Chapter XVII: =Vegetables.= (2)

Minced lean of ham, 2 oz.; mushrooms, 2 oz.; bread-crumbs, 2 oz.; shalots, 4 to 8; parsley, full teaspoonful; cayenne, quarter saltspoonful; little salt, if needed; butter, 2 oz.; yolks of eggs, 2 to 3: baked 10 to 20 minutes.

_Obs._—The French pound the whole of these ingredients with a bit of garlic, before they fill the tomatas with them, but this is not absolutely necessary, and the garlic, if added at all, should be parboiled first, as its strong flavour, combined with that of the eschalots, would scarcely suit the general taste. When the lean of a dressed ham is at hand, only the herbs and vegetables will need to be stewed in the butter; this should be mixed with them into the forcemeat, which an intelligent cook will vary in many ways.

PURÉE OF TOMATAS.

Divide a dozen fine ripe tomatas, squeeze out the seeds, and take off the stalks; put them with one small mild onion (or more, if liked), and about half a pint of very good gravy, into a well-tinned stewpan or saucepan, and simmer them for nearly or quite an hour; a couple of bay-leaves, some cayenne, and as much salt as the dish may require, should be added when they begin to boil. Press them through a sieve, heat them again, and stir to them a quarter of a pint of good cream, previously mixed and boiled for five minutes with a teaspoonful of flour. This purée is to be served with calf’s head, veal cutlets, boiled knuckle of veal, calf’s brains, or beef palates. For pork, beef, geese, and other brown meats, the tomatas should be reduced to a proper consistence in rich and highly-flavoured brown gravy, or Spanish sauce.

TO BOIL GREEN INDIAN CORN.

When still quite green and tender, the ears of maize or Indian corn are very good boiled and served as a vegetable; and as they will not ripen well in this country unless the summer be unusually warm and favourable, it is an advantageous mode of turning them to account. Strip away the sheath which encloses them, and take off the long silken fibres from the tops; put the corn into boiling water salted as for asparagus, and boil it for about half an hour. Drain it well, dish it on a toast, and send it to table with melted butter. The Americans, who have it served commonly at their tables, use it when more fully grown than we have recommended, and boil it without removing the inner leaves of the sheath; but it is sweeter and more delicate before it has reached so advanced a state. The grains may be freed from the corn-stalks with a knife, and tossed up with a slice of fresh butter and some pepper and salt, or served simply like green peas. Other modes of dressing the young maize will readily suggest themselves to an intelligent cook, and our space will not permit us to enumerate them.

25 to 30 minutes.

MUSHROOMS AU BEURRE.

(_Delicious._)

Cut the stems from some fine meadow mushroom-buttons, and clean them with a bit of new flannel, and some fine salt; then either wipe them dry with a soft cloth, or rinse them in fresh water, drain them quickly, spread them in a clean cloth, fold it over them, and leave them for ten minutes, or more, to dry. For every pint of them thus prepared, put an ounce and a half of fresh butter into a thick iron saucepan, shake it over the fire until it _just_ begins to brown, throw in the mushrooms, continue to shake the saucepan over a clear fire that they may not stick to it nor burn, and when they have simmered three or four minutes, strew over them a little salt, some cayenne, and pounded mace; stew them until they are perfectly tender, heap them in a dish, and serve them with their own sauce only, for breakfast, supper, or luncheon. Nothing can be finer than the flavour of the mushrooms thus prepared; and the addition of any liquid is far from an improvement to it. They are very good when drained from the butter, and served cold, and in a cool larder may be kept for several days. The butter in which they are stewed is admirable for flavouring gravies, sauces, or potted meats. Small flaps, freed from the fur and skin, may be stewed in the same way; and either these, or the buttons, served under roast poultry or partridges, will give a dish of very superior relish.

Meadow mushrooms, 3 pints; fresh butter 4-1/2 oz.: 3 to 5 minutes. Salt, 1 small teaspoonful; mace, half as much; cayenne, third of saltspoonful: 10 to 15 minutes. More spices to be added if required—much depending on their quality; but they should not overpower the flavour of the mushrooms.

_Obs._—Persons inhabiting parts of the country where mushrooms are abundant, may send them easily, when thus prepared (or when potted by the following receipt), to their friends in cities, or in less productive counties. If poured into jars, with sufficient butter to cover them, they will travel any distance, and can be re-warmed for use.

POTTED MUSHROOMS.

Prepare either small flaps or buttons with great nicety, without wetting them, and wipe the former very dry, after the application of the salt and flannel. Stew them quite tender, with the same proportion of butter as the mushrooms _au beurre_, but increase a little the quantity of spice; when they are done turn them into a large dish, spread them over one end of it, and raise it two or three inches that they may be well drained from the butter. As soon as they are quite cold, press them very closely into small potting-pans; pour lukewarm clarified butter thickly over them, and store them in a cool dry place. If intended for present use, merely turn them down upon a clean shelf; but for longer keeping cover the tops first with very dry paper, and then with melted mutton-suet. We have ourselves had the mushrooms, after being simply spread upon a dish while hot, remain perfectly good in that state for seven or eight weeks: they were prepared late in the season, and the weather was consequently cool during the interval.

MUSHROOM-TOAST, OR CROÛTE AUX CHAMPIGNONS.

(_Excellent._)

Cut the stems closely from a quart or more, of small just-opened mushrooms; peel them, and take out the gills. Dissolve from two to three ounces of fresh butter in a well-tinned saucepan or stewpan, put in the mushrooms, strew over them a quarter of a teaspoonful of pounded mace mixed with a little cayenne, and let them stew over a gentle fire from ten to fifteen minutes; toss or stir them often during the time; then add a small dessertspoonful of flour, and shake the pan round until it is lightly browned. Next pour in, by slow degrees, half a pint of gravy or of good beef-broth; and when the mushrooms have stewed softly in this for a couple of minutes, throw in a little salt, and a squeeze of lemon-juice, and pour them on to a crust, cut about an inch and a quarter thick, from the under part of a moderate-sized loaf, and fried in good butter a light brown, after having been first slightly hollowed in the inside. New milk, or thin cream, may be used with very good effect instead of the gravy; but a few strips of lemon-rind, and a small portion of nutmeg and mushroom-catsup should then be added to the sauce. The bread may be buttered and grilled over a gentle fire instead of being fried, and is better so.

Small mushrooms, 4 to 5 half pints; butter, 3 to 4 oz.; mace, mixed with a little cayenne, 1/4 teaspoonful: stewed softly 10 to 15 minutes. Flour, 1 small dessertspoonful: 3 to 5 minutes. Gravy or broth, 1/2 pint: 2 minutes. Little salt and lemon-juice.

TRUFFLES AND THEIR USES.

The truffle, or underground mushroom, as it has sometimes been called, is held in almost extravagant estimation by epicures,[109] and enters largely into what may be termed first-class cookery, both in England and abroad; though it is much less generally known and used here than in France, Germany, and other parts of the Continent, where it is far more abundant, and of very superior quality.

Footnote 109:

It has been named by a celebrated gastronomer of past days, “_Le
diamant de la cuisine_.”

As it is in constant demand for luxuriously-served tables, and has hitherto, we believe, baffled all attempts to increase it by cultivation, it bears usually a high price in the English market,[110] and is seldom to be had cheap in any; but although too costly for common consumption, where the expenditure is regulated by rational economy, it may at times be made to supply, at a reasonable expense, some excellent store-preparations for the breakfast and luncheon-table; as a small portion will impart its peculiar flavour to them.

Footnote 110:

Varying from eight to sixteen shillings the pound at the best foreign
warehouses. The truffles which are pared, bottled and steamed like
fruit, are more expensive still; but they can be kept after the season
of the fresh ones is entirely past. English truffles—which are found
in Hampshire (in the New Forest)—and in some few other of our
counties, are very good, though seldom or ever equal in quality to
those of France, Germany, and of different parts of Italy. The most
esteemed of the French ones are from _Perigord_.

The blackest truffles are considered the best. All are in their perfection during the latter part of November, December, and January; though they may be procured usually from October to March; yet as they are peculiarly subject to decay—or, properly speaking, become really _putrid_—from exposure to the air, it is an advantage to have them as early in their season as may be. In sumptuous households the very finest foreign truffles are often served _as a vegetable_ in the second course.

TO PREPARE TRUFFLES FOR USE.

First soak them for an hour or two in fresh water, to loosen the earth which adheres to them; then rinse them well from it, and with a hard brush scrub them until not a particle of the mould in which they have been embedded can be seen upon them. This part of the operation should be especially attended to, because the parings are as useful as the truffles themselves. It is often needful to leave them longer in the water after it has been changed; and even to soak them sometimes in lukewarm water also: when they are _perfectly_ cleaned, wipe them gently with a soft cloth, or fold them in to dry, should they be wanted for any preparation to which moisture would be injurious.

TRUFFLES À LA SERVIETTE.

Select the finest truffles for this dish, be particular in smelling them, and reject any that have a musty smell. Wash and brush them well with cold water only, change it several times, and when they are perfectly clean line a stewpan with slices of bacon; put in the truffles with a bunch of parsley, green onions, and thyme, two or three bay-leaves, half a dozen cloves, and a little sweet basil; pour in sufficient rich veal gravy to cover them, with the addition of from half a pint to half a bottle of champagne; boil them very softly for an hour, then draw them aside and let them cool in the gravy. Heat them afresh in it when they are wanted for table; lift them out and drain them in a very clean cloth, and dish them neatly in a fine and beautifully white napkin, which will contrast as strongly as possible with the dark hue of the truffles.

TRUFFLES À L’ITALIENNE.

Wash perfectly clean, wipe, and pare some truffles extremely thin; slice them about the size of a penny; put them into a sauté-pan (or small frying-pan), with a slice of fresh butter, some minced parsley and eschalot, salt and pepper; put them on the fire and stir them, that they may fry equally; when they are done, which will be in about ten minutes, drain off part of the butter, and throw in a bit of fresh butter, a small ladleful of Spanish sauce (see page 101), the juice of one lemon, and a little cayenne pepper. This is a dish of high relish.

TO BOIL SPROUTS, CABBAGES, SAVOYS, LETTUCES, OR ENDIVE.

All green vegetables should be thrown into abundance of fast boiling water ready salted and skimmed, with the addition of the small quantity of carbonate of soda which we have recommended, in a previous page of this chapter; the pan should be left uncovered, and every precaution taken to prevent the smoke from reaching its contents. Endive, sprouts, and spring greens, will only require copious washing before they are boiled; but savoys, large lettuces, and close-leaved cabbages should be thrown into salt and water for half an hour or more before they are dressed, with the tops downwards to draw out the insects. The stems of these last should be cut off, the decayed leaves stripped away, and the vegetable halved or quartered, or split deeply across the stalk-end, and divided entirely before it is dished.

Very young greens, 15 to 20 minutes; lettuces, 20 to 30 minutes, large savoys, or cabbages, 1 to 1-1/2 hour, or more.

_Obs._—When the stalk of any kind of cabbage is tender it is ready to serve. Turnip-greens should be well washed in several waters, and boiled in a very large quantity to deprive them of their bitterness.

STEWED CABBAGE.

Cut out the stalk entirely, and slice a fine firm cabbage or two in very thin strips; throw them after they have been well washed and drained, into a large pan of boiling water ready salted and skimmed, and when they are tender, which will be in from ten to fifteen minutes, pour them into a sieve or strainer, press the water thoroughly from them, and chop them slightly. Put into a very clean saucepan about a couple of ounces of butter, and when it is dissolved add the cabbage with sufficient pepper and salt to season it, and stir it over a clear fire until it appears tolerably dry; then shake lightly in a tablespoonful of flour, turn the whole well, and add by slow degrees a cup of thick cream: veal gravy or good white sauce may be substituted for this, when preferred to it.

TO BOIL TURNIPS.

Pare entirely from them the fibrous rind, and either split the turnips once or leave them whole; throw them into boiling water slightly salted, and keep them closely covered from smoke and dust until they are tender. When small and young they will be done in from fifteen to twenty minutes; at their full growth they will require from three quarters to a full hour, or more, of gentle boiling. After they become old and woolly they are not worth dressing in any way. When boiled in their skins and pared afterwards, they are said to be of better flavour and much less watery than when cooked in the usual way.

Young turnips, 15 to 20 minutes: full grown, 3/4 to 1 hour, or more.

TO MASH TURNIPS.

Split them once or even twice should they be large after they are pared; boil them very tender, and press the water thoroughly from them with a couple of trenchers, or with the back of a large plate and one trencher. To ensure their being free from lumps, it is better to pass them through a cullender or coarse hair-sieve, with a wooden spoon; though, when quite young, they may be worked sufficiently smooth without this. Put them into a clean saucepan, and stir them constantly for some minutes over a gentle fire, that they may be very dry; then add some salt, a bit of fresh butter, and a little cream, or in lieu of this new milk (we would also recommend a seasoning of white pepper or cayenne, when appearance and fashion are not particularly regarded), and continue to simmer and to stir them for five or six minutes longer, or until they have quite absorbed all the liquid which has been poured to them. Serve them always as hot as possible. This is an excellent receipt; but the addition of a little good white sauce would render it still better.

Turnips, weighed after they are pared, 3 lbs.: dried 5 to 8 minutes. Salt, 1 teaspoonful; butter, 1 oz. to 1-1/2 oz.; cream or milk, nearly 1/2 pint: 5 or 6 minutes.

TURNIPS IN WHITE SAUCE. (ENTREMETS.)

When no scoop for the purpose is at hand, cut some small finely-grained turnips into quarters, and pare them into balls, or into the shape of plums or pears of equal size; arrange them evenly in a broad stewpan or saucepan, and cover them nearly with good veal broth, throw in a little salt, and a morsel of sugar, and boil them rather quickly until they are quite tender, but preserve them unbroken; lift them out, draining them well from the broth; dish, and pour over them some thick white sauce. As an economy, a cup of cream, and a teaspoonful of arrow-root, may be added to the broth in which the turnips have stewed, to make the sauce; and when it boils, a small slice of butter may be stirred and well worked into it, should it not be sufficiently rich without.

TURNIPS STEWED IN BUTTER. (GOOD.)

This is an excellent way of dressing the vegetable when it is mild and finely grained; but its flavour otherwise is too strong to be agreeable. After they have been washed, wiped quite dry, and pared, slice the turnips nearly half an inch thick, and divide them into dice,. Just dissolve an ounce of butter for each half-pound of the turnips, put them in as flat as they can be, and stew them very gently indeed, from three quarters of an hour to a full hour. Add a seasoning of salt and white pepper when they are half done. When thus prepared, they may be dished in the centre of fried or nicely broiled mutton cutlets, or served by themselves.

For a small dish: turnips, 1-1/2 lb.; butter, 3 oz.; seasoning of white pepper; salt, 1/2 teaspoonful, or more: 3/4 to 1 hour. Large dish: turnips, 2 lbs.; butter 4 oz.

TURNIPS IN GRAVY.

To a pound of turnips sliced and cut into dice, pour a quarter of a pint of boiling veal gravy, add a small lump of sugar, some salt and cayenne, or white pepper, and boil them quickly from fifty to sixty minutes. Serve them very hot.

TO BOIL CARROTS.

Wash the mould from them, and scrape the skin off lightly with the edge of a sharp knife, or, should this be objected to, pare them as thin and as equally as possible; in either case free them from all blemishes, and should they be very large, divide them, and cut the thick parts into quarters; rinse them well, and throw them into plenty of boiling water with some salt in it. The skin of very young carrots may be rubbed off like that of new potatoes, and from twenty to thirty minutes will then be sufficient to boil them; but at their full growth they will require from an hour and a half to two hours. It was formerly the custom to tie them in a cloth, and to wipe the skin from them with it after they were dressed; and old-fashioned cooks still use one to remove it; but all vegetables should, we think, be dished and served with the least possible delay after they are ready for table. Melted butter should accompany boiled carrots.

Very young carrots, 20 to 30 minutes. Full-grown ones, 1-1/2 to 2 hours.

CARROTS. (ENTRÉE.)

(_The Windsor Receipt._)

Select some good carrots of equal size, and cut the upper parts into even lengths of about two inches and a half, then trim one end of each into a point, so as to give the carrot the form of a sugar loaf.[111] When all are ready, throw them into plenty of ready-salted boiling water, and boil them three quarters of an hour. Lift them out, and drain them well, then arrange them upright, and all on a level in a broad stewpan or saucepan, and pour in good hot beef-broth or veal gravy to half their height; add as much salt as may be needed, and a small teaspoonful of sugar, and boil them briskly for half an hour, or longer, should they require it. Place them again upright in dishing them, and keep them hot while a little good brown gravy is thickened to pour over them, and mixed with a large teaspoonful of parsley and a little lemon-juice; or sauce them with common _béchamel_ (see Chapter V.), or white sauce, with or without the addition of parsley.

Footnote 111:

See plate, page 338.

Thick part of carrots cut in cones: boiled 3/4 hour. With gravy or broth, little salt and sugar: 1/2 hour, or more. Sauce: thickened gravy, _béchamel_ made without meat, or common white sauce.

_Obs._—The carrots dressed thus are exceedingly good without any sauce beyond the small quantity of liquid which will remain in the stewpan with them, or with a few spoonsful more of gravy added to this, and thickened with butter and a little flour.

SWEET CARROTS. (ENTREMETS.)

Boil quite tender some fine highly-flavoured carrots, press the water from them, and rub them through the back of a fine hair-sieve; put them into a clean saucepan or stewpan, and dry them thoroughly over a gentle fire; then add a slice of fresh butter, and when this is dissolved and well mixed with them, strew in a dessertspoonful or more of powdered sugar, and a little salt; next, stir in by degrees some good cream, and when this is quite absorbed, and the carrots again appear dry, dish and serve them quickly with small sippets _à la Reine_ (see page 5), placed round them.

Carrots, 3 lbs., boiled quite tender: stirred over a gentle fire 5 to 10 minutes. Butter, 2 oz.; salt, 1/2 teaspoonful; pounded sugar, 1 dessertspoonful; cream, 1/2 pint, stewed gently together until quite dry.

_Obs._—For excellent _mashed carrots_ omit the sugar, add a good seasoning of salt and white pepper, and half a pint of rich brown gravy; or for a plain dinner rather less than this of milk.

MASHED (OR BUTTERED) CARROTS.

(_A Dutch Receipt._)

Prepare some finely flavoured carrots as above, and dry them over a gentle fire like mashed turnips; then for a dish of moderate size mix well with them from two to three ounces of good butter, cut into small bits, keeping them _well stirred_. Add a seasoning of salt and cayenne, and serve them very hot, garnished or not at pleasure with small sippets (_croutons_) of fried bread.

CARROTS AU BEURRE, OR BUTTERED CARROTS.

(_French._)

Either boil sufficient carrots for a dish quite tender, and then cut them into slices a quarter of an inch thick, or first slice, and then boil them: the latter method is the most expeditious, but the other best preserves the flavour of the vegetable. Drain them well, and while this is being done just dissolve from two to three ounces of butter in a saucepan, and strew in some minced parsley, some salt, and white pepper or cayenne; then add the carrots, and toss them very gently until they are equally covered with the sauce, which should not be allowed to boil: the parsley may be omitted at pleasure. Cold carrots may be re-warmed in this way.

CARROTS IN THEIR OWN JUICE.

(_A simple but excellent Receipt._)

By the following mode of dressing carrots, whether young or old, their full flavour and all the nutriment they contain are entirely preserved; and they are at the same time rendered so palatable by it that they furnish at once an admirable dish to eat without meat, as well as with it. Wash the roots very clean, and scrape or lightly pare them, cutting out any discoloured parts. Have ready boiling and salted, as much water as will cover them; slice them rather thick, throw them into it, and should there be more than sufficient to just _float_ them (and barely that), pour it away. Boil them gently until they are tolerably tender, and then very quickly, to evaporate the water, of which only a spoonful or so should be left in the saucepan. Dust a seasoning of pepper on them, throw in a morsel of butter rolled in flour, and turn and toss them gently until their juice is thickened by them and adheres to the roots. Send them immediately to table. They are excellent without _any_ addition but the pepper; though they may be in many ways improved. A dessertspoonful of minced parsley may be strewed over them when the butter is added, and a little thick cream mixed with a _small_ proportion of flour to prevent its curdling, may be strewed amongst them, or a spoonful or two of good gravy.

TO BOIL PARSNEPS.

These are dressed in precisely the same manner as carrots, but require much less boiling. According to their quality and the time of year, they will take from twenty minutes to nearly an hour. Every speck or blemish should be cut from them after they are scraped, and the water in which they are boiled should be well skimmed. They are a favourite accompaniment to salt fish and boiled pork, and may be served either mashed or plain.

20 to 25 minutes.

FRIED PARSNEPS.

Boil them until they are about half done, lift them out, and let them cool; slice them rather thickly, sprinkle them with fine salt and white pepper, and fry them a pale brown in good butter. Serve them with roast meat, or dish them under it.

JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES.

Wash the artichokes, pare them quickly, and throw them as they are done into a saucepan of cold water, or of equal parts of milk and water; and when they are about half boiled add a little salt to them. Take them up the instant they are perfectly tender: this will be in from fifteen to twenty-five minutes, so much do they vary in size and as to the time necessary to dress them. If allowed to remain in the water after they are done, they become black and flavourless. Melted butter should always be sent to table with them.

15 to 25 minutes.

TO FRY JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES. (ENTREMETS.)

Boil them from eight to twelve minutes; lift them out, drain them on a sieve, and let them cool; dip them into beaten eggs, and cover them with fine bread-crumbs. Fry them a light brown, drain, pile them in a hot dish, and serve them quickly.

JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES, À LA REINE.

Artichokes à la Reine.
]

Wash and wipe the artichokes, cut off one end of each quite flat, and trim the other into a point; boil them in milk and water, lift them out the instant they are done, place them upright in the dish in which they are to be served, and sauce them with a good _béchamel_, or with nearly half a pint of cream thickened with a rice-crustspoonful of flour, mixed with an ounce and a half of butter, and seasoned with a little mace and some salt. When cream cannot be procured use new milk, and increase the proportion of flour and butter.

MASHED JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES.

Boil them tender, press the water well from them, and then proceed exactly as for mashed turnips, taking care to dry the artichokes well, both before and after the milk or cream is added to them; they will be excellent if good white sauce be substituted for either of these.

HARICOTS BLANCS.

The _haricot blanc_ is the seed of a particular kind of French bean, of which we find some difficulty in ascertaining the English name, for though we have tried several which resembled it in appearance, we have found their flavour, after they were dressed, very different, and far from agreeable. The large white Dutch runner, is, we believe, the proper variety for cooking; at least we have obtained a small quantity under that name, which approached much more nearly than any others we had tried to those which we had eaten abroad. The haricots, when fresh may be thrown into plenty of boiling water, with some salt and a small bit of butter; if dry, they must be previously soaked for an hour or two, put into cold water, brought to boil gently, and simmered until they are tender, for if boiled fast the skins will burst before the beans are done. Drain them thoroughly from the water when they are ready, and lay them into a clean saucepan over two or three ounces of fresh butter, a small dessertspoonful of chopped parsley, and sufficient salt and pepper to season the whole; then gently shake or toss the beans until they are quite hot and equally covered with the sauce; add the strained juice of half a lemon, and serve them quickly. The vegetable thus dressed, is excellent; and it affords a convenient resource in the season when the supply of other kinds is scantiest. In some countries the dried beans are placed in water, over-night, upon a stove, and by a very gentle degree of warmth are sufficiently softened by the following day to be served as follows:—they are drained from the water, spread on a clean cloth and wiped quite dry, then lightly floured and fried in oil or butter, with a seasoning of pepper and salt, lifted into a hot dish, and served under roast beef, or mutton.

TO BOIL BEET ROOT.

Wash the roots delicately clean, but neither scrape nor cut them, for should even the small fibres be taken off before they are cooked, their beautiful colour would be much injured. Throw them into boiling water, and, according to their size, which varies greatly, as they are sometimes of enormous growth, boil them from one hour and a half to two and a half, or longer if requisite. Pare and serve them whole, or cut into thick slices and neatly dished in a close circle: send melted butter to table with them. Cold red beet root is often intermingled with other vegetables for winter salads; and it makes a pickle of remarkably brilliant hue. A common mode of serving it at the present day is in the last course of a dinner with the cheese: it is merely pared and sliced after having been baked or boiled tender.

1-1/2 to 2-1/2 hours, or longer.

TO BAKE BEET ROOT.

Beet root if slowly and carefully baked until it is tender quite through, is very rich and sweet in flavour, although less bright in colour than when it is boiled: it is also, we believe, remarkably nutritious and wholesome. Wash and wipe it very dry, but neither cut nor break any part of it; then lay it into a coarse earthen dish, and bake it in a gentle oven for four or five hours: it will sometimes require even a longer time than this. Pare it quickly if it be served hot; but leave it to cool first, when it is to be sent to table cold.

In slow oven from 4 to 6 hours.

STEWED BEET ROOT.

Bake or boil it tolerably tender, and let it remain until it is cold, then pare and cut it into slices; heat and stew it for a short time in some good pale veal gravy (or in strong veal broth for ordinary occasions), thicken this with a teaspoonful of arrow-root, and half a cupful or more of good cream, and stir in, as it is taken from the fire, from a tea to a tablespoonful of chili vinegar. The beet root may be served likewise in thick white sauce, to which, just before it is dished, the mild eschalots of page 128 may be added.

TO STEW RED CABBAGE.

(_Flemish Receipt._)

Strip the outer leaves from a fine and fresh red cabbage; wash it well, and cut it into the thinnest possible slices, beginning at the top; put it into a thick saucepan in which two or three ounces of good butter have been just dissolved; add some pepper and salt, and stew it very slowly indeed for three or four hours in its own juice, keeping it often stirred, and well pressed down. When it is perfectly tender add a tablespoonful of vinegar; mix the whole up thoroughly, heap the cabbage in a hot dish, and serve broiled sausages round it; or omit these last, and substitute lemon-juice, cayenne pepper, and a half-cupful of good gravy.

The stalk of the cabbage should be split in quarters and taken entirely out in the first instance.

3 to 4 hours.

BRUSSELS SPROUTS.

These delicate little sprouts, or miniature cabbages, which at their fullest growth scarcely exceed a large walnut in size, should be quite freshly gathered. Free them from all discoloured leaves, cut the stems even, and wash the sprouts thoroughly. Throw them into a pan of water properly salted, and boil them quickly from eight to ten minutes; drain them _well_, and serve them upon a rather thick round of toasted bread buttered on both sides. Send good melted butter to table with them. This is the Belgian mode of dressing this excellent vegetable, which is served in France with the sauce poured over it, or it is tossed in a stewpan with a slice of butter and some pepper and salt: a spoonful or two of veal gravy (and sometimes a little lemon-juice) is added when these are perfectly mixed.

8 to 10 minutes.

SALSIFY.

We are surprised that a vegetable so excellent as this should be so little cared for in England. Delicately fried in batter—which is a common mode of serving it abroad—it forms a delicious second course dish: it is also good when plain-boiled, drained, and served in gravy, or even with melted butter. Wash the roots, scrape gently off the dark outside skin, and throw them into cold water as they are done, to prevent their turning black; cut them into lengths of three or four inches, and when all are ready put them into plenty of boiling water with a little salt, a small bit of butter, and a couple of spoonsful of white vinegar or the juice of a lemon: they will be done in from three quarters of an hour to an hour. Try them with a fork, and when perfectly tender, drain, and serve them with white sauce, rich brown gravy, or melted butter.

3/4 to 1 hour.

FRIED SALSIFY. (ENTREMETS.)

Boil the salsify tender, as directed above, drain, and then press it lightly in a soft cloth. Make some French batter (see Chapter V.), throw the bits of salsify into it, take them out separately, and fry them a light brown, drain them well from the fat, sprinkle a little fine salt over them after they are dished, and serve them quickly. At English tables, salsify occasionally makes its appearance fried with egg and bread-crumbs instead of batter. Scorgonera is dressed in precisely the same manner as the salsify.

BOILED CELERY.

This vegetable is extremely good dressed like sea-kale, and served on a toast with rich melted butter. Let it be freshly dug, wash it with great nicety, trim the ends, take off the coarse outer-leaves, cut the roots of equal length, tie them in bunches, and boil them in plenty of water, with the usual proportion of salt, from twenty to thirty minutes.

20 to 30 minutes.

STEWED CELERY.

Cut five or six fine roots of celery to the length of the inside of the dish in which they are to be served; free them from all the coarser leaves, and from the green tops, trim the root ends neatly, and wash the vegetable in several waters until it is as clean as possible; then, either boil it tender with a little salt, and a bit of fresh butter the size of a walnut, in just sufficient water to cover it quite, drain it well, arrange it on a very hot dish, and pour a thick _béchamel_, or white sauce over it; or stew it in broth or common stock, and serve it with very rich, thickened, Espagnole or brown gravy. It has a higher flavour when partially stewed in the sauce, after being drained thoroughly from the broth. Unless very large and old, it will be done in from twenty-five to thirty minutes, but if not quite tender, longer time must be allowed for it. A cheap and expeditious method of preparing this dish is to slice the celery, to simmer it until soft in as much good broth as will only just cover it, and to add a thickening of flour and butter, or arrow-root, with some salt, pepper, and a small cupful of cream.

25 to 30 minutes, or more.

STEWED ONIONS.

Strip the outer skin from four or five fine Portugal onions, and trim the ends, but without cutting into the vegetable; arrange them in a saucepan of sufficient size to contain them all in one layer, just cover them with good beef or veal gravy, and stew them very gently indeed for a couple of hours: they should be tender quite through, but should not be allowed to fall to pieces. When large, but not _mild_ onions are used, they should be first boiled for half an hour in plenty of water, then drained from it, and put into boiling gravy: strong, well-flavoured broth of veal or beef, is sometimes substituted for this, and with the addition of a little catsup, spice, and thickening, answers very well. The savour of this dish is heightened by flouring lightly and frying the onions of a pale brown before they are stewed.

Portugal onions, 4 or 5 (if fried, 15 to 20 minutes); broth or gravy, 1 to 1-1/2 pint: nearly or quite 2 hours.

_Obs._—When the quantity of gravy is considered too much, the onions may be only half covered, and turned when the under side is tender, but longer time must then be allowed for stewing them.

STEWED CHESTNUTS.

Strip the outer rind from forty or fifty fine sound Spanish chestnuts, throw them into a large saucepan of hot water, and bring it to the point of boiling; when the second skin parts from them easily, lift them out, and throw them into plenty of cold water; peel, and wipe them dry; then put them into a stewpan or bright saucepan, with as much highly-flavoured cold beef or veal gravy as will nearly cover them, and stew them very gently from three-quarters of an hour to a full hour: they should be quite tender, but unbroken. Add salt, cayenne, and thickening if required, and serve the chestnuts in their gravy. We have found it an improvement to have them floured and lightly browned in a little good butter before they are stewed, and also to add some thin strips of fresh lemon-rind to the gravy.

Chestnuts, 40 or 50; gravy, 3/4 pint, or more: 3/4 to 1 hour.

_Obs._—A couple of bay-leaves and a slice of lean ham will give an improved flavour to the sauce should it not be sufficiently rich: the ham should be laid under the chestnuts, but not served with them. When these are to be browned, or even otherwise, they may be freed readily from the second skin by shaking them with a small bit of butter in a frying-pan over a gentle fire.

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