Pumpkin and Squash require five minutes blanching; one and one-half hours sterilizing.
Tomatoes require two minutes blanching; twenty-two minutes sterilizing.
Tomatoes and Corn require separate blanching, time given above, then ninety minutes sterilizing together. The acid of the tomatoes aids in preserving the corn.
Corn and Beans (Succotash) require ten minutes blanching, ninety minutes sterilizing.
*VEGETABLES PRESERVED IN BRINE*
EARLY FALL VEGETABLES
Take new firkins or large stone jars, and scald them well with boiling water before using. Vegetables that are boiled before pickling in a bra.s.s kettle always keep their fresh, green color. In salt pickling cover your jars or kegs with a clean, white cloth, then a cover made of wood and last a heavy stone to weigh it down. The cloth must be removed every other day, washed and put back. In doing this, take hold of the cloth at each corner, so that none of the slimy substance can get into your pickle, and wash the top and sides of the jar also.
MOCK OLIVES
Take plums when just beginning to ripen, but still green. Make a brine out of sea salt or rock salt strong enough to hold up an egg. Pour the brine over the fruit, hot, cover and let stand twenty-four hours. Pour off and make a new brine, heat, add the fruit, heat one minute and seal in the hot brine.
STRING BEANS (RAW)
String the beans very carefully, and cut into fine short lengths; then sprinkle salt over and through them, mixing thoroughly, say to twenty-five pounds of beans, two pounds of salt. Let them remain in the salt overnight. Then pack the shredded beans as tightly as possible into jars or kegs, without any of their juice. In two weeks look them over, remove the cloth and wash it, etc., as already described. When cooking the beans, take out as many as may be required for a meal and soak them in cold water overnight. In the morning set on to boil in cold water.
Boil for one hour. Pour off the water they were boiled in, add fresh water, and prepare as you would fresh beans.
BOILED BEANS
Select small, young string beans, string them carefully and boil in salt water, in a bra.s.s kettle, until tender, and throw them on a large, clean board to drip. Next morning press them into a jar, with alternate layers of salt and beans, and proceed as with string beans.
CORN
Boil the corn, cut it off the cobs, and pack in jars in alternate layers of salt and corn. Use plenty of salt in packing. When you wish to cook it soak in water overnight. Pack the corn in this way: First a layer of salt, half an inch deep; then about two inches of corn; then salt again, and so on. The top layer must be salt. Spread two inches of melted b.u.t.ter over the top layer and bind with strong perforated paper (perforate the paper with a pin). Keep in a cool cellar.
*PICKLES AND RELISHES*
Use none but the best vinegar, and whole spices for pickling. If you boil vinegar with pickles in bell metal do not let them stand in it one moment after taken from the fire, and be sure that your kettle is well scoured before using. Keep pickles in gla.s.s, stoneware, or wooden pails.
Allow a cup of sugar to every gallon of vinegar; this will not sweeten the pickles, but helps to preserve them and mellows the sharpness of the vinegar. Always have your pickles well covered with vinegar or brine.
MOTHER"S DILL PICKLES
Examine the cuc.u.mbers carefully, discard all that are soft at the ends, and allow them to lay in water overnight. In the morning drain, and dry them with a clean towel. Then put them in a wooden pail or jar, along with the dill, putting first a layer of dill at the bottom then a layer of cuc.u.mbers, a few whole peppers, then a layer of dill again, and so on until all are used, and last lay a clean, white cloth on top, then a plate and a stone to give it weight, so that the pickles will be kept under the brine. To a peck of cuc.u.mbers use about a cup of salt.
Dissolve the salt in enough cold water to cover them. You may add one or two tablespoons of vinegar to the brine. If the cuc.u.mbers are small, and if they are kept in a warm place, they will be ready for the table in five or six days. If salt pickles have turned out to be too salty, just pour off the old brine and wash the pickles and then examine them closely, and if they are spoiled throw them away. Lay those that are sound in a clean jar and pour over them a weak solution of salt water, into which put a dash of vinegar. Always examine the pickles weekly.
Take off the cloth, wash it, and remove all the sc.u.m that adheres to the pail, and lay a clean cloth over the pickles again. Do not use more than a cup of salt in the new brine, which must be thoroughly dissolved. You will find among Salads a nice recipe wherein salt pickles are used. (See "Polish Salad," or "Salad Piquant.") It is a good way to make use of pickles in winter that have become too salty for ordinary use.
DILL PICKLES FOR WINTER USE
Take two or three dozen medium-sized cuc.u.mbers and lay them in salt water overnight. Wipe each one dry, discarding all that are soft and lay them in a wooden vessel (which is better than a stone one) along with grape leaves and green grapes, if you can get them, whole peppers, or one or two green peppers, a few bay leaves, a few pieces of whole ginger, a few cloves and a stick of horseradish sliced upon top of all.
Use plenty of dill between each layer. Boil enough water to cover the pickles. Use about one pound of salt to six quarts of water, and one cup of vinegar. If you wish to keep them all winter, have your barrel closed by a cooper.
GREEN DILL TOMATOES
Select small firm green tomatoes, follow recipe for Dill Pickles, using the green tomatoes in place of the pickles.
SMALL DILL PICKLES
Select pickles of from two to three inches in length and scrub well with a small brush. Pack in layers in Mason jars, a layer of pickles, a layer of dill and a few mustard seeds, placing a bay leaf and a piece of alum the size of a pea on the top of each jar.
Let one cup of vinegar, two cups of water and one tablespoon of salt come to a boil. Pour boiling hot over the pickles and seal.
TEUFELSGURKEN (HOT PICKLES)
Pare large, green cuc.u.mbers, cut each one lengthwise, take out the seeds with a silver spoon and then cut each piece again so as to have four pieces out of one cuc.u.mber. When all are pared salt well and let them remain in the salt for twenty-four hours or more; then dry each piece, put in layers in a stone jar with whole white and black peppercorns, small pickling onions, which have been previously pared and salted overnight, pieces of horseradish, a few bay leaves, a little fennel, caraway seeds, a few cloves of garlic (use this sparingly) and also some Spanish pepper (use very little of the latter). Have a layer of the spices at the bottom of the jar. A handful of mustard seed put on the top layer will be an improvement. Boil enough pickling vinegar to cover well. Add a cup of sugar to a gallon of vinegar, boil and pour over hot.
Boil again in three days and pour over the pickles after it gets cold, and in two days pour off the vinegar and boil again and pour over the pickles hot. Boil three times altogether.
MUSTARD PICKLES
Choose small cuc.u.mbers or gherkins for this purpose. Reject all that are specked or misshapen. Wash them thoroughly; drain off all the water, and allow them to lay in a tub overnight, thickly salted. In the morning; wipe the pickles carefully. Lay them in a stone jar or a wooden bucket, in this way: Put in a layer of pickles. Cut up a few green or red peppers; put a few pieces in each layer, also a few cloves (remove the soft heads) and a tablespoon of mustard seed, and one bay leaf, no more.
Then proceed in this way until the pickles are used. Then take half a pound of the very best ground mustard, tie it in a cloth loosely (use double cheese-cloth for the purpose), and lay this mustard-bag on top of the pickles. Boil enough white wine vinegar in a bell metal kettle to just cover them; add a cup of sugar for every gallon of vinegar, this does not sweeten them, but tends to preserve them and cut the sharpness of the vinegar. If the vinegar is very strong, add a cup of water to it while boiling; it should not "draw" the mouth, but be rather mild. See that the pickles are well covered with the vinegar, and pour the vinegar hot over the pickles and mustard. If the vinegar does not completely cover the pickles, boil more and add. Lay a plate on top of all to keep the pickles under the vinegar, and when cold tie up. Look them over in a few weeks, if you find any soft ones among them, boil the vinegar over again, and pour it over them hot.
SALT PICKLES
(For immediate use.) Take nice, large cuc.u.mbers, wash and wipe them; lay them in a jar or wooden pail, sprinkle coa.r.s.e salt over each layer, and add dill, whole peppers and grape leaves, if you have them, also a very few bay leaves. Cover with water up to the brim and lay a piece of rye bread in the jar; it will help to quicken the process of souring. Cover with a plate and put a clean, heavy stone on top of the plate, in order to keep them well covered with the brine. Set them in a warm place, say back of the kitchen stove, for the first three days. They will be ready to use in a week.
SALZGURKEN
Take half-grown cuc.u.mbers; lay them in water overnight, then wipe each one dry and reject all that are soft at the ends. Lay a layer of cuc.u.mbers in a new barrel or wine keg (a small vinegar barrel is best), then a layer of the following spices: Fennel, dill, bay leaves, a few whole peppers; then cover with grape and cherry leaves, and begin again with a layer of cuc.u.mbers and fill in alternate layers until all are used. Then boil enough salt and water to just cover them, test the strength of the water by laying an egg in it, if it rises the water has enough salt in it, if not, add more salt. Pour this over the cuc.u.mbers when cold. Get a cooper to tighten up the barrel, and roll it in the sun and allow it to stay there for two weeks, turning over the barrel once each day.
DELICIOUS MUSTARD PICKLES (SENFGURKEN)
Take about two dozen large, yellow pickles, pare them with a silver knife (to prevent them from turning dark), and cut lengthwise. Now take a silver spoon and remove all the seeds and soft inner pulp. Cut into strips about as long as your finger; sprinkle salt over them, and so on, until they are all cut up, then put in a wooden pail or large china bowl overnight. At the same time take about two quarts of small pickling onions, scald them with boiling water, remove the skins, also with a silver knife, and salt the same as you did the pickles. In the morning take a clean dish towel and dry each piece and lay them in a stone jar in the following manner: First a layer of pickles then a layer of onions, and then some horseradish, sliced, between the layers; a few whole peppers, a very few bay leaves, and sprinkle mustard seed, allspice and whole cloves between each layer. Remove the soft little heads of the cloves to prevent the pickles from turning dark; cover all with the best white wine vinegar; put a double cheese-cloth filled with mustard seed on top. In two weeks pour off the vinegar carefully and boil, and let it get perfectly cold before pouring over the pickles again. You may pack them in small gla.s.s jars if you prefer.