VEGETABLES

All vegetables should be boiled quickly, and, with the exception of spinach, in an open vessel, skimming them carefully.

Herbs of all sorts should be gathered when in flower, and on a dry day, and, being well cleaned from dust and dirt, tied up in small bunches and dried before the fire. They may then be kept in paper bags labelled; or rubbed to a powder, sifted, and put into bottles and labelled.

169.—To Boil Potatoes

Wash and pare them, throwing them into cold water as they are pared; put them into a saucepan, cover them with cold water, and throw in a little salt; cover the saucepan closely, and let them boil quickly for half an hour; pour off the water immediately, and set the pan by the side of the fire to dry the potatoes.

170.—Another Way

Wash them very clean, put them on in cold water, cover the saucepan, and let them boil quickly; as soon as the water boils pour it off, and cover them with cold water; add a little salt, and when the water boils pour it off instantly, when the potatoes will be sufficiently done; dry them, and take off the skins before serving.

171.—To Broil Boiled Potatoes

After boiling potatoes not quite sufficiently to send to table, put them on a gridiron over a clear fire, and turn them frequently till they are of a nice brown colour all over; serve them hot; take care they do not become too hard, as that spoils the flavour.

172.—To Brown Potatoes under Meat while Roasting

After being boiled, lay them on a dish, and place it in the dripping-pan; baste them now and then with a little of the meat dripping, and when one side is browned turn the other; they should all be of an equal colour.

173.—Potato Ribbons

Wash four or five large potatoes, scrape them, and cut them into thin strips round and round, keeping as nearly to one width as possible; throw them into cold water as they are cut, and then fry them of a light brown, in very hot or boiling beef dripping; strew over them a little salt and pepper, and before serving, drain them upon a dish turned up before the fire.

174.—To Boil Turnips

Wash, pare, and throw them into cold water; put them on in boiling water with a little salt, and boil them from two hours to two and a half; drain them in a colander, put them into a saucepan, and, mixing in a bit of butter, with a beater mash them very smoothly; add half a pint of milk, mix it well with the turnips, and make them quite hot before serving. If they are to be served plain, dish them as soon as the water is drained off.

175.—To Dress Young Turnips

Wash, peel, and boil them till tender in water with a little salt; serve them with melted butter poured over them. Or,

They may be stewed in a pint of milk thickened with a bit of butter rolled in flour, and seasoned with salt and pepper, and served with the sauce.

176.—To Boil Spinach

Pick it very carefully, and wash it thoroughly two or three times in plenty of cold water; then put it on in boiling water with a little salt; let it boil nearly twenty minutes; put it into a colander, hold it under the water-cock, and let the water run on it for a minute; put it into a saucepan, beat it perfectly smooth with a beater or wooden spoon, add a bit of butter and three tablespoonfuls of cream, mix it well together, and make it hot before serving. When dished, it is scored in squares with the back of a knife.

177.—Another Way

After being nicely picked and well washed, put it into a saucepan, with no more water than adheres to it; add a little salt; cover the pan closely, and boil it till tender, frequently shaking it; beat it quite smooth, adding butter and cream, and make it quite hot. Spinach may be served with poached eggs, or fried sausages laid on it.

When the spinach is bitter, it is preferable to boil it in water.

178.—To Boil Cauliflowers

Trim them neatly, and let them lie an hour or two in cold water; then rinse them in fresh cold water, and put them with a very little salt into boiling water; boil them twenty minutes, or half an hour if very large. They may be boiled in milk and water, and require to be skimmed with particular attention.

179.—To Boil French Beans

Cut off the stalk and string them; if not very young, cut them in four, or into very thin slices; put them into water as they are done, and put them on in boiling water, with a little salt, and let them boil for half an hour. If they are old they will require a longer time to boil. Melted butter in a sauce-tureen is served with them.

180.—To Boil Asparagus

Wash them well, scrape, and tie them up in small bundles; cut them all even at the bottom, and as they are done put them into cold water; put them on in boiling water, with a little salt, and let them boil twenty or twenty-five minutes; take them up, lay them upon a slice of toasted bread cut in four, and the crusts pared off, with the tops meeting in the middle of the dish, and cut off the strings.

181.—Asparagus a la Francais

Boil it, and chop small the heads and tender parts of the stalks, together with a boiled onion; add a little salt and pepper, and the beaten yolk of an egg; heat it up. Serve it on sippets of toasted bread, and pour over it a little melted batter.

182.—To Boil Brocoli

Wash it, cut off all the outside leaves and stalks, throw it into cold water as it is trimmed, put it on in boiling water with a little salt, and boil it for twenty-five minutes or half an hour. It is sometimes served upon bits of toasted bread, and a little melted butter poured round it.

183.—To Boil Artichokes

Cut off the stalks close to the bottom, wash them well, and let them lie for some hours in cold water; put them on in boiling water with a little salt in it, cover the pan closely, and boil them an hour and a half. If they are old, and have not been freshly gathered, they will take a longer time to boil. Melted butter is served with them in a sauce-tureen.

184.—To Boil Young Green Cabbages

Wash and clean them well, put them on in boiling water with a little salt in it, and let them boil quickly from three-quarters to nearly an hour. Serve with melted butter.

185.—To Stew Cucumbers

Pare eight or ten large cucumbers, and cut them into thick slices; flour them well, and fry them in butter; then put them into a saucepan with a teacupful of gravy; season it highly with cayenne, salt, mushroom catsup, and a little port wine. Let them stew for an hour, and serve them hot.

186.—Another Way

Pare the cucumbers, and let them lie in vinegar and water with a little salt in it; drain them, and put them into a saucepan with a pint of gravy, a slice of lean ham, an onion stuck with one or two cloves, and a bunch of parsley and thyme; let them stew, closely covered, till tender. Take out the cucumbers, strain and thicken the gravy with a piece of butter rolled in flour, boil it up, and pour it over the cucumbers.

187.—To Stew Mushrooms

Clean them as for pickling, and, after washing them, put them into a saucepan, with an anchovy, two cloves, some nutmeg sliced, mace, whole pepper, and salt; let them stew in their own liquor till tender.

In this way they will keep for some time, and when required to be dressed, pick out the spice, and to a dishful put two large tablespoonfuls of white wine; add part of their own liquor, and let them just boil; then stir in a bit of butter dredged with flour, and two tablespoonfuls of cream.

188.—Another Way

For a good-sized dishful, take a pint of white stock; season it with salt, pepper, and a little lemon pickle; thicken it with a bit of butter rolled in flour; cleanse and peel the mushrooms, sprinkle them with a very little salt, boil them for three or four minutes, put them into the gravy when it is hot, and strew them for fifteen minutes.

189.—To Roast Onions

Roast them with the skins on in an oven, that they may brown equally. They are eaten with cold fresh butter, pepper, and salt.

190.—Onions, Plain Boiled

Peel them, and let them lie an hour in cold water, put them on in boiling milk and water; boil them till tender, and serve with melted butter poured over them.

191.—To Boil Carrots

Scrape, wash, and clean them; put them on in boiling water with some salt in it, and boil them from two to three hours. Very young carrots will require one hour.

192.—Carrots, Flemish Way

Prepare (after boiling) in the form of dice, balls, stars, crescents, &c., and stew with chopped parsley, young onions, salt and pepper, in plain melted butter, or good brown gravy.

193.—Green Peas Stewed

Put a quart of good peas into a stewpan, with a lettuce and small onion sliced small, but not any water; add a piece of butter the size of an orange, pepper and salt to taste, and stew gently for two hours. Beat up an egg, and stir into them (or a lump of butter will do as well); mint should be stewed (if it can be procured) with them, and ought to be chopped fine, and stirred in with some good gravy.

194.—To Boil Green Peas

After being shelled, wash them, drain them in a colander, put them on in plenty of boiling water, with a teaspoonful of salt, and one of pounded loaf sugar; boil them till they become tender, which, if young, will be in less than half an hour; if old, they will require more than an hour; drain them in a colander, and put them immediately into a dish with a slice of fresh butter in it. Some people think it an improvement to boil a small bunch of mint with the peas; it is then minced finely, and laid in small heaps at the end or sides of the dish. If peas are allowed to stand in the water after being boiled they lose their colour.

195.—To Stew Young Peas and Lettuce

Wash and make perfectly clean one or two heads of cabbage lettuce, pick off the outside leaves, and lay them for two hours in cold water with a little salt in it; then slice them, and put them into a saucepan, with a quart or three pints of peas, three tablespoonfuls of gravy, a bit of butter dredged with flour, some pepper and salt, and a teaspoonful of pounded loaf sugar. Let them stew, closely covered, till the peas are soft.

196.—Peas for a Second-course Dish, a la Francais

Put a quart of fine green peas, together with a bit of butter the size of a walnut, into as much warm water as will cover them, in which let them stand for eight or ten minutes. Strain off the water, put them into a saucepan, cover it, stir them frequently, and when a little tender add a bunch of parsley and a young onion, nearly a dessertspoonful of loaf sugar, and an ounce of butter mixed with a teaspoonful of flour; keep stirring them now and then till the peas be tender, and add, if they become too thick, a tablespoonful of hot water. Before serving, take out the onion and bunch of parsley.

197.—To Steam Peas

Shell and close-pack the peas securely in a large quantity of lettuce-salad leaves; put the package into a stewpan over a moderate fire for the ordinary time required to boil peas, say half an hour, when they will be ready.

198.—Vegetable Mash

Take boiled potatoes, cauliflower, carrots, turnips, and green peas; mash down the potatoes with plenty of butter, pepper, and salt; mince small the cauliflower, carrots, and turnips, and add them with the peas to the mashed potatoes; mix them all well together, and serve up hot.