—Have ready the equivalent of ten quarts of fine, ripe, solid, well-washed, and thoroughly drained raspberries; sixteen quart baskets will be about the necessary quantity to purchase. When ready, fill up the ten lightning-glass jars, and proceed to prepare them as explained for peaches ([No. 1340]), the only exception being that they must be boiled five minutes instead of ten. The proper time to obtain the berries is from July 10 to July 20.
1347. Preserved Cherries.
—Purchase twenty-five pounds of fine, sound, ripe, white wax cherries; pick off the stems neatly, and should there be any unripe or spoilt ones among them, throw them away, as they would likely ruin the rest. When finished, there should be about twenty pounds of sound cherries suitable for preserving. Have ready ten quart lightning-glass jars, same as for the peaches ([No. 1340]); divide the picked cherries evenly into them, and fill up with the thirty-degree syrup ([No. 1339]). Cover them tightly and carefully, then arrange them in a large saucepan precisely the same as the peaches, and finish them exactly as described in that number, boiling them for the same length of time. June 15 to July 1 is the best time to obtain the fruit.
1348. How to Roast Coffee.
—If practicable, procure a small family coffee-roaster. Have three quarters of a pound of Java, mixed with a quarter of a pound of Mocha, place it in the roaster, and taking one of the lids from off the stove, put the roaster on a moderate fire, and turn the small handle constantly and slowly until the coffee becomes a good brown color; for this it should take about twenty-five minutes; open the cover to see when it is done, then transfer it to an earthen jar, cover it tightly, and use when needed; or, a more simple way, and even more effectual, is to take a tin baking-dish, butter well the bottom, and placing the same quantity of coffee therein, put it in a moderate oven to let get a good golden color; twenty minutes will suffice for this, being careful to toss it frequently with a wooden spoon, then remove to an earthen jar and cover it well.
Roasting one’s own coffee is a sure way of having it always fresh; besides, it retains its full flavor; but care must also be taken to purchase coffee from a responsible, first-class dealer.
1349. How to Make Black Coffee.
—Take six light tablespoonfuls of coffee-beans from the jar ([No. 1348]); grind them in a mill, neither too coarse nor too fine. Have a well-cleaned French coffee-pot, put the coffee on the filter, with the small strainer over, then pour on a pint and a half of boiling water, little by little, recollecting, at the same time, that too much care cannot be taken to impress on those making the coffee, the necessity of having the water boiling thoroughly, otherwise it were as useless to attempt the feat as to try and raise musk-melons at the North Pole, notwithstanding that the coffee be of the very first quality. When all the water is consumed put on the cover, and let infuse slightly, but on no account must it boil again; then serve in six after-dinner cups. Coffee should never be prepared more than five minutes before the time to serve.
1350. Café Noir à l’Alexander the Great.
—Put in an earthen pot on the hot range three pints of cold water; when boiling, immediately add four and a half ounces of freshly ground coffee, and as soon as the coffee has been added, put the pot on the corner of the stove to rest for three minutes. Have a piece of hot, red (very red) charcoal the size of a small banana, plunge it into the coffee. (If no charcoal at hand, a piece of red stove-coal will answer). Let rest again for three minutes; then you will see a heavy foam appearing at the surface of the coffee, thoroughly skim it off with a skimmer. Then carefully and gently pour it into a hot coffee-pot, and send to the table with six small, hot demi-tasses; accompanied with six ponies of old Renauldt cognac.