MULBERRY WINE. Gather mulberries on a dry day, when they are just changed from redness to a shining black. Spread them thinly on a fine cloth, or on a floor or table, for twenty-four hours, and then press them. Boil a gallon of water with each gallon of juice, putting to every gallon of water an ounce of cinnamon bark, and six ounces of sugarcandy finely powdered. Skim and strain the water when it is taken off and settled, and put it to the mulberry juice. Now add to every gallon of the mixture, a pint of white or Rhenish wine. Let the whole stand in a cask to ferment, for five or six days. When settled draw it off into bottles, and keep it cool.
MULLED ALE. Boil a pint of good sound ale with a little grated nutmeg and sugar, beat up three eggs, and mix them with a little cold ale. Then pour the hot ale to it, and return it several times to prevent its curdling. Warm and stir it till it is thickened, add a piece of butter or a glass of brandy, and serve it up with dry toast.
MULLED WINE. Boil some spice in a little water till the flavour is gained, then add an equal quantity of port, with sugar and nutmeg. Boil all together, and serve with toast.—Another way. Boil a blade of cinnamon and some grated nutmeg a few minutes, in a large tea-cupful of water. Pour to it a pint of port wine, add a little sugar, beat it up, and it will be ready. Good home-made wine may be substituted instead of port.
MUMBLED HARE. Boil the hare, but not too much; take off the flesh, and shred it very fine. Add a little salt, nutmeg, lemon peel, and the juice of a lemon. Put it into a stewpan with a dozen eggs, and a pound of butter, and keep it stirring.
MUSCLE PLUM CHEESE. Weigh six pounds of the fruit, bake it in a stone jar, remove the stones, and put in the kernels after they are broken and picked. Pour half the juice on two pounds and a half of Lisbon sugar; when melted and simmered a few minutes, skim it, and add the fruit. Keep it doing very gently till the juice is much reduced, but take care to stir it constantly, to prevent its burning. Pour it into small moulds, pattipans, or saucers. The remaining juice may serve to colour creams, or be added to a pie.
MUSHROOMS. Before these are prepared for eating, great care must be taken to ascertain that they are genuine, as death in many instances has been occasioned by using a poisonous kind of fungus, resembling mushrooms. The eatable mushrooms first appear very small, of a round form, and on a little stalk. They grow very fast, and both the stalk and the upper part are white. As the size increases, the under part gradually opens, and shows a kind of fringed fur, of a very fine salmon colour; which continues more or less till the mushroom has gained some size, and then it turns to a dark brown. These marks should be attended to, and likewise whether the skin can be easily parted from the edges and middle. Those that have a white or yellow fur should be carefully avoided, though many of them have a similar smell, but not so strong and fragrant, as the genuine mushroom. Great numbers of these may be produced, by strewing on an old hotbed the broken pieces of mushrooms; or if the water in which they have been washed be poured on the bed, it will nearly answer the same purpose.
MUSHROOMS DRIED. Wipe them clean, take out the brown part of the large ones, and peel off the skin. Lay them on paper to dry in a cool oven, and keep them in paper bags in a dry place. When used, simmer them in the gravy, and they will swell to nearly their former size. Or before they are made into powder, it is a good way to simmer them in their own liquor till it dry up into them, shaking the pan all the time, and afterwards drying them on tin plates. Spice may be added or not. Tie the mushrooms down close in a bottle, and keep it in a dry place.
MUSHROOM KETCHUP. Take the largest broad mushrooms, break them into an earthen pan, strew salt over, and stir them occasionally for three days. Then let them stand twelve days, till there is a thick scum over. Strain and boil the liquor with Jamaica and black peppers, mace, ginger, a clove or two, and some mustard seed. When cold, bottle it, and tie a bladder over the cork. In three months boil it again with fresh spice, and it will then keep a twelvemonth.—Another way. Fill a stewpan with large flap mushrooms, that are not worm-eaten, and the skins and fringe of such as have been pickled. Throw a handful of salt among them, and set them by a slow fire. They will produce a great deal of liquor, which must be strained; then add four ounces of shalots, two cloves of garlic, a good deal of whole pepper, ginger, mace, cloves, and a few bay leaves. Boil and skim it well, and when cold, cork it up close. In two months boil it up again with a little fresh spice, and a stick of horseradish. It will then keep a year, which mushroom ketchup rarely does, if not boiled a second time.
MUSHROOM POWDER. Wash half a peck of large mushrooms while quite fresh, and free them from grit and dirt with flannel. Scrape out the black part clean, and do not use any that are worm-eaten. Put them into a stewpan over the fire without any water, with two large onions, some cloves, a quarter of an ounce of mace, and two spoonfuls of white pepper, all in powder. Simmer and shake them till all the liquor be dried up, but be careful they do not burn. Lay them on tins or sieves in a slow oven till they are dry enough to beat to powder; then put the powder into small bottles, corked, and tied closely, and kept in a dry place. A tea-spoonful of this powder will give a very fine flavour to any soup or gravy, or any sauce; and it is to be added just before serving, and one boil given to it after it is put in.
MUSHROOM SAUCE. Melt some butter with flour, in a little milk or cream. Put in some mushrooms, a little salt and nutmeg, and boil it up together in a saucepan. Or put the mushrooms into melted butter, with veal gravy, salt, and nutmeg.