VINTAGE RECIPES-PICKLES

Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard

or

Canadian Cook Book,1881

In order to have good pickles you must use good vinegar-pure cider or white wine vinegar is considered the best. Vinegar should not be boiled in metalic vessels, as the salts produced by such contact are poisonous. Stone-ware jars (not glazed) should be used to keep pickles in. In making a large quantity at a time it is best to seal up a part-in  such cases use green glass jars.

Wash them in clear water, lay them in a jar, and sprinkle them well with salt; as you lay in fresh cucumbers, add more salt. They will make their own brine.

One pail of soft water. One quart of salt, one tablespoon of saltpetre and two tablespoons of alum; pour over the pickles boiling hot; after a few days pour off the brine, scald and skim.

Soak the Cucumbers two days in a weak solution of salt and water, then cover them with boiling water and let it remain two days, then put them in jars with whole spices among them and cover with a new vinegar, boiling hot, and sweetened in the proportion of a teacup of sugar to a gallon of vinegar. The vinegar in which the pickles are kept one year will do for the first vinegar the next. Use for spices black pepper, allspice, cloves and cinnamon; but the pickles are good and will keep without spices. If the pickles are to be kept through the following summer, it is safer to seal them up.

Take one peck of green tomatoes sliced, and six large onions sliced; throw over them a teacup of salt and let them stand twenty-four hours; drain and boil in two quarts of water and one quart of vinegar twenty minutes, then drain again and take four quarts of vinegar, two pounds of brown sugar, a half pound of white mustard seed, two tablespoons of ground allspice, the same of cloves, cinnamon, ginger and mustard, and a half teaspoon of cayenne pepper; put all together with the tomatoes and onions and boil fifteen or twenty minutes, or until the tomato looks clear. Very fine.

Chop fine equal quantities of green tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and a few green peppers, and then pour the water off and pour on boiling vinegar, with mustard and spices.

Take small, smooth tomatoes, not very ripe, scald them until the skin will slip off easily, and sprinkle salt over them. After they have stood twenty-four hours, drain off the juice and pour on a boiling hot pickle composed of one pound of sugar, two teaspoons of cinnamon and two teaspoons of cloves to every quart of vinegar. Drain off the liquid, scald it and pour on them again, every other day for a week. They will require no further care. This is excellent.

Slice white and red cabbage very fine, put into a jar alternately, sprinkle salt on each layer; also whole black pepper, black mustard seed, and cinnamon broken fine; then cover with cold vinegar. It will be ready for use in twenty-four hours.

Take the whitest full-grown cauliflower, cut off the thick stock and split the flower into eight or ten pieces, spread them on a  large dish and sprinkle with salt; let them stand twenty-four hours, then wash off the salt; drain them, put them into a flat jar, scald with salt and water (allowing a quarter of a pound of salt to a quart of water), cover closely and let it stand until next day; afterwards drain them in a hair sieve and spread in a warm place to dry for a day and night. Then put them in a glass jar and pour over them a pickle that has been prepared as follows: Mix together three ounces of coriander seed, three ounces of tumeric, one ounce of mustard seed and one ounce of ginger. Pound the whole to a fine powder; put it into three quarts of cider vinegar, set it by the fire in a stone jar and let it infuse three days. These are the proportions but the quantity of pickle must depend on the quantity of cauliflower, which must be well covered by the liquid; pour it over the flower and secure the jar closely

Take small nutmeg or musk melons, peel them, cut out a slice and remove the pulp and seed; take three heads of cauliflower, one peck of small cucumbers, one quart of small onions, one quart of nasturtiums, one quart of small green tomatoes, one quart of green beans, one pint of radish pods, six or eight carrots cut in rings and a half pint of mustard seed; cut the cauliflower into bunches, leaving a small head on each; put the vegetables into a  large jar, pour over them a brine made of two gallons of boiling water, and a half pints of salt and a lump of alum the size of a walnut; leave them in the brine two or three days, then wash clear in water, drain, and fill each melon, adding a teaspoon of mustard seed; adjust the piece taken out and tie a cord around; place them in a jar, and if any of the ingredients remain fill the space with them. Take six quarts of good cider vinegar, three-fourths of a pound of mustard seed, two ounces of allspice, a half ounce of mace, two or three roots of ginger, two or three red peppers and one tablespoon of pulverized alum. Boil all together and pour while boiling hot over the pickles.

One cauliflower cut in small pieces, one dozen small white onions, two dozen small cucumbers, one quart of string beans, one ounce of black mustard seed, one ounce of white mustard seed, one teaspoon of cayenne pepper, a quarter of an ounce of tumeric, pieces of horse radish cut fine and a gallon of vinegar, or more. Scald the spices and vinegar together and pour over the vegetables boiling hot; after it is cold mix one pound of mustard in vinegar and add to the pickles.

Two heads of cauliflower, two dozen small cucumbers, a half peck of string beans, six roots of celery, six green peppers, one quart of small white onions and a fourth of a peck of small green tomatoes, cut into small pieces; sprinkle with salt and let them stand twenty-four hours, then drain. Take one gallon or more of vinegar, one fourth pound of mustard seed, two pots of french mustard, one ounce of allspice, one ounce of cloves, one ounce of ground pepper, two ounces of tumeric and two ounces of cinnamon; pour the vinegar and spices into a kettle and let them come to a boil, then add the vegetables, and let them scald till yellow and a little tender.

Eight pounds of ripe tomatoes, four pounds of sugar a half ounce of cloves, a half ounce of allspice and a half ounce of cinnamon, Peel the fruit and boil one and a half hours; when partly cold add a half pint of vinegar. Put away in jars.

Five pounds of sweet apples, two pounds of sugar, one quart of vinegar, three nutmegs, cloves, cinnamon and a little salt Boil the fruit in the syrup until soft.

One peck of sorted plums, one quart of good vinegar, six pounds of brown sugar, two ounces of cinnamon, a half ounce of cloves and a half ounce of mace. Boil the sugar with the vinegar and spices, then add the plums and boil until they begin to be soft.

Eight and a half pounds of peaches, three pounds of sugar, one pint of vinegar, cloves, cinnamon stick and ginger root. Tie the spices in a bag and boil in the vinegar and sugar, and pour over the fruit. Repeat this six successive mornings.

Three-fourths of a pound of sugar, one pound of fruit and vinegar sufficient to dissolve the sugar. Boil the vinegar and sugar together; skim it and put in the cloves, mace and cinnamon; scald the plums till tender, then take them out and boil down the syrup and pour it over the fruit.

Pare and halve the pears, put four pounds of sugar to one gallon of vinegar and boil with cloves and cassia buds, pounded and tied in a rag. Scald the pears a little, if hard, as pouring the vinegar on does not soften them

Cut bunches of not over ripe grapes and lay in a jar with grape leaves between layers. Pour over the whole a cold syrup made as follows; One quart of vinegar, four pounds of sugar and cloves, cinnamon and mace tied in a bag ad boiled in the vinegar.

Boil two pounds of raisins till tender in vinegar enough to cover them. Skim the raisins out and add to the vinegar one pound of sugar. Cloves and cinnamon to taste. Pour the syrup boiling hot over the raisins.

Cut the melon rind into strips or whatever shape desired; make a weak solution of alum and pour over; let stand twenty-four hours; then scald in clear water and drain. To seven pounds of rind, take one quart of good cider vinegar, four pounds off sugar and a half pint of ginger root; put in the rind and boil till it looks clear; then remove the fruit to a jar and boil the liquid until it is a rich syrup.