Sliced Cucumber Pickle. (Very nice.)
- 2 dozen large cucumbers, sliced, and boiled in vinegar enough to cover them, one hour. Set aside in the hot vinegar.
- To each gallon of cold vinegar allow—
- 1 lb. sugar.
- 1 tablespoonful of cinnamon.
- 1 teaspoonful ginger.
- 1 teaspoonful black pepper.
- 1 teaspoonful celery-seed.
- 1 teaspoonful of mace.
- 1 teaspoonful allspice.
- 1 teaspoonful cloves.
- 1 tablespoonful turmeric.
- 1 tablespoonful horseradish, scraped.
- 1 tablespoonful garlic, sliced.
- ½ teaspoonful cayenne pepper.
Put in the cucumbers and stew two hours.
The pickle will be ready for use so soon as it is cold.
Pickled Water-melon Rind. (Extremely nice.)
- Equal weight of rind and white sugar.
- ½ ounce white ginger to a gallon of pickle.
- 1 pint vinegar to every pound of sugar.
- 1 tablespoonful turmeric to a gallon of pickle.
- Mace, cloves, and cinnamon to taste.
Take the thickest rind you can get, pare off the hard green rind, also the soft inner pulp. Lay the pieces—narrow strips or fanciful cuttings—in brine strong enough to float an egg, and let them remain in it ten days. Then soak in fair water, changing it every day for ten days. Cover them with clear water in a preserving-kettle, heat slowly and boil five minutes. Take them out and plunge instantly into ice-water. Leave them in this until next day. Give them another gentle boil of five minutes in strong alum-water. Simmer carefully, as a hard boil will injure them. Change directly from the alum to the ice-water again, and do not disturb them for four hours. After a third boil of five minutes, let them remain all night in the last water to make them tender. Next day add to enough water to cover the rinds sufficient sugar to make it quite sweet, but not a syrup. Simmer the rinds in this ten minutes, throw the water away, and spread them upon dishes to cool. Meanwhile prepare a second syrup, allowing sugar equal in weight to the rind, and half an ounce of sliced white ginger to a gallon of the pickle, with a cup of water for every two pounds of sugar. When the sugar is melted and the syrup quite hot, but not boiling, put in the rinds and simmer until they look quite clear. Take it out, spread upon the dishes again, while you add to the syrup a pint of vinegar for every pound of the sugar you have put in, one tablespoonful of turmeric to a gallon of pickle; mace, cloves and cinnamon to taste. Boil this up, return the rind to it, and simmer fifteen minutes. Put up in glass jars. It will be fit for use in two weeks.
This is a very handsome and delicious pickle, although it may seem to be made upon the principle of the Frenchman’s pebble-soup.
Green Tomato Soy. ✠
- 2 gallons tomatoes, green, and sliced without peeling.
- 12 good-sized onions, also sliced.
- 2 quarts vinegar.
- 1 quart sugar.
- 2 tablespoonfuls salt.
- 2 tablespoonfuls ground mustard.
- 2 tablespoonfuls black pepper, ground.
- 1 tablespoonful allspice.
- 1 tablespoonful cloves.