Part 56 (2/2)

_Average cost_, for this quant.i.ty, 7d.

_Sufficient_ for a small salad.

_Note_.--In mixing the oil and vinegar with the eggs, put in first a few drops of oil, and then a few drops of vinegar, never adding a large quant.i.ty of either at one time. By this means, you can be more certain of the sauce not curdling. Patience and practice, let us add, are two essentials for making this sauce good.

MINT SAUCE, to serve with Roast Lamb.

469. INGREDIENTS.--4 dessertspoonfuls of chopped mint, 2 dessertspoonfuls of pounded white sugar, 1/4 pint of vinegar.

_Mode_.--Wash the mint, which should be young and fresh-gathered, free from grit; pick the leaves from the stalks, mince them very fine, and put them into a tureen; add the sugar and vinegar, and stir till the former is dissolved. This sauce is better by being made 2 or 3 hours before wanted for table, as the vinegar then becomes impregnated with the flavour of the mint. By many persons, the above proportion of sugar would not be considered sufficient; but as tastes vary, we have given the quant.i.ty which we have found to suit the general palate.

_Average cost_, 3d.

_Sufficient_ to serve with a middling-sized joint of lamb.

_Note_.--Where green mint is scarce and not obtainable, mint vinegar may be subst.i.tuted for it, and will be found very acceptable in early spring.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MINT.]

MINT.--The common mint cultivated in our gardens is known as the _Mentha viridis_, and is employed in different culinary processes, being sometimes boiled with certain dishes, and afterwards withdrawn. It has an agreeable aromatic flavour, and forms an ingredient in soups, and sometimes is used in spring salads. It is valuable as a stomachic and antispasmodic; on which account it is generally served at table with pea-soup.

Several of its species grow wild in low situations in the country.

MINT VINEGAR.

470. INGREDIENTS.--Vinegar, mint.

_Mode_.--Procure some nice fresh mint, pick the leaves from the stalks, and fill a bottle or jar with them. Add vinegar to them until the bottle is full; _cover closely_ to exclude the air, and let it infuse for a fortnight. Then strain the liquor, and put it into small bottles for use, of which the corks should be sealed.

_Seasonable_.--This should be made in June, July, or August.

MIXED PICKLE.

(_Very Good_.)

471. INGREDIENTS.--To each gallon of vinegar allow 1/4 lb. of bruised ginger, 1/4 lb. of mustard, 1/4 lb. of salt, 2 oz. of mustard-seed, 1-1/2 oz. of turmeric, 1 oz. of ground black pepper, 1/4 oz. of cayenne, cauliflowers, onions, celery, sliced cuc.u.mbers, gherkins, French beans, nasturtiums, capsic.u.ms.

_Mode_.--Have a large jar, with a tightly-fitting lid, in which put as much vinegar as required, reserving a little to mix the various powders to a smooth paste. Put into a basin the mustard, turmeric, pepper, and cayenne; mix them with vinegar, and stir well until no lumps remain; add all the ingredients to the vinegar, and mix well. Keep this liquor in a warm place, and thoroughly stir every morning for a month with a wooden spoon, when it will be ready for the different vegetables to be added to it. As these come into season, have them gathered on a dry day, and, after merely wiping them with a cloth, to free them from moisture, put them into the pickle. The cauliflowers, it may be said, must be divided into small bunches. Put all these into the pickle raw, and at the end of the season, when there have been added as many of the vegetables as could be procured, store it away in jars, and tie over with bladder. As none of the ingredients are boiled, this pickle will not be fit to eat till 12 months have elapsed. Whilst the pickle is being made, keep a wooden spoon tied to the jar; and its contents, it may be repeated, must be stirred every morning.

_Seasonable_.--Make the pickle-liquor in May or June, as the season arrives for the various vegetables to be picked.

MUSHROOM KETCHUP.

472. INGREDIENTS.--To each peck of mushrooms 1/2 lb. of salt; to each quart of mushroom-liquor 1/4 oz. of cayenne, 1/2 oz. of allspice, 1/2 oz. of ginger, 2 blades of pounded mace.

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