Hand-Book of Practical Cookery for Ladies and Professional Cooks Part 48

_In Poulette._--Proceed as in _Bechamel_ with the exception that you use broth instead of milk, and add a little parsley, chopped fine, just before serving.

_Fines Herbes._--Clean, cut, and boil as directed, about a quart of carrots. Set a saucepan on the fire with two ounces of b.u.t.ter in it, and when melted fry in it a piece of onion chopped fine. When the onion is fried add a pint of broth or water; boil about five minutes, put the carrots in with a teaspoonful of chopped parsley, give one boil, take from the fire, add a few drops of lemon-juice, and serve as warm as possible, with salt to taste.

_Au jus._--Proceed as for _fines herbes_, except that you do not use onions, and put half a pint of broth or gravy.

_Glazed._--Clean, cut with a vegetable spoon, and boil as directed, about a quart of carrots, and drain them. Put three ounces of b.u.t.ter in a frying-pan and set it on the fire. As soon as the b.u.t.ter is melted turn the carrots in, toss gently for five or six minutes, then add a little over a gill of rich gravy, sugar to taste, toss again now and then till the gravy is half boiled away, and use. Glazed carrots are seldom served alone, but most generally used as garnis.h.i.+ng around a piece of meat.

_Stewed._--Clean, and cut carrots in slices, and then blanch them for about five minutes, and drain them. Set a stewpan on the fire with about two ounces of b.u.t.ter in it; as soon as melted put the carrots in with salt, pepper, a pinch of sugar, half a pint of broth; boil gently till cooked, take from the fire, add and mix with the carrots a little chopped parsley, and serve warm.

_With Sugar._--Clean and slice about a quart of carrots, and blanch them for five minutes, and then drain them. Put two ounces of b.u.t.ter in a stewpan, and set it on a good fire, and when melted lay the carrots in with salt, pepper, a pinch of grated nutmeg, and about half a pint of broth; sprinkle in it, while stirring with a wooden spoon, about a teaspoonful of flour, and boil gently till cooked. Take from the fire, mix a good tablespoonful of sugar with two yolks of eggs, and those again with the rest, and serve.

_Cauliflowers and Broccoli--how to prepare and cook them in water._--Clean and wash them well, throw into boiling water with a little salt and a little flour, boil till cooked, and drain them.

_How to serve with Cheese._--Put them on a crockery dish when prepared; pour on a white sauce, in which you have mixed a little grated cheese; then dust the whole with fine bread-crumbs; after which you take a soft brush or a feather, which you dip in lukewarm b.u.t.ter, and put a thin coat of it all over the cauliflowers; then place the dish in a quick oven for ten minutes, and serve as they are, _i. e._, in the dish in which they have been cooked. This is also called _au gratin_.

_In Bechamel._--Boil the cauliflowers till done to your taste, drain immediately and place them on the dish, the top upward. While it is boiling make a _Bechamel_ sauce and turn it over the cauliflowers as soon as dished, and serve as warm as possible. Cauliflower, like asparagus, has a better taste when rather underdone; it is more crisp.

_Au Beurre Noir (with Brown b.u.t.ter)._--When boiled, drained, and dished, turn a brown b.u.t.ter over them, and serve warm.

_With a Cream-Sauce._--Clean, prepare, boil, and drain the cauliflowers as directed above, then dish them also with the top upward. While they are boiling, make a cream-sauce and turn it over the cauliflowers as soon as they are dished, and serve warm. As they must be served warm, if the sauce is ready before the cauliflowers are cooked, keep it in a _bain-marie_; if the cauliflowers are cooked before the sauce is ready, keep them in a warm place.

_With a White Sauce._--Proceed as with a cream-sauce in every particular, turning a white instead of a cream-sauce over them; serve warm.

_Fried._--Clean, prepare, and boil them for about five minutes, that is, till they are about half cooked; then dip them in batter for frying vegetables, and fry them in hot fat. Take them off with a skimmer, turn them into a colander, sprinkle salt all over, and serve as hot as possible. They are excellent fried, but they must not be allowed to cool.

_With a Tomato-Sauce._--Commence by making a tomato-sauce, as it requires longer than preparing the cauliflowers. When the sauce is nearly made, boil the cauliflower as directed, dish it, and then turn the sauce over it, and serve warm.

_Au jus, or stewed._--Prepare, boil the cauliflowers till half done, and drain them. Place them carefully in a stewpan, the top upward, and set on the fire with a little fat. The fire must be rather slow. Stir gently and very carefully in order not to break them, and, about five minutes after they are on the fire, add half a gill of broth for a middling-sized cauliflower, salt, and pepper; simmer till done, stirring now and then during the process; dish them, turn the sauce all over, and serve warm.

_In Salad._--When boiled and drained, leave them in the colander till perfectly cold, then put them in the salad-dish with salt, pepper, vinegar, and oil, move carefully in order not to break it, and serve. A salad of cauliflowers is not served as a salad of greens, but as an _entremet_, like other vegetables, and as if prepared in any other way.

It is an excellent dish for breakfast.

_Celery--stewed._--Cut off the green part or top of about half a dozen heads of celery; cleanse and trim them, but leave them whole. Set a saucepan of cold water and a little salt on the fire, and at the first boil drop the heads of celery in, boil till tender and drain. Put the celery back in the pan with about half a pint of broth; boil gently about five minutes, when add two or three tablespoonfuls of good meat-gravy, a teaspoonful of _meuniere_, salt to taste, give one boil, and serve warm.

_Fried._--Cut the celery in pieces about two inches long, wash, drain, and wipe dry. Dip them in batter for frying vegetables, drop in hot fat, and turn them into a colander when fried; sprinkle salt over, and serve hot. Soup or turnip-rooted celery, after being cleaned and properly sc.r.a.ped, is prepared like table celery as above, either stewed or fried.

_Chiccory._--Chiccory, or succory, or endive, is generally prepared as a salad, if it be that with the broad leaves, or the curled endive.

_Stewed._--Clean, wash, and drain it. Blanch it for about one minute, and drain again. Then put it in a stewpan with a little broth, and simmer till cooked; then add a little gravy, salt and pepper to taste, and serve. It makes a good _entremet_. The wild chiccory is prepared in the same way.

_With Milk._--Remove the outer leaves and see that it is perfectly clean, cut in two or four, wash well in several waters, and throw into boiling water with a little salt; boil half an hour, take it out, throw into cold water, leave two minutes, and drain; press on it the drainer so as to extract all the water from it, after which chop it fine. Put about two ounces of b.u.t.ter in a stewpan; when melted, sprinkle in it a teaspoonful of flour, also salt and pepper; then put the endive in, say three or four heads, stir with a wooden spoon for ten minutes, after which time you beat two eggs with milk, and put them in the stewpan; keep stirring fifteen minutes longer, and serve.

_Corn--sweet._--The simplest and best way is to boil it, and then eat it with b.u.t.ter, salt, and pepper. When boiled with any meat-soup, or with _pot-au-feu_, it is delicious to eat, and gives a good taste to the broth; it is also eaten with b.u.t.ter, salt, and pepper, as above.

_Stewed._--Sh.e.l.l it and then drop it in boiling water and a little salt, boil till nearly done; then drain and put it back on the fire with a little broth; boil gently for about ten minutes, add a little gravy, salt and pepper to taste, and serve warm.

_In Succotash._--This popular Indian dish, is very simply made by boiling corn and green Lima beans together, with salt and pepper. The two can be prepared together as stewed corn, but it makes a very inferior dish.

_Cuc.u.mbers._--Peel them, split them in four, take the seeds out, cut in pieces about one inch long, throw them into boiling water, with a little salt; boil till cooked, drain, and put them on a towel so as to dry them well; then put b.u.t.ter in a frying-pan, and set it on a good fire; when hot, put in it some chopped parsley, salt, and pepper, two minutes after put the cuc.u.mbers in it, fry a few minutes, tossing them now and then, and serve.

_The same, stewed._--Cook in boiling water, and dry them as above; then put them in a stewpan with a little b.u.t.ter kneaded with flour, add salt, pepper, and a pinch of grated nutmeg; moisten with broth, simmer to reduce the sauce; take from the fire, mix the yolks of two eggs in the sauce; add to it a few drops of vinegar, and serve them.

_Stuffed._--Soak a piece of bread in cold water and then squeeze the water out of it, the size to be according to how many cuc.u.mbers are to be stuffed, or how large they are. Split large cuc.u.mbers in two, lengthwise, remove the seeds and some of the fleshy parts inside, by means of a small iron spoon. Put a little b.u.t.ter in a saucepan on the fire, and when melted fry in it a piece of chopped onion. When the onion is fried, put in the pan what you have removed from the inside of the cuc.u.mbers, and which you have chopped a little, stir for about five minutes, and then add the soaked bread, stir and mix well with the rest; add also salt, pepper, a little grated nutmeg and a little gravy; stir again for about one minute, take from the fire; fill the cuc.u.mbers, that is, each half with the mixture; place them in a pan, the mixture upward; dust with bread-crumbs, put a little b.u.t.ter on the top of each, and bake. Before serving, a little gravy may be sprinkled all over; serve warm.

_In hors-d'oeuvre._--Peel the cuc.u.mbers, cut them in slices slantwise, and salt them for two or three hours. Drain them, and then season with oil, vinegar, pepper, and parsley chopped fine.

Pickled cuc.u.mbers are served whole with small onions, also pickled, as a _hors-d'oeuvre_.

_Dandelion._--Dandelion is a very healthy greens in the spring, either cooked or raw. Clean and wash them well several times, as it nearly always contains fine sand between the leaves; leave them in cold water about two hours, and drain them; throw them into boiling water and salt; boil twenty minutes if young, and thirty minutes if full grown; then put them in a colander, press on them so as to extract all the water, after which chop them fine; put about two ounces of b.u.t.ter in a stewpan, for two quarts, and set it on a quick fire; when melted, sprinkle in it a teaspoonful of flour, salt and pepper, then put the dandelion in, stir for ten minutes, after which wet it with broth; keep stirring for about fifteen minutes longer, and serve.

_Egg-Plant--broiled._--Split the egg-plant in two lengthwise, peel it and remove the seed. Put it in a crockery vessel and sprinkle salt on it; leave it thus nearly an hour, then take it off, dip it in egg beaten with salt, pepper, and chopped parsley, then boil it; serve with a _maitre d'hotel_ sauce.

_Fried._--Peel and cut in slices, lay the slices in a vessel, sprinkling salt over every layer, and leave thus half an hour and drain. Dip the slices in batter for frying vegetables, drop them in hot fat, and turn them into a colander when fried; sprinkle salt all over, and serve.

_Saute._--Put the slices with salt half an hour in a vessel as directed in the above. Drain them, and then fry them on both sides with a little b.u.t.ter in a frying-pan. Serve warm, with salt and pepper to taste.

_Stuffed._--Proceed as for stuffed cuc.u.mbers in every particular.

_Hominy._--Hominy is prepared in different ways, some make it in cakes, others like mush. The following is, however, the general way of preparing it: boil it for about three hours with water or milk, also b.u.t.ter, salt, and pepper; then mix with it some well-beaten eggs, fry or broil, or even cook it in an oven, and serve for breakfast.

_Leeks._--Clean, wash, and drain; throw them in boiling water with a little salt, boil fifteen minutes, and drain; press on them in the drainer, so as to extract all the water, then chop them fine. Put two ounces of b.u.t.ter in a stewpan; when melted, sprinkle in it a teaspoonful of flour, salt, and pepper, then add the leeks. Stir with a wooden spoon for ten minutes; after that beat two eggs with milk, and put them in a stewpan; keep stirring fifteen minutes longer, and serve.

_Lentils._--This excellent vegetable, much superior to beans or peas, is not generally known. Most of what we have here comes from Germany; a little comes from France and Switzerland. Many persons think them much dearer than beans or peas, not knowing that they swell three or four times their size when soaked in water before cooking them. They are prepared like dry beans in every way. A _puree_ of lentils is excellent with almost every kind of meat, and it also makes a good potage. It has all the nutritive qualities of the bean.

_Lettuce._--Cos lettuce, cabbage lettuce, b.u.t.ter lettuce, curled Silesia, white or green lettuce, etc. Besides being served as salad, all the above, when properly dressed, make an excellent _entremet_.

_To prepare._--Take off the outer leaves, that is, all those that are too green or too hard, then clean and wash well, but without cutting it off, or without detaching the leaves. To stew lettuce, select hard heads, so that they can be cleansed without detaching the leaves. When cleaned, drop the heads in boiling water and a little salt, boil about five or ten minutes, according to how tender the lettuce is, and drain dry.

_Stewed._--When cleaned and prepared, sprinkle on the top of each, salt, pepper, and a little grated nutmeg; then tie each head with a string.

Place in a stewpan two or three slices of bacon, put the heads of lettuce in, season with two sprigs of parsley, one of thyme, a bay-leaf, and a clove, also salt and pepper; cover with water, and simmer about two hours in an oven; then take them from the pan, drain, pressing on them to extract all the water, and put them on a dish, the top upward.

Have b.u.t.ter in a stewpan, and on a good fire; when melted, sprinkle in it a teaspoonful of flour, stirring with a wooden spoon; subdue the fire, add a little milk, and stir and simmer ten minutes longer; take from the fire, mix in the beaten yolks of two eggs, pour it on the lettuce, which you have kept warm, and serve.

_Another way._--When prepared, chop it fine. Put in a stewpan, for four heads of lettuce, three ounces of b.u.t.ter, and set it on the fire; when melted, put the lettuce in with a little chopped chervil, stir now and then till cooked; then sprinkle in it a pinch of flour, wet with broth, boil ten minutes longer, keeping it stirred, and serve. (For a salad of lettuce, see Salad.)

_Stuffed._--Proceed as for a stuffed cabbage.

_Mushrooms._--Preserved mushrooms are used for sauces only. The first thing to consider very attentively in mushrooms is, not to eat any that you do not know to be good to eat. There are so many kinds of good and bad ones, that it is necessary to be very careful about even the edible ones, or the ones known as such when young; it is better and safer never to use them when old; they are considered old when the comb underneath is black before picking, while when young it is of a pink color.

_How to clean and prepare them._--Cut off the lower part of the stem; skin them with a steel knife, commencing at the edge and finis.h.i.+ng at the top; cut in pieces, put them in cold water, to which you have added a few drops of vinegar; leave them in it two hours, moving them occasionally; then wash well in two or three waters, and drain.

When cleaned and prepared thus, they are ready to be used in sauces, or to cook.

_Broiled._--If you have large mushrooms, clean and prepare as above, except that you do not cut them; but when drained, put them upside down on a greased gridiron, and on a moderate fire; place a little b.u.t.ter around the stem upon the comb, and when done place them on a dish which you have warmed in advance, and in the same position they had on the gridiron; put again around the stem some b.u.t.ter kneaded with a little chopped parsley, salt, and pepper, and serve. They must be served warm.

As an ornament, you may make, with common white note-paper, as many little square boxes as you have mushrooms to broil; grease them with b.u.t.ter, put the mushrooms in, set them on the gridiron, and on a moderate fire, and serve them in the boxes when done.

_The same, stewed._--When cleaned and prepared as directed, and drained, throw a quart of them in boiling water, to which you have added a few drops of vinegar; boil five minutes, take them out, put them in cold water to cool, drain and dry them in a towel. Put two ounces of b.u.t.ter in a stewpan and set it on a good fire; when melted, sprinkle in it a pinch of flour, add also a sprig of parsley, two small onions, a little piece of carrot, a bay-leaf, salt, and pepper, cover with broth, and boil till the onions are cooked; then take from the pan onions, parsley, and bay-leaf, and put the mushrooms in instead; boil slowly about twenty minutes, take from the fire, add to the sauce the yolks of two eggs well beaten with a few drops of vinegar, and serve warm.