To make a Green Tomato Pickle.—Take a gallon of green tomatoes and a quart of onions; slice them and cover them with salt. In twenty-four hours pour off the liquid, and slowly boil for about an hour the tomatoes and onions in a quart of spiced vinegar, to which a pound of sugar and a tea-spoonful of celery seed have been added. When tender, take the mixture off the fire, bottle, cork, and seal.
To make a Ripe Tomato Pickle.—Substitute ripe tomatoes for the tomatoes and onions in the last recipe. Halve the quantity of vinegar, and omit the celery seed.
To pickle Plums.—Prick four pounds of plums and place them in a fire-proof stoneware pan with two and a half pounds of sugar. Carefully bring to the boil, and add two-thirds of a pint of spiced vinegar. Boil for a few minutes, take out the plums, cool them, and place them in the pickle-jars. Boil up the liquid again, and pour it whilst boiling over the plums so as to fill the jars. Cork and seal at once.
To pickle Samphire.—Gather samphire whilst it is green, about August, break it into sprigs, place in a jar, and add abundance of salt over and amongst the sprigs. In two days pour off the liquid, and dry the samphire for a few hours in the air. Pack it in jars, pour boiling unspiced vinegar over it so as to fill the jars, and boil in the oven until the samphire is green and crisp, and at once remove. Cork and seal.
To make Nasturtium Pickle.—Place some green nasturtium seeds in a weak solution of salt for three days. Then soak them in cold water for twelve hours. Strain and place them in small jars, and pour boiling vinegar over them.
Some other Pickles.—Young pea pods, young French bean pods, cauliflower, unripe gooseberries, and umbels of elderberry flowers gathered before they expand, barberries (Mrs. Glasse recommends that a little sprig of boiled fennel be placed at the top of each jar before sealing), and sliced boiled beetroot, are pickled as directed for red cabbage.
Unripe, but fully grown radish pods, are pickled as directed for gherkins.
Onions and young mushrooms (which should be rubbed with salt but not peeled) are pickled as directed for shallots.
Small apples, pears, peaches, apricots, and damsons may be used to make sweet pickles as directed for plums. But apples, pears, peaches, and apricots require to be peeled before being pickled.
To make Sauerkraut.—Take a dozen fine, hard-hearted, white cabbages, remove the outer leaves, and shred the hearts into small shreds. Place these shreds into a large tub, and over each layer sprinkle a little salt (about six pounds in all). Press the layers of cabbage firmly down, and, when the tub is full, sprinkle salt over the top of the heap of cabbage. On this place a piece of linen, and a wooden cover on the linen. Weigh down the cover by means of a large stone or other weight. The cover must accurately fit the tub, and slide down within the staves. The tub should then be placed in a warm room till fermentation has begun. Wash and replace the linen cover every fortnight. In three weeks the sauerkraut will be fit for use, though it will keep good for more than a year.