Pickles, Sauces, etc.

Vegetables for making pickles should be young, fresh and free from bruises. Care should be taken to see that they are not over-cooked, but that they are crisp and tender. Vinegar must be boiled. The jars and bottles must of course be well sealed and air-tight. Use earthenware and enamelled vessels for pickle and sauce making.

Apple Chutney.—3lbs. apples, 1lb. shallots, 1 1/2lbs. onions, 1/2lb. seeded raisins, 1/4lb. brown sugar, 1 quart vinegar, 1/4oz. white pepper, 1/4oz. curry powder, 1/4oz. ground ginger, pinch cayenne.

Method: Mince or chop apples, onions and shallots, and place in a preserving pan. Mix the dry ingredients to a thin paste with a little vinegar and add to the apples, etc. Cover with the vinegar and boil for one hour. Stir well. Bottle.

Plum Sauce.—6lbs. plums, 2 1/2lbs. sugar, 3 pints vinegar, 6 teaspoons salt, 1 saltspoon cayenne, 1 tablespoon cloves, 1 dessertspoon ground ginger.

Method: Boil all together till reduced to a pulp, about two hours. Strain and bottle when cold.

Tomato Sauce.—5lbs. tomatoes, 1lb. onions, 1 1/2 pints vinegar, 1lb. apples, 1lb. brown sugar, 2ozs. allspice, 2ozs. cloves, 2ozs. salt, 2ozs. peppercorns, 1/2oz. ground ginger, 1oz. garlic (if liked), cayenne pepper to taste.

Method: Slice tomatoes, apples and onions. Boil all together until soft, then add sugar, vinegar, spices and salt. Boil slowly for two hours. Rub through a colander. Reheat and boil until it is like a thick cream—about half-an-hour. Bottle when cold and cork securely.

Mustard Pickle.—1 cauliflower, 1lb. beans, 1lb. green tomatoes, 6 small cucumbers, 1lb. pickling onions, 1 1/2 quarts vinegar. Method: Divide cauliflower and cut other vegetables into small pieces, leaving onions whole. Sprinkle enough salt to make a brine, and leave till next day. Wash and drain through a colander. Mix 1/4lb. tin mustard, 1/2 cupful brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, and 1 teaspoon of tumeric powder, wet with cold vinegar, stir into boiling vinegar, add the pickles and boil for five minutes. Remove from fire and scatter a few chillies through. Bottle when cold, and seal.

Pickled Onions.—Place onions (silver skins are best) in warm water for 10 minutes, then skin and soak them in brine (1oz. salt to quart of water, boiled for 10 minutes) for 12 hours. Drain away the water, and dry the onions on a cloth. Pack into the jars closely with a lump of loaf sugar in each jar. Fill up with boiling vinegar to which 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons of pickling spices, peppercorns and all spice have been added for each jar (2lb. jam jar). Cover when cold. Shallots are done in the same way, but are not soaked in the salt and water.

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