The "Queen" cookery books: Pickles and Preserves

Melons in pickle. — Choose melons that are not too ripe, peel them, cut them in slices, scoop out all the pithy part, and lay them in preserving jars. Boil one and a half pints of vinegar with l|lb. of sugar, some broken cinnamon, white peppercorns, lemon peel, twelve cloves, and a little ginger. Pour this over the melons when nearly cold. After twenty-four hours put the liquor back into the pan with a little more sugar, boil it till it thickens like a syrup, and pour it over the melons. This must be repeated twice, at the interval of a week, adding more vinegar if necessary. Tie down with parchment soaked in brandy, &c. Pears in pickle. — For 91b. of fruit allow olb. of sugar, one quart of vinegar, joz. of cinnamon, and the rind of one lemon. This fruit pickles remarkably well. When just ripe, peel the pears very smoothly, halve them, remove the core, and wash quickly in fresh cold water. Meantime boil the vinegar, sugar, Ac., skim it, and put in as many pears as will lie side by side without overcrowding. Now boil these quickly, over a brisk fire, till soft. If left in too long they will turn brown and unsightly. Lift them out with a skimmer, and put them carefully in jars, round side uppermost, never touching them with a fork. Proceed thus till all are done, then pour the syrup over them. After a few days, boil up the liquor again as stated above. Large Plums ( white or red), in pickle. — Wipe 61b. of picked fruit very gently with a clean cloth, scald them with very hot water, lifting them out quickly, and removing the peel at once. If they are to be stoned, the plums must be less ripe and should be stoned before scalding. Boil l|lb. of sugar in a pint of vinegar, with ioz. of cinnamon, the thinly peeled rind of one lemon, and a few cloves ; when it is boiling scald the fruit, a few at a time, in this hot pickle (which must not be allowed to boil during the process) for two minutes, boiling up the pickle between each set of fruit. When all the fruit has been scalded, again boil up the pickle, then draw the pan to the side, off the fire, and put in all the fruit ; let it soak till thoroughly moistened, then at once fill up the jars with the fruit and juice, tying them down whilst still warm. Be careful to boil up the liquor again every time it begins to look watery. If liked, the plums can be preserved in this way without peeling. This is necessarily not an exhaustive list, but the above directions will allow of any one so minded preparing all kinds of fruit in this way. Whilst on the subject of sweet-sour preserves (as these fruit pickles are sometimes called), a few of the fruit compotes served abroad with game may be given. Lemon Compute. — Peel one lemon and one orange, removing every particle of white pith, then mince up the yellow part of the peel and all the pulp into dice, put these in the pan, with just enough water to cover them, and bring it all just to (but not beyond) boiling point ; then add a wineglassful of red wine, a tablespoonful of brown sauce, a little salt, cayenne pepper, and the juice of one more lemon and orange, and use.