A second Dudley book of cookery and other recipes

Another way to bottle button mushrooms is to use salt water and lemon juice, proceeding as above. The bottles, as soon as corked, must then be wrapped round with straw and steamed or boiled from two to three hours, according to size of bottles. This is a more tedious process than the former, but the mushrooms will be found to have more flavour. AN EXCELLENT OLD-FASHIONED RE- CIPE FOR MINCEMEAT FOR CHRISTMAS MINCE PIES /~\NE pound of stoned raisins, one pound of clean, picked sultanas, one pound of currants, a quarter of a pound of mixed peel, one tablespoonful of mixed spice, one pound of apples peeled and cut into pieces, one pound of castor sugar, three lemons and three oranges (the grated rind and juice), two pounds of lean, cooked fillet of beef, free from fat, one pound of very finely chopped beef suet, one pint of cooking brandy and one pint of rum. Pass twice through a mincing machine the raisins, peel, sultanas, apples and beef, to make it very fine. Place this in a large bowl ; add the currants, sugar, spice, chopped suet, orange and lemon rind and juice ; wet it with the wine ; mix all well together and place in jars for about four weeks before using. This will keep for months in a cool place if well tied down to keep the air from it. % SPICED SALT CONDIMENT TT^OR flavouring pies, galantines and other -•*- dishes, is prepared as follows : — Mix one pound of table-salt with three and a half ounces of mixed spices — cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and mace — and the many different sorts of peppers, also pimento, cayenne and paprika. This salt can be bought ready-made at the best grocers. It should be kept dry in air-tight boxes, so as to retain the aroma. ALLSPICE mms spice also can be bought ready-made at the best grocers, but it can be prepared at home as follows, the ingredients must all be very dry : — Five ounces of bay leaves, three ounces of thyme (half of this wild, if possible), three ounces of coriander seed, four ounces of cinnamon, six ounces of nutmeg, four ounces of cloves, three ounces of ginger root, three ounces of mace, ten ounces of mixed pepper, half black and half white, one ounce of cayenne. Put all these ingredients into a mortar and pound them until they are able to be passed through a very fine sieve. Put the powder which has passed through the sieve into an air-tight box, which must be kept dry. Before being used, the spice should be mixed with table-salt, which should be dried and passed through a sieve. TOMATO PICKLE SIX pounds of tomatoes, two teaspoonfuls of ground ginger, a quarter of an ounce of garlic, one pint of vinegar, one teaspoonful of allspice, one tablespoonful of salt, and one tablespoonful of castor sugar. The tomatoes must be quite ripe. Take and bake them in an oven until tender ; remove the skins and place the tomatoes in a stone jar with the above ingredients. Mix together thoroughly and keep in a cool place for a few days ; then rub all through a sieve (a silk or cotton one) ; boil up in a copper or earthenware pan with sugar and vinegar — rather more sugar than vinegar — let cool, then put it into bottles, cork and seal well, and store away in a cool but dry place. Capsicums, green and red, shallots and lemon juice can be used in the preparation of the tomato pickle, as it then becomes more of a condiment.