The "Queen" cookery books: Pickles and Preserves

Pear Compote. — Peel some pears, dropping them into cold water slightly acidulated with lemon juice, as you do so ; then place them into hot water with sugar to taste, a piece of stick cinnamon, and the thinly pared rind of a lemon ; bring it all to the boil, very slowly, being careful to lift out the pears before they get soft enough to mash, boil up the syrup again, skim it well, and then pour it gently over and round the pears with a spoon, after adding to it a good wineglassful of claret. o CD , Cranberry Compote. — Lay some nice, unbruised cranberries into fresh water, then turn them out on a hair sieve, and allow all the liquid to drain off them. Now put the cranberries into a preserving pan with caster sugar, allowing lib. of sugar to every 21b, of fruit, and cook slowly, till the berries are soft but not mushy ; tlien lift tliem out, and boil up the syrup sharply till it is thick, when you mix the cranberries into it and pour the two into jars, covering each with a brandied paper, and covering down tightly when the fruit is cold. Sweet Tomato Compote. — Slice down some nice tomatoes, till you have 71b. of these slices, and let them stand for twenty-f our hours, well sprinkled with salt. Then soak them for the same length of time in fresh water ; after which drain it all well. Now for these 71b. take 4|lb. of sugar, loz. cinnamon, loz. cloves, and enough vinegar to cover them. Boil this all together and pour it over the tomatoes ; let it stand twenty-four hours, then bring it all just to the boil, pot it, tie it down, and store in a cool dark place. Catsups. — Anchovy Catsup. — Chop up (without boning) twenty-four anchovies, mince ten shallots, and scrape finely a handful of horseradish ; put these into a pan with |oz. mace, a quart of white wine, a pint of red wine, a pint of anchovy liquor, twelve cloves, and twelve peppercorns, and boil it all slowly together till reduced to a quart ; then strain, bottle, and keep in a dry place. (An old-fashioned, but very good addition to many sauces.) Camp Catsup. — Put into a pan a quart of strong old beer, a pint of white wine, 2oz. of anchovies, l|oz. of peeled shallots, ioz. each of mace and nutmeg, and one and a half races of ginger crushed. Boil this all over a gentle fire till a third part is evaporated, then bottle next day without straining. Cockle Catsup. — Scald a quart of cockles, shell and mince them ; then boil them up in their own liquor, and a teacupful of cider, or white wine vinegar ; skim very carefully, then let them simmer for three minutes longer, when you strain them through a hair sieve, and return the liquor thus obtained to the pan with a teaspoonful each of cayenne, salt, and mace, and a gill of sherry. Boil this altogether for fifteen minutes, then let it cool in a basin, and bottle off when quite cold, corking and sealing it closely. Cucumber Catsup. — Choose large ripe cucumbers, peel, then remove the seeds and grate the flesh ; for every pint of this puree take half a pint of cider or white wine vinegar, quarter-teaspoonful of cayenne, one teaspoonful of salt, and two full tablespoonfuls of finely grated horseradish ; drain the cucumber in a colander, then mix it with the other ingredients, bottle, and seal down. (This is an American recipe.) Slice together into an earthenware pan