The "Queen" cookery books: Pickles and Preserves

drained), being careful to fill them until the juice runs right over ; then wipe the necks of the bottles very quickly and screw on the tops, screwing these down tighter as the contents cool ; when cold wipe the bottles well, test them to see that they are air-tight, and store in the coolest, driest, dark place available. Tomatoes can be bottled by any recipe given, and, indeed, can be preserved in a variety of ways. For instance, as conserve : Cut up 41b. or 51b. good, sound tomatoes into small pieces, removing the stalks and any green parts, and cook them till perfectly tender with two onions (one stuck with three or four cloves and two bay leaves, salt and pepper to taste) ; then turn all the pulp on to a fine hair sieve, and when all the juice has flowed from them, put this into a pan and boil till reduced to half ; now pulp the rest of the tomatoes through the sieve (after removing the bay leaves and the onions), and mix the puree thus obtained with the reduced juice, and put it all into wide-mouthed bottles, cover these down and stand them as before in a kettle of water, bring this to the boil, and keep it boiling for half an hour ; then either lift the pan off the fire (or, if on a ring, turn out the gas), and let the bottles stand in the water till the latter is stone cold ; then tighten up the cover, or cover the cork with bladder and bottle wax, and store as usual. Or it may be preserved as a puree : Take just ripe and richly-coloured tomatoes, and break (do not cut them) in two, place them in a pan on a slack fire, and crush the fruit well to get out all the juice, and to prevent their burning. When sufficiently tender crush it all through a fine sieve (be sure and keep back all the skin and pips), and then after seasoning this pulp with a little salt and pepper either pour it at once into hot, wide-mouthed bottles, cork, and cook in the bain marie for half an hour, and cork and store in the usual way ; or, return the pulp (after tammy) to the pan, and let it cook for half an hour, till it thickens to the consistency of pea soup or thick cream, and when cool put it in wide-mouthed, unglazed jars, and cover with oil, butter, or melted beef- suet ; tie down and store in a dry place. This will keep for years if properly made. Almost all vegetables can be bottled by the above directions, and keep admirably if care has been taken to see that the covers are air-tight, so that full advantage may be taken of a year of extra plenty. Vegetables also, if reduced to a puree and stored in unglazed jars, with a covering of melted beef suet, &c., keep capitally. For instance, sorrel or spinach may either of them be preserved in this way : Remove the stalk and the spine or thread from the leaves, and boil up in a copper pan, till it has rendered all its liquid, then strain this off and return the puree of vegetable to the fire, and let it cook to a smooth puree ; now turn it into widemouthed unglazed jars, smooth over the top, cover with paraffin wax, and cover down and store as usual. Endive, lettuce, &c., can be done in this way, but must first be broken up. The sorrel or spinach for this can be obtained by letting the bed grow after the first spring crop has been cleared off in the spring and then utilising the later crop.