Classic Cook Books
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page 224
BEAN PICKLES.
Pick green beans when young and tender, string, and place in a kettle to boil,
with salt to taste, until they can be pierced with a fork, drain well through a
colander, put in a stone jar, sprinkle with ground black or cayenne pepper, and
cover with strong cider vinegar;
sugar may be added if desired. The best varieties for pickling are the white
"German wax" and "Virginia snap."
BOTTLED PICKLES.
Wash and wipe a half bushel of medium-sized cucumbers, suitable for pickling,
pack close in a stone jar, sprinkle over the top one pint of salt, pour over a
sufficient quantity of boiling water to cover them, place a cloth over the jar,
and let stand until cold (if prepared in the evening, let stand all night),
drain off the water, and place the pickles on stove in cold vinegar, let them
come to a boil, take out, place in a stone jar, and cover with either cold or
hot vinegar. They will be ready for use in a few days, and are excellent. It is
an improvement to add a few spices and a small quantity of sugar.
To bottle them, prepare with salt and boiling water as above, drain (when cold),
and place on stove in cold vinegar (need not be very strong), to which a lump of
alum, about the size of a small hickory-nut (too much is injurious), has been
added. Have on stove, in another kettle, some of the very best cider vinegar, to
which add half a pint of brown sugar; have bottles cleansed and placed to heat
on stove in a large tin-pan of cold water; also have a tin cup or small pan of
sealing wax heating; on table, have spices prepared in separate dishes, as
follows: Green and red peppers sliced in rings; horse-radish roots washed,
scraped, and cut in small pieces; stick cinnamon washed free from dust, and
broken in pieces; black and yellow mustard seed, each prepared by sprinkling
with salt, and pouring on some boiling water, which let stand fifteen minutes
and then draw off; and a few cloves. When pickles come to boiling point, take
out and pack in bottles, mixing with them the spices (use the cloves and
horse-radish rather sparingly); put in a layer of pickles, then a layer of
spices, shaking the bottles occasionally so as to pack tightly; when full cover
with the boiling hot
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Classic Cook Books
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