Part 1

DRESSED VEGETABLES

DRESSED VEGETABLES

_À LA MODE_

BY

MRS DE SALIS

AUTHORESS OF ‘SAVOURIES À LA MODE’ ‘ENTRÉES À LA MODE’ ‘OYSTERS À LA MODE’ ‘SOUPS AND DRESSED FISH À LA MODE’ AND ‘SWEETS AND SUPPER DISHES À LA MODE’

The earth hath roots; The bounteous huswife Nature on each bush Lays her full mess before ye’

SHAKESPEARE

FIFTH IMPRESSION

LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON NEW YORK AND BOMBAY 1900

_All rights reserved_

PREFACE.

In ‘Sweets and Supper Dishes à la Mode’ I mentioned I had completed the series, but, like so many of the members of the dramatic art who after their farewell are induced back again, I am making my reappearance in the gastronomic art with ‘Vegetables à la Mode,’ as the public who have so kindly received my former little books are anxious that I should extend the series; and as the _vox populi_ should be respected, I have had much pleasure in culling from the vegetable gardens of the culinary world the recipes printed in this little book, several of which I am indebted for to Madame de Joncourt’s ‘Wholesome Cookery,’ which she has kindly allowed me to use.

HARRIET A. DE SALIS.

DRESSED VEGETABLES

_À LA MODE._

American Yams à la Française.

Cut the yams into slices about half an inch thick, trim into oval shapes, put them into a pan full of water; wash and drain them upon a cloth; next place them in a stewpan with two and a half ounces of butter, and season with salt and a grate of nutmeg. Moisten with a pint of water; put the lid on and let them simmer for three-quarters of an hour, turning them over occasionally, so that they may be equally a bright yellow colour on both sides. Arrange in a circle, and pour the following sauce over them:--

Mix an ounce of butter with a dessertspoonful of flour; put it into a stewpan with a gill of cream a teaspoonful of castor sugar, a little salt, and a teaspoonful of lemon-juice. Stir this over the fire till it thickens, when it will be ready.

Aiquebelle Fritters.

Pound five potatoes; add a pinch of Gruyère cheese, eight eggs, half a pound of fresh butter, pepper and salt. Beat the eggs well before adding them to the other ingredients. Mix all together very thoroughly. Divide the mixture into pieces about the size of a milk biscuit, and fry in boiling fat.

Artichokes à la Barigoule.

Fonds d’Artichauts à la Barigoule.

Wash and trim three or four artichokes, remove the chokes, and fry the top of the leaves and the bottom of the artichokes in hot lard for three or four minutes.

Fill the cavities with a forcemeat made with two ounces of finely-shred suet, two ounces of veal free from fat and fibre, two teaspoonfuls of chopped parsley, a trifle of marjoram and thyme, half a shalot chopped fine, a little salt and pepper, and a teaspoonful of grated lemon-peel. Mix thoroughly, and work in the yolk of an egg. Fasten a piece of bacon on the top of each artichoke. Bind them with string to keep them in their proper place. Put them in a stewpan, with enough brown gravy to cover them. Let them stew gently till tender. Take away the strings, and dish them with a little of the gravy thickened round them.

Artichokes à la Barigoule.

Fonds d’Artichauts à la Barigoule.

(Another way.)

Parboil some globe artichokes. Strip off the leaves and take out the choke. Make a farce of bread-crumbs, parsley, mushrooms, truffles, shalots, and any savoury meat or game, minced very fine, and seasoned to taste. Put a slice of bacon or ham, two carrots, a bouquet garni at the bottom of a stewpan, and place the artichokes on the top of them; pour over a glass of chablis.

Artichoke Bottoms à la Carème.

Fonds d’Artichauts à la Carème.

(Original Recipe.)

Wash the artichokes thoroughly. Boil them till they are nearly tender; drain them, remove the middle leaves and the chokes, and lay in each a little of a forcemeat composed of six oysters, one sardine, two anchovies, and a few shrimps or prawns or pieces of lobster, all minced finely together, and put into a sauce made of a grated tablespoonful of horseradish, half a teaspoonful of lemon-juice, a tablespoonful of vinegar, half a teaspoonful of capers, and one gill of white sauce. Let this boil up, then stir in the fish mixture, fill the artichokes, and bake in the oven till tender and done. Scatter lobster coral on the top of each before serving, or alternately lobster coral and grated fried parsley.

Cream of Artichokes.

Crème d’Artichauts.

Parboil some artichokes, strip off the leaves, and press out the edible part of each leaf; remove the chokes, and pass this pulp through a hair sieve. Add a very little onion pulp. Season with salt, pepper, and a tiny dust of cayenne. Mix this with double cream, and steam in a mould very slowly for twenty minutes. Turn out of the mould, and serve with a cream sauce round.

Artichoke Bottoms à la Kaiser.

Fonds d’Artichauts à la Kaiser.

(Original Recipe.)

Cook some artichoke bottoms; season them with a little grated Parmesan cheese. Take some plain round glossy tomatoes and place one on each artichoke; lay some mushroom purée on the top of each, taking care to smooth it well; place each artichoke on a fried croûton masked with the tomato purée, and put them in a deep tin dish, and bake them in the oven (which must not be a fierce one) for about ten minutes. Just before serving sprinkle a little finely-chopped parsley over, and curl an anchovy on the top of each round a sprig of parsley that has been heated in the oven.

Artichokes à la Malay.

Artichauts à la Malay.

(Original Recipe.)

Prepare the artichokes as in Artichokes à la Carème, and fill them with a mixture made of an onion minced very finely and put into a stewpan with half a pint of prawns, an ounce of butter and a grate of cinnamon, half a pint of good mutton broth, and a little salt. Let this stew over a moderate fire for half an hour, then stir in a spoonful of curry powder, and let it stew twenty minutes longer. Strain the gravy into a clean stewpan, add the prawns, and let it simmer again for ten minutes. Scrape a piece of cocoa-nut sufficient to fill a tablespoon into a gill of water, and press it through a sieve. Take half the milk from the cocoa-nut, thicken it with flour, stir it into the curry mixture, toss it over the fire, and give a squeeze of lemon to it, and then put in the artichokes.

Dish them up on a rice mound, ornamented with gherkins and chillies. This is very good cold, and the rice should then be iced and ornamented with whipped aspic jelly and three leaves of the artichoke standing up in the middle of each.

Artichokes à la Gouffé.

Artichauts à la Gouffé.

Wash and trim three young artichokes, cut them into thin slices, and as they are cut throw them into water with a cupful of vinegar in it. Drain them, and season with a little salt and pepper. Make a batter with three eggs, two tablespoonfuls of oil, and two of flour. When all are well mixed, put the slices of artichokes into it, and stir gently for about three minutes, until every piece of artichoke is well covered. Fry in hot fat, being careful that the vegetable is cooked through as well as being browned. Drain from the fat, and pile the slices high in the dish, and garnish with fried parsley.

Artichokes à l’Italienne.

Artichauts à l’Italienne.

Take the bottoms of some French artichokes, put them in a stewpan with some butter, white wine, a little stock, and lemon-juice. When cooked serve up with sauce italienne over.

Artichokes à l’Italienne.

Artichauts à l’Italienne.

(Another way.)

Is similar to the last recipe, only the stuffing is made of fried onion chopped very small, browned bread-crumbs, and grated Parmesan cheese, and baked in the oven.

Stuffed Artichokes à la Béchamel.

Make a savoury stuffing with some chopped herbs, bread-crumbs, a mushroom, a pounded anchovy, and the yolk of a hard-boiled egg. Make this into a paste by cooking it in a little cream and gravy; fill some artichoke bottoms with it, and put them to simmer in a béchamel sauce; serve with fried sippets. The preserved artichokes (fonds d’artichauts) are very good for this purpose, and require very little cooking.

Globe Artichokes aux Fines Herbes.

Wash, soak, and trim all the bottom leaves from the artichokes; boil in a large saucepan of boiling water till the leaves come easily out, and the bottoms are soft. When cold, pull off all the leaves and remove the chokes; put them into a saucepan with half a pint of fines herbes sauce (made of half a pint of good brown sauce, three small onions, two bunches of parsley, a tablespoonful of tomato sauce, two of chervil, four small button mushrooms chopped fine, and a little salt; stew all these for twenty minutes, _but do not boil_), simmer for three or four minutes, and serve very hot with the sauce over them.

Globe Artichokes au Diable.

Prepare the artichokes as for Artichokes aux Fines Herbes, and fill the bottoms with devilled shrimps which have been stewed in butter for three minutes; sprinkle with cayenne pepper, and mask with Espagnole sauce.[1]

[1] See _Entrées à la Mode_ for Espagnole sauce.

To devil the shrimps, take a pint of picked ones and put them into two ounces of butter; warm only, and sprinkle with dry curry powder and cayenne pepper.

Artichokes à la Chef.

Trim the artichokes, cut out the chokes, and stuff them with minced bacon, parsley, mushrooms, and shalots which have been fried in butter. Line a stewpan with slices of bacon, add the artichokes, season with pepper and salt and a bouquet garni. Moisten with gravy, and cook over a slow fire with hot coals on the lid. When done, dish up covered with essence of ham. Essence of ham is made of ham finely pounded and warmed in butter in which a little flour has been stirred, and, when a good colour, moistened with stock seasoned with herbs, cloves, chopped mushrooms, and a teaspoonful of vinegar, and passed through a tammy.

Artichoke Chips.

Wash, peel, and cut into thin slices as many Jerusalem artichokes as are required. Throw them into cold water and dry them. Put them in a frying-basket. Plunge this into boiling lard, and fry a nice light brown. Put them before the fire and dry. Sprinkle with a little salt, and serve very hot.

Jerusalem Artichokes à la Reine.

Wash the artichokes, cut off the end of each quite flat, and trim the other end into a point. Boil them in milk and water, and lift them out the moment they are done; drain, and place them upright in the dish into which they are to be served, and sauce them with a rich béchamel sauce.

Jerusalem Artichokes au Parmesan.

Boil till quite tender sufficient Jerusalem artichokes to fill up some scallop shells; cut them up very small, and mix them up in a little béchamel sauce. Add a little pepper and salt, strew on thickly some grated Parmesan, and over that some bread-crumbs; put little pieces of butter all over the top, and brown them with the salamander.

Asparagus with Cream.

Asperges à la Crème.

Cut up some heads of asparagus; wash and drain them. Melt some fresh butter in a saucepan, warm the asparagus heads in it, and stir in some rich béchamel sauce. When done, serve covered with the sauce.

Asparagus Omelet.

Omelette aux Pointes d’Asperges.

Boil about twenty-five heads of asparagus, and cut the green ends, when tender, in short pieces. Mix with them four well-beaten eggs, adding a little pepper and salt. Melt an ounce of butter in an omelet-pan, pour in the mixture, stir till it thickens over the fire, and fold it nicely over.

Asparagus sauce may be served with it.

Asparagus à la Tod Heatley.

(Original Recipe.)

Cook the asparagus as usual, then lay them on ice or in a refrigerator. When properly cold, arrange them in bunches like faggots, and tie them round with strips cut from lettuces to resemble a binder. Arrange them high on the dish, and pour over them whipped cream in which a little aspic jelly has been mixed. Garnish with croûtons of aspic and whipped aspic. This dish is also very good with simply a green mayonnaise over it.

Asparagus à la Pompadour.

Boil the asparagus in boiling salt and water. When cooked, cut it into lengths three inches long, drain them, and place them before the fire for a few moments. Take one ounce of fresh butter, two yolks of eggs, a pinch of salt, a saltspoonful of pepper, and a tablespoonful of vinegar; cook in a saucepan till thick; dish up the asparagus in a pyramid, and pour the sauce over.

Asparagus Rolls.

Cut a piece out of the crust of the tops of three French rolls, and take out all their crumb; be careful that the crusts fit again in the places from whence they were taken. Fry the rolls brown in fresh butter. Then take a pint of cream, the yolks of six eggs beaten fine, and a little salt and nutmeg; stir well together over a slow fire till it begins to be thick. Have ready a hundred of small grass boiled, and save tops enough to stick the rolls with. Cut the rest of the tops small, put them into the cream, and fill the rolls with them. Before frying the rolls, make a good many holes in the top to stick the grass in. Then lay on the pieces of crust and stick the grass in that it may look as if it were growing.

Asparagus à la Rustic.

Cut the green part of a hundred good spruce asparagus heads; wash, boil, and strain them. Take three French rolls, cut a piece of the top crust neatly out, pick out _all_ the crumb, and fry the outsides in butter; take a gill of cream with the yolks of three eggs beaten up in it, add a little salt and a grate of nutmeg, and stir well together over a gentle fire till it begins to thicken; put in three parts of the asparagus cut small; fill the rolls with it; put on the tops that were cut off, and with a sharp skewer make holes in the tops, and stick some asparagus in as if it were growing. Arrange them on a dish, and serve very hot.

Asparagus à la Française.

Wash and boil the asparagus till tender, drain them, cut off the heads and about two inches of the white part of the stalks; mince them very small, and mix with them an onion also cut very small. Add the yolk of an egg well beaten, with salt and pepper to taste. Make it hot in a stewpan, and dish it up on a slice of toast, and pour a good sauce over it.

Asparagus Pudding.

Take about fifty young asparagus and cut up the green part into pea-sized pieces. Beat about an ounce of butter to a cream, add to it a cupful of flour, two teaspoonfuls of finely-chopped ham, four well-beaten eggs, a little pepper and salt, and then the asparagus. Mix all well together, and add sufficient milk to make it into a stiff batter. Put it into a well-oiled mould, wrap it up in a floured cloth, and place it in a saucepan of boiling water. When sufficiently cooked, turn it out on to a hot dish and pour good clear clarified butter round it in which two drops of vinegar have been put.

Dressed Beetroot.

Slice a parboiled beetroot in nice round slices, and stew it with small onions in a little cream with a very small piece of sugar, pepper and salt, and a tablespoonful of vinegar. Dish the slices of beetroot with the small onions round them.

Beetroot Fritters.

Cut some boiled beetroot into slices. Take two pieces at a time, place a slice of raw onion sprinkled with chopped chervil, pepper, and salt between them, dip into batter, and plunge into boiling fat. When a good colour, dish up.

Beetroot à la Savarin.

Fry a slice of onion in butter, then mix together half a teaspoonful of salt, half of dry mustard, twelve drops of essence of anchovies, a dessertspoonful of cornflour, a gill of cream, and a gill of milk. Put this with the onion, and boil for five minutes; then slice in a nice-coloured boiled beetroot, and let all get cold.

Stewed Beetroot.

Bake or boil a beet till it is tender, and let it remain till cold, then peel and cut it into slices, and stew it for a little while in some broth or pale gravy. Thicken this with a teaspoonful of arrowroot and two tablespoonfuls of cream, and stir in quickly, as you take it off the fire, a tablespoonful of chilli vinegar.

Beetroot à la Crème.

Peel a beetroot and cut it into slices, then cook it very slowly in white béchamel sauce; season with pepper and salt, and serve.

Brittany Beans.

Cut some onions in thin shreds, scald and drain them. Fry them in butter till they are a nice golden brown; then sprinkle over them flour, pepper, and salt, and sauté them for five minutes. Add some stock and stew for twenty minutes, taking care to stir frequently; then add some well-cooked haricot beans and butter, and sauté together.

Broad Beans à la Crème.

The beans must be very young. Boil them in water with a faggot of parsley and some salt. When done, drain in a colander; then put them into a stewpan with an ounce and a half of butter, some chopped parsley, and as much winter savoury as will cover the tip of a spoon, pepper, salt, and just one grate of nutmeg. Sauté the beans over the fire for five minutes, and then mix in well with them a liaison of three eggs and the juice of half a lemon. When the liaison has become set, dish them up with fancy fried croûtons round them.

French Beans à la Poulette.

Take some young French beans, remove all fibres by breaking off the ends; wash and boil them in boiling water. When done, toss them in melted butter seasoned with chopped chives and parsley; stir in a dessertspoonful of flour, a pinch of salt, and a quarter of a pint of stock; reduce the sauce; thicken with two yolks of eggs, and flavour with a few drops of lemon-juice when it is ready to serve.

Omelet of French Beans.

Cut up finely two tablespoonfuls of French beans, stir into them three well-beaten eggs, then add a heaped-up tablespoonful of grated Parmesan, with a little pepper and salt to taste. When perfectly mixed, put the whole, with two ounces of melted butter, into the omelet-pan, and fry a pale brown. The time varies from three to five minutes.

Fricasseed White Kidney Beans.

Take a quart of white kidney beans; if they are dried soak them for some hours first, but if fresh merely blanch them and rub off the skins. The dried ones must be boiled till tender and their skins slip off.

Put them into a saucepan with half a pint of gravy, a bunch of sweet herbs, pepper, salt, a grate of nutmeg, and a glass of marsala; cover them close, and let them stew gently for about a quarter of an hour; then take out the herbs, add a piece of butter mixed with flour, and shake it till thick. Beat up the yolks of two eggs in cream, put it in, and keep shaking the pan one way till thick and smooth; squeeze in juice of half a lemon, and serve.

French Beans à la Béchamel.

Cut up some French beans; soak them in cold water, and boil in boiling salt and water; when done, plunge them into cold water and drain. Warm some chopped onions in fresh butter, but do not brown them; and when nearly cooked, stir in a little flour, salt, pepper, chopped parsley, chives, and a wineglassful of stock; add the beans, and when boiling thicken the sauce with yolks of eggs and flavour with lemon-juice. This sauce must not be thin.

French Beans à la Crème.

Take a pound of French beans, string them, and boil them in salt and water till tender, then drain them. Beat the yolks of two fresh eggs in a gill of cream and about one ounce of fresh butter; beat all well together, put it into a stewpan, and set over a clear fire. When hot, stir in a tablespoonful of vinegar, add the beans, and let all simmer for about six minutes, stirring constantly. Serve very hot.

Broccoli à la Fermière.

Take three heads of broccoli--one large and two small heads. Put into a stewpan two and a half ounces of butter, and when melted stir in four well-beaten eggs till it becomes of the consistency of cream. Pour this over a slice of toasted bread which has been placed on a dish. Lay the largest broccoli in the middle, and the two smaller ones cut into sprigs and arranged round it.

Fricassee of Brussels Sprouts à la Lucerne.

Take some young sprouts and put them into boiling water with a lump of butter, a little salt, a piece of soda the size of a pea, and a bouquet garni. When they are cooked, take them out and drain them. Have ready some good white stock and rich béchamel sauce--say, half a pint of each--the yolk of an egg, and a teaspoonful of lemon-juice; put all these into a stewpan and stir over the fire till it is all well blended and the thickness of rich cream. Mix in the sprouts, and then dish them up; garnish with fried croûtons cut in the shape of hearts, mask them over with a little Parmesan cheese, and sprinkle the yolk of a hard-boiled egg which has been passed through a wire sieve over the centre of the sprouts.

Brussels Sprouts à la Parisienne.

Trim and boil about thirty heads of sprouts in two quarts of water in which a handful of salt has been placed; when done, strain them, and chop very fine. Then put an onion in a stewpan, cut in slices, with two ounces of butter, three sprigs of parsley, and an ounce of raw ham. Stir them ten minutes over the fire, then add the chopped sprouts and half a teaspoonful of flour; mix all well together and add half a pint of white stock and half a pint of milk. Stir until it boils, then add a teaspoonful of powdered sugar; season with a little pepper and salt, and serve with fried sippets.

Fried Brussels Sprouts.

Boil the sprouts, drain and fry them in butter for a few minutes; sprinkle with pepper, salt, and chopped parsley.

Ladies’ Cabbage.

(American Recipe.)

Boil a firm white cabbage for fifteen minutes, changing the water from the boiling-kettle; when tender, drain and set aside till cold. Then chop fine, and add two beaten eggs, an ounce of butter, pepper, salt, and three tablespoonfuls of cream. Stir all well together, and bake in a buttered pie-dish till brown.

Cabbage Jelly.

Boil a Savoy cabbage in water, chop it very fine and pass it through a sieve, and mix it with a little pepper, salt, and butter; mould and bake it.

Cabbage à la Flamande.

Cut a cabbage into quarters, parboil, and then place it in cold water, squeeze it dry, take out the heart and tie it round; then stew it with half an ounce of butter, half a pint of good stock, seven onions, a bouquet garni, and salt and pepper to taste. When nearly cooked, put in a gill of vinegar; and when it is sufficiently cooked take a crust of bread about four inches in diameter, fry it in butter, and put it in the bottom of a dish, upon which place the cabbage and some fried sausages; arrange the onions round. Skim the same, add a little cullis to it, and pour it over the whole.

Cabbage and Rice Balls.

(Italian Recipe.)

Boil some rice with a little broth; cut some onions small, fry them, and mix them well with the rice. Then fry the rice, adding a little water so that it should not thicken too much; when cooked, add a little grated cheese and butter.

Take some cabbages, separate the leaves, put them into hot water, half boil and rinse them. Take each leaf separately, spread the rice thickly on it, and roll it up.

Then take a stewpan and put in some pieces of butter and onions cut very finely, cook them well with a little water; then place the balls of rice in the stewpan and cook them until the cabbage is done. When cooked, sprinkle grated cheese over them, and serve with tomato sauce.

Stuffed Cabbages à la Russe.