The encyclopædia of practical cookery

Red-Cherry Ice.— Wash 1qt. of sweet red or black Cherries, pound them thoroughly so as to break the stones, and strain the juice through a strainer into a freezer. Boil the Cherrypulp with some of the sugar and water, to extract the flavour from the kernels, and rub that also through the strainer ; add the other pint of water and balance of the sugar to fib., and freeze. Use no white of eggs in this ice, as the colour is not good unless frozen natural. This makes a good ice for the third colour in a Neapolitan. Cherries — continued. Stewed Cherries. — Pick 'out the largest and best from 41b. of Morello Cherries ; bruise the smaller fruit, press them well to extract all the juice, and pass it through a fine hair sieve into a stewpan ; put in l|lb. of coarsely-crushed loaf sugar, and place it over the fire to boil. Put the large Cherries into a saucepan with water to cover, and boil them gently until tender. When cooked, leave these in the liquor until partly cold, then take them out, being careful not to bruise them. Put 1qt. of the liquor in which the Cherries were boiled into a glass bowl, sweeten to taste with the Cherry syrup, previously prepared as described, and flavour with a few drops of essence of rose-water, orange-flower water, or essence of almonds. Put the larger Cherries in the liquor with a few lumps of ice, and serve. A bottle of champagne added to this makes a royal drink. White-Cherry Sherbert. — Remove the stones from 4 breakfast-cupfuls of ripe white Cherries, put them into a mortar, pound well so as to break the stones, and strain the juice into a freezer. Put the pulp into a saucepan with 1 teacupful of sugar and 1 breakfast- cupful of water, and boil for a few minutes to extract the flavour from the kernels ; rub the whole through a sieve into another saucepan, and add 1 breakfastcupful each of sugar and water. Boil for a minute or two, let the mixture cool, pour it into the freezer with the juice, add the whites of two eggs whipped to a froth, and the sherbert is then ready for use. A few whole Cherries that have been cooked in syrup may be added to the mixture while in the freezer. Wild-Cherry Syrup. — Put 5oz. of coarsely-powdered wild Cherry bark into a basin, moisten with water, and let it stand for a day with a tightly-fitting cover on the basin. Put it into a percolator, pour over about 1 pint of water, and after it has run through mix in ljlb. of sugar. CHERVIL. — Amongst the sweet herbs used in the kitchen there are few, if any, more deserving of respect than Chervil. Three varieties are known to us, all of which may advantageously find a place in the kitchen garden. The common or garden Chervil ( Anthriscus cerefoliuni) is a hardy annual, grown for its leaves, which impart a flavour of combined fennel and parsley, and enter nicely into the preparation of salads. Curled Chervil is a variety of the common Chervil ; but the bulbous-rooted Chervil (Chaerophyllum bulbosum) differs in that it is a biennial, and flourishes best in Southern Europe. The roots (see Fig. 445) are about the size of Early Horn carrots, and are sometimes cooked and eaten as a vegetable, in spite of the fact that in some old-fashioned cookery books the roots are pronounced poisonous. As green Chervil is only procurable during a part of the year, the leaves should be gathered and dried as described under Herbs.