Hilda's diary of a Cape housekeeper

Milford Apples. — Here is a very uncommon way of using apples — Miss Orde’s recipe for Milford apples. Pare and core a dozen ripe apples, let them stand 4 or 5 hours in rum, with fine sugar, lemon-peel and orange-flower water ; dry them, powder with flour, and bake them till they are a good colour, then place them in the dish and varnish them with sugar from a hot shovel. Chutnies. — Though I have given some six or seven recipes for chutnies in Hilda's Where is it, I am very glad to be able to add Miss Elliott’s (of Holyhead) excellent recipe, which we can make now that apples are available. People like such differently flavoured chutnies, and I have heard of more than one lady who had good chutney recipes whose friends were but too glad if she would take commissions for making it for sale, so all such good things may be turned to account ; but for sale one must be very careful that the quality is maintained, and the chutnies, jams, April BENGAL AND MANGO CHUTNIES preserves, or whatever it may be, should be always put up in the same shaped bottles holding the same exact quantity, and properly labelled, all alike; then people who order them know what to expect and what quantities to order. Bengal Chutney is the name given to another recipe, also Miss Elliott’s. Ingredients — 1 1 lbs. moist sugar. I lb. salt. ^ lb. garlic. I lb. onions. I lb. powdered ginger. ^ lb. dried chillies. I lb. mustard-seed. 1 lb. stoned raisins. 2 bottles of the best vinegar. 30 large unripe apples (very sour ones are the best). The sugar must be made into syrup; the garlic, onions, and ginger pounded in a mortar, the mustard-seed washed in cold vinegar and dried by the fire or in the sun, the apples peeled, cored and sliced, and boiled in bottles of vinegar till soft. W^hen cold put them in a preserving-pan and gradually mix in the other ingredients, including the other half-bottle of vinegar. Well stir the mixture till the whole is thoroughly blended, then bottle for use, corking up very tight. Mango Chutney(Miss Adeane’s).— Inanothersimilar recipe, called “ Mango Chutney,” and for which I suppose in India they use mangoes where we use apples, the ingredients and quantities are the same as in the previous recipe, except that shallot takes the place of garlic, and that 2| bottles of vinegar are wanted for this second one. Pare and slice the apples and boil them in one bottle of SWEET POTATOES. SNOEK A pril vinegar, then rub through a coarse sieve. Dissolve the salt and sugar over the fire in a half-bottle of vinegar; lightly scald the mustard-seed in another half-bottle of vinegar. Stone the raisins and pound quite smooth in the mortar. Pound the onions, chillies and shallots also quite smooth. When the apples are quite cold have all the ingredients thoroughly well blended together and bottle the mixture. April 3. — Vegetables. — Many of the vegetables procurable in March would still be obtainable. Sweet Potatoes. — Sweet potatoes would now be plentiful, and if boiled (unpeeled) for an hour and peeled just before serving, or then cut in slices and fried, they make a very good substitute for potatoes. (There is a recipe for stewing them in Hilda's Where is it, p. 173.) Or they can be baked in a pan with any roast meats or fried as you would potatoes.