ILLINOIS COOK BOOK

To Pickle Cauliflower.

Make a strong brine, and after picking over your cauliflower and breaking it in such shaped pieces as you like, put it in the brine and let it remain twenty four hours. Then take them out and heat the brine, and pour .it on the pickles scalding hot. Let them re- main in the brine till next day. Drain off the brine and pour on spiced vinegar ; scaldt he spices in the vinegar, but pour it over the pickles cold.

Martinoes.

Gather them when they are young and tender. Have a weak brine, and after wiping your pickles one by one, drop them into this brine and let them remain eight or ten days, or make a stronger brine and let them remain till they are salt enough to keep. Then wash and wipe them dry, and pour spiced, vinegar over them. These are a most delicious pickle, and persons who are fond of the walnut pickle will not fail to like these. They grow wild, but can be cultivated, and are worth trying.

A Fine Cabbage fickle.

Cut two heads of cabbage fine, on a slaw cutter or with a knife ; put in a chopping bowl and chop fine ; take six green peppers, two handsful of salt, one pound of black mustard seed; mix well together. Pack in a jar and pour cold cider vinegar; QTvrer. like a little celery seed mixed with it.

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Grape Pickle.

Grapes made into sweet pickles are very fine. They can be made by any of the sweet pickle receipts in this book. Those having an abundance of grapes will do well to try them. They are very fine.

Pickled Peaches.

Have a tub of cold water setting near, and one with boiling water with ashes in it; fill a large skimmer with peaches and dip them in the ley water; than throw them in the cold water, and with a flannel or rough cloth rub off the down. Stick four or five cloves in each peach and put them in jars. Have some boiling vinegar with sugar, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg ; pour over the peaches. Let them set 24 hours, then heat again, and let them remain another 24 hours : then put the vinegar on and let it come to a boil, and add the peaches ; let all come to a boil to- gether ; take out, put in jars and tie closely.

Peach Mangoes.

Select large, fine flavored peaches, dip them in soda water, to remove the down from them, and with the blade of a sharp knife cut out the seed, leaving the peach as whole as possible; then have some cabbage (the white hard part of the head) chopped fine, and a very little onion and a few bits of red pepper pod. Spice with mace, cloves, allspice, white mustard seed,

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(whole,) two nasturtiums in each peach. Fill your peaches, and pour vinegar that has been boiled with spices in it; keep them well under the vinegar, by putting a plate or saucer in the jar.

Nasturtiums.

Soak them for a few days in salt and water, as you collect them, changing the water every few days; then pour off the brine, wipe them and drop them in cold vinegar. These are very tine to flavor mangoes, es- pecially the peach mango.

Sweet Cherry fickle.

( MRS. ILES. )

Five pints cherries, one pint vinegar, two pints sugar; spiced with cloves, allspice, cinnamon and a little pepper. Boil all together one hour.

Spiced Peach Pickles.

( MRS. HURST. )

Three pounds sugar, three pints vinegar, spiced and boiled to a syrup. For a gallon jar of peaches — grate three nutmegs, one tablespoonful of cloves, one table- spoonful allspice and two tablespoonsful cinnamon. Put in a portion of the peaches, and scald in the syrup till tender; take them out, put them into the jar, and put more into the syrup, and so on till you have enough to fill the jar; then pour the syrup over the peaches. Do not have too hot a fire, or the. syrup will boil awav too fast.

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Watermelon Rind fickle.

Prepare the rinds as you would for preserving; let them remain in soda water all night. Take one quart cider vinegar and three pounds sugar, let it boil till quite thick syrup; then put in your fruit, let it boil till they are soft; put them in a jar and pour the syrup overboiling; seal them up. Put in a little mace, cin- namon and nutmeg, spices make them too dark.

Sliced Tomato Pickles.

Take the smoothest large green tomatoes after the first good frost, slice them very thin with one-quarter onions ; put a clean cloth in a basket and put them in it, and hang it up and let it drip all night ; in the morning, put them into a large clean pan, and with the hands mix them up with cloves, allspice, mace, black pepper, and garlic peeled and sliced thin. When well- mixed add curry powder till it has a yellow look; then put it into your jar; pour over it enough of the best cider vinegar to cover it well. It will soon be ready for use.

Chopped Mixed Pickles.

Take a white, hard head of cabbage, green tomatoes, green peppers, celery and onions, chop very fine sep- arately, then mix well; put cloves, plenty of ground pepper, allspice, mace, garlic, red pepper pods and mustard seed; put in a jar and pour boiling vinegar over them.

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Red Cabbage Pickle.

Take the small, deep red cabbage, cut with a slaw cutter very fine ; add a very little salt over night ; boil a few spices in vinegar, put it over the cabbage cold.

Cucumber Pickles.

Make a weak brine of salt and water, boil and pour over the cucumbers three mornings in succession; fourth morning pour it off, and scald vinegar and pour over three mornings in succession ; seventh morning scald new vinegar, adding spice, and pour on. In this way pickles may be made at any time they are fresh gathered, and will be perfectly green.

To Pickle Oysters.

Wash four dozen of the largest oysters you can get in their own liquor, wipe them dry, strain the liquor off, adding to it a dessertspoonful of pepper, two blades of mace, a tablespoonful of salt, if the liquor be not very salt, and seven of vinegar. Simmer the oysters a few minutes in the liquor ; then put them in small jars and boil the pickle up, skim it, and, when cold, pour over the oysters ; cover close.

Pickled Butternuts.

Gather them the last week in June. Make and skim a brine of salt and water, strong enough to bear up an egg when it is cold ; pour it on the nuts, and let

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them lie in it twelve days. Drain them, lay them in a jar, and pour over them the best of cider vinegar, which has been previously boiled with pepper corns, cloves, allspice, white mustard seed, ginger, mace and horse radish. This vinegar must be cold when poured on; cover close, and keep one year before using. Walnuts are pickled in the same way, and the vinegar may be used as catsup, for it is very nice.

JPicMed Mangoes.

Select young nutmeg melons, not too large, cut them in the side ; make a strong brine and let them stay nine days, or longer as required. When you are ready, take them out, and let them freshen in cold well water all night. Have ready, for the tilling, young beans, silver onions, radish pods, gherkins, small green peppers, small green tomatoes, cloves, all- spice, mace, garlic, black pepper, white and black mustard seed. The beans small. Pickles and such things are hard to procure at one time. It is well to get them as they come in season, and throw them in a strong brine over night or longer; then green them and put the best vinegar on them. Put them in a good sized jar, and as you get the other things, they can be greened and added. When all is ready take them out of the vinegar; first green the melons to be tilled, and try to have them all alike. Put a little sugar in the vinegar while it is boiling, enough to make it a pleasant sweet. Add plenty of pepper and spices.

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Chow- Chow.

Three heads of cabbage, twenty-five peppers, half pint of white mustard seed and grated horse radish. Cut the cabbage fine, chop the peppers, and put them in a jar, then the cabbage, then a little salt, and sprinkle a little horse radish and mustard seed over the whole, and so on till all the ingredients are in the jar. Fill with cold vinegar. To every quart of vinegar dissolve two ounces of brown sugar.

PicMed Onions.

In the month of September, choose the small white round onions, take off the skin, have ready a very nice tin 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 as quick as pos- sible, and lay them on a clear cloth; cover them close with another, and scald some more, and so on. Let them lie to be cold, then put them in a jar, or glass, or wide-mouth bottles, and pour over them the best vinegar, just hot, but not boiling. When cold, cover them. Should the outer skin shrivel, peel it off. They must look quite clear.

PicMed Plums.

To every quart of plums allow one-half pound of sugar and one pint of best cider vinegar. Melt the sugar in the vinegar, and put spices of all sorts in a fine muslin bag, and boil up with the sugar and

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vinegar. When the sugar and spiced vinegar boils up, put in the plums and give them one good boil. If you wish to keep the plums whole, pick them with a needle.

To Pickle Cucumbers and Onions Sliced.

Cut them in slices, and sprinkle salt over them. Next day drain them for five or six hours ; then put them into a stone jar, pour boiling vinegar over them, and keep them in a warm place. The slices should be thick. Kepeat the boiling vinegar, and stop theni up again instantly ; and so on till green ; the last time put in pepper. Keep in small stone jars.

Pickled Eggs.

Boil them twelve minutes, and throw them into cold water to make the shells come off easily. Boil some red beets very soft, peel and mash fine, and put them with salt, pepper, cloves and nutmegs, into vinegar enough to cover the eggs. Put the eggs in a jar, and pour the mixture over them. •

Tomato Pickle.

Eight pounds skinned tomatoes and four of brown sugar. Put them in a preserving kettle, and stir often to prevent burning. Boil to the thickness of molasses, then add one quart of good cider vinegar, one teaspoon- ful mace, one teaspoonful cloves, and boil five minutes longer.

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To fickle Tomatoes.

Always use those which are thoroughly ripe The small round ones are decidedly the best. Do not prick them, as most receipt books direct. Let them lie in strong brine three or four days, then put them down in layers in your jars, mixing with them small onions and pieces of horseradish; then pour on the vinegar (cold,) which should be first spiced as for peppers; let there be a spice bag to throw into every pot. Cover them carefully, and set them by in the cellar for a full month before using.

East India tickles.

Have ready a white cabbage sliced and the stalks removed ; a cauliflower cut into neat branches, leaving out the stalk ; sliced cucumbers, sliced carrots, sliced beets, all nicked around the edges; button onions, string beans, radish pods, cherries, green grapes, nas- turtium, capsicum, bell pepper, etc. Sprinkle all these with salt ; then put them into a large earthen jar and pour scalding salt and water over them. Let them lie in the brine for four days, turning them every day. Take them out, wash each piece separately in vinegar and wipe them on a dry cloth ; let them dry thoroughly. To every two quarts vinegar (best cider) put an ounce and a half of white ginger root scraped and sliced, the same of long peppers, two ounces of peeled shallots or little button onions, half an ounce peeled garlic, an ounce turmeric and two ounces mustard seed or ground

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mustard. Let all these ingredients, mixed with the vinegar, infuse in a close jar, setting in a warm place by the fire. Then, after the vegetables have been dried from the brine, put them all into one large stone jar and strain the pickle over them. Cork tight.

Two quarts vinegar, one ounce and a half white ginger root scraped and sliced, one ounce and a half long pep- pers, two ounces peeled button (silver) onions, half ounce peeled garlic, one ounce turmeric and two ounce white mustard seed.

Green tomatoes, cabbage and cucumbers, one pint of each ; half pint onions, all chopped fine ; salt well and stand over night; strain through a sieve, and add pepper, horseradish, white mustard seed and half pint sugar. Mix well, fill your jar, and cover with vinegar.

Buck and Breck, (Splendid.)

One peck green tomatoes, half peck ripe to- matoes, twelve onions, twelve peppers, (six red and six green,) one large head cabbage; chop them all fine; salt heavily; let them drain all night ; add two tablespoonsful allspice, one tablespoon- ful ground black pepper and one tablespoonful mace. Put on one quart vinegar and three pounds brown sugar. When boiled, put in your drained tomatoes, then skin and slice the ripe tomatoes and put in.

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Boil three hours. When done put in jars and add cold vinegar. Stir often while boiling.

Pickled Peaches.

Seven pounds peaches, three and a half pounds sugar, one quart of vinegar, and spices to the taste. Make them whole, and peel them or not, just as you prefer. Scald the vinegar and sugar with the spices and pour on the peaches while hot.

Chopped Pickle.

One large head of cabbage, three of celery and twelve onions, chop fine ; salt well and stand twenty- four hours; drain and cover with vinegar, remain twelve hours ; drain, and add four red peppers and two green ones, one-quarter of a pound mustard seed and two tablespoonpsful mixed mustard,one tablespoon- ful allspice, one tablespoonful back pepper, half table- spoonful cloves, half a cupful sweet oil and a teacupful brown sugar. Mix all well, and cover with vinegar.

Onion Pickles.

Peel white onions, (medium or small sized,) lay them in fresh water all night; in the morning place in a jar alternate layers of onions, celery seed, ginger, cloves, ah1 spice and red pepper ; add to the vinegar a little turmeric, sugar and salt; beat it, and pour over the onions while hot. In a few days pour off the vin-

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egar ; heat it again, and pour over the pickles. When perfectly cold they will be fit for use.

Sweet fickle.

To one pound vinegar add six pounds of sugar ; add cinnamon, a few cloves, allspice and a little mace, boil well together ; have your fruit in a stone jar, strain the syrup over it while hot, let it remain until next day ; pour off the syrup, place it over the fire ; as soon as it commences to boil put in your fruit and boil till it is tender. This pickle will answer for peaches, pears, apples, watermelon rind, or any pickle that can be made sweet.

CrherTcins.

These make a very nice pickle, and if gathered when young make a nice filling for mangoes. They should be gathered when young and tender, and left in the brine till they become yellow ; then scald vinegar, with spices to suit the taste, and when cold pour it over the pickles.

Mushrooms.

Be careful in the selections of mushrooms, that they are perfectly fresh, throw a little salt on them, and re- move the skin from the top ; scald them in salt water for only a few moments ; then pour off the water, and pour on spiced vinegar. If you wish them to keep well, cork tight.

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Catsup, (Tomato Catsup.)

Take very ripe tomatoes, wash and mash them up well, adding a very little salt ; put in a clean tub or wooden vessel, and let it stand covered all night. In the morning, put them in a large brass kettle and let them cook well; then take off and strain through a sieve; boil down till quite thick; about half an hour before taking from the stove, put in considerable red pepper pods, cloves, allspice and cinnamon, tied in a thin cloth. Have ready about one dozen large onions sliced fine, and fresh peppers and spices tied in a thin cloth, (to prevent further straining ;) put the onion and spices so tied up into a large earthen vessel, and let it stand covered twenty-four hours ; then make as thin as you like with the best cider vinegar. Bottle, cork and seal ; add a little garlic, if you like the flavor.

Pepper Catsup.

Take fifty pods of large red bell peppers, seed and all; add one pint of vinegar and boil till you can mash the pulp through a sieve; add to the pulp an- other pint of vinegar, two tablespoonsful sugar, cloves, mace, spice, onions and salt. Put it into a kettle and boil to the proper consistency. Some omit the spices.

Tomato Catsup.

(MRS. JUDGE BKEESE.)

Slice and boil the tomatoes well, (not strained ;) a quarter of an ounce each of mace, nutmeg and

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cloves, one handful scraped horseradish, two pods red pepper, salt to the taste ; boil this away to three quarts and then strain ; adding one pint of wine and half a pint of vinegar. Bottle and leave the bottle open a day or two. Then cork and seal.

Tomato Catsup.

( MRS. HARRIMAN. )

One gallon tomatoes, four tablespoonsful salt, four tablespoonsful cloves, one tablespoonful mace, one tablespoonful cayenne pepper, two tablespoonsful allspice, eight tablespoonsful black mustard seed, eight whole peppers, five garlics, two quarts cider vinegar, one pound brown sugar. Boil away one half, strain and bottle.

Chopped Catsup.

To one gallon chopped tomatoes put three-quarters of a gallon chopped cabbage, two pints of onions chopped fine and three-quarters of a pint green peppers chopped. Let them stand one night with salt over them and drip ; add cloves, allspice, horseradish grated, fine celery, mustard seed and garlic.

Pickled Peaches.

Seven pounds peaches, three or four pounds brown sugar, one quart vinegar, two tablespoonsful whole cloves, two tablespoonsful allspice, one tablespoonful mace. Boil together and pour over the peaches. Let

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them stand twenty-four hours, and repeat the boiling three or four times.

Yellow Pickle.

One pound horseradish dried and sliced, one pound skinned garlic, twelve ounces ginger, two ounces cloves, one large cupful black pepper, half pound mustard seed, half a cupful ground mustard, two tablespoonsful celery seed, one ounce nutmeg; put all these spices in two gallons vinegar. Take hard, white cabbage, halve or quarter them, and boil in salt and water till you can run a straw into them ; then dry them on a cloth, turning often. One day will dry them, if the sun is bright. Put them in plain vinegar for three weeks, then put them in the spiced vinegar, which must be put in a three gallon jar. To pickle onions, pour over them boiling salt and water, and let them stand in it twenty-four hours. Dry them one or two days and put into spiced vinegar. Two pounds brown sugar added to this pickle improves it greatly.

Chow-Chow.

Three heads of cabbage, twenty-five peppers, half a pint of white mustard seed and grated horseradish; cut the cabbage fine, chop the peppers, and then put in the jar a layer of cabbage, then a layer of peppers, then a little salt, and sprinkle a little horseradish and mus- tard seed over the whole, and so on until the ingredients are all in the jar; then fill the jar with cold vinegar,

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to every quart of which dissolve two ounces of brown sugar.

Pickled Plums.

One peck plums, seven pounds sugar, half-pint vin- egar; dissolve together sugar and vinegar, add the plums ; boil three hours, stirring it all the time, and take out the stones while boiling ; add two tablespoons- ful allspice, two of ground cloves. *

Virginia Damson Pickles.

To five pounds damsons allow five pounds sugar and two and a half pints vinegar. Take the vinegar and put to it two ounces mace, one ounce cinnamon, and one ounce cloves. Let it come to a boil and pour over the fruit and sugar ; cover close. Turn off and scald the syrup for six successive days ; the seventh day let fruit, spices, and all come to a boil. It will keep for years.

Walnut Catsup.

Take walnuts fit for pickling, beat them well in a mortar till they are pulped; then squeeze out the juice, and let it settle a day ; pour off the clear. To a pint of juice put one pound of anchovies with one ounce of shallots ; stir it on the fire till the anchovies are dissolved ; strain it off clear. To every quart put a quarter of an ounce mace, a quarter of an ounce of cloves, a quarter of an ounce of Jamaica pepper, and —24

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half a pint of white wine vinegar; boil the whole to- gether a quarter of an hour, then bottle it. It will keep three years. A tablespoonful is sufficient for half a pint of melted butter. One hundred walnuts will produce one quart of juice.

Universal Sauce.

Two gallons of ' vinegar, quarter of a pound of cayenne pods bruised, thirty-two cloves or garlic; mix the above, and let it stand five days ; then strain it ; add three pints of walnut juice and three pints of indian soy. Bottle it for use.

Tomato Catsup.

One peck of tomatoes, two teaspoonsful salt, one and a half ground pepper, two spoonsful ground cloves, one spoonful ground allspice, one spoonful red pepper, and one tablespoonful ground ginger. Boil down thick, and add good cider vinegar. The toma- toes should be first cooked, and then run through a sieve to remove the skins and seed. If onion and a little garlic is sliced thin and the catsup poured over them while it is hot, it will improve the flavor.

Sweet Tomato Pickles.

One pint of sugar to one quart of vinegar, one tea- spoonful cinnamon, and one teaspoonful cloves; slice

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green tomatoes over night, and salt between each layer until all are in. Lay a clean white cloth in a basket before putting the tomatoes in ; let them drain over night to remove the bitter water from them. Put them in a clean kettle, and pour the sugar and vinegar over, and cook them till tender. Those who like the chow-chow or mustard pickles that are sold in the stores, can have just as good by adding ground mus- tard. Sliced onions are very nice mixed with the green tomatoes. But as onions are disagreeable to many persons, they can be used or not.

Salad Dressing.

One teaspoonful mixed mustard, one teaspoonful white sugar, two tablespoonsful salad oil, four table- spoonsful milk, two tablespoonsful vinegar, cayenne and salt to the taste. Put the mixed mustard into a salad bowl with the sugar, and add the oil drop by drop, carefully stirring and mixing all these ingredi- ents together. Proceed in this manner with the milk and vinegar, which must be added very gradually, or the sauce will curdle. Put in the seasoning, when the mixture will be ready for use. If this dressing is properly made it will have a soft, creamy appearance, and will be found very delicious with crab or cold fried fish, as well as with salad. In mixing salad dress- ings the ingredients cannot be added too gradually or stirred too much.