Chapter II: Part 2

=Beans à la Bretonne.=--Prepare according to directions given for beans with cream, using one quart of beans, drain and reheat with a tablespoonful each of butter and chopped onion; brown slightly. Season with minced parsley, pepper, and salt, add the juice of a lemon and a cupful of white stock or hot milk. Serve immediately.

=How to Preserve French Beans.=--The strings should be pulled off. Wash them, then cook them for ten minutes in boiling water. Take them out, and pour cold water over them, dry them, and put them into jars, and fill to the brim with salted water; cover, and tie up the tops, put the jars into hot water for an hour and a half without ever letting them actually boil or the jars might be cracked. They should be placed in a deep enough pan, so as to cover the jars to the necks.

=French Beans Boiled.=--String, and cut in crossway slices two pounds of French beans, put into abundance of boiling water, to which one tablespoonful of salt and a piece of soda the size of a pea have been added; this preserves the fresh green. If there is not plenty of water the beans will not cook properly. Boil for twenty minutes to half an hour. Drain through a colander and serve on a drainer.

=French Beans Sauté.=--Boil as above; after draining, return to the saucepan. Add a sprinkle of pepper and a tablespoonful of butter; shake well for three minutes and serve very hot.

BEETROOT (_Beta vulgaris. Chenopodiaceæ_).

As with all root crops, a soil fairly free from stones is preferred; a stony ground will produce malformed roots. A light sandy loam will grow the best beet, but any good garden soil will answer excellently. There should be no recent manure in the two upper spits, but a slight dressing of old manure beneath the second spit will work wonders.

A giant beet is far from desirable for cooking, as it requires such a monstrous great pan, since, if the taproot be broken, the beet will bleed and lose all its colour, and the cook will send anæmic-looking slabs of garnishing on the salads. Probably there is no better beet for private growing than Nutting’s dwarf red. The turnip-rooted beets are compact, it is true, but we do not think they can compare with this for flavour or tender texture.

Sow beet during April in shallow drills a foot apart, single the seedlings in May, and thin out three weeks later to eight inches distance. Keep the ground free from weeds by means of frequent use of the Dutch hoe. The roots may be used as soon as large enough, and the whole crop must be lifted in September, or early October. Choosing a bright dry day, lift them with a long tined fork most carefully, trim the leaves off two inches from the crown, and store in sand in a cool, frost-proof cellar. The utmost care must be taken not to bruise or break the roots.

=Swiss Chard or Leaf Beet.=--Three hundred years ago, before the introduction of beetroot, beets were grown for their foliage only, and Gerarde, who wrote in 1597, tells us that “the leaves were eaten as salad with oil and vinegar.”

The cultivation is much the same as for root beet, except that it can stand more manure, as it is the foliage which is required, and the ground does not need much preparation. At the end of the summer the leaves can be gathered, and, with a little protection from frost, the plants will bear for a long time.

The leaves can be eaten for salad or cooked like spinach with a little sorrel, and the midribs are treated as sea kale or cardoons. It will thus be seen it is a very useful plant.--W. F. GILES, Sutton and Sons, Reading.

ITALIAN DISHES.

=Beet Leaves Boiled.=--Take the young leaves of white beetroot, tie them in bunches, and put them into salted boiling water. They can be cooked in butter like Spinach, or served on buttered toast with Sauce Hollandaise.

=Beet “Gnocchi.”=--Wash well and remove the midribs of a bundle of beet leaves, boil, and then throw them into cold water, dry, and mince them very finely, put them into an earthenware pot with four ounces of freshly grated cheese, four fresh eggs, four ounces of curds or fresh milk cheese, a little grated nutmeg, and some salt. When thick, put it on a well-floured table and make a long roll the size of a finger, cut into pieces about two inches long, flour them well, and throw them into an earthen pot of boiling water.

As they come to the surface take them out, drain well, season with butter, a little grated nutmeg, cinnamon, and cheese. These must be cooked over a hot fire.--_Leaves from a Tuscan Kitchen._

=Boiled Beetroot.=--Select small, smooth beets and clean without cutting or scraping them. Boil for an hour or two, and cool. Remove the skins, cut them into slices, and serve either cold, or reheat in melted butter with salt, pepper, vinegar, chopped parsley and a little chopped, boiled onion added to season it.

=Stewed Beetroot.=--Prepare according to the direction given for boiled beets, and cut into thin slices. Cook together a tablespoonful each of butter and flour, add a cupful of water and a tablespoonful of vinegar. Cook until thick, stirring constantly. Season with salt and pepper, heat the beets in the sauce, and serve with small button onions parboiled, and fried brown in butter and sugar.

_Another method._--Prepare according to directions given for boiled beets. When peeled and sliced reheat, with salt, pepper and vinegar to taste, a boiled onion chopped fine, and a little minced parsley; add a little flour cooked in butter and simmer slowly for fifteen minutes, stirring frequently.

=Cream Beets.=--Cook small white beets in salted water until tender. Rinse in cold water, rub off the skins, and reheat in cream sauce, or cut boiled beet into dice and mix with the sauce, adding more butter.

=Crême Sauce.=--A mixture of Béchamel Sauce. (See Sauce, p. 208.) Let it cool and then add two tablespoonfuls of cream and the yolk of one egg.

=Baked Beets.=--Wash without peeling, and bake slowly until done. Remove the skin, cut into slices, and season with melted butter, salt, and pepper. Serve very hot, with a little vinegar or sugar added to the seasoning, or serve whole with seasoned, melted butter.

=Beets with Sour Sauce.=--Prepare according to directions given for boiled beets, blend a heaped teaspoonful of cornflour with a little cold water, mix with a scant cupful of vinegar, bring to the boil, and cook till thick, stirring constantly. Add a teaspoonful each of butter and sugar to the sauce, and season with salt and pepper. Pour over the beets, and serve very hot in a covered dish. Less vinegar may be used, adding water as needed, and the sugar can be omitted also.

=Pickled Beets.=--(1) Wash small beets, but do not cut or scrape them. Cover with boiling water and boil until tender. Drain, rinse in cold water. Rub off the peel with your fingers, cut into slices, sprinkle with salt and pepper, cover with vinegar and let them stand for several hours before using. Serve cold.

(2) Boil two cupfuls of vinegar with a few cloves and peppercorns, a blade of mace, a tiny bit of ginger root. Take from the fire and add two cupfuls more of vinegar, and cool. Two tablespoonfuls of grated horse-radish and sugar to taste may be added. Prepare the beets according to directions given for boiled beets, and when peeled and sliced cover with the spiced vinegar. Let these stand for several hours before using.

=Beets with Pink Sauce.=--Prepare according to directions given for boiled beets. Peel and cut into dice, saving the juice. Make a drawn-butter sauce, seasoning with salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Reheat the beets in the sauce until the sauce is coloured.

=Beet Sauté.=--Prepare according to directions given for boiled beets. When peeled and sliced fry in butter, seasoning with pepper and sugar, serve hot.

=Beets Green.=--Use young beets, no larger than a walnut. Don’t cut off the tops. Wash thoroughly in several waters, using salt water first. Cook quickly in salted water until tender, drain, cut off the tops, and skin the beets by plunging into cold water and rubbing off the skins. Drain the greens, cut them up, and mix with the beets, season with salt and pepper, add melted butter and vinegar or lemon juice. Garnish with slices of hard-boiled eggs. Serve cold.

=Beets à la Barbette.=--Wash the beets and cook in boiling salted water until tender, leaving on a portion of the stalk. Rub off the peel, slice, season with salt, pepper, and brown sugar, and a little caraway seed. Pour over vinegar to taste, and let them stand several hours before using. For a relish beets may be chopped fine and mixed with an equal quantity of grated horse-radish.

=Beets à la Béchamel.=--Prepare according to directions given for boiled beets, and reheat in Béchamel sauce.

=Beets à la Chartreuse.=--Prepare according to directions for boiled beets. Cut a very thin slice of onion for every two slices of beet, and sandwich a slice of onion between each two, pressing together gently. Season with salt, pepper and vinegar, dip in butter, and fry slowly in deep fat, or butter, or oil.

=Beets à la St. Laurence.=--Previously prepare according to boiled beets. Fry a chopped onion in butter, dredge with flour, add two cupfuls of vegetable stock or milk, and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Add the beets, salt and pepper to taste, and cook for ten minutes; add two tablespoonfuls of butter and one of vinegar, bring to the boil, and serve.

=Beet-greens or Tops à l’Anglaise.=--Wash thoroughly and pick apart tender young beet tops. Cook until tender in a covered saucepan, using only enough melted butter to keep from burning. When tender, season with pepper and salt, add melted butter. Garnish with sliced hard-boiled eggs.

BORAGE (_Boraginaceæ_).

Sow in March and April in any ordinary garden soil in shallow drills a foot apart. Thin out the seedlings to a foot apart and keep the ground hoed between. The young leaves are used for claret, champagne, ginger ale cups, and as flavouring and garnishing for salads.

=Borecole or Kale.=--For culture, see under Cabbage.

=Broccoli.=--For culture, see under Cabbage.

BROCCOLI DISHES.

=Boiled Broccoli.=--To each half gallon of water allow one tablespoonful of salt and a tiny bit of soda; strip off the outside leaves, cut off the inside ones level with the flower; cut off the stalks close to the bottoms, and put the broccoli into cold salted water or vinegar and water, heads downwards, let them remain for about three-quarters of an hour, then put them into a saucepan of boiling water salted in the above proportion, and keep them boiling gently with the stalks upwards and the saucepan uncovered. Take up with a slice the moment they are done, drain well, and serve with a tureen of melted butter, a little of which should be poured over the broccoli. If left in the water after it is done the broccoli will break, its colour will be spoilt, and its crispness lost. If boiled too fast it will break.

_Note._--It is a good plan to place a small piece of toast or bread in the saucepan in which green vegetables are boiled, as this absorbs the unpleasant odour generated during the cooking.

=Broccoli au Gratin.=--Boil the broccoli according to directions, put in a tureen, and sprinkle over a little pepper and quarter of a pound of grated Parmesan cheese, put in the oven for five minutes until the cheese is melted.

=Mould of Broccoli.=--Butter a mould, and put in the parboiled flower broken in smallish pieces, pour in a good white sauce in which two ounces of grated Parmesan cheese have been dissolved, a squeeze of lemon juice, and two hard-boiled eggs chopped up; the eggs should be placed among the broccoli; pour in the sauce, cover with buttered paper, and steam for one hour or bake for half an hour.

=Brussels Sprouts.=--For culture, see under Cabbage.

BRUSSELS SPROUTS DISHES.

=Boiled Brussels Sprouts.=--Wash and pick over the sprouts and boil until tender (about twenty minutes to half an hour), in water to which a little salt and a pinch of soda have been added. Drain, and reheat with an ounce of butter with a little salt and pepper, but do not fry them.

=Brussels Sprouts with Cream Sauce.=--Trim off the loose leaves and soak for half an hour in cold salted water. Boil in sufficient water to cover them, add a little salt and a piece of soda the size of a pea, season with pepper, and pour over a cupful of cream sauce. Simmer for five or ten minutes and serve, or reheat in Béchamel sauce, or in melted butter.

=Brussels Sprouts Sauté.=--(1) Boil the cleaned sprouts for twenty minutes in salted water with a pinch of soda, drain, fry in butter. Season with minced parsley and pepper, and serve. Grated nutmeg may be added or one or two spoonfuls of white wine vinegar.

(2) Clean and trim one quart of sprouts and soak in cold water for half an hour. Then cook for half an hour in salted boiling water with a little soda; drain, and add three tablespoonfuls of sugar. Sprinkle with pepper, and shake the pan over the fire until they are slightly coloured. Serve at once.

=Brussels Sprouts with Cream.=--Prepare the sprouts according to directions given for boiled sprouts, drain and reheat with a little Béchamel sauce, season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg; heat thoroughly, add a little cream, bring slowly to the boil, and serve.

=Brussels Sprouts au Gratin.=--Prepare according to directions given for Brussels sprouts with cream sauce. Put in a buttered baking dish. Sprinkle with crumbs, dot with butter, and brown in the oven.

=Brussels Sprouts alla Parmesan.=--Boil the sprouts until tender in salted water, and drain. Arrange in a baking dish with alternate layers of grated Parmesan cheese. Season with salt, pepper, and melted butter, and serve very hot.

=Brussels Sprouts alla Chipolata.=--Wash and trim one quart of Brussels sprouts, cook for five minutes in boiling salted water with a pinch of soda. Drain and rinse in cold water. Drain and recook in boiling water to cover. Cook for twelve minutes and drain very dry. Serve with melted butter poured over.

CABBAGE (_Brassica oleracea. Cruciferæ_).

It seems better to deal with the culture of the generality of Brassicas together, and to first speak of the conditions under which all flourish, noting any special requirement of a subject under its own heading.

Cabbage-kind without any exception are greedy feeders, they like holding soil; stiffish loam, even if it verges on clay, will suit them all. Waterlogged ground of course will not do for them; heavy soil must be well drained to be of use. But they are none of them over particular; given space, nourishment, and firm ground they will do well in any good garden soil.

It is unwise to crop ground continuously with Brassicas, in which class turnips are included, as the disease called clubroot is apt to infest cabbage-stale soil, and is difficult to overcome. Dressings of lime are a preventive of this, and in many soils should be applied every third winter, four pounds to a rod of land. Lime, indeed, is a most valuable aid to culture; it sets free the nitrogenous constituents of the earth, and almost every kitchen crop is the better for its generous use.

Speaking generally, ground should be prepared for cabbages by trenching in a good supply of fairly fresh manure some two or three months before planting, as the earth should have time to settle and consolidate, since a light open condition of the soil tends to produce lank, long-jointed greens, while firm ground will grow compact and well-shaped cabbage or sprout.

Cabbage-kind is in season for every month of the year, though in July and August it is apt to be infested with green caterpillars, offspring of the common white butterfly, yet in these months there is such an abundance of other vegetables that then it is in least request.

COMMON CABBAGE (_Brassica olerata capitata_).

There are two chief sowing months for cabbage, April and August, but the latter is far the most important from the point of view of the cook, as it provides those exquisite spring cabbage, which, properly served, are among the very best of vegetables.

At the end of March or the beginning of April, sow in the open a good compact variety of medium-sized cabbage. When the plants are large enough to handle, prick them out six inches apart in nursery beds, and plant in their permanent quarters in June and July. They should stand eighteen inches to two feet apart, according to the vigour of the variety selected. This comparatively early sowing will give early autumn cabbage. A late April sowing will provide plants which will heart in November and December. Cabbage follows peas or broad beans well, but we think that in the small garden it is wasteful to give too much room to autumn cabbage and so stint space for Brussels sprouts and autumn broccoli.

In cold soils and in the north of England a sowing of Flower of Spring cabbage should be made about the twentieth of July, in southern England the seventh of August is a better date. These cabbage should be pricked out as soon as large enough, and planted in their permanent quarters in September, though even November is sometimes not too late. It is good practice to put these spring cabbage in rows fifteen inches apart in light soil, eighteen inches in heavier ground, and to crowd them in the row even as near as six inches apart. In this case two out of every three plants can be drawn to serve as winter greens, leaving the rest spaced eighteen inches distant to heart in April, May, and even June.

After cutting cabbage, if there is no immediate need to pull up the stumps, a second crop of very delicious sprouts will in open weather quickly appear.

=Red Pickling Cabbage= should be sown in April and treated as ordinary autumn cabbage. They must be put out quite thirty inches apart.

=Chow-Chow or Chinese Cabbage.=--It is cultivated in the same way as turnips. It succeeds best when sown about August in drills, with a space from twelve to eighteen inches between the rows, and the drills thinned out to about nine inches or one foot apart. The leaves can be eaten boiled like ordinary borecole, or the midribs can be sent to table like asparagus or chard or seakale beet.

BROCCOLI (_Brassica olerata Botrytis_).

This valuable subject is, in its hearting varieties, almost indistinguishable from cauliflower, from which it is probably derived, but it has the great added merit of hardiness. It requires similar soil and treatment to the rest of the cabbages, but a few special points about its culture should be noted.

The first sowing of autumn and winter cropping varieties should be made in March in a cold frame. The plants must be pricked out and hardened off, and finally be planted in May in their permanent quarters. We find it good practice, in a small garden, to set them between the rows of early potatoes on the day they are finally earthed up. For this purpose the potato rows should be thirty inches apart, and the broccoli should be two feet apart in the row. When the potatoes are dug in July the earth is laid level round the stems of the broccoli, an ounce to the square yard of nitrate of soda is sprinkled round the plants, and the earth trodden firm. From this planting fine heads may be cut in late September and sometimes on to December.

The main sowing of Broccoli is made out of doors in April, when early and late spring flowering sorts should be sown, as well as purple sprouting broccoli. As soon as large enough rather more than sufficient plants should be pricked out into a nursery bed six inches apart, and these will follow green peas, or broad beans about mid-July, without any digging of the ground beyond a slight surface forking and levelling. They should be put out two feet apart in every way and be well watered in. Dwarf cabbage lettuce may be put out between at the same time; they will be quickly cleared away.

When the plants are starting growth in the spring, a sprinkling of nitrate of soda will help in the production of fine heads. It is also a good thing to give them a mulch of manure in early February.

=Cauliflower= does not differ botanically from broccoli, but it is more tender and difficult. The heads have, perhaps, a more delicate quality, but we confess that in the small garden we now only grow the Autumn Giant Cauliflower, which comes in earlier than the broccoli, and we depend on the latter for the rest of the year.

Cauliflower that are to be cut in the following summer should be sown about mid-August; they must be well watered and weeded, and cold frames must be made ready for them, by placing six inches of good light soil over a layer of rubble or ash. In October, or early in November, set the plants four inches apart in these frames, and give a good watering; if necessary keep shaded from excessive sun for a few days. Admit plenty of air, and do not let them dry out, but be sparing with the water-pot after the plants are once established. On fine warm days take the lights off altogether, keep closed during frost, and do not let fog have too free an entry; pick any yellow leaves as they show. If frost is severe, cover with mats. Plant out at the end of March, two feet apart, in really rich soil in a warm border; keep watered if necessary, and after they are well settled in give a dose of nitrate, half an ounce to the square yard, and repeat this a fortnight later during a shower if possible.

For autumn use sow Autumn Giant in a frame and treat as prescribed for Brussels sprouts. A sowing of a quick variety in heat in February will give heads in summer; they need to be kept growing all the time, and never to be checked by drought or cold or allowed to flag for want of water.

=Brussels Sprouts.=--In the judgment of many this is the finest all round winter vegetable, and it is worth while going to considerable trouble to grow it well. It needs good soil, plenty of nourishment, and a long growing season to bring it to perfection. Ground which has been trenched and heavily manured in the late winter will grow the best sprouts, and in large gardens it is well worth while to reserve a plot for them, off which possibly spinach, or some quick crop such as lettuce or radishes, may be gathered before May. But well consolidated rich soil is necessary to the growth of sprouts.

Where there is space and it is desired to have Brussels sprouts as early as September, a sowing should be made in mild heat at the end of January. The plants should be pricked out in a cold frame early in March and planted in their permanent position by the end of the month, choosing a well sheltered sunny bed.

There is no doubt, however, that Brussels sprouts should have a frost on them before they are really fit to eat, and the vegetable cannot, normally, be had in perfection before the middle of October. For this crop and the main crop generally sow in a frame about the second week of March, prick out four inches apart into boxes which have an inch layer of old manure at bottom and three or four inches of light rich compost on top. Harden these off gradually, keep them growing on in the open, never letting them get dry, and plant out at the end of April or the beginning of May, thirty inches apart in every direction. Beyond keeping them free from weeds, nothing more is needed, and this sowing will keep the gardener going until February, for short-jointed, well-ripened Brussels sprout plants are among the very hardiest of our winter vegetables.

If late sprouts are required, a sowing out of doors early in April will give the necessary plants for a late succession, but it is a crop that cannot be hurried or forced; Brussels sprouts must have a long growing season.

In the small garden the March sowing will be sufficient, and the plants may be put out between the rows of early potatoes. With care, we find this extremely good practice, especially if the potato ground has had a good preparation with kainit as well as manure. If the potato haulm gets too vigorous and shows signs of smothering the sprouts we lay it by hand along the ridge tops, and when the potatoes are lifted we give a dose of nitrate and tread the ground as recommended for broccoli. A further sprinkle of nitrate is given during showers in August.

BORECOLE or KALE (_Brassica oleracea acephala_).

This is a section of extremely hardy cabbages well calculated to withstand the hardest weather, and to provide winter greens in abundance, as well as the most delicious sprouts in spring. Indeed the side shoots which sprout forth in March are perhaps the most precious part of the yield of these subjects.

Cottagers, Scotch and Dwarf-curled Kale are perhaps the most useful varieties. The first two are taller and require more space than the last. The sowing time for all is in April; they should be sown out of doors, pricked out in a nursery bed as soon as large enough, and planted out as ground comes vacant from summer crops. The taller sorts should be put thirty inches apart, the dwarfer kinds may be in rows two feet apart and the plants twenty inches in the row, but in strong soils two feet should be a minimum distance.

The cabbage tops of the kale can be gathered at any time during the winter, and if the stumps are left in the ground many dishes of side shoots will be gathered in March.

=Couve Tronchuda= or =Portugal Cabbage=.--This is a most delicious variety, and should be sown in early April, and planted in rich soil as soon as large enough; the plants should stand at least two feet apart. Much depends on continuous growth; the plants do not come to great perfection if they suffer an undue check. In the autumn the head makes a first-rate cabbage, and the thick midribs of the larger leaves make an unusual and excellent dish if thoroughly cooked (an hour at least) and served with white sauce in the manner of seakale. This subject does not stand frost well and should be cleared off the ground by Christmas.

SAVOY CABBAGE (_Brassica olerata bullata_).

Savoys should be sown out of doors in April and treated as autumn cabbage. They are nearly allied to the Brussels sprouts and require some frost to bring them to perfection; they may be considered early winter cabbage.

CABBAGE DISHES.

=Baked Cabbage.=--(1) Boil cabbage till tender in two waters. Drain and set aside until cool, then chop finely. Mix together two beaten eggs, two tablespoonfuls of cream, a saltspoonful of salt, and a dash of paprika. Stir this into the chopped cabbage and put it into a buttered pudding dish, sprinkle bread-crumbs over the top, and bake until brown.

(2) Boil the cabbage until tender, changing the water once, drain, cut it finely, season with salt and pepper. Butter a baking dish, put in a layer of cabbage, and cover with cream or tomato sauce. Sprinkle with crumbs on the top, and bake for half an hour.

(3) Trim and quarter a head of cabbage, boil until tender in salted water to cover. Drain thoroughly, and put into a baking dish. Pour over a cupful of cream, a tablespoonful of butter. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Make a hollow in the centre and break an egg into it. Bake in the oven until the cabbage is brown and the egg set.

=Steamed Cabbage.=--Wash and chop up a cabbage, put it in the boilerette with salt, pepper, and an ounce of nutter. Steam for two hours.

=Fricassé of Cabbage.=--Boil and chop, as in the last recipe, and keep hot while you cook together in a saucepan a tablespoonful of butter and a tablespoonful of flour, stir in a cupful of hot milk, stir to a smooth sauce, when it bubbles turn into this the chopped cabbage, cook for a minute, season and serve.

=Shredded Cabbage.=--Cut a cabbage into shreds and put it into boiling salted water until tender, drain, and stand in a heated colander on the side of the range. Cook together two tablespoonfuls of butter and two heaped tablespoonfuls of flour, season with salt and pepper, and stir in three heaped tablespoonfuls of grated cheese, and cook, stirring constantly for just one minute. Turn the cabbage into a deep vegetable dish and pour the cheese sauce over it.

=Cabbage Cream Salad.=--Prepare as in the preceding recipe; after boiling cut the shreds into lengths before dropping them into cold water. Beat half a pint of cream very stiff, drain the cabbage, sprinkle lightly with salt, and stir it into the whipped cream, turning and tossing until it is thoroughly coated with the white foam. Serve at once with crackers. The cabbage should be tender and crisp for this dish.

=Cabbage Soup.=--Take a small onion and a little parsley and a sprig of rosemary, chop all very fine and put in a saucepan to brown, with one ounce of butter. Have ready a cabbage washed and cut finely, put the cabbage into a saucepan, add three pints of water or vegetable stock, and season with pepper and salt, and let all stew together for an hour. Boil for a quarter of an hour before serving, add one ounce of grated Parmesan cheese. Serve with croûtons of bread.

=Hot Cabbage Slaw.=--(1) Chop half a cabbage finely; after boiling pour over a tablespoonful of melted butter, and put into the oven. Beat together one teaspoonful of mustard and one tablespoonful of olive oil, one tablespoonful of sugar and one egg well beaten with three-quarters of a cupful of cream. Bring to the boil, season with salt and pepper, pour over the hot cabbage, and serve.

(2) Bring a cupful of vinegar to the boil, add a teaspoonful each of butter and sugar, half a teaspoonful of made mustard, salt and black pepper to taste. Pour over the cabbage which has been shredded very finely after being boiled; heat thoroughly, and serve.

(3) Boil a shredded cabbage until tender in salted water to cover. Drain thoroughly, pressing out all the liquid. Bring to the boil half a cupful of vinegar, half a tablespoonful of butter, salt and pepper to season highly. Pour over the cabbage, mix thoroughly, and serve.

(4) Mix together the beaten yolk of an egg, a saltspoonful of pepper, a cupful of cream, a tablespoonful of sugar, a teaspoonful of mustard, and one tablespoonful of lemon juice. Heat thoroughly, and when smooth and thick heat the shredded cabbage in the sauce, and serve.

=Cold Slaw.=--(1) Shred a white cabbage fine, and soak in ice water. Make a dressing of the whites of two hard-boiled eggs, one yolk of egg well beaten, half a cupful of olive oil, the juice of a lemon, and mustard, salt and pepper to taste. Drain the cabbage thoroughly, mix with the dressing, and serve very cold.

(2) Mix together one saltspoonful of salt and a teaspoonful of dry mustard, one tablespoonful sugar, one yolk of egg lightly beaten, three tablespoonfuls of melted butter, and three cupfuls of cream. Cook over boiling water, add gradually a quarter of a cupful of vinegar, stirring constantly, then put it by to cool. Soak the shredded cabbage in cold water until crisp, drain, dry thoroughly, mix with the dressing, and serve very cold.

(3) Soak a quart of shredded cabbage in cold water for an hour. Cook a tablespoonful each of chopped onion and celery in four tablespoonfuls of vinegar for fifteen minutes. Thicken half a cupful of boiling milk with six tablespoonfuls of cornflour, rubbed smooth in a little cold milk. Take from the fire, add the yolks of two eggs well beaten. Strain the vinegar into the sauce, add a tablespoonful of butter broken into small bits, and cool. Drain the cabbage thoroughly, mix with the dressing, and serve.

(4) Shred a small cabbage, cover with cold water, and soak for an hour. Beat together two eggs and half a cupful of sour cream, add two tablespoonfuls of boiling vinegar, one tablespoonful of butter, and cook until thick. Take from the fire, season with salt and pepper, mix the drained cabbage, cool, and serve.

=Cold Slaw à la Irving.=--Shred a cabbage very fine. Beat three eggs, and add half a cupful of cream and milk, and a tablespoonful of melted butter. Bring to the boil four tablespoonfuls of vinegar, with half a teaspoonful of dry mustard, salt and pepper to taste. Add the egg mixture very slowly, stir constantly, pour over the cabbage, and serve very cold.

=Cabbage Balls.=--Make a stuffing of one cupful each of cooked rice, and lentils, and chopped boiled onion, and half a cupful of chopped nuts (peacons preferred), add salt and pepper to taste. Cover the shredded cabbage with boiling water and let stand until the leaves are soft. Cut out the midribs, and roll portions of the stuffing into the large soft pieces of the leaves. Put the rolls carefully into a buttered saucepan, add the juice of a lemon and a clove of garlic. Cook slowly for thirty minutes, drain carefully, and strain the liquid. Thicken one and a half cupfuls of the liquid with a tablespoonful each of butter and flour, the butter to be made into a ball with the flour; take from the fire; add the well-beaten yolks of four eggs, and cook over hot water until thick and smooth. Season with salt and tarragon vinegar, strain over the rolls, and serve hot.

=Cabbage Pudding.=--Cut a cabbage very fine and put it into a baking dish with alternate layers of bread-crumbs. Season with salt and pepper. Fill the pan with milk, and bake slowly until done, forty minutes to one hour, serve in the baking dish.

=Dutch Cabbage.=--Shred a white cabbage and cook it slowly for three or four hours with enough water to keep from burning. Half an hour before serving season with salt and black pepper, add a cupful of sour cream, cook slowly until the liquid is nearly absorbed, add a tablespoonful of vinegar, and serve.

=Swedish Cream Cabbage.=--Cook shredded cabbage for fifteen minutes in boiling water to cover. Drain, cover with milk, and add a pinch of ground mace, season with salt and pepper. Cook until the milk is boiled away, so that it barely moistens the cabbage, add a lump of butter, and serve.

=Cabbage à la Flamande.=--Shave fine a large red or purple cabbage. Cook slowly for fifteen minutes in boiling water, drain, and chop fine. Reheat with a tablespoonful of butter, and chopped onion. Add salt and pepper to season, a dash of powdered cloves and a tablespoonful of butter, and serve hot at once.

=Cabbage à la Française.=--Chop cold boiled white cabbage finely and drain, pressing out the water. Season with salt, pepper, and melted butter. Moisten with cream and two well-beaten eggs. Turn into a buttered frying pan and cook slowly until brown on the under side, place on a hot dish, and turn out.

=Cabbage à la Frankfort.=--Shred a cabbage, cook until soft in a little butter, add an onion stuck with cloves. Cover with boiling water and simmer for an hour. Remove the onion, add a tablespoonful of vinegar, and serve.

=Cabbage à la Mackenzie.=--Shred a cabbage, fine soak in ice water and drain thoroughly, and mix with cream whipped solid. Season with salt only. Surround with crackers and toasted cheese.

=Cabbage à la Russe.=--Slice a firm cabbage very thin, soak for half an hour in cold water, and drain, pressing out all the liquid; cover with boiling water and cook uncovered for fifteen minutes. Drain thoroughly and reheat for ten minutes with a cupful of cream, salt and pepper to season, then add a tablespoonful of butter, and serve.

=Sweet and Sour Cabbage.=--Shred finely, enough cabbage to fill a quart measure, and add two sour apples peeled, cored, and sliced; put two tablespoonfuls of butter into a saucepan, and when it is hissing hot add the cabbage and apples. Pour over boiling water to cover, and cook until tender. Sprinkle two tablespoonfuls of flour, season with salt and pepper, add four tablespoonfuls of brown sugar and two tablespoonfuls of vinegar. If red cabbage is used, soak it in boiling water for half an hour, changing the water two or three times.

=Cabbage Hearts and Peas.=--Chop finely two cabbage hearts, and cook until tender. Cook separately an equal quantity of shelled peas, add a teaspoonful of chopped mint. Drain, season with salt and black pepper, and serve the cabbage piled in the middle of the dish, with a border of peas.

=Chouxbraisé= (_Mrs. C. W. Earle’s Recipe_).--Take a nice spring cabbage, split it, and wash in salt and water; put it in a saucepan of boiling water for ten minutes. Take it up, drain well on a sieve, put it into a casserole for one hour to braise, with a little butter and pepper and salt, but no stock or water.

=Cabbage à la Bourgeoise.=--Clean and cut up a cabbage. Fry a tablespoonful of onion in butter, add the cabbage with salt and pepper and grated nutmeg. Cook over a slow fire, turning frequently to prevent burning.

=Savoy Cabbage= may be treated in the same way as the common cabbage.

COUVE TRONCHUDA, OR PORTUGAL CABBAGE.--For culture, see under Cabbage.

This cabbage has a delicious flavour quite distinct from that of other cabbages.

Two dishes may be made from it: the first day, boil the heart and the outer leaves, after removing the thick white midrib, which must be reserved. Cook as any other cabbage.

=Midrib of Portugal Cabbage.=--Take the midribs, wash in salted water, and boil for an hour in abundance of boiling water, with a tablespoonful of salt and a tiny piece of soda. Serve as you would salad fry, with rich white sauce poured over.

CARDOON (_Cynara Cardunculus. Compositæ_).

This is a subject requiring plenty of room, and unless particularly desired is not suited to the small garden. It is not often grown in this country, being susceptible to frost, and the taste for it being rather an acquired one.

Cardoons are best grown in the way of celery, trenches being opened in May, four or five feet distant from each other. Old manure should be dug into the bottom of the trench. The seeds may either be sown in gentle heat in pots, and the plants put out in the trenches, care being taken not to break the ball of earth, or seeds may be sown in the trenches. In the latter case they should be sown in groups of three or four, and when they are well up thinned to a single plant. On the whole we have found it better to raise the plants in a frame, but many growers prefer the other method. The plants should stand three feet apart in the trenches.

Watering must be attended to as carefully as with celery, and weeds must be kept down. Lettuces or other quick crops may be taken off the ground between the trenches, but before the summer is over the great handsome leaves will hang over a wide area.

In September blanching may begin. It is wise not to blanch too many plants at a time, as they quickly rot after they have been tied up for four or five weeks. Therefore tie and earth up a few plants weekly until the end of October. The plants are prickly, and the gardener will do well to wear gloves while handling them. First draw the leaves together and tie them with string lightly. Then swathe straw or haybands round them and make all fast with string or bast, next earth them up at one operation in the way of celery. In four weeks the plants will be ready for use. On the approach of winter lift the entire crop and store in a cool, dark, frost-free house.

CARDOON DISHES.

=Plain Cardoons.=--Clean and pare two or three pounds of cardoons, cut them lengthwise, and blanche them with boiling water, then throw them into cold water to make them retain their whiteness, and dry them on a clean cloth. Cut an onion and a carrot into slices, put them into a saucepan with two ounces of fresh butter, take out the carrot and onion. Mix a tablespoonful of flour into the butter, add some water to prevent it burning. As soon as the water is boiling throw in the cardoons. When done serve up hot.

=Cardoons with Cheese and Sauce.=--Prepare the cardoons as above, then put them one by one in a saucepan with one ounce of fresh butter. Salt them a little and add about three-quarters of an ounce of parsley, and a little Béchamel sauce, lastly add an ounce of grated cheese. Cook them thoroughly, and serve hot.

=Cardoons with Oil.=--Wash and string the cardoons, half boil in salted water, then plunge them into cold water. Cut them into pieces about two inches long, flour well, and put them in a saucepan with boiling pure olive oil; salt and pepper to taste. Beat up two or more eggs according to the quantity of cardoons. When they are slightly brown on both sides drain and dish them, and pour the eggs over them. Put in the oven for a few minutes till the eggs are set. Serve hot.

CARROT (_Daucus Carota. Umbelliferæ_).

The earliest carrots should be sown in frames on a good hotbed early in November. At least four inches of a good, light, sandy compost should be placed over the surface of the bed. Many sow broadcast, thinning the plants to half an inch distance when well up. We prefer to sow in rows four inches apart, and to sow forcing radishes between, but very thinly. The radishes will be a most welcome crop, and will come in and be cleared away long before the carrots. Plenty of air and plenty of moisture must be given; on warm days the lights may be quite off the frames for an hour or two, but frost must be excluded. Thin rigorously to half an inch or rather more, and a delicious crop of young carrots will be harvested in February and March.

A second hotbed started in January will carry the cook on until the early outdoor varieties come in.

The first outdoor sowing should be of such a variety as French Horn on a warm well-drained border in February. The main crop sowings are made in April and May. The carrot does best in a sandy loam, with no recent manure in the top spit, but some good old stuff in the bottom of the trench is desirable. Sow in drills a foot apart; thin first to one inch, then draw the next lot just as they are, as thick as a finger; they will never be better; leave the rest four to six inches apart. Keep the Dutch hoe going between the rows and harvest in August or September. There is no object in keeping carrots in the ground after the tops have died down; in fact, if showery weather sets in the roots are likely to start into growth again and split and spoil. Store for winter use in sand in a cool cellar.

CARROT DISHES.

=Carrot Pudding.=--One pound of boiled carrots, half their bulk in bread-crumbs, two eggs, pepper and salt, two ounces of butter, and some white sauce. Boil the carrots till soft, chop them small, rub them through a sieve, add the bread-crumbs and butter and eggs sufficient to bind the whole together, with seasoning to taste. If eggs are not used, a couple of teaspoonfuls of flour and a little milk should be put in. Butter a pudding basin, put in the mixture, steam for two hours according to size. Turn out the pudding, and serve with white sauce poured round it.

=Carrot Soufflé.=--Take a quarter of a pound of boiled carrots, rub through a sieve, add a tablespoonful of Parmesan cheese, two tablespoonfuls of tomato sauce, and some butter and seasoning, and mix well together. Place in soufflé dishes, sprinkle with butter and bread-crumbs and brown in the oven.

=Carrots sauté à la Française.=--Scrape and wash a dozen young carrots, cover with cold salted water, and boil until tender. Drain and fry brown in butter, adding a pinch of sugar. Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle with minced parsley and lemon juice if desired, and serve very hot.

=Spring Carrots.=--Trim and scrape two bunches of spring carrots. Parboil for ten minutes in salted water to cover. Drain and rinse in cold water. Put into a deep baking dish, with two tablespoonfuls each of butter and sugar, and two cupfuls of milk or vegetable stock. Cover and cook slowly, until tender. Drain, reduce the liquid by rapid boiling, and thicken with a little flour, and season; pour over the carrots, and serve.

=Carrot Soup.=--Put eight or ten finely sliced carrots, one onion, two heads of celery sliced, five ounces of fresh white haricot beans, four ounces of butter, and salt and pepper to taste, in a saucepan. Cook over a slow fire for one hour, and stir from time to time. Then add about three pints of good stock, boil one and a half hours, and rub through a sieve. Add half an ounce of sugar, and serve with croûtons (fried bread). If too thick, add a little stock at intervals.

=Boiled Carrots.=--Cook peeled and sliced carrots in salted boiling water to cover, for one hour and a half or less, according to age and size of the carrots. Drain, and serve with melted butter.

=Stewed Carrots.=--(1) Cook a quart of very young carrots, cut into dice, in boiling salted water until tender, and drain. Thicken the cooking liquid with flour rolled in butter. Season with pepper and sugar, reheat the carrots in the sauce, and serve.

(2) Parboil a bunch of carrots, drain, and cut into dice. Put into a saucepan with two small onions chopped, pepper, salt, and minced parsley to season, and enough drawn butter to moisten. Simmer for half an hour, and serve.

(3) Wash and scrape whole carrots, and soak them for half an hour in cold water. Drain and cook for forty-five minutes in salted water to cover. Drain, cut into thin slices or dice, and cook for half an hour in stock to cover, season with pepper and salt. Add four tablespoonfuls of cream or milk and a tablespoonful of butter rolled in flour. Bring to the boil and serve. Water may be used instead of stock if another tablespoonful of butter is added.

=Carrots Stewed in Cream.=--Wash and slice enough carrots to make two cupfuls. Simmer until nearly tender in stock to cover. Add a cupful of cream, thicken with a tablespoonful of butter rolled in flour, season with salt and pepper, and serve.

=Carrots Sauté.=--Cut scraped spring carrots into thin slices, and cook until tender in water to cover. Drain and reheat in butter, seasoning with sugar, pepper, and salt. Do not allow the carrots to fry. Sprinkle with minced parsley and powdered chervil before serving. The chervil may be omitted.

=Barley Soup and Carrots.=--Take half a cup of pearl barley, three tomatoes, three small carrots, three small onions, one potato, one teaspoonful of brown sugar. Put three pints of water into a saucepan, add the barley, the sugar, and the tomatoes peeled and cut into small pieces. Stew gently for four hours, adding more water if necessary. Cut into small dice the three small carrots and the three small onions, fry with darlene or other vegetable fat to a golden brown, add to the soup one large potato cut into dice about half an hour before serving, also the fried vegetables.

=Carrot Croquettes.=--Boil some carrots till tender in two waters. Mash them smooth, add a beaten egg, a large spoonful of melted butter, pepper and salt to taste, and set the paste aside to become cool enough to handle. Form into croquettes with the hands; egg, and roll into fine crumbs, let them stand in a cool place half an hour, and fry in deep fat to a good brown.

=Carrots and Peas.=--Cook separately until tender, diced young carrots and green peas. Drain, mix, and season with salt and pepper, reheat in white, Béchamel, or cream sauce, or melted butter.

=Compôte of Young Carrots and Green Peas.=--Clean and cut into dice just enough carrots to make two cupfuls. Cook until tender in salted water, drain, and reserve half a cupful of the carrot liquid; mix the carrots with an equal quantity of cooked green peas, sprinkle with two tablespoonfuls of flour, add two tablespoonfuls of butter, salt and pepper and sugar to season, add half a cupful of carrot liquid and half a cupful of stock, or use a cupful of either. Cook until smooth and thick, stirring constantly. Sprinkle with minced parsley, and serve. Carrots and peas may also be served with a sweet or sour sauce.

=Carrots and Asparagus.=--Reheat in milk, or white stock, equal quantities of sliced cooked carrot, and cooked asparagus cut into small pieces. Thicken with flour, and add the yolk of an egg well beaten. Season with salt, pepper, butter, and minced parsley.

=Carrot Timbâles.=--Cook four peeled and sliced carrots until tender in stock to cover. Drain and mash, add two eggs well-beaten, salt, pepper, and grated onion to season, and a tablespoonful of cream; mix thoroughly. Put into small buttered timbâle moulds, stand them in a baking pan half full of boiling water, cover with buttered paper, and bake for twenty minutes, and turn out carefully, and surround the border with cooked peas, and serve.

=Stewed Carrots.=--Take two dozen small carrots, wash and scrape them, and put into a saucepan with one ounce of loaf sugar, two onions, a bunch of sweet herbs, and a bay leaf, add a few spoonfuls of vegetable broth, and stew until the carrots are tender. Remove the carrots, strain the stock over them, add two tablespoonfuls of cream, make it hot, and pour this over the carrots, and serve.

=Carrots à la Flamande.=--Trim a bunch of young carrots, cover with boiling water, and let them stand for five minutes. Drain, rub off the skins with a coarse cloth, cut them into thin slices, and cook until tender in a cupful of water, with a tablespoonful of butter, salt and pepper to season. Take from the fire and add the yolks of two eggs, well beaten, with a cupful of cream and a tablespoonful of minced parsley. Heat gradually until smooth and thick, stirring constantly, but do not let it boil. Serve as soon as the sauce is smooth. A little sugar and grated nutmeg may be added, and half a cupful of cream and milk used.

=Carrots à la Lilloise.=--Peel, and cut into very thin slices two bunches of spring carrots, put into a saucepan with salted boiling water to cover. Add a teaspoonful or more of sugar and a tablespoonful of butter, cover, and cook for half an hour. Add the yolks of three eggs beaten with half a cupful of cream, a tablespoonful of butter broken into small pieces, and heat slowly until the sauce is smooth and thick. Sprinkle with minced parsley before serving.

=Carrots à la Majestic.=--Cut, peel, and trim some carrots into fancy shapes with French vegetable cutters. Cook in butter without burning. Moisten from time to time with water seasoned with pepper and salt and powdered sugar. Before serving add a little melted butter and sprinkle with minced parsley.

=Carrots in White Sauce.=--Boil one dozen small French carrots in salted water until tender. Drain, cut into thin slices and sauté in butter, and heat in white sauce; season with mace and add a cupful of cooked green peas, and serve very hot.

CAULIFLOWER DISHES.--For culture, see under Cabbage.

=Cauliflower Boiled.=--Cauliflowers should be cut just before using, so that they may be quite crisp. All the leaves but the small ones close to the flower should be discarded, as the flavour of the coarser leaves would taint the delicacy of the flower.

Let them stand, head downwards, in strong salted water for half an hour before boiling; by this means caterpillars will be cleared out. Have a large saucepan of boiling water, with a tablespoonful of salt and a piece of soda the size of a pea. Put the cauliflowers in, and when the water boils up, draw to one side and partially remove the lid to let the fumes escape, otherwise the flavour will not be so delicate. Time required, twenty minutes to half an hour, according to the size of the cauliflower.