TO CAN PINEAPPLES.--The writer has had no experience in canning this fruit, but the following method is given on good authority: Pare very carefully with a silver knife, remove all the "eyes" and black specks; then cut the sections in which the "eyes" were, in solid pieces clear down to the core. By doing this all the valuable part of the fruit is saved, leaving its hard, woody center. As, however, this contains considerable juice, it should be taken in the hands and wrung as one wrings a cloth, till the juice is extracted, then thrown away. Prepare a syrup with one part sugar and two parts water, using what juice has been obtained in place of so much water. Let it boil up, skim clean, then add the fruit. Boil just as little as possible and have the fruit tender, as pineapples loses its flavor by overcooking more readily than any other fruit. Put into hot cans, and seal.
FRUIT JELLIES.
The excess of sugar commonly employed in preparing jellies often renders them the least wholesome of fruit preparations, and we cannot recommend our readers to spend a great amount of time in putting up a large stock of such articles.
The juice of some fruits taken at the right stage of maturity may be evaporated to a jelly without sugar, but the process is a more lengthy one, and requires a much larger quant.i.ty of juice than when sugar is used.
Success in the preparation of fruit jellies depends chiefly upon the amount of pectose contained in the fruit. Such fruits as peaches, cherries, and others containing but a small proportion of pectose, cannot be made into a firm jelly. All fruit for jelly should, if possible, be freshly picked, and before it is over-ripe, as it has then a much better flavor. The pectose, the jelly-producing element, deteriorates with age, so that jelly made from over-ripe fruit is less certain to "form." If the fruit is under-ripe, it will be too acid to give a pleasant flavor. Examine carefully, as for canning, rejecting all wormy, knotty, unripe, or partially decayed fruit. If necessary to wash, drain very thoroughly.
Apples, quinces, and similar fruits may require to be first cooked in a small amount of water. The juice of berries, currants, and grapes, may be best extracted by putting the fruit in a granite-ware double boiler, or a covered earthen crock placed inside a kettle of boiling water, mashing as much as possible with a spoon, and steaming without the addition of water until the fruit is well scalded and broken.
For straining the juice, have a funnel-shaped bag made of coa.r.s.e flannel or strong, coa.r.s.e linen crash. The bag will be found more handy if a small hoop of wire is sewn around the top and two tapes attached to hang it by while the hot juice is draining, or a wooden frame to support the bag may be easily constructed like the one shown on page 74. A dish to receive the juice should be placed underneath the bag, which should first be wrung out of hot water, and the scalded fruit, a small quant.i.ty at a time, turned in; then with two large spoons press the sides of the bag well, moving the fruit around in the bag to get out all the juice, and removing the pressed pulp and skins each time before putting in a fresh supply of the hot fruit. If a very clear jelly is desired, the juice must be allowed to drain out without pressing or squeezing. The juice of berries, grapes, and currants may be extracted without the fruit being first scalded, if preferred, by putting the fruit into an earthen or granite-ware dish, and mashing well with a wooden potato masher, then putting into a jelly bag and allowing the juice to drain off for several hours.
When strained, if the jelly is to be prepared with sugar, measure the juice and pour it into a granite or porcelain fruit kettle with a very broad bottom, so that as much surface can be on the stove possible. It is better to boil the juice in quant.i.ties of not more than two or three quarts at a time, unless one has some utensil in which a larger quant.i.ty can be cooked with no greater depth of liquid than the above quant.i.ty would give in a common fruit kettle. The purpose of the boiling is to evaporate the water from the juice, and this can best be accomplished before the sugar is added. The sugar, if boiled with the juice, also darkens the jelly.
The average length of time required for boiling the juice of most berries, currants, and grapes, extracted as previously directed, before adding the sugar, is twenty minutes from the time it begins to bubble all over its surface. It is well to test the jelly occasionally, however, by dropping a small quant.i.ty on a plate to cool, since the quant.i.ty of juice and the rapidity with which it is boiled, may necessitate some variation in time. In wet season, fruits of all kinds absorb more moisture and a little longer boiling may be necessary. The same is true of the juice of fruits gathered after a heavy rain. Jellies prepared with sugar are generally made of equal measures of juice, measured before boiling, and sugar; but a very scant measure of sugar is sufficient, and a less amount will suffice for many fruits. White granulated sugar is best for all jellies. While the juice is heating, spread the sugar evenly on shallow tins, and heat in the oven, stirring occasionally to keep it from scorching. If portions melt, no great harm will be done, as the melted portions will form in lumps when turned into the juice, and can be removed with a spoon. When the juice has boiled twenty minutes, turn in the sugar, which should be so hot that the hand cannot be borne in it with comfort, stirring rapidly until it is all dissolved. Let the syrup boil again for three or four minutes, then take immediately from the fire. Heat the jelly gla.s.ses (those with gla.s.s covers are best), by rolling in hot water, and place them in a shallow pan partially filled with hot water, or stand them on a wet, folded towel while filling. If it is desired to have the jelly exceptionally clear and nice, it may be turned through a bag of cheese cloth, previously wrung out of hot water, into the jelly gla.s.ses. If the covers of the gla.s.ses are not tight fitting, a piece of firm paper should be fitted over the top before putting on the cover, to make it air tight.
Pint self-sealing fruit cans are excellent for storing jelly, and if it is sealed in them in the same manner as canned fruit, will keep perfectly, and obviate any supposed necessity for the use of brandied paper as a preservative measure. Label each variety, and keep in some cool, dry place. If the jelly is not sufficiently firm when first made, set the gla.s.ses in the sunshine for several days, until the jelly becomes more firm. This is better than reheating and boiling again, as it destroys less of the flavor of the fruit.
_RECIPES._
APPLE JELLY.--Cut nice tart apples in quarters, but unless wormy, do not peel or core. Put into a porcelain kettle with a cup of water for each six pounds of fruit, and simmer very slowly until the apples are thoroughly cooked. Turn into a jelly-bag, and drain off the juice. If very tart, allow three fourths of a pound of sugar to each pint of juice. If sub-acid, one half pound will be sufficient. Put the sugar into the oven to heat. Clean the kettle, and boil the juice therein twenty minutes after it begins to boil thoroughly. Add the sugar, stirring until well dissolved, let it boil up once again, and remove from the fire. The juice of one lemon may be used with the apples, and a few bits of lemon rind, the yellow portion only, cooked with them to give them a flavor, if liked. One third cranberry juice makes a pleasing combination.
APPLE JELLY WITHOUT SUGAR.--Select juicy, white fleshed, sub-acid fruit, perfectly sound and mature but not mellow. The snow apple is one of the best varieties for this purpose. Wash well, slice, and core without removing the skins, and cook as directed in the preceding recipe. Drain off the juice, and if a very clear jelly is desired, filter it through a piece of cheese cloth previously wrung out of hot water. Boil the juice,--rapidly at first, but more gently as it becomes thickened,--until of the desired consistency. The time required will vary with the quant.i.ty of juice, the shallowness of the dish in which it is boiled, and the heat employed. One hour at least, will be required for one or two quarts of juice. When the juice has become considerably evaporated, test it frequently by dipping a few drops on a plate to cool; and when it jellies sufficiently, remove at once from the fire. A much larger quant.i.ty of juice will be needed for jelly prepared in this manner than when sugar is used, about two quarts of juice being required for one half pint of jelly. Such jelly, however, has a most delicious flavor, and is excellent served with grains. Diluted with water, it forms a most pleasing beverage.
BERRY AND CURRANT JELLIES.--Express the juice according to the directions already given. For strawberries, red raspberries, and currants, allow three fourths of a pound of sugar to a pint of juice.
Black raspberries, if used alone, need less sugar. Strawberry and black raspberry juice make better jelly if a little lemon juice is used. The juice of one lemon to each pint of fruit juice will be needed for black raspberries. Two parts red or black raspberries with one part currants, make a better jelly than either alone. Boil the juice of strawberries, red raspberries, and currants twenty minutes, add the sugar, and finish, as previously directed. Black raspberry juice is much thicker, and requires less boiling.
CHERRY JELLY.--Jelly may be prepared from cherries by using with the juice of cherries an equal amount of apple juice, which gives an additional amount of pectose to the juice and does not perceptibly change the flavor.
CRAB APPLE JELLY.--Choose the best Siberian crab apples; cut into pieces, but do not pare or remove seeds. Place in a porcelain-lined or granite-ware double boiler, with a cup of water for each six pounds of fruit, and let them remain on the back of the range, with the water slowly boiling, seven or eight hours. Leave in the boiler or turn into a large china bowl, and keep well covered, all night. In the morning drain off the juice and proceed as for apple jelly, using from one half to three fourths of a pound of sugar to one of juice.
CRANBERRY JELLY.--Scald the berries and express the juice for other jellies. Measure the juice, and allow three fourths of a pound of sugar to one of juice. Boil twenty minutes, add the sugar hot, and finish as directed for other jellies.
GRAPE JELLY.--Jelly from ripe grapes may be prepared in the same manner as that made from the juice of berries. Jelly from green grapes needs one half measure more of sugar.
ORANGE JELLY.--Express the juice of rather tart oranges, and use with it an equal quant.i.ty of the juice of sub-acid apples, prepared in the manner directed for apple jelly. For each pint of the mixed juice, use one half pound of sugar and proceed as for other jellies.
PEACH JELLY.--Stone, pare, and slice the peaches, and steam them in a double boiler. Express the juice, and add for each pint of peach juice the juice of one lemon. Measure the juice and sugar, using three fourths of a pound of sugar for each pint of juice, and proceed as already directed. Jelly prepared from peaches will not be so firm as many fruit jellies, owing to the small amount of pectose contained in their composition.
A mixture of apples and peaches, in the proportion of one third of the former to two thirds of the latter, makes a firmer jelly than peaches alone. The apples should be pared and cored, so that their flavor will not interfere with that of the peaches.
QUINCE JELLY.--Clean thoroughly good sound fruit, and slice thin.
Put into a double boiler with one cup of water for each five pounds of fruit, and cook until softened. Express the juice, and proceed as with other jellies, allowing three fourths of a pound of sugar to each pint of juice. Tart or sweet apples may be used with quinces, in equal proportions, and make a jelly of more pleasant flavor than quinces used alone. The seeds of quinces contain considerable gelatinous substance, and should be cooked with the quince for jelly making.
PLUM JELLY.--Use Damsons or Green Gages. Stone, and make in the same way as for berry and other small fruit jellies.
FRUIT IN JELLY.--Prepare some apple jelly without sugar. When boiled sufficiently to form, add to it, as it begins to cool, some nice, stoned dates or seeded raisins. Orange jelly may be used instead of the apple jelly, if preferred.
FRUIT JUICES.
As sauces for desserts and for summer beverages for sick or well, the pure juices of fruits are most wholesome and delicious. So useful are they and so little trouble to prepare, that no housewife should allow the fruit season to pa.s.s by without putting up a full stock.
Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, currants, grapes, and cherries are especially desirable. In preparing them, select only the best fruit, ripe, but not over-ripe. Extract the juice by mashing the fruit and slowly heating in the inner cup of a double boiler, till the fruit is well scalded; too long heating will injure its color. Strain through a jelly bag and let it drain slowly for a long time, but do not squeeze, else some of the pulp will be forced through. Reheat slowly to boiling and can the same as fruit. It may be put up with or without sugar. If sugar is to be used, add it hot as for jelly, after the juice is strained and reheated to boiling. For strawberries and currants, raspberries and cherries, use one cup of sugar to a quart of juice.
Black raspberries and grapes require less sugar, while blueberries and blackberries require none at all, or not more than a tablespoonful to the quart. A mixed juice, of one part currants and two parts red or black raspberries, has a very superior flavor.
_RECIPES._
GRAPE JUICE, OR UNFERMENTED WINE.--Take twenty-five pounds of some well ripened very juicy variety of grapes, like the Concord. Pick them from the stems, wash thoroughly, and scald without the addition of water, in double boilers until the grapes burst open; cool, turn into stout jelly bags, and drain off the juice without squeezing. Let the juice stand and settle; turn off the top, leaving any sediment there may be. Add to the juice about four pounds of best granulated sugar, reheat to boiling, skim carefully, and can the same as fruit. Keep in a cool, dark place. The wine, if to be sealed in bottles, will require a corker, and the corks should first be boiled in hot water and the bottles well sterilized.
GRAPE JUICE NO. 2.--Take grapes of the best quality, picked fresh from the vines. Wash well after stripping from the stems, rejecting any imperfect fruit. Put them in a porcelain or granite fruit kettle with one pint of water to every three quarts of grapes, heat to boiling, and cook slowly for fifteen minutes or longer, skimming as needed. Turn off the juice and carefully filter it through a jelly bag, putting the seeds and skins into a separate bag to drain, as the juice from them will be less clear. Heat again to boiling, add one cupful of hot sugar to each quart of juice, and seal in sterilized cans or bottles. The juice from the skins and seeds should be canned separately.
ANOTHER METHOD.--Wash the grapes, and express the juice without scalding the fruit. Strain the juice three or four times through muslin or cheese cloth, allowing it to stand and settle for some time between each filtering. To every three pints of juice add one of water and two cupfuls of sugar. Heat to boiling, and keep at that temperature for fifteen minutes, skim carefully, and bottle while at boiling heat. Set away in a cool, dark place.
FRUIT SYRUP.--Prepare the juice expressed from strawberries, raspberries, currants, or grapes, as directed above for fruit juices.
After it has come to a boil, add one pound of sugar to every quart of juice. Seal in pint cans. It may be diluted with water to form a pleasing beverage, and is especially useful in flavoring puddings and sauces.
CURRANT SYRUP.--Boil together a pint of pure currant juice and one half pound of best white sugar for ten minutes, and can or bottle while at boiling temperature. One or two spoonfuls of the syrup in a gla.s.s of water makes a most refreshing drink. Two parts currants and one of red raspberries may be used in place of all currants, if preferred.
ORANGE SYRUP.--Select ripe and thin-skinned fruit. To every pint of the juice add one pound of sugar, the juice of one lemon, and a little of the grated rind. Boil for fifteen minutes, removing all sc.u.m as it rises. If the syrup is not clear, strain through a piece of cheese cloth, and reheat. Can and seal while boiling hot.
LEMON SYRUP.--Grate the yellow portion of the rind of six lemons, and mix with three pounds of best granulated white sugar. Add one quart of water and boil until it thickens. Strain, add the juice of the six lemons, carefully leaving out the pulp and seeds; boil ten minutes, and bottle. Diluted with two thirds cold water, it forms a delicious and quickly prepared lemonade.
LEMON SYRUP NO. 2.--To every pint of lemon juice add one pound of sugar; boil, skim, and seal in cans like fruit.
BLACKBERRY SYRUP.--Crush fresh, well-ripened blackberries, and add to them one fourth as much boiling water as berries; let them stand for twenty-four hours, stirring frequently. Strain, add a cup of sugar to each quart of juice, boil slowly for fifteen minutes, and can.
FRUIT ICES.--Express the juice from a pint of stoned red cherries, add the juice of two lemons, one cup of sugar and a quart of cold water.
Stir well for five minutes, an freeze in an ice cream freezer. Equal parts currant and red raspberry juice may be used instead of cherry, if preferred.
DRYING FRUIT.
This method of preserving fruit, except in large establishments where it is dried by steam, is but little used, since canning is quicker and superior in every way. Success in drying fruits is dependent upon the quickness with which, they can be dried, without subjecting them to so violent a heat as to burn them or injure their flavor.
Pulpy fruits, such as berries, cherries, plums, etc., should be spread on some convenient flat surface without contact with each other, and dried in the sun under gla.s.s, or in a moderate oven. They should be turned daily. They will dry more quickly if first scalded in a hot oven.
Cherries should be first stoned and cooked until well heated through and tender, then spread on plates, and the juice (boiled down to a syrup) poured over them. When dried, they will be moist. Pack in jars. Large fruit, such as apples, pears, and peaches, should be pared, divided, and the seeds or stones removed. If one has but a small quant.i.ty, the best plan is to dry by mean of artificial heat; setting it first in a hot oven until heated through, which process starts the juice and forms a film or crust over the cut surfaces, thus holding the remaining: quant.i.ty of juice inside until it becomes absorbed in the tissues. The drying process may be finished in a warming oven or some place about the range where the fruit will get only moderate heat. If a larger quant.i.ty of fruit is to be dried, after being heated in the oven, it may be placed in the hot sun out of doors, under fine wire screens, to keep off the flies; or may be suspended for the ceiling in some way, or placed upon a frame made to stand directly over the stove. As the drying proceeds, the fruit should be turned occasionally, and when dry enough, it should be thoroughly heated before it is packed away, to prevent it from getting wormy.
NUTS.
The nuts, or sh.e.l.l fruits, as they are sometimes termed, form a cla.s.s of food differing greatly from the succulent fruits. They are more properly seeds, containing, in general, no starch, but are rich in fat and nitrogenous elements in the form of vegetable alb.u.men and casein. In composition, the nuts rank high in nutritive value, but owing to the oily matter which they contain, are difficult of digestion, unless reduced to a very minutely divided state before or during mastication.
The fat of nuts is similar in character to cream, and needs to be reduced to the consistency of cream to be easily digested. Those nuts, such as almonds, filberts, and pecans, which do not contain an excess of fat, are the most wholesome. Nuts should be eaten, in moderation, at the regular mealtime, and not partaken of as a tidbit between meals. It is likewise well to eat them in connection with some hard food, to insure their thorough mastication. Almonds and cream crisps thus used make a pleasing combination.
Most of the edible nuts have long been known and used as food. The _Almond_ was highly esteemed by the ancient nations of the East, its native habitat, and is frequently referred to in sacred history. It is grown extensively in the warm, temperate regions of the Old World. There are two varieties, known as the bitter and the sweet almond. The kernel of the almond yields a fixed oil; that produced from the bitter almond is much esteemed for flavoring purposes, but it is by no means a safe article to use, at it possesses marked poisonous qualities. Fresh, sweet almonds are a nutritive, and, when properly eaten, wholesome food. The outer brown skin of the kernel is somewhat bitter, rough, and irritating to the stomach but it can be easily removed by blanching.