The Modern Housewife or, Menagere Part 30

646. _Cauliflower and Broccoli._--Be very particular in cleaning them, choose them rather small, thick and firm, put them for one hour in salt and water, then rinse them well in water, that all the dirt may be removed from the interior; have a pan of boiling water, in which you have placed two ounces of salt and one of b.u.t.ter, drain and use where indicated; but if for second course, place them on a dish in the form of a dome, and cover over with some sauce as for vegetable marrow or plain melted b.u.t.ter, or Soubise sauce if preferred plain; serve it very hot, having drained it.

647. _The same gratine with Cheese._--Put into a stewpan ten spoonfuls of white sauce, No. 130, with a little chopped onions, which boil for a few minutes, add to it a quarter of a pound of grated Parmesan, or any mild English cheese; when boiling, add the yolk of one egg, and a little cayenne, mix quick, lay a little on a dish, put two or three heads of cauliflower or broccoli on it, pour the remainder of sauce over, and a little bread-crumbs and grated cheese; put in oven half an hour, give it a nice yellow color, and serve; if no white sauce, use melted b.u.t.ter, but do not boil it so long, or it will eat rather greasy.

648. _Jerusalem Artichokes._--One of the best and most useful vegetables ever introduced to table, and anything but appreciated as it deserves to be. To prove to you that I am a great admirer of it, you will find it very often mentioned in my receipts. In using them for a second course, I choose about twelve of the same size, peel them and shape them like a pear, but flat at the bottom, wash them well, boil gently in three pints of water, one ounce of salt, one of b.u.t.ter, and a few sliced onions; when tender, I make a border of mashed potatoes on a dish, fix them on it point upwards, sauce over with either cream sauce (No. 280), white sauce (No. 130), melted b.u.t.ter (No. 264), maitre d'hotel, and place a fine Brussels sprout between each, which contrast is exceedingly inviting, simple, and pretty.

649. _Cuc.u.mbers_ are most delicious stuffed and stewed, but very difficult to dress, and consequently chiefly used for entrees, in which series they will be found. They may, however, be treated like vegetable marrow.

650. _Artichokes._--Pull the tail off four or six small artichokes, trim the bottom slightly with a knife, cut the point of every leaf, wash well in plain water, put them on in plenty of water, with a little salt, to boil, let them thus remain about half an hour, or until the leaves are easy to be removed, take them out and lay on a sieve to drain, and serve on a napkin, with melted b.u.t.ter separate.

651. _Beet-root._--This is a very good dish, and, as I believe it has never been noticed in cookery, I must lay claim to its parentage; I have given the receipt to some friends, who highly approve of it. Take two nice young boiled beet-roots, which will take about from two to three hours to simmer in plenty of boiling water, peel when cold, cut in slanting direction, so as to make oval pieces, peel and cut in small dice two middling-sized onions, put in a pan, with two ounces of b.u.t.ter, fry white, stirring continually with a spoon; add a spoonful of flour, and enough milk to make a nice thickish sauce, add to it three saltspoonfuls of salt, four of sugar, one of pepper, a spoonful of good vinegar, and boil a few minutes; put in the slices to simmer for about twenty minutes, have ready some mashed potatoes, with which make a neat border in your dish one inch high, then put the beet-root and sauce, highly season in the centre, and serve.

652. _French Beans._--These are also a great favorite with many. To dress it, head and tail them, drawing off the back string, cut in long diamonds, boil till tender in water in which salt has been placed, a quarter of a pound to a gallon, try them after a quarter of an hour's boiling, drain them, lay them on a dish one inch thick, sprinkle with a little salt, pepper, and two pats of b.u.t.ter, then put in the remainder, proceed the same at top; serve very quickly, to prevent the b.u.t.ter oiling.

653. _The same, a la Maitre d'Hotel._--When boiled as above, put in a stewpan, with a quarter of a pound of maitre d'hotel b.u.t.ter, when melted serve. They may be also served with white sauce thus: put in a stewpan eight spoonfuls of melted b.u.t.ter, season well, simmer gently, add the yolk of an egg, two ounces of b.u.t.ter, juice of half a lemon, and serve.

654. _Kidney Beans._--Head and tail them, string and slit them down the middle, place them for half an hour in salt and water in which you have thrown a little culinary alkali, boil until tender, and serve with melted b.u.t.ter, or a la maitre d'hotel.

655. _Broad or Windsor Beans._--Boil in salt and water: when done, serve with parsley and b.u.t.ter, or with a piece of bacon.

656. _Brussels Sprouts._--Trim, wash, and boil about forty small Brussels sprouts; when tender, drain, dish, and sprinkle a little salt, pepper, and two ounces of b.u.t.ter over, and serve. Serve also in sauce, or with maitre d'hotel, like French beans. These are also very good for soups, sauces, or garnish.

657. _Spinach._--This vegetable is very light and very good for invalids. It must be washed in several waters, after having been well picked; then put a quarter of a sieve of spinach to a gallon of water and three ounces of salt, boil for ten minutes till tender, drain on sieve, press a little with your hands to extract part of the water, chop it up fine, put in a stewpan, with a quarter of a pound of b.u.t.ter, a teaspoonful of salt, half ditto of pepper, put on a fire with a drop of warm broth for a few minutes, and serve.

658. _Spinach with Gravy._--Proceed as before, but add a tablespoonful of flour and half a pint of strong gravy in it, as No. 177; serve with sippets of bread round.

659. _Spinach with Cream._--Proceed as before, but putting half a pint of milk or cream instead of gravy, and the addition of a tablespoonful of sugar, cut three slices of bread, lay on dish, sift sugar over, put in oven, salamander over, cut in various shapes, and serve under or over the spinach.

660. _Young Haricot Beans._--Take a pint, boil in two quarts of water, with a small piece of b.u.t.ter, and half an ounce of salt; when done, which will take only a few minutes, dish and serve; put b.u.t.ter over, sprinkle a little salt, and when on the dish, a gill of maitre d'hotel sauce or fennel sauce may be served over the larger one, or it is very delicious plain boiled, and with a piece of ham or bacon.

661. _White Haricot Beans._--Nothing so cheap or so solid a food as haricot beans; get a pint of fine white beans, called the dwarf--I buy them for fourpence a quart. I put them into half a gallon of cold soft water, with one ounce of b.u.t.ter; they take about three hours to cook, and should simmer very slowly, drain them and put into a stewpan with a little salt, pepper, chopped parsley, two ounces of b.u.t.ter, and the juice of a lemon, place on the fire for a few minutes, stir well, and serve. The water in which it is boiled will not make a bad soup by frying four onions in b.u.t.ter in a stewpan, adding a little flour, then the water poured over, and a slice of toasted bread, cut in pieces, and served in a tureen. Should the water in boiling reduce too fast, add a little more. They may be dressed for second course, a la Bretonne, as for leg. The longer sort requires to be soaked a few hours before boiling.

662. _Mushrooms._--These are good every way when fresh; for a dish take about fifty b.u.t.ton, cut the roots off, wash and rub the skin off with a cloth, cut them in slices the size of a s.h.i.+lling, tail and all, put them in a stewpan, with two ounces of b.u.t.ter, a small teaspoonful of salt, two pinches of pepper, and the juice of half a lemon, put them on the fire, simmer till tender, and dish them up on a nice crisp toast; should you require any sauce, add, when nearly done, half a spoonful of flour, a gill of broth, milk, or cream, or even water, stew a few minutes longer, pour over toast and serve.

_If very large_, they should have been carefully picked, for if the dirt should have got into the under part it is difficult to remove it; cut off the end of the tail and peel the top, put them on a gridiron, season moderately with salt and pepper, turn them, and when done serve them on a very hot dish, and put on each a piece of b.u.t.ter the size of a nut, and a squeeze of a lemon, put in a hot oven for a minute, or before the fire, and serve; a little Harvey's or Soyer's sauce is an improvement.

They may also be put in an oven, by laying them in a saute-pan or tin dish, put a little b.u.t.ter and season over each, and a drop of Harvey's sauce, and let them remain twenty minutes, and serve with gravy over.

663. _Lentils._--Put into a stewpan one quart, add two quarts of cold water, one ounce of b.u.t.ter, a little salt, one onion sliced, a bouquet of parsley, set on the fire, simmer till tender, which may be in two hours; when done, drain in a sieve, and save the liquor, which can be made into a soup like the haricots (see receipt No. 661); put the lentils in a stewpan, with two ounces of b.u.t.ter, a little salt, sugar, pepper, and a tablespoonful of chopped eschalots, set it on the fire, put in b.u.t.ter and flour, mix well, boil ten minutes gently, and dish in a border of potatoes or in a deep dish. It may also be done thus: by frying till brown one onion, sliced in a stewpan, put in the boiled lentils, with two ounces of b.u.t.ter, a little flour, a gill of gravy, and season as above, stir well, boil, and serve hot.

Gabanza or Egyptian bean may be cooked in the same way.

664. _English Truffles._--Put twelve of them to soak for four hours in lukewarm water; then with a hard hair-brush remove all the earth from them; then wash again, put them into a stewpan, with a few slices of bacon, two onions, half a head of celery, half a carrot, a clove of garlic, two bay-leaves, a sprig of thyme, four of parsley, a teaspoonful of salt, one of sugar, a half of pepper, two gla.s.ses of sherry, and a pint of broth; let them simmer for half an hour or more, but till tender; place them in the oven for twenty minutes longer, remove the truffles and place them on a dish; have a little mashed potatoes, and make a border, and place the truffles on in pyramid to prevent them moving, strain the gravy they were in, skim off the fat, reduce it to about a gill, put in a teaspoonful of arrow-root in a cup, with a spoonful of water, mix it, and put to the gravy, boil a few minutes, pour over, and serve.

I peeled some of them, cooked the same way, they eat better; but they did not look so well.

665. _Saute of the same._--After having washed them, I peel them and cut into thin slices, and put about one pound of them into a stewpan; I then add a quarter of a pound of b.u.t.ter, a teaspoonful of salt, half one of sugar, a quarter ditto of nutmeg, warm over the fire, add a gill of broth, a little flour, mixed with a little b.u.t.ter, stir in, boil, and serve on toast;--or proceed as above, adding a gill of demi-glaze. They can be served with any entrees when properly done, and in all cases can be used instead of mushrooms.

666. _To cook Sourcrout._--Put a quart of sourcrout, with a fat piece of bacon or pork, into an _earthen_ pan, with sufficient water to cover it, stew for four or five hours, and serve with pork or fried sausages; it is better the second day. It may be procured in any good oil-shop in the winter.

667. _Sourcrout, Bavarian way._--Well wash one quart of sourcrout, and put it into an earthen pan with a quarter of a bottle of Rhenish wine or any other light wine, and stew it for three hours; then add some veal gravy, well seasoned, and stew for three hours longer, and serve with sausages, or when you add the veal stock, put in a duck or a goose, and serve with it.

668. _Laver_ is a marine plant (the _Ulvoe Lactuca_), which is obtained, in London, from the West of England; in Dublin, from Malahide; Edinburgh, from Aberdeen. It is merely washed, boiled, pulped, and potted by the fishermen's wives. It is considered wholesome, but I see nothing particular in it that can make it so unless it is the small quant.i.ty of iodine that it contains. It should be dressed like spinach (No. 658), and sent up very hot in a dish over a spirit-lamp, and is generally served with mutton. The following is a new plan I have introduced for cooking it, which has been liked by those persons who formerly disliked it.

Have some mashed potatoes as No. 672, roll it out the thickness of a quarter of an inch, cover it with some cold stewed laver nicely seasoned, put another layer of mashed potatoes over, and allow it to get quite cold, when cut it in square pieces, egg, bread-crumb, and proceed as for ramifolles.

POTATOES.--This root still bears its original American name, signifying earth-apple, and is divided into many species. Amongst those most common in use are the regent, ash-leaf, kidney; but, in the sister kingdom, Ireland, many other varieties are in use; as the lumper, reds, and blacks. There are as many different ways of cooking them as there are different species, which I will now describe.

669. _Plain Boiled or Steamed Potatoes._--Well wash the potatoes and peel them, and throw them into cold water (that depends upon the kind, if new or young, or a kidney, they should be cooked immediately after they are peeled, whilst others require to remain a long time in soak); have ready a steamer with boiling water in it, put the potatoes on the top, and steam for twenty to thirty minutes, and serve. Should you not have a steamer, and are obliged to boil them, do so by putting them into plenty of boiling water, and boil till tender or breaking, then pour them out into a colander, put a cloth over them, and put them in the screen, or before the fire, until you are ready to serve them; they ought always to be sent to table very hot.

670. _Baked Potatoes._--This is a very favorite dish with many persons; they ought to be of a large size, called Regents, and when cooked very floury. Mr. B. tells me he sometimes lunches at a house in the city where the proprietor grows that sort in particular for the use of his customers, and he finds them better if he leaves them in the ground where they grow until wanted, and he has about three days' consumption taken up at a time. They are merely well washed, and put into a slow oven for about thirty minutes, or longer if large, and served with a pat of b.u.t.ter in a plate.

671. _Fried Potatoes._--The long kidney potato is the best for this purpose; they should be washed and peeled, and cut into very thin slices, and thrown into boiling fat until a nice light brown color; dish up very hot, throwing a little salt over. The remains of cold ones may be cut into slices and fried in the same way, or they may be dipped into batter, and fried like fritters.

672. _Mashed Potatoes._--Steam about ten fine potatoes for about thirty-five minutes, put them into a stewpan or bowl, with two ounces of b.u.t.ter, one teaspoonful of salt, a smaller spoonful of pepper, and half a pint of milk, and beat them very well up with a large fork, then add by degrees a gill of milk, and continue beating, and dish them lightly on a dish. Should you require to keep them warm, do so in a stewpan. I do not approve of putting them into moulds and then in the oven, as it makes them heavy.

673. _Potatoes a la Maitre d'Hotel._--With young potatoes they are excellent. Boil ten middle-sized ones cut in slices of a quarter of an inch thick, put in the stewpan half a pint of milk or the same of broth, a little salt, pepper, grated nutmeg, and a tablespoonful of fresh chopped parsley, then simmer on fire; when boiling, add a quarter of a pound of fresh b.u.t.ter, the juice of a lemon, stir well for a few minutes; when each piece is well covered with the sauce, dish up, and high in the centre, as they must appear light.

674. _Lyonnaise._--The remains of cold potatoes may be used thus:--Put three ounces of b.u.t.ter in an omelette pan, in which you fry rather white three sliced onions; put on the potatoes, cut in thin slices about the size of half a crown, and saute them now and then until they have a nice yellow color; add a spoonful of chopped parsley, salt, pepper, and the juice of a lemon, saute well that it should mix well together, dish and serve very hot; they are excellent to serve with chop, steak, or any joint.