Recipes for the million

MURIATE OF AMMONIA, To Test its Purity. — Place a small quantity on a red-hot iron plate. If pure it will fly off in a vapour, leaving behind scarcely any residuum. MUSHROOMS, Essence of. — Take a sufficient quantity of either flap or button mushrooms, sprinkle them with salt, let them stand for three hours, then mash them. Next day strain off the liquor that will have flowed from them, put it into a stew-pan, and boil it to half its quantity. This will not keep long, but is very delicate in flavour. MUSHROOMS (PICKLED). — Rub the large button kind with salt and a piece of flannel, throw a little salt over them, and simmer them over a slow fire ; shake them constantly until they have absorbed the liquor which came from them, then add enough vinegar to cover them ; when warm, turn the whole into a jar, let stand till cold, and tie down. They may thus be kept for a considerable time. MUSHROOM POWDER, for Soups. — Peel some large thick button mushrooms, spread them on dishes, and bake in a slow oven till dry ; then pound them in a mortar with a little cayenne pepper and mace ; put into a bottle, and store in a dry place. MUSHROOM SPAWN. — Make a bed of horse-droppings, without the straw, a foot thick, let it remain in a heap for a few days, then spread it out to dry, turning it a few times till it is three parts dry, when it will be fit for forming the bed, which must be firmly beaten together with the back of the spade, so as to prevent the temperature rising too high. When the heat has risen to its maximum, and again fallen to 1 32 about seventy-five degrees, get the spawn and break the cakes into small pieces, put them all over the bed, even with the surface, about nine inches apart, pat them down gently, and cover with a couple of inches of good garden soil, covering it with a little litter, so as to keep it at a uniform temperature. When the spawn has run through the bed (five or six weeks after planting), sprinkle it with tepid water, enoughjto moisten the earth, but not the manure, and when the surface becomes dry sprinkle again in the same manner. MUSHROOMS (STEWED). — Peel and scrape the inside of flaps and rub the buttons with a piece of flannel and salt ; sprinkle salt over them, and put them into a saucepan with some whole pepper ; simmer over a slow fire, and when done stir in a little butter and flour and a spoonful or two of cream ; boil together for a moment or two, and serve with sippets of toast. MUSHROOMS, To Distinguish from Poisonous Fungi. — The colour, shape, and texture of these vegetables cannot be relied on as a test of their wholesomeness, it is necessary, therefore, to have recourse to other expedients, and the following remarks may be useful in the endeavour to distinguish true mushrooms from poisonous fungi resembling them in appearance : — The true mushroom grows in dry pastures and waste lands, whereas the false kind are found growing in clusters in humid places, on the stumps of trees, and on animal matter undergoing putrefaction. The true mushroom is pleasant in flavour and smell, while the false fungus has an astringent, styptic, and disagreeable taste. The safe kinds have generally a compact, brittle texture ; the unwholesome specimens are moist on the surface.