SCALDING FRUIT. The best way of scalding any kind of fruit, is to do it in a stone jar on a hot iron hearth; or by putting the vessel into a saucepan of water, called a water-bath. Vinegar also is best boiled in the same manner.
SCALDING PUDDING. From a pint of new milk take out enough to mix three large spoonfuls of flour into a smooth batter. Set the remainder of the milk on the fire, and when it is scalding hot, pour in the batter, and keep it on the fire till it thickens. Stir it all the time to prevent its burning, but do not let it boil. When of a proper thickness, pour it into a basin, and let it stand to cool. Then put in, six eggs, a little sugar, and some nutmeg. Boil it an hour in a basin well b.u.t.tered.
SCALLOPED OYSTERS. Having opened the oysters, and washed them from the grit, put them into scallop sh.e.l.ls or saucers, and bake them before the fire in a Dutch oven. Add to them some crumbs of bread, pepper, salt, nutmeg, and a bit of b.u.t.ter, before they are set to the fire.--Another way. To fill four scallop sh.e.l.ls, have a pint and a half of oysters, put them on the fire, in their own liquor, with a blade of mace, a little salt, and some whole pepper; (put a salamander in the fire to be red hot,) grate some crumbs of bread sufficient for your sh.e.l.ls; b.u.t.ter the inside of the sh.e.l.ls very well, and strew bread crumbs thereon; take your oysters off the fire, pour them into a pan, take off the beards, and fill the sh.e.l.ls; grate a little nutmeg into every sh.e.l.l, put a spoonful or two of the liquor upon the oysters, and fill up the sh.e.l.ls quite full with bread crumbs; set them before the fire, and baste them with b.u.t.ter all over the bread, then set them upon a gridiron over a clear fire, for about half an hour; hold your salamander over them, till they are of a fine brown, then send them to table for a side-dish. In the same manner do shrimps, muscles, or c.o.c.kles.
SCALLOPED POTATOES. When boiled, mash them with milk, pepper, salt, and b.u.t.ter. Fill some scallop sh.e.l.ls, smooth the tops, set them in a Dutch oven to brown before the fire; or add the yolk of an egg, and mash them with cream, b.u.t.ter, salt, and pepper. Score the top with a knife, and put thin slices over, before they are put into the oven.
SCALLOPED VEAL. Mince it fine, set it over the fire a few minutes, with pepper and salt, a little nutmeg and cream. Put it into scallop sh.e.l.ls, and fill them up with grated bread; over which put a little b.u.t.ter, and brown them before the fire.
SCARLET DYE. Wool may be dyed scarlet, the most splendid of all colours, by first boiling it in a solution of muris-sulphate of tin; then dying it a pale yellow with quercitron bark, and afterwards crimson with cochineal.
SCORCHED LINEN. Boil to a good consistency, in half a pint of vinegar, two ounces of fuller"s earth, an ounce of hen"s dung, half an ounce of cake soap, and the juice of two onions. Spread this composition over the whole of the damaged part; and, if the scorching were not quite through, and the threads actually consumed, after suffering it to dry on, and letting it receive a subsequent good washing or two, the place will appear full as white and perfect as any other part of the linen.
SCOTCH BARLEY BROTH. Cut a leg of beef into pieces, and boil it in three gallons of water, with a sliced carrot and crust of bread, till reduced to half the quant.i.ty. Strain it off, and put it again into the pot. Boil it an hour, with half a pound of Scotch barley, a few heads of celery cut small, a sprig of sweet herbs, an onion, a little minced parsley, and a few marigolds. Put in a large fowl, and boil it till the broth is good. Season it with salt, take out the onion and herbs, and serve it up with the fowl in the middle. Broth may be made with a sheep"s head chopped in pieces, or six pounds of thick flank of beef, boiled in six quarts of water. Put the barley in with the meat, and boil it gently for an hour, keeping it clear from sc.u.m. The articles before-mentioned may then be added, with sliced turnips and carrots, and boiled together till the broth is good. Season it, take it up, pour the broth into a tureen, with the meat in the middle, and carrots and turnips round the dish.
SCOTCH BURGOO. This is a sort of oatmeal hasty pudding without milk, much used by the Scotch peasantry; and as an example of economy, is worthy of being occasionally adopted by all who have large families and small incomes. It is made in the following easy and expeditious manner.
To a quart of oatmeal, add gradually two quarts of water, so that the whole may mix smoothly. Stir it continually over the fire, and boil it for a quarter of an hour. Take it up, and stir in a little salt and b.u.t.ter, with or without pepper. This quant.i.ty will provide five or six persons with a tolerable meal.
SCOTCH COLLOPS. Cut veal into thin round slices, about three inches over, and beat them with a rolling-pin. Grate a little nutmeg over, dip them into the yolk of an egg, and fry them in a little b.u.t.ter of a fine brown. Pour off the b.u.t.ter, and have ready warmed half a pint of gravy, with a little b.u.t.ter and flour in it, the yolk of an egg, two large spoonfuls of cream, and a dust of salt. Do not boil the sauce, but stir it till it comes to a fine thickness, and pour it over the collops.--Another way. Take what quant.i.ty of veal you want, cut into collops, and beat it with the back of a knife; season as above, and fry them in b.u.t.ter of a fine brown; pour off the b.u.t.ter, and put in half a pint of good gravy, and a small gla.s.s of white wine: you may add what other ingredients you please. Roll a piece of b.u.t.ter as big as a walnut in flour, toss it up, and when it boils, take off the sc.u.m very clean: let your sauce be thick enough to hang; dish it up, and garnish to your fancy.--Another way: dressed white. Take three or four pounds of a fillet of veal, cut in small thin slices; then take a clean stewpan, b.u.t.ter it on the inside; season your collops with beaten mace, nutmeg, and salt; dust them over with flour, and lay them into your stewpan, piece by piece, till all your meat is in: set it over the stove, and toss it up together, till all your meat be white. Put in half a pint of strong veal broth; let them boil, and take off all the sc.u.m clean; beat up the yolks of two eggs in a gill of cream, and put it to your collops, and keep it tossing all the while, till it just boils up; then squeeze in a little lemon, toss it round, and dish it up. Garnish your dish with sliced lemon. If you would make a fine dish of it, when you put in your veal broth, you must add morels, truffles, mushrooms, artichoke bottoms cut in small dice, force-meat b.a.l.l.s boiled, not fried, and a few c.o.c.k"s combs; then garnish your dish with fried oysters, pet.i.t-pasties, lemon, and barberries. Remember when you make a made dish, and are obliged to use cream, that it should be the last thing; for it is apt to curdle if it boils at any time.
SCOTCH EGGS. Boil five pullet"s eggs, quite hard; and without removing the white, cover them completely with a fine relishing forcemeat, in which, let sc.r.a.ped ham, or chopped anchovy, bear a due proportion. Fry of a beautiful yellow brown, and serve with good gravy in the dish.
SCOTCH LEEK SOUP. Prepare a sheep"s head, either by cleaning the skin very nicely, or taking it off, as preferred. Split the head in two, take out the brains, and put it into a kettle with plenty of water. Add a large quant.i.ty of leeks cut small, with pepper and salt. Stew these very slowly for three hours. Mix as much oatmeal as will make the soup pretty thick, and make it very smooth with cold water. Pour it into the soup, continue stirring it till the whole is smooth and well done, and then serve it up.
SCOTCH PANCAKES. To a pint of cream beat up eight eggs, leaving out two whites, a quarter of a pound of b.u.t.ter melted, one spoon-full of flour, a nutmeg grated, three spoonfuls of sack, and a little sugar. When the b.u.t.ter is cool, mix all together into a batter; have ready a stove with charcoal, and a small fryingpan no bigger than a plate, tie a piece of b.u.t.ter in a clean cloth; when the pan is hot rub this round it, and put in the batter with a spoon, run it round the pan very thin and fry them only on one side; put a saucer into the middle of the dish, and lay pancakes over it, till it is like a little pyramid; strew pounded sugar between every pancake, and garnish the dish with Seville oranges cut in small quarters.
SCOURING b.a.l.l.s. Portable b.a.l.l.s for removing spots from clothes, may be thus prepared. Dry some fuller"s-earth, so that it crumbles into a powder; then moisten it with the clear juice of lemons, and add a small quant.i.ty of pure pearl-ash. Knead the whole carefully together, till it acquires the consistence of a thick elastic paste: form it into convenient small b.a.l.l.s, and dry them in the sun. To be used, first moisten the spot on the clothes with water, then rub it with the ball, and let the spot dry in the sun. After having washed it with pure water, the spot will entirely disappear.
SCROPHULA. The princ.i.p.al difficulty in curing the scrophula, or king"s evil, arises from the circ.u.mstance, that it may remain concealed for a long time, and thus become deeply rooted in the const.i.tution before its effects are evident. The system requires to be strengthened by the free use of Peruvian bark, sea water and sea bathing, and moderate exercise in the open air. Hemlock plasters applied to the swellings, and drinking of milk whey, have also been found useful. But in the progress of the disorder, medical advice will be necessary.
SCURVY. When the scurvy proceeds chiefly from the long-continued use of salt provisions, it will be necessary to take large portions of the juice of lemons, oranges, or tamarinds; to eat water cresses, scurvy gra.s.s, and fresh vegetables of every description. But where these cannot be procured, pickled cabbage, cuc.u.mber, onions, and other fruits, as well as horseradish and mustard, may be taken with considerable advantage. Take also a pound of water-dock roots, and boil them in six pints of water, adding an ounce or two of chrystals of tartar, till one third part of the liquor be evaporated; and drink half a pint or more of it every day. Raw carrots eaten are also very good for the scurvy; and during a voyage, they should be packed up in casks of sand and kept for use. If the limbs be swelled, or joints stiff, it will be proper to foment them with warm vinegar, or bathe them in lukewarm water. A valuable ointment may be made of a pound of fresh lard, and as much cliver or goose-gra.s.s as the lard will moisten. Boil them together over a slow fire, stir the mixture till it turns brown, and strain it through a cloth. Take the ointment from the water, and rub it on the parts affected.
SCURVY GRa.s.s ALE. Brew it as for other ale, omitting the hops; and when the liquor boils, put in half a bushel of fine wormwood, a bushel of scurvy gra.s.s, and twelve pounds of sugar. This quant.i.ty of ingredients is sufficient for a hogshead.
SEA-KALE is a highly nutritious and palatable culinary vegetable. It is an early esculent plant, the young shoots of which are used somewhat in the manner of asparagus, and may, it is said, be grown by the method of cultivation which is given hereafter, to a size and of a delicacy of flavour greatly superior to that which is commonly brought to the table.
In the cultivation of it in the garden, the improved method which has lately been advised, is that of preparing the ground for it by trenching it two feet and a half deep, about the close of the year or in the beginning of it: when not that depth naturally, and of a light quality, it is to be made so by artificial means, such as the applying of a suitable proportion of fine white sand, and very rotten vegetable mould: if the ground be wet in the winter season, it should be completely drained, that no water may stagnate in it near the bottom of the cultivated mould, as the strength of the plants depends upon the dryness and richness of the bottom soil. After which the ground is to be divided into beds, four feet in width, with alleys of eighteen inches between them; then, at the distance of every two feet each way, five or six seeds are to be sown, in a circle of about four inches diameter, to the depth of two inches. This business should be performed in a strictly regular and exact manner, as the plants are afterwards to be covered by means of pots for blanching them, and the health and beauty of the crops equally depend upon their standing at regular distances. If the seeds which were sown were sound and perfect, they will come up and shew themselves in the last spring or beginning summer months; which as soon as they have made three or four leaves, all but three of the strongest and best plants should be taken away from each circle; planting out those which are pulled up, which, when done by a careful hand, may be performed so as for them to have the whole of their tap-root in a spare bed for extra forcing, or the repairs of accidents. The turnip fly and wire worm are to be carefully guarded against, the latter by picking them by the hand from out of the ground, and the former by the use of lime laid round the young plants in a circle. When the summer months prove dry, the beds should be plentifully watered. As soon as the leaves decay in the autumn they should be cleared away, and the beds be covered with light fresh earth and sand to the thickness of an inch; the compost thus used having laid some time in a heap, and been turned several times, so as to be free from weeds, and the ova of insects as well as grubs. Upon the sandy loam dressing, about six inches in depth of light stable litter is to be applied, which completes the work of the first year. In the spring of the second, when the plants are beginning to push, the stable litter is to be raked off, a little of the most rotten being dug into the alleys, and another inch depth of loam and sand applied. Cutting this year is to be refrained from, notwithstanding some of the plants may rise strong, and the beds managed exactly as before during this winter season. In the third season, a little before the plants begin to stir, the covering laid on for the winter is to be raked off, and an inch in depth of pure dry sand or fine gravel now laid on.
Then each circle of plants is to be covered with one of the blanching-pots already alluded to, pressing it firmly into the ground, so as to exclude all light and air, as the colour and flavour of the shoots are greatly injured by exposure to either of them. When the beds are twenty-six feet long, and four wide, they will hold twenty-four blanching-pots, with three plants under each, making seventy-two plants in a bed. They are to be examined from time to time, the young stems being cut, when about three inches above the ground, care being taken not to injure any of the remaining buds below, some of which will immediately begin to swell. In this way a succession of gatherings may be continued for the s.p.a.ce of six weeks, after which period the plants are to be uncovered, and their leaves suffered to grow, that they may acquire and return nutriment to the root for the next year"s buds. When seeds are not wanted, the flowers should be pinched off by the finger and thumb, as long as they appear. Where the expence of blanching-pots is objected to, the beds must be covered with a large portion of loose gravel and mats; but the saving is trifling, when the time and trouble of removing and replacing the gravel, for the cutting of the crop and securing the plant, are considered. By this mode of management, sea-kale is said to have been cut which measured ten, eleven, and even twelve inches in circ.u.mference, and that each blanching-pot on the average afforded a dish of it twice in the season. The blanching-pots for this use are somewhat of the same shape and size as the large bell-gla.s.ses commonly employed in market gardens for raising tender vegetable crops, but made of the same materials as the common earthenware, having a handle at the top. They may be about a foot and a half in diameter at the rim where they apply to the ground. _Forcing sea-kale._--It is supposed that no vegetable can be so easily and cheaply forced as this, or require so little trouble; as the dung is in the finest state possible for spring hot-beds, after the common crop has been cut and gathered. The princ.i.p.al circ.u.mstance necessary in this business, is that of being very attentive and particular in guarding against too great a heat. The temperature under the blanching-pots should constantly be kept as near fifty-five degrees of Fahrenheit"s scale as possible, and on no account higher than sixty at any time. In this intention, in either of the two concluding months of the year, as the sea-kale may be wanted more early or late, a suitable quant.i.ty of fresh stable dung should be collected and prepared, to cover both the beds and the alleys from two to three feet in height; as in the quant.i.ty to be laid on, a great deal must always be left to the judgment of the gardener, as well as to the state of the season as to mildness or severity. It should invariably be well pressed down between the blanching-pots, heat-sticks being placed at proper intervals, by the occasional examination of which the heat below will be readily shewn. When the dung has remained in this situation four or five days, the pots should be examined to see the state of the shoots It not unfrequently happens that worms spring above the surface, and spoil the delicacy of flavour in the young shoots. In order to prevent this, it is best to cover it with dry sea-coal ashes, which have been sifted neither very small nor very large. Salt has also the power of destroying them in an effectual manner, without injuring the sea-kale. The crop, it is said, will be ready to cut and gather in three weeks or a month from the first application of the heat; but as much danger and mischief are the consequence when this is violent, it is advised to begin soon enough, and to force slowly, rather than in too quick a manner. It is likewise necessary to cut the leaves off a fortnight or three weeks before they decay, in those plants which are intended to be forced at a very early period. It is also suggested that the blanching-pots used in forcing should be made in two pieces, the uppermost of which should fit like a cap upon the lower; as the crop might then be examined at all times without disturbing the hot dung.
Sea-kale is cooked, and sent to the table in the same manner as asparagus.
SEA SICKNESS. This disorder may in a great measure be prevented, by taking a few drops of vitriolic aether on a bit of sugar dissolved in the mouth, or drinking a few drops of aether in water, with a little sugar.
SEA WATER. To render salt water fit for washing linen at sea, a quant.i.ty of soda should be kept at hand, and used for that purpose, as often as occasion requires. As much soda should be put into sea water as will render it turbid, and completely precipitate the lime and magnesia which it contains. The water will then become sufficiently alkaline for the purpose of washing.
SHAVING SOAP. Cut half a pound of fine white soap in thin slices, add half an ounce of salt of tartar, and mix them with full half a pint of spirits of wine. Put the ingredients into a quart bottle, tie it down with a bladder, digest it in a gentle heat till the soap is dissolved, and let the air escape through a pinhole in the bladder. Filter the mixture through paper, and scent it with a little bergamot, or essence of lemon. It will have the appearance of fine oil. A small quant.i.ty mixed with water will produce an excellent lather, and is much superior to any other composition in washing or shaving.
SEALING OF LETTERS. To secure letters from being opened, beat up some fine bean flour with the white of an egg, and make it into a paste. Use a little of it in the form of a wafer, close the letters with it, and hold the sealed part to the spout of a tea-pot of boiling water. The steam will harden the cement so that the letter cannot be opened without tearing, and will render it more secure than either wax or wafer.
SEASONING. Though general rules may be given for stuffings and seasoning, yet much must be left to common discretion. The different tastes of people require more or less of the flavour of spices, salt, garlic, b.u.t.ter, and other ingredients; and the proportions must of course be regulated accordingly, taking care that a variety of flavour be given to the different dishes served at the same time. The proper articles should be kept ready for use; but if suet or bacon be not at hand, b.u.t.ter must be used instead, and fish gravy instead of stock or meat gravy. More depends on judgment and care than on the ingredients merely, of which the dish is composed.
SEASONING MAHOGANY. Having provided a steam-tight wooden box, capable of holding such pieces of mahogany as are wanted for chairs or other purposes, a pipe from a boiler must be adapted to it, by means of which the box is to be filled with steam, to a temperature about equal to that of boiling water. The time required for wood an inch and a half thick, is about two hours; and pieces of this thickness become sufficiently dry to work, after being placed in a warm room for twenty-four hours. By this treatment the wood is something improved in colour, and the blemishes of green veins are entirely removed. The eggs also of any insect contained in the wood, will be destroyed by the heat of the steam. By this process, two important advantages are gained. There is a saving of capital, vested in wood lying to season during several months; and the warping of small pieces of wood is entirely prevented.
SEED CAKE. Mix a quarter of a peck of flour with half a pound of sugar, a quarter of an ounce of allspice, and a little ginger. Melt three quarters of a pound of b.u.t.ter, with half a pint of milk; when just warm, put to it a quarter of a pint of yeast, and work it up to a good dough.
Add seeds or currants, let it stand before the fire a few minutes before it goes to the oven, and bake it an hour and a half.--Another way is to mix a pound and a half of flour, a pound of lump sugar, eight eggs beaten separately, an ounce of seeds, two spoonfuls of yeast, and the same of milk and water. Milk alone soon causes cake and bread to get dry.--Another. Break eighteen eggs into a large pan, and leave out eight of the whites; add to them two pounds of fresh b.u.t.ter, and with your hand work the b.u.t.ter and eggs till they are well mixed, and like thick barme; put in two or three spoonfuls of sack, two pounds of lump sugar sifted, two pounds of fine flour, and two ounces of carraway seeds, mix the sugar, flour, and seeds, well together, and set it before the fire for half an hour, covering it with a cloth, and remember to put the flour, &c. in by degrees. Tin pudding pans are the best things to bake it in, and take care it be not over-done; they will rise very high in the oven, and when they begin to sink again, they are baked enough.--A cheap seed cake. Take half a peck of flour, set a pint of milk on the fire, and break in a pound and a half of b.u.t.ter; when all the b.u.t.ter is melted, stir in half a pint of ale yeast that is not bitter. Take half an ounce of allspice beat fine, and a pound of sugar sifted; mix these with the flour first, then make a hole in the middle of the flour, and pour in the b.u.t.ter, milk, and yeast. While you are working it, strew in some carraway seeds, and set it before the fire to rise; bake it an hour and a half in a quick oven. It is best baked in two cakes; if you make it in two, put currants in one, and carraway seeds in the other.--Seed cake the nun"s way. To four pounds of the finest flour, add three pounds of double-refined sugar beat and sifted; mix this with the flour, and set it before the fire to dry; beat up four pounds of nice fresh b.u.t.ter to a cream, break three dozen of eggs (leaving out sixteen whites) and beat them up very well, with a tea-cupful of orange-flower water, strain them into the b.u.t.ter, and beat them well therewith; take the flour and sugar, and mix in six ounces of carraway seeds; put these ingredients to the b.u.t.ter and eggs by degrees, and beating all continually for two hours: b.u.t.ter a hoop, and bake it three hours in a moderate oven. If you please, you may add two or three grains of ambergris.
SEED WATER. Bruise a spoonful of coriander seeds, and half a spoonful of carraway. Boil them in a pint of water, strain them, beat up the yolk of an egg and mix with the water, add a little sweet wine and lump sugar.
SEEDS. To discover when seeds of any kind are fully ripe and good, throw them into a basin of water. If not sufficiently ripe, they will swim on the surface; but when arrived at full maturity, they will be found uniformly to sink to the bottom; a fact that is said to hold equally true of all seeds, from the cocoa nut to the orchis.--Seeds of plants may be preserved, for many months at least, by causing them to be packed, either in husks, pods, &c. in absorbent paper, with raisins or brown moist sugar; or a good way, practised by gardeners, is to wrap the seed in brown paper or cartridge paper, pasted down, and then varnished over.--To preserve seeds, when sown, from vermin. Steep the grain or seed three or four hours, or a sufficient time for it to penetrate the skin, or husk, in a strong solution of liver of sulphur.
SHADS. They must be scaled very clean, then gut and wash them, dry them in a cloth, score them on the sides, rub them with b.u.t.ter, sprinkle salt over them, and broil them of a fine brown; boil sorrel, chervil, onion and parsley, chop it fine; melt a piece of b.u.t.ter in cream sufficient for your sauce, then put in your herbs, season it with salt, pepper, and a little nutmeg, toss it up together, and pour over your fish; or you may serve it with a ragout of mushrooms, or a brown sauce with capers, garnished with lemon.
SEVILLE ORANGE POSSET. Squeeze Seville orange or lemon juice into a gla.s.s dish, or mix them together if preferred, and sweeten it well with fine sugar. Then warm some cream over the fire, but do not let it boil.
Put it into a teapot and pour it into the juice, holding the teapot up very high, that it may froth and curdle the better. Instead of cream, milk thickened with one or two yolks of eggs may be used, if more convenient.
SHALOT. As the habits of growth in roots of this nature differ greatly in the different sorts, some requiring to be nearly or quite on the surface of the ground, while others stand in need of being a considerable depth below it, which has not been well attended to in the garden culture of such roots; it may be readily supposed that these have considerable influence and effect on the growth of such root crops. In consequence of finding that crops of this root generally became mouldy and perished, and that they were usually planted, from the directions of garden cultivators, at the depth of two or three inches from the surface; the injury, failure, and destruction of such crops, were naturally ascribed to this cause. A few bulbs or bunches of this root were consequently divided, as far as possible, into single buds or bulbs, and planted upon or rather above the surface of the ground, some very rich soil being placed underneath them, and the mould on each side raised to support them, until they became firmly rooted. This mould was then removed by means of a hoe, and the use of the watering-pot, and the bulbs of course left wholly out of the ground. The growth of the plants had now so near a resemblance to that of the common onion, as not readily to be distinguished from it, until their irregularity of form, the consequence of the numerous germs within each bulb, became evident.
The forms of the bulbs, however, continued constantly different from all those raised in the ordinary method, being much more broad, but of less length. The crop was a great deal better in quality, and at the same time much more abundant in quant.i.ty. It may consequently not be unworthy of the gardener"s attention.--Garlic, rocambole, and shalot are chiefly used in ragouts and sauces which require to be highly flavoured, unless a separate sauce is made of them only; and indeed, the mixing of animal juices in preparations of vegetables is by no means to be recommended, where the health is to be consulted. The subst.i.tution of b.u.t.ter and flour, yolks of eggs and cream, mushroom or walnut ketchup, is greatly to be preferred to rich gravies, in dressing of vegetables.
SHALOT SAUCE. Put a few chopped shalots into a little gravy boiled clear, and nearly half as much vinegar. Season with pepper and salt, and boil it half an hour.