Pickled Onions

Put the desired quantity of small onions into hot water and then peel them; place them in fresh salted water with a small piece of alum in it, and leave them until the following day; drain off the water, add more fresh water with more salt and alum and leave them a day longer. Afterwards drain and put them into jars, placing in each jar one or two blades of mace, one or two red-peppers, a few white peppercorns and a small quantity of horseradish. Pour in sufficient vinegar to cover the onions well, cork the jars, cover with parchment, tie them down and keep in a dry store-cupboard. In a month they will be ready for use.

Pickled Onions And Cucumbers

Peel twelve cucumbers and three large onions, cut them all into thick slices and sprinkle over with salt. Leave them thus for a day, then drain well, put them in a stone-jar, pour over sufficient boiling vinegar to cover and keep them in a warm place for a day. Drain off the vinegar again and repeat the process till both the onions and cucumbers are quite green, adding a little pepper and ginger, the last time of boiling. Tie down and pack away in a cool place.

Pickled Spanish Onions

Peel some onions, cut a small round piece out of the bottom of each and scoop out a little of the inside. Put them in a vessel with salt and water to cover and let them remain for two or three days, changing the water two or three times. Afterwards drain and stuff the onions as follows: First put in a little ground mustard-seed, then some ginger with a little mace and shallot, add more mustard and fill up with grated horseradish. Replace the bottom pieces and bind the onions round with string to keep them in place. Make a strong pickle of white vinegar, mace, ginger, nutmeg, sliced horseradish and a little salt; put in the onions and let them boil up three times care being taken that they do not boil too much, for in that case they would lose their firmness and would not keep. Put them with the pickle into jars, leave them till the following day, then strain off the liquor, boil it up and pour it over the onions again. When the pickle is cold, tie the jars over first with wet bladder, and then with leather and keep them in a cool dry store-cupboard for use.

Pickled Oysters

Thoroughly cleanse and beard four dozen oysters, put them into a saucepan, strain their liquor over them, season well with salt, allspice, cloves, and mace, and boil for a few minutes. When plump pour one-half pint of vinegar over the oysters, boil them up again, turn them into earthenware jars, and leave until cold; then cover over each jar with stout paper, tie down, and put them in a dry cupboard for use.

Pickled Tomatoes

Put enough vinegar to cover a peck of tomatoes into a saucepan with one ounce each of black pepper and cloves, and two ounces of mustard seed. Prick one peck of tomatoes all over, and let so much of the juice as possible run into the saucepan with the vinegar; boil well, stirring often, and allow the liquor to get quite cold. Put the tomatoes in layers in a deep pan with salt sprinkled over them, and at the end of three days wash off all the salt. Put them back into the deep pan or jar, pour over the vinegar taking care that it is quite cold, cover, and in the course of ten or twelve days the pickle will be ready for use.

French Pickles

Slice one peck of green tomatoes, cover them plentifully with salt, and leave them for one night. Cut one-fourth peck of onions into slices, and put a thick layer of them in a metal kettle; then put in a layer of the tomatoes, a layer of onions, and so on until all are used. Sprinkle between each layer some of the following spices: Four ounces of white mustard seed, one ounce each of cloves, allspice, and celery seed, one tablespoonful of cayenne pepper, one pound of brown sugar, and four tablespoonfuls of mixed mustard. Cover the above ingredients with vinegar and boil them well for one hour. At the end of that time pack the pickles in jars, and pour the vinegar over them. When cold, tie some stout paper over the jars, and keep in a dry store-cupboard.

Green Pickles

Make a brine of salt and water strong enough to float a fresh egg, and put in it the vegetables to be pickled, green tomatoes, gherkins, snap beans, cucumbers, etc., and let them remain in it for a fortnight (a longer time will not hurt them). They must be well covered with grape leaves, and sufficient weight must be put on them to keep them well down under the brine. When the vegetables are taken out of this brine they must be steeped in weak vinegar for several days, then put over the fire in two quarts of strong vinegar (which quantity will be sufficient for four quarts of vegetables), two ounces of long pepper, two ounces of mustard-seed, one ounce of celery-seed, one-half an ounce each of cloves and mace, three red pepper pods, one tablespoonful of grated horseradish, and sugar to taste; when this boils have the pickles drained from the weak vinegar and put into jars, and pour the vinegar over them boiling hot.