The Country Housewife and Lady's Director in the Management of a House, and the Delights and Profits of a FarmBradley, Richard
Science
The Country Housewife and Lady's Director in the Management of a House, and the Delights and Profits of a Farm
Bradley, Richard
Cooking -- Early works to 1800; Cooking, English
This is the way of feeding a Boar for Brawn, but I cannot help thinking
'tis a little barbarous, and especially as the Creature is by some People
put in so close a Pen, that as I hear, it cannot lie down all the while
'tis feeding; and at last, considering the expence of Food, Brawn is but an
insipid kind of Meat: however, as some are lovers of it, it is necessary to
prescribe the method which should be used in the preparing it.
In this Month we have plenty of Artichokes and it is a good Season to put
them up for Winter use, to be used simply, or to be put in Sauces, or in
compound Dishes; they are easily dried or pickled, to be kept, and if they
are not gather'd as soon as they are in their perfection, they will lose
the goodness of their Hearts, or the Bottoms, as some call them. In a
plentiful Year of them I have had a great number dried for Winter use, in
the following manner.
Concerning the gathering, and ordering Artichokes for drying.
In the gathering of Artichokes, observe, that the Leaves of what is call'd
the Artichoke be pointing inwards, and lie close at the Top, for then the
Bottom will be large and full; but if you find many of the Leaves of the
Artichoke spread from the Top, then the Choke, or bristly part is shot so
much, that it has drawn out much of the Heart of the Artichoke; and as the
Flower comes forward, the more that grows, the thinner will be the Bottom,
which is the best part of it.
When you cut the Artichoke, cut it with a long Stalk, that when you use it
you may clear it well of its Strings, which will else spoil the goodness of
the Bottom, wherein the Strings will remain; to do this, lay the Artichoke
upon a Table, and hold it down hard with one Hand, while with the other
Hand you pull the Stalk hard up and down, till it quits the Artichoke, and
will then pull away the Strings along with it; this being done, lay the
Artichokes in Water for an Hour, and then put them into a Kettle of cold
Water to boil, till they are tender enough to separate the Leaves and the
Chokes from them. When this is done, lay the Hearts, or Bottoms upon a
Cullender, or some other thing, to drain conveniently; then dry them upon a
Wire Sieve, or Gridiron, in a gentle Oven, by degrees, till they are as
hard as Wood. These will keep good twelve Months if they are laid by in a
dry Place.
When we want to use these for boiling, frying, or to accompany other Meats,
we must put them into warm Water, often repeating it to them for eight and
forty Hours, by which means they will come to themselves, and be as good
when they come to be scalded as if they were fresh gather'd. But they may
also be preserv'd after the following manner.
Second Way to preserve Artichokes.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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