover them, boil and put your pods in a jar, with ginger, mace, cloves, and Jamaica pepper; put your vinegar boiling hot on them; cover them with a coarse cloth three or four times double, that the steam may come through a little, and let them stand two days; repeat this two or three times. When cold, put in a pint of mustard-seed and some horseradish, and cover them close.

Salmon. No. 1

Cut off the head of the fish, take out the intestines, but do not slit the belly; cut your pieces across, about two or three inches in breadth; take the blood next to the back clean out: wash and scale it; then put salt and water over the fire, and a handful of bay leaves; put in the salmon, and, when it is boiled, take it off and skim it clear. Take out the pieces with a skimmer as whole as you can; lay them on a table to drain; strain a handful of salt slightly over them; when they are cold, stick some cloves on each side of them. Then take a cask, well washed, and seasoned with hot and cold water, three or four days before you use it; put in the pickle you boiled your salmon in hot, some time before you use it; then take broad mace, sliced nutmeg, white pepper, just bruised, and a little black; mix the pepper with salt, sufficient to season the salmon; strew some pepper, salt, and bay-leaves, at the bottom of the cask; then put in a layer of salmon, then spice, salt, bay-leaves, and pepper, as before, until the cask is full. Put on the head, and bore a hole in the top of it; fill up the cask with good white wine vinegar, cork it, and, in two or three days, take out the cork and put more vinegar, and the fat will come out; do so three or four times; then cut off the cork, and pitch it; if it be for present use, put it in a jar, closely covered.

Salmon. No. 2