Simple Recipes

Fruit cake

admin — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 23:22:00 +0000

(Superior) Three pounds dry flour, one pound sweet butter, one pound sugar, three pounds stoned raisins, two pounds currants, three-quarters of a pound sweet almonds blanched, one pound citron, twelve eggs, one tablespoonful allspice, one teaspoonful cloves, two tablespoonfuls cinnamon, two nutmegs, one wine-glass of wine, one wine-glass of brandy, one coffeecupful molasses with the spices in it; steep this gently twenty or thirty minutes, not boiling hot; beat the eggs very lightly; put the fruit in last, stirring it gradually, also a teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a tablespoonful of water; the fruit should be well floured; if necessary add flour after the fruit is in; butter a sheet of paper and lay it in the pan. Lay in some slices of citron, then a layer of the mixture, then of citron again, etc, till the pan is nearly full. Bake three or four hours, according to the thickness of the loaves, in a tolerably hot oven, and with steady heat. Let it cool in the oven gradually. Ice when cold. It improves this cake very much to add three teaspoonfuls of baking powder to the flour. A fine wedding cake recipe.

To prepare tomatoes

admin — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 23:21:00 +0000

(Raw) Carefully remove the peelings. Only perfectly ripe tomatoes should ever be eaten raw and if ripe the skins easily peel off. Scalding injures the flavor. Slice them and sprinkle generously with salt, more sparingly with black pepper, and to a dish holding one quart, add a light tablespoonful of sugar to give a piquant zest to the whole. Lastly, add a gill of best cider vinegar; although, if you would have a dish yet better suited to please an epicurean palate, you may add a teaspoonful of made mustard and two tablespoonfuls of rich sweet cream.

Very strong table vinegar

admin — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 23:07:00 +0000

Take two gallons of good cider and thoroughly mix it with two pounds of new honey, pour into your cask or bottle and let it stand from four to six months, when you will have vinegar so strong that it cannot be used at table without diluting with water. It is the best ever procured for pickling purposes.

Vinegar biscuits

admin — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 23:06:00 +0000

Take two quarts of flour, one large tablespoonful of lard or butter, one tablespoonful and a half of vinegar and one teaspoonful of soda; put the soda in the vinegar and stir it well; stir in the flour; beat two eggs very light and add to it; make a dough with warm water stiff enough to roll out, and cut with a biscuit-cutter one inch thick and bake in a quick oven. [Illustration:]

Cold cream sauce

admin — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 23:00:00 +0000

Stir to a cream one cupful of sugar, half a cupful of butter, then add a cupful of sweet, thick cold cream, flavor to taste. Stir well and set it in a cool place.

Eggs on toast

admin — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 22:46:00 +0000

Various preparations of eggs can be served on toast, first dipping slices of well-toasted bread quickly in hot salted water, then turning over them scrambled, poached or creamed eggs, all found in the recipes among EGGS.

Corn meal griddle-cakes

admin — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 22:26:00 +0000

(With Yeast) Stir into one quart of boiling milk three cups of corn meal; after it cools add one cup of white flour, a teaspoonful of salt and three tablespoonfuls of home-made yeast. Mix this over night. In the morning add one tablespoonful of melted butter or lard, two beaten eggs and a teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a little water. This batter should stand a few minutes, after adding the butter and soda, that it should have time to rise a little; in the meantime the griddle could be heating. Take a small stick like a good-sized skewer, wind a bit of cloth around the end of it, fasten it by winding a piece of thread around that and tying it firm. Melt together a tablespoonful of butter and lard. Grease the griddle with this. Between each batch of cakes, wipe the griddle off with a clean paper or cloth and grease afresh. Put the cakes on by spoonfuls, or pour them carefully from a pitcher, trying to get them as near the same size as possible. As soon as they begin to bubble all over turn them, and cook on the other side till they stop puffing. The second lot always cooks better than the first, as the griddle becomes evenly heated.

Celery undressed

admin — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 21:53:00 +0000

Celery is sometimes sent to the table without dressing. Scrape the outside stalks, and cut off the green tops and the roots; lay it in cold water until near the time to serve, then change the water, in which let it stand three or four minutes; split the stalks in three, with a sharp knife, being careful not to break them, and serve in goblet-shaped salad glasses. To crisp celery, let it lie in ice-water two hours before serving; to fringe the stalks, stick several coarse needles into a cork, and draw the stalk half way from the top through the needles several times and lay in the refrigerator to curl and crisp.

Fricasseed oysters

admin — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 21:27:00 +0000

Take a slice of raw ham, which has been pickled, but not smoked, and soak in boiling water for half an hour; cut it in quite small pieces, and put in a saucepan with two-thirds of a pint of veal or chicken broth, well strained; the liquor from a quart of oysters, one small onion, minced fine, a little chopped parsley, sweet marjoram, and pepper; let them simmer for twenty minutes, and then boil rapidly for two or three minutes; skim well and add one scant tablespoon of cornstarch, mixed smoothly in one-third cup of milk; stir constantly, and when it boils add the oysters and one ounce of butter; after which, just let it come to a boil, and remove the oysters to a deep dish; beat one egg, and add to it gradually some of the hot broth, and, when cooked, stir it into the pan; season with salt, and pour the whole over the oysters. When placed upon the table, squeeze the juice of a lemon over it.

To can peas

admin — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 21:09:00 +0000

Fill the can full of peas, shake the can so they can be filled well. You cannot press the peas in the can as you did the corn, but by shaking the cans they may be filled quite full. Pour into the cans enough cold water to fill to overflowing, then screw the cover tight as you can with your thumb and first finger and proceed exactly as in canning corn. String beans are cut as for cooking and canned in the same manner. No seasoning of salt, pepper or sugar should be added.