The housekeeper's guide to preserved meats, fruits, vegetables, &c

PEACHES, CRYSTALLISED.— Crystallised peaches are always a favourite form of preserved fruits, and are an essential part of any dish composed of mixed crystallised fruits, which dish should always be arranged with an eye to colour. The best contrasts will be the dark greengages or crystallised almonds. In arranging these fruits on the dish pile them up in pyramid form, and use preserved cherries to fill up the chinks. PEACHES IN JUICE.— Peaches are now sold preserved in juice as well as in syrup in tins. Those preserved in juice are admirably adapted for making peach-tart. This is a very delicious tart, but housekeepers should bear in mind that there is a considerable difference between peaches in juice and in syrup. The former require the addition of a considerable amount of sugar. The juice should be boiled and sweetened, the peaches should be piled up as high as possible in the centre of the dish, and then the sweet juice should be poured over them, and the whole covered with light puff-paste and baked in the oven. The kernels of the peach-stones, if there are any, should always be added to the pie. This pie is much nicer served cold than hot. Devonshire cream is an excellent addition, or ordinary cream can be served with it, or plain custard. PEACHES IN SYRUP.— Peaches are now to be obtained in syrup. There is no doubt that those preserved in syrup are. far superior to those preserved in plain juice. Preserved peaches form an excellent dish, suitable either as a sweet or for dessert. Open the tin and pile the peaches up in the centre of a dish. Pour the syrup over them, and ornament the dish by sticking in the crevices between the peaches a few preserved cherries. The appearance of the dish can be still further improved by cutting up some angelica in strips and sticking them into the peaches themselves. This dish can be improved if there is time by boiling the syrup itself and adding a little gelatine, sufficient to make it very nearly a jelly when cold. This can be coloured pink with a little cochineal, and the pink syrup can be poured over the dish, which will, of course, give it a far better appearance. A still greater improvement is, first, to clarify the syrup by means of the white of an egg. A very nice sweet can be made from peaches by making the peaches into what is known as a compote, and serving them in the centre of a border of rice. In fact, they can be treated in exactly the same manner as apricots. (See Apricots. ) A famous dish is made from peaches as follows : — About half a dozen large peaches are cut into quarters and placed in a saucepan with about half a pound of peach marmalade, and placed over a stove fire till they are warmed through. Then this preparation is used for filling a lined charlotte mould, brioche being used for the purpose instead of bread. When this charlotte is sent to table some currant jelly diluted with a glass of noyeau should be poured round the base. When peaches are served up in a rice border housekeepers will find that the flavour of vanilla will go very well with the rice. The rice is best flavoured with vanilla by placing a stick of vanilla in the milk in which the rice is afterwards boiled. When the pyramid of peaches is piled up in the rice border it will be found a very great improvement to pour over the whole a little melted strawberry jelly.