Mix together four ounces of the very best mustard powder, four salt-spoons of salt, a large table-spoonful of minced tarragon leaves, and two cloves of garlic chopped fine. Pour on by degrees sufficient vinegar (tarragon vinegar is best) to dilute it to the proper consistence. It will probably require about four wine-glassfuls or half a pint. Mix it well, using for the purpose a wooden spoon. When done, put it into a wide-mouthed bottle or into little white jars. Cork it very closely, and keep it in a dry place. It will not be fit for use in less than two days.
This (used as the common mustard) is a very agreeable condiment for beef or mutton.
Take ripe chillies and dry them a whole day before the fire, turning them frequently. When quite dry, trim off the stalks and pound the pods in a mortar till they become a fine powder, mixing in about one sixth of their weight in salt. Or you may grind them in a very fine mill. While pounding the chillies, wear glasses to save your eyes from being incommoded by them. Put the powder into small bottles, and secure the corks closely.
Mix together two ounces of the best white ginger, an ounce of black pepper, an ounce of white pepper, an ounce of cinnamon, an ounce of nutmeg, and two dozen cloves. They must all be ground or pounded to a fine powder, and thoroughly mixed. Keep the mixture in a bottle, labelled, and well corked. It will be found useful in seasoning many dishes; and being ready prepared will save much trouble.
VEGETABLES
GENERAL REMARKS.
All vegetables should be well picked and washed. A very little salt should always be thrown into the water in which they are boiled. A steady regular fire should be kept up, and they should never for a moment be allowed to stop boiling or simmering till they are thoroughly done. Every sort of vegetable should be cooked till tender, as if the least hard or under-done they are both unpalatable and unwholesome. The practice of putting pearl-ash in the pot to improve the colour of green vegetables should be strictly forbidden, as it destroys the flavour, and either renders them flat and insipid, or communicates a very disagreeable taste of its own.
Every sort of culinary vegetable is infinitely best when fresh from the garden, and gathered as short a time as possible before it is cooked. They should all be laid in a pan of cold water for a while previous to boiling.