Miss Parloa's New Cook Book Part 50

Cherries may be preserved either with or without stones. Many think the stones give a richer flavor. To each pound of cherries allow one third of a pound of sugar. Put the sugar in the kettle with half a pint of water to three pounds of sugar. Stir it until it is dissolved.

When boiling, add the cherries, and cook three minutes; then put in the jars.

Currants.

Currants should be prepared the same as raspberries.

Pineapple.

Pare the fruit, and be sure you take out all the eyes and discolored parts. Cut in slices, and cut the slices in small bits, taking out the core. Weigh the fruit, and put in a pan with half as many pounds of sugar as of fruit. Let it stand over night In the morning put it over the fire and let it boil rapidly for a minute only, as cooking long discolors it. Put it in the jars as directed.

Grated Pineapple.

Pare the fruit clean; then grate it on a coa.r.s.e grater, rejecting the cores. Weigh it, and put to each pound of fruit a pound of sugar. Let it stand over night. In the morning boil for a minute, and it is done.

Put it in jars as directed.

Blackberries.

Blackberries are prepared like strawberries. If they are quite ripe, not quite so much sugar is needed.

Whortleberries.

To each quart of berries allow one-third of a pound of sugar, and half a pint of water to three pounds of sugar. Put the water and sugar over the fire, and when boiling hot, add the berries. Cook three minutes.

Put in the jars as directed.

Crab-Apples.

To each pound of fruit allow half a pound of sugar, and a pint of water to three pounds of sugar. When the syrup is boiling hot, drop in the apples. They will cook very quickly. When done, fill a jar with the fruit, and fill it up with syrup.

Pears.

Pare the fruit and cut in halves. Throw into cold water, or they will be discolored. Use one pound of sugar for three of fruit, and one quart of water for three pounds of sugar. When the syrup is boiling, take the pears from the water, and drop into the syrup. Cook until they can be pierced easily with a silver fork. Fill the jars with fruit, and fill up to the brim with syrup, using a small strainer in the tunnel, that the syrup may look clear. Bartlett pears are delicious, as are, also, Seckel; but many other varieties are good.

Peaches.

Have ready a kettle of boiling water. Fill a wire basket with peaches and plunge them into the boiling water. In two minutes take them out, and the skins will come off easily. Drop the fruit into cold water, to keep the color. For three pounds of fruit use one pound of sugar, and one pint of water for three pounds of sugar. When the syrup is boiling hot, take the fruit from the water, and drop into it. Put but a few in at a time, as they cook very quickly. Take them from the syrup with a silver fork, fill the jar, and fill up with strained syrup. Peaches are much nicer preserved whole, as the stones give a rich flavor.

Brandied Peaches.

The Morris white peaches are the best. Take off the skins with boiling water. To each pound of fruit allow one pound of sugar, and half a pint of water to three pounds of sugar. When the syrup is boiling hot, put in the peaches, and as fast as they cook, take them out carefully and spread on platters. When cool, put them in jars, and fill up these with syrup, using one-half syrup and one-half pale brandy. First-proof alcohol, diluted with an equal quant.i.ty of water, can be used, instead of brandy, but it is not, of course, so nice.

Plums.

The large white plums must be skinned by using boiling water, as for peaches, and then throwing them into cold water. For one pound of fruit allow half a pound of sugar, and half a pint of water for three pounds of sugar. Cook but few at a time, and take them out carefully.

Fill up the jar with hot syrup.

Damsons.

Wash the fruit, and for one pound of it use half a pound of sugar, and half a pint of water for three pounds of sugar. When the syrup is boiling hot, put in the fruit, and cook three minutes. Dip the plums and syrup together into the jars.

Quinces.

Pare and quarter the fruit, and take out all the cores and the hard place around them. Boil the fruit in clear water until tender; then spread it on towels to dry. For one pound of fruit allow half a pound of sugar, and one pint of water for three pounds of sugar. When the syrup is boiling hot, put in the fruit, and let it cook very slowly; or, set it back on the stove so that it hardly cooks at all, and keep it on for an hour or more, if you can without its cooking to pieces-- as the longer it cooks, the brighter red color it will be. Put it in jars, and strain the syrup over it, as with other fruits.

Sour Oranges.

Grate off the rind, cut the orange into two parts, and remove the pulp. Weigh the peel, place it in a large stone pot, and cover with brine made of three gallons of water and a quart of salt. Let it stand twenty-four hours, and drain off the brine. Again cover the peel with brine made of the same quant.i.ty of water and half as much salt as was first used, and let it stand another day. Drain, cover with clear cold water, and let it stand a third day. Drain again, and put in a boiler and cover with fresh cold water. Let it come to a boil, and boil fifteen minutes; then take out and drain. Make a syrup of three quarts of sugar and one of water, for every six pounds of peel. When the syrup is clear, drop in the peel and boil until it is clear and tender--perhaps four hours of slow boiling. Great care must be taken that it is not scorched. It must be stirred every fifteen minutes. The sugar may be either white or brown. The orange used is not the common orange, but the wild, sour fruit, found in Florida. The pulp may be used for marmalade.

Grapes.

Squeeze the pulp of the grapes out of the skins. Cook fee pulp (a few minutes) until you can press it all through a sieve. Reject the seeds.

Add a little water to the skins, and cook until they are quite tender.

Then put the skins and pulp together. Measure; and to each pint add a pound of sugar, and boil fifteen minutes.

Apple Ginger.

Four pounds each of apple and sugar. Make a syrup of the sugar, adding a pint of water. Chop the apple very fine--with one ounce of green ginger; or, if you cannot get the green ginger, use white ginger root Put in the syrup with the grated rind of four lemons, and boil slowly for two hours, or until it looks clear.

Raspberry or Strawberry Jam.

For each pound of fruit allow a pound of sugar. Mash the fruit in the kettle. Boil hard for fifteen minutes; then add the sugar, and boil five minutes.

Orange Marmalade.

Take equal weights of sour oranges and sugar. Grate the yellow rind from a fourth of the oranges. Cut all the fruit in halves at what might be called the "equator." Pick out the pulp, and free it of seeds. Drain off as much juice as you conveniently can, and put it on to boil with the sugar. Let it come to a boil. Skim, and simmer for about fifteen minutes; then put in the pulp and grated rind and boil fifteen minutes longer. Put away in jelly tumblers.

Quince Marmalade.

Cut up quinces--skins, cores and all, cover with water and boil until tender. Rub through a sieve, and to every pint of pulp add one pint of sugar. Boil two hours, stirring often. Peach, crab-apple and, in feet, all kinds of marmalade may be made in the same manner.