wendys-llc/domestic-receipts huggingface dataset:
Jerusalem Artichokes

Scrape them, and put them in boiling salted water. Boil large ones
about two hours, then take them up and butter them.
Squashes

Summer squashes boil whole, when very young. When older, quarter them,
and take out the seeds. Put them into boiling salted water; when done,
squeeze out the water by wringing in a cloth, and add butter and salt
to your taste.

The neck part of the winter squash is the best; cut it into slices,
peel it, boil it in salted water till tender, then drain off the water,
and serve it without mashing, or, if preferred, wring it and season
with butter and salt. What is left over is excellent _fried_ for next
day’s breakfast or dinner. It must be in slices, and not mashed. Save
the water in which they are boiled, to make yeast or brown bread, for
which it is excellent.
Cabbage and Cauliflowers

Take off the outer leaves of a cabbage, cut the stalky part in
quarters, down to the centre, put it in boiling salted water, and boil
them from half an hour to an hour. Cabbages, like turnips, must have a
good deal of water, or they will taste strong.

For cauliflowers, cut off all the leaves but the small ones mixed with
the head, and boil in salted water till it is tender. Some wrap some
of the large leaves around the head, and tie them on, and when cooked
throw aside the leaves. Drain the cauliflower with a skimmer and eat it
with drawn butter.

       *       *       *       *       *

Most vegetables must be put in water only sufficient to cover them,
allowing a little more for evaporation. Strong vegetables like turnips,
cabbage, and some of the greens, require a good deal of water.
Peas

Peas, to be good, must be fresh from the vines. Throw them into boiling
salted water, and cook them from fifteen to thirty minutes, according
to their age. When old, they are improved by putting a very little
saleratus into the water, say a quarter of a teaspoonful to half a peck
of shelled peas.
Sweet Corn

If it is to be boiled on the cob, put it in salted boiling water, and
let it cook from twenty minutes to three quarters of an hour after it
begins to boil, according to the age of the corn.
Succatosh

If you wish to make succatosh, boil the beans from half to three
quarters of an hour, in water a little salt, meantime cutting off the
corn and throwing the cobs to boil with the beans. Take care not to cut
too close to the cob, as it imparts a bad taste. When the beans have
boiled the time above mentioned, take out the cobs, and add the corn,
and let the whole boil from fifteen to twenty minutes, for young corn,
and longer for older corn. Make the proportions two-thirds corn and
one-third beans. Where you have a mess amounting to two quarts of corn
and one quart of beans, take two tablespoonfuls of flour, wet it into a
thin paste, and stir it into the succatosh, and let it boil up for five
minutes. Then lay some butter in a dish, take it up into it, and add
more salt if need be.
Beans

Throw them into salted boiling water, and cook them from an hour to an
hour and a half, according to the age. A little saleratus improves them
when old; a piece as big as a pea will do. If you put in too much, the
skins will slip off.
Egg Plant

Boil them in a good deal of water a few minutes, to get out the bitter
taste, then cut them in slices, and sprinkle a little salt on them.
Then fry them brown in lard or butter. If they are fried on a griddle,
with only butter enough to keep them from sticking, they are better
than when more butter is used.
Baked Beans

Pick over the beans the night before, and put them in warm water to
soak, where they will be kept warm all night. Next morning pour off the
water, and pour on boiling water, and let them stand and simmer till
the beans are soft, and putting in with them a nice piece of pork, the
skin gashed. Put them into the deep dish in which they are to bake,
having water just enough to cover them. Bury the pork in the middle,
so that the top will be even with the surface. All the garden beans
are better for baking than the common field bean. They must bake in a
moderately hot oven from two to three hours.
Tomatoes

Pour on scalding water, and let them remain in it five minutes, to
loosen the skins. Peel them, and put them in a stew-pan with a little
salt and butter, and let them stew half an hour, and then pour them on
to buttered toast.

_Another Way._--Peel them, put them in a deep dish, put salt and
pepper, and a little butter over them, then make a layer of bread
crumbs, or pounded crackers, then make another layer of tomatoes, and
over these another layer of crumbs, till the dish is filled. The top
layer must be crumbs. Some persons put nutmeg and sugar with the other
seasoning. Bake three quarters of an hour, or more, according to the
size.

_Another Way._--Peel them, put them in a stew-pan with some salt, boil
them nearly half an hour, then put into them three or four beaten eggs,
and more salt if needed, and very little pepper. Many would add a few
small slices of onion. Most who have tried this last are very fond of
it.
Greens

Beet tops, turnip tops, spinach, cabbage sprouts, dandelions, cowslips,
all these boil in salted water till they are tender, then drain in
a colander, pressing hard. Chop them a little, and warm them in a
sauce-pan, with a little butter.

Lay them on buttered toast, and if you like, garnish them with
hard-boiled egg, cut in slices. If not fresh, soak them half an hour in
salt and water.
Cucumbers

The chief art of preparing cucumbers consists in making them cool and
crisp. This is done by putting them in cold water for half an hour,
and then cut them in thin slices into cold water. Then drain them in a
colander, and season them with pepper, salt, and vinegar.

Cucumbers are very nice cooked in this way. Peel and cut them into
quarters, take out the seeds, and boil them like asparagus. Put them on
to buttered toast, and put a little butter over them.
Macaroni

Mix a pint of milk, and a pint of water, and a teaspoonful of salt;
put in two ounces of macaroni, and boil till the liquor is wasted and
the macaroni tender. Put on butter, or pour over some gravy. Cut the
macaroni in pieces of three or four inches, in order to help it out
more conveniently.
Another Way

Simmer it in thin gravy; when tender lay it in a dish, and grate on it
old cheese, and over that grated bread. Pour over it melted butter, and
set in a Dutch oven till of a brown color.
To Cook Hominy

Wash in several waters, and boil it five hours, allowing two quarts
of water, and half a teaspoonful of salt, to every quart of hominy.
Drain it through a colander, and add butter and salt, if needed. The
small-grained requires less water and time.
Macaroni Pudding, to eat with Meat

Simmer a quarter of a pound of macaroni in plenty of water, until it
is tender. Strain off the water, and add a pint of milk or cream, an
ounce of grated cheese, and a teaspoonful of salt. Mix well together,
and strew over the top two ounces of grated cheese and crumbs of bread.
Brown it well, in baking, on the top. It will bake in a quick oven in
half an hour. It is appropriate to be eaten with boiled ham, or forms a
course by itself, after meat.
Salad

Salad, to be in perfection, should be fresh gathered, and put into
salted cold water, which will remove all insects. Let them stand half
an hour, and then drain them thoroughly.
Mode of Dressing Salad

Take the yolks of one or two eggs boiled hard, mash them fine, mix with
them pepper, salt, mustard, oil, and vinegar to your taste. Then cut up
the salad, and mix it with this preparation. This is usually done at
table.
Mushroom

Cut off the lower part of the stem, peel them, and put them in a
sauce-pan, with just water enough to prevent their burning at the
bottom, put in a little salt, and shake them occasionally while
cooking, to prevent burning. When tender, add butter, salt, and pepper
to your taste, and wine and spice, if you like them. Serve them on
buttered toast.
Celeriac

This is very good, and but little known. It resembles celery in flavor,
and is much more easily cultivated. Scrape and cut the roots in slices.
Boil them very tender, drain off the water, add a little salt, and turn
in just milk enough to cover them. Then take them up and add a little
butter.
Salsify, or Vegetable Oyster

Boil it till tender, then pour off the water, and add a little milk,
and a little salt and butter.

_Another Way._--Parboil it, scraping off the outside, cut it in slices,
dip it into beaten egg and fine bread crumbs, and fry it in lard.

_Another Way._--Make a batter of wheat flour, milk and eggs, and a
little salt. Cut the salsify in slices; after it is boiled tender, put
it in the batter, and drop this mixture into hot fat by the spoonful.
Cook them a light brown.
Southern Mode of Cooking Rice

Pick over the rice, and wash it in cold water. To a pint of rice, put
three quarts of _boiling_ water, and half a teaspoonful of salt. Boil
it just _seventeen minutes_ from the time it fairly begins to boil.
Then turn off _all_ the water, and set it over a moderate fire, with
the lid off, to steam fifteen minutes. Great care must be taken to be
accurate. The rice water poured off is good to stiffen muslins.
Common Mode of Cooking Rice

To a pint of clean rice, put three quarts of cold water, and a
teaspoonful of salt. Boil it fifteen or twenty minutes, then pour off
the water, add milk and some cream, and let it boil a few minutes
longer. It should not be so soft as to lose its form.

In case you wish to fry it next morning, boil it longer in the water,
and omit the milk, or not, as you please. It is always a good plan to
boil a good deal, so as to have it next day for griddle cakes, or to
cut in slices and fry.
Best Mode of Cooking Tomatoes

This vegetable is much improved by cooking _a long time_.

Immediately after breakfast, begin by boiling two onions. If they are
not liked, omit this part; but it is best to make the trial, as some
can eat this, who cannot take onions any other way comfortably.

Pour boiling water over a dozen large tomatoes, and peel them. Cut
them into a stew-pan; add a tea-cup and a half of bread crumbs,
a teaspoonful of black pepper, a tablespoonful of salt, four
tablespoonfuls of butter, and also the cooked onion. Set them where
they will stew _very slowly_ all the forenoon, the longer the better.
Fifteen minutes before serving them, beat up six eggs, and add, and
give them a good boil, stirring all the time. (Indiana Receipt.)
Sweet Potatoes

The best way to cook sweet potatoes is to bake them with their skins
on. When boiled, the largest should be put in first, so as to have all
cook alike. Drain them and dry them, then peel them. They are excellent
sliced and fried for breakfast next day; much better than at first.
Artichokes

Boil them till tender, drain them, and serve them with melted butter.
Stewed Egg Plant

Take the purple kind, stew till soft, take off the skin, mash it with
butter and sweet herbs, grate bread over the top, and bake it till
brown.
On Constructing and Heating an Oven

The best ovens are usually made thus. After the arch is formed, four
or five bushels of ashes are spread over it, and then a covering of
charcoal over that, then another layer of bricks over all. The use
of this is, that the ashes become heated, and the charcoal being a
non-conductor, the heat is retained much longer. In such an oven, cake
and pies can be baked after the bread is taken out, and then custards
after them. Sometimes four bakings are done in succession.

The first time an oven is used, it should be heated the day previous
for half a day, and the oven lid kept up after the fire is out, till
heated for baking.

As there is so little discretion to be found in those who heat ovens,
the housekeeper will save much trouble and mortification by this
arrangement. Have oven wood prepared of sticks of equal size and
length. Find, by trial, how many are required to heat the oven, and
then require that just that number be used, and no more.

The fire must be made the back side of the oven, and the oven must
be heated so hot as to allow it to be closed fifteen minutes after
clearing, before the heat is reduced enough to use it. This is called
_soaking_. If it is burnt down entirely to ashes, the oven may be used
as soon as cleared.
How to know when an Oven is at the right Heat

An experienced cook will know without rules. For a novice, the
following rules are of some use in determining. If the black spots in
the oven are not burnt off, it is not hot, as the bricks must all look
red. If you sprinkle flour on the bottom, and it burns quickly, it is
_too hot_.

If you cannot hold your hand in longer than to count twenty moderately,
it is _hot enough_.

If you can count thirty moderately, it is _not_ hot enough for bread.

These last are not very accurate tests, as the power to bear heat is
so diverse in different persons; but they are as good rules as can be
given, where there has been no experience.
How to know when Bread is Sour, or Heavy

If the bread is sour, on opening it quick and deeply with your fingers,
and applying the nose to the opening, a tingling and sour odor escapes.
This is remedied by taking a teaspoonful of saleratus, for every four
quarts of flour, very thoroughly dissolved in hot water, which is to be
put in a hole made in the middle, and very thoroughly kneaded in, or
there will be yellow streaks.

If the bread is light and not sour, it will, on opening it deep and
suddenly, send forth a pungent and brisk, but not a sour odor, and it
will look full of holes, like sponge. Some may mistake the smell of
light bread for that of sour bread, but a little practice will show the
difference very plainly.

If the bread is light before the oven is ready, knead it a little
without adding flour, and set it in a cool place.

If it _rises too much_, it loses all sweetness, and nothing but care
and experience will prevent this. The best of flour will not make sweet
bread, if it is allowed to rise too much, even when no sourness is
induced.
How to treat Bread when taken from the Oven

Never set it flat on a table, as it sweats the bottom, and acquires a
bad taste from the table.

Always take it out of the tins, and set it up end way, leaning against
something.

If it has a thick, hard crust, wrap it in a cloth wrung out of cold
water.

Keep it in a tin box, in a cool place, where it will not freeze.
Yeast

The article in which yeast is kept must, when new yeast is made, or
fresh yeast bought, be scalded and emptied, and then have a salt
spoonful of saleratus put in, and be rinsed out again with warm water.
If it is glass, rinsing twice with warm water will answer. Junk bottles
are best for holding yeast, because they can be corked tight, and
easily cleansed.
Potato Yeast

By those who use potato yeast, it is regarded as much the best, as it
raises bread quicker than common home-brewed yeast, and, best of all,
never imparts the sharp, disagreeable yeast taste to bread or cake,
often given by hop yeast.

Mash half a dozen peeled boiled potatoes, and mix in a handful of wheat
flour, and two teaspoonfuls of salt, and after putting it through a
colander, add hot water till it is a batter. When blood warm, put in
half a tea-cup of distillery yeast, or twice as much potato, or other
home-brewed. When raised, keep it corked tight, and make it new very
often in hot weather. It can easily be made when potatoes are boiled
for dinner.
Home-made Yeast, which will keep Good a Month

Four quarts of water, two handfuls of hops, eight peeled potatoes,
sliced, all boiled soft, mixed and strained through a sieve. To this,
add a batter, made one-third of Indian, and two-thirds of rye, in a
pint of cold water, and then boil the whole ten minutes. When cool as
new milk, add a tea-cup of molasses, a tablespoonful of ginger, and a
tea-cup of distillery yeast, or twice as much home-brewed.
Home-brewed Yeast more easily made

Boil a handful of hops half an hour in three pints of water. Pour half
of it, _boiling hot_, through a sieve, on to nine spoonfuls of flour,
mix, and then add the rest of the hop water. Add a spoonful of salt,
half a cup of molasses, and _when blood warm_, a cup of yeast.
Hard Yeast

This often is very convenient, especially for hot weather, when it is
difficult to keep yeast.

Take some of the best yeast you can make, and thicken it with Indian
meal, and if you have rye, add a little to make it adhere better. Make
it into cakes an inch thick, and three inches by two in size, and dry
it in a drying wind, but not it the sun. Keep it tied in a bag, in a
dry, cool place, where it will not freeze.

One of these cakes is enough for four quarts of flour. When you wish to
use it, put it to soak in milk or water for several hours, and then use
it like other yeast.
Rubs, or Flour Hard Yeast

This is better than hard yeast made with Indian.

Take two quarts of best home-brewed yeast, and a tablespoonful of salt,
and mix in wheat flour, so that it will be in hard lumps. Set it in a
dry, warm place (but not in the sun) till quite dry. Then leave out the
fine parts to use the next baking, and put up the lumps in a bag, and
hang it in a dry place.

In using this yeast, take a pint of the rubs for six quarts of flour,
and let it soak from noon till night. Then wet up the bread to bake
next day.

Brewer’s and distillery yeast cannot be trusted to make hard yeast.
Home-brewed is the best, and some housekeepers say, the only yeast for
this purpose.
Milk Yeast

One pint of new milk, and one teaspoonful of fine salt. One large
spoonful of flour. Mix, and keep it blood warm an hour. Use twice as
much as the common yeast. Bread soon spoils made of this.
Wheat Bread of Distillery, or Brewer’s Yeast

Take eight quarts of flour, and two of milk, a tablespoonful of salt, a
gill and a half of distillery yeast, and sometimes rather more, if not
first rate. Take double the quantity of home-brewed yeast.

Sift the flour, then make an opening in the middle, pour in a part of
the wetting, and put in the salt. Then mix in a good part of the flour.
Then pour in the yeast, and mix it well, then add the rest of the
wetting, using up the flour so as to make a stiff dough. Knead it half
an hour, till it cleaves clean from the hand.

This cannot be wet over night, as, if the yeast is good, it will rise
in one or two hours.

Some persons like bread best wet with water, but most very much prefer
bread wet with milk. If you have skimmed milk, warm it with a small bit
of butter, and it is nearly as good as new milk.

You need about a quart of wetting to four quarts of flour. Each quart
of flour makes a common-sized loaf.
Wheat Bread of Home-brewed Yeast

Sift eight quarts of flour into the kneading tray, make a deep hole in
the middle, pour into it a pint of yeast, mixed with a pint of lukewarm
water, and then work up this with the surrounding flour, till it makes
a thick batter. Then scatter a handful of flour over this batter, lay a
warm cloth over the whole, and set it in a warm place. This is called
sponge.

When the sponge is risen so as to make cracks in the flour over it
(which will be in from three to five hours), then scatter over it two
tablespoonfuls of salt, and put in about two quarts of wetting, warm,
but not hot enough to scald the yeast, and sufficient to wet it. Be
careful not to put in too much of the wetting at once.

Knead the whole thoroughly for as much as half an hour, then form it
into a round mass, scatter a little flour over it, cover it, and set
it to rise in a warm place. It usually will take about one quart of
wetting to four quarts of flour.

In winter, it is best to put the bread in sponge over night, when it
must be kept warm all night. In summer it can be put in sponge early in
the morning, for if made over night, it would become sour.
Baker’s Bread

Take a gill of distillery yeast, or twice as much fresh home-brewed
yeast, add a quart of warm (not hot) water, and flour enough to make
a thin batter, and let it rise in a warm place all night. This is the
sponge.

Next day, put seven quarts of sifted flour into the kneading tray,
make a hole in the centre, and pour in the sponge. Then dissolve a bit
of volatile salts, and a bit of alum, each the size of a hickory-nut,
and finely powdered, in a little cold water, and add it, with a
heaping tablespoonful of salt, to the sponge, and also a quart more of
blood-warm water.

Work up the flour and wetting to a dough, knead it well, divide it into
three or four loaves, prick it with a fork, put it in buttered pans,
and let it rise one hour, and then bake it about an hour. Add more
flour, or more water, as you find the dough too stiff, or too soft.

A teaspoonful of saleratus can be used instead of the volatile salts
and alum, but it is not so good.
Wheat Bread of Potato Yeast

This is made like bread made with home-brewed yeast, except that you
may put in almost any quantity of the potato yeast without injury.
Those who use potato yeast like it much better than any other. The only
objection to it is, that in summer it must be made often, as it will
not keep sweet long. But it is very easily renewed. The chief advantage
is, that it rises quick, and never gives the sharp and peculiar taste
so often imparted to bread and cake by all yeast made with hops.
Potato Bread

Rub a dozen peeled and boiled potatoes through a very coarse sieve,
and mix with them twice the quantity of flour, mixing very thoroughly.
Put in a coffee-cup full of home-brewed, or of potato yeast, or half
as much of distillery yeast, also a teaspoonful of salt. Add whatever
water may be needed to make a dough as stiff as for common flour bread.

An ounce or two of butter rubbed into the flour, and an egg beat and
put into the yeast, and you can have fine rolls, or warm cakes for
breakfast.

This kind of bread is very moist, and keeps well.
Cream Tartar Bread

Three pints of dried flour, measured after sifting.

Two cups of milk.

Half a teaspoonful of salt.

One teaspoonful of soda (Super Carbonate).

Two teaspoonfuls of cream tartar.

Dissolve the soda in half a tea-cup of hot water, and put it with the
salt into the milk. Mix the cream tartar _very_ thoroughly in the
flour: the whole success depends on this. Just as you are ready to
bake, pour in the milk, knead it up sufficiently to mix it well, and
then put it in the oven as quick as possible. Add either more flour or
more wetting, if needed, to make dough to mould. Work in half a cup of
butter after it is wet, and it makes good short biscuit.
Eastern Brown Bread

One quart of rye.

Two quarts of Indian meal: if fresh and sweet, do not scald it; if not,
scald it.

Half a tea-cup of molasses.

Two teaspoonfuls of salt.

One teaspoonful of saleratus.

A tea-cup of home-brewed yeast, or half as much distillery yeast.

Make it as stiff as can be stirred with a spoon with warm water. Let
it rise from night till morning. Then put it in a large deep pan, and
smooth the top with the hand dipped in cold water, and let it stand a
while. Bake five or six hours. If put in late in the day, let it remain
all night in the oven.
Rye Bread

A quart of water, and as much milk.

Two teaspoonfuls of salt, and a tea-cup of Indian meal.

A tea-cup full of home-brewed yeast, or half as much distillery yeast.

Make it as stiff as wheat bread, with rye flour.
Rice Bread.--No. 1

One pint of rice, boiled till soft.

Two quarts of rice flour, or wheat flour.

A teaspoonful of salt.

A tea-cup of home-brewed, or half as much distillery yeast.

Milk to make it so as to mould like wheat bread.
Rice Bread.--No. 2

Three half pints of ground rice.

Two teaspoonfuls (not heaping) of salt.

Two gills of home-brewed yeast.

Three quarts of milk, or milk and water. Mix the rice with cold milk
and water to a thin gruel, and boil it three minutes. Then stir in
wheat flour till as stiff as can be stirred with a spoon. When blood
warm, add the yeast. This keeps moist longer than No. 1.