Part 66

(_b_) Fry 3 or 4 onions sliced, in 1 oz. butter. Put into a saucepan with ½ pint red lentils, and 1 pint water; simmer 1 hour, then add 1 dessertspoonful curry powder and 1 teaspoonful lemon juice. Serve with boiled rice.

_Mushrooms._--(_a_) Chop up half a small punnet of mushrooms, having first taken off the skins and stalks; also a handful of washed parsley and 3 small shallots. Scrape ¼ lb. ham, of which the proportions of fat and lean should be about equal; if the ham be too lean, some fat of bacon can be used with it. Also chop a little thyme. Mix all well together, seasoning with pepper and salt, and fry them over the fire for a few minutes, and until done; then mix in the yolks of 3 eggs, and set it aside while the mushrooms are preparing (these must be large ones); take off the skins and stalks, and, having trimmed the edges neatly, fill each one with some of the above preparation. Spread a sautépan thickly with butter, place the mushrooms in it side by side, shake some raspings of bread plentifully over them, and set them in the oven for about ¼ hour; they should be nicely browned. Arrange them on a dish in the form of a pyramid, and pour round them a little of the following sauce, which must have been previously prepared and be waiting hot and ready for use: Chop 2 shallots, wash them in several waters to take away the strong taste, wring them dry in the corner of a napkin, and put them into a stewpan with about 1 doz. small white mushrooms finely minced; add a little thyme, a small bay leaf, and a dessertspoonful of salad oil; shake these together over the fire for 5 minutes; add 1 small wineglassful white French wine, and then set it on to reduce to half its quantity; moisten this with a little good white sauce; let it boil up, free it from the oil, take out thyme and bay leaf. Let it be of the consistency of ordinary sauces, which can be regulated by adding a little white stock if too thick, or boiling up to reduce if too thin. When ready, set it aside in a small stewpan to keep hot till wanted.

(_b_) Pick and peel ½ pint mushrooms, wash them well, put them into a lined saucepan with ½ pint plain white sauce, made with rice, new milk, and well seasoned with mace, salt and paper, white or cayenne as preferred. Let the mushrooms stew until quite tender, then add 1 spoonful butter rolled in arrowroot sufficient to thicken it; simmer a few minutes longer and serve.

(_c_) Skin and wash the mushrooms, then dry in a cloth; butter each one on the inside, sprinkle salt and pepper over, and grill until tender.

(_d_) Peel 1 pint mushrooms and cut off their stalks; boil these and the parings; when ready, strain. Put the mushrooms, chopped fine, into a stewpan; pour in the gravy, add some chopped parsley, season well with pepper and salt, and stew the whole gently for 40 minutes over a moderate fire. Beat up 6 eggs, mix with the other ingredients; have ready some buttered cups, pour the mixture into them, and bake quickly; turn out on to a hot dish, and serve with white sauce. (Eliot-James.)

_Nettles._--In some parts of Scotland the young shoots of nettles are used as greens, but chiefly by the poor. This is probably the result of prejudice. The following recipes will be found excellent as a vegetable: (_a_) Select the light green tops and leaves of the nettles, wash them carefully in 2 waters; a little salt and a small piece of soda should be dissolved in the second water. Boil till quite tender, then turn them into a colander and press them quite dry. Place on a hot vegetable or entrée dish, scoring them backwards and forwards 3 or 4 times. Place a small piece of butter the size of a walnut in the centre, and pepper and salt and send very hot to table. Melted butter can be served separately if desired. (_b_) A more savoury way of dressing the nettle tops would be the following. Wash and prepare the tops as before, drain and dry them, then chop them into a fine mince. Put this mince into a stewpan, in which has been placed a little good stock or gravy; add to this a pinch of salt, a little pepper and powdered sugar, and a squeeze of lemon juice, or, if liked, a little finely chopped onion. When ready to serve thicken with a little flour and butter, and a teaspoonful of cream. Place on toast, and serve very hot with poached eggs, or garnish with hard-boiled eggs cut in slices.

_Olives._--Stir some chopped parsley and scallions into some butter melted over the fire. Moisten with some gravy or good broth, a glass of white wine, some capers, and an anchovy pounded in a spoonful of olive oil. Put into this sauce some olives, which have previously been stoned by peeling the fruit spirally off the nuts with a sharp knife. Bring it to the boil, and thicken the sauce with a little light colouring of butter and flour, made separately. If liked, the stones of the olives can be replaced by a veal stuffing, which has been cooked first.

_Onions._--(_a_) Cut off the roots close of 2 Spanish onions, and remove the outer peels or any that are in the least dry, then parboil them in salted water for 10 minutes; dry them in a cloth, and cut them in half lengthwise. Put them in a saucepan over a slice of fat bacon, add a faggot of sweet herbs, 2 or 3 cloves, and some whole pepper, with salt to taste; pour in a sufficient quantity of very good stock to just cover them, and let them stew gently for 2 hours. Strain off a portion of the liquor, free it from superfluous fat, reduce it by letting it boil for ¼ hour, dish up the onions, pour the reduced sauce over, and serve.

(_b_) Peel off the very outer skins, cut off the pointed ends like a cigar, put them in a deep dish, and put a piece of butter and a little salt and pepper on the place where the point has been cut off, cover them with a plate or dish, and let them bake for not less than 3 hours. They will throw out a delicious gravy.

_Parsnips._--(_a_) Scrape and boil some parsnips, then cut each lengthwise in 4, and fry them very brown, and dish in twos and twos. There is no vegetable so nourishing as parsnip, and when done in this way is much more tasty than the English way.

(_b_) Boil 4 or 5 parsnips till tender, mash them up, and add 1 teaspoonful flour, 1 beaten egg, and a little salt; make the mixture into small cakes with a spoon, and fry them in butter a delicate brown. Serve on a napkin.

_Peas._--Melt ¼ lb. butter in a saucepan, then add 1½ pint young peas, pepper and salt to taste, 2 small onions (whole), a small bunch of parsley, and half a head of lettuce, tied up together, and a pinch of sugar. Toss on a slow fire till the peas are cooked, then remove the parsley, lettuce, and onions, and serve with a little finely minced parsley mixed in the peas.

_Potatoes._--(_a_) With Cream.--Put into a stewpan a piece of butter rolled in flour, 1 gill cream, pepper, salt, and a very little nutmeg, also the juice of half a lemon; stir these over the fire till boiling. Then add slices of freshly boiled new potatoes, and after warming them up in the above sauce, serve very hot.

(_b_) A la Russe.--Cut some raw potatoes into dice, after washing and peeling, and fry them in olive oil, with half the quantity of mushrooms finely minced.

(_c_) Au Gratin.--Put a few spoonfuls of good white sauce into a stewpan with a ¼ lb. grated Parmesan cheese, and half that quantity of butter, also the yolks of 4 eggs, a small piece of glaze, lemon juice, pepper and salt, and nutmeg; stir all this over the fire until well mixed, but it must not boil. Cut some potatoes into slices, stick some well-pointed three-cornered croutons of fried bread round the edge of the dish, standing up to form a border, and place a close row of slices of potato within it, and a layer over the centre of the dish: spread a layer of the cheese preparation over them, then repeat the potatoes and mixture till the dish is complete, and smooth some of the sauce over the top. Shake breadcrumbs and grated Parmesan over the surface, so as to quite cover it, and put the whole into the oven for about ¼ hour, or until warmed through, and a nice colour.

(_d_) Balls.--Take ½ doz. potatoes, boil them, pass them through a sieve, and work into them, in a bowl, 1 gill of cream and the yolks of 3 eggs; add pepper, salt, and nutmeg to taste, and some parsley finely chopped. When they are well mixed and smooth, take them up by tablespoonfuls, roll each in a ball, flatten it, and flour it slightly. Lay them all in a sautépan with plenty of butter melted, and cook them slowly. Turn them over when one side is done, and serve hot as soon as both sides are coloured.

(_e_) Cut very thin slices right across the largest potatoes; lay the slices in flat layers on a small plate that will bear the heat of the oven. Spread fresh butter freely over the potatoes; then add another layer, and so on until the potatoes are about 4 in. high. Give ½ lb. fresh butter to 2 large potatoes. Bake until the potatoes are tender, about ½ hour, in a quick oven.

(_f_) Fried.--Pare some potatoes so as to give each the form of a cylinder, then cut each cylinder in slices ⅛ in. thick. By this means all the pieces of potato will be the same size. Dry them thoroughly in a napkin; put them in the frying basket, and fry them a light colour in plenty of lard; drain, sprinkle freely with salt, and serve.

(_g_) Rissoles.--Take cold meat, veal or ham, cut it small and season with pepper, salt, cut pickles, and a little parsley; moisten with a little stock. Mash some potatoes and make them into a paste with the yolks of 1 or 2 eggs. Put some of the seasoned meat on one half, and fold over like a puff. Fry a light brown.

(_h_) Stewed.--Rub a saucepan with a clove of garlic, put 2 oz. butter into it, and when it is melted add 6 potatoes, peeled, and cut in quarters. Put in a little hot water, pepper and salt to taste, a small quantity of grated nutmeg, some minced parsley, and the juice of ½ lemon. Let the whole stew slowly till the potatoes are quite done.

(_i_) Cakes.--The following is an old country recipe for potato cakes: 1 lb. mashed potatoes, 2 oz. butter, 1 lb. flour, ½ teacupful cream, a pinch of salt, and 1 egg; roll out the cakes thin, and bake in a quick oven.

(_j_) Mashed.--Boil some potatoes, and pass them through a coarse hair sieve. Put them into a saucepan with a good lump of butter, and salt to taste; add a little milk, and work them well with a spoon on a slow fire for some minutes, adding small quantities of milk as they get dry.

(_k_) Calecannon.--Potatoes and greens mixed together, is an agreeable mixture and forms a pleasant change. The greens and potatoes are boiled separately, the former squeezed, when sufficiently dressed, quite dry and chopped up very fine; the latter mashed, the chopped greens added to them, with butter, pepper, and salt to taste, and the yolk of 1 egg or more. A pudding dish should be well buttered, the mixture put into it, and placed in a hot oven for about 6-7 minutes; the contents of the basin then turned out and served on a vegetable dish.

_Pumpkin._--Take a slice of pumpkin, remove the rind, and cut the pulp into large dice, having first removed the pips. Put them into a saucepan with a piece of butter, pepper and salt to taste, and a little water. Let it stew slowly till quite done, then either mash it up with a spoon or pass it through a sieve. Mix a little flour and butter into a saucepan, add the pumpkin pulp and a little milk or cream, also a pinch of sugar and a little grated nutmeg. Work it well on the fire, and serve with sippets of bread, fried in butter, round it.

_Red Cabbage._--(_a_) Wash, trim, and cut up a large cabbage into 5 or 6 slices. Put them into boiling water for ¼ hour; then stew them gently in broth till quite tender; drain, and serve with reduced brown gravy, flavoured with a dash of lemon juice or vinegar. If very small, they may be dressed whole in the same manner. (_b_) A Flemish recipe: Wash and trim a cabbage, put it into a saucepan, with sufficient cold water to cover it; let it come gradually to the boil, then add 4 or 5 apples peeled, cored, and quartered, a small piece of butter, pepper and salt; stew gently till quite tender, strain, add to the liquor a thickening of butter and flour, 1 teaspoonful vinegar, and 1 of currant or gooseberry jelly. Dish the cabbage with the apples round it, and the sauce over. (_c_) Having well washed the cabbage, shred it very small, and put it, with a slice of ham minced, into a stewpan with some melted grease (from the pot-au-feu), add an onion stuck with cloves, pepper and salt; simmer gently--tossing frequently--till quite tender. Just before serving remove the onion and cloves, add the yolks of 2 eggs, and 1 teaspoonful vinegar; serve very hot with fried sausages.

_Salsify._--(_a_) Boiled.--Scrape the roots, cut them in short lengths, and throw them into vinegar and water as they are being done. Boil them till tender in salted water, drain them, toss them into a saucepan with a piece of butter, a little lemon juice and some minced parsley, add salt, and serve.

(_b_) Fried.--When boiled, split each piece in half, and steep them for ¼ hour in tarragon vinegar with pepper and salt, then drain, dip them in batter, and fry them in hot lard. Serve with fried parsley.

(_c_) Scolloped.--Boil the salsify as in (_a_), cut them into pieces ½ in. long. Add some cream to the sauce instead of lemon juice and parsley, with pepper and a little anchovy sauce; put in the salsify, give them a toss in the sauce, then put them into scollop shells, squeeze a few drops of lemon juice on each, sprinkle plenty of breadcrumbs over, and put the shells in the oven to brown.

_Scorzonera._--(_a_) Roots should be prepared by washing, scraping, and topping, as are carrots; then put them in cold water tied in small bundles, and boiled till tender, in the same way as asparagus, serve on toast with butter sauce; this for plain boiling.

(_b_) Fried.--Prepare as in (_a_), and boil till tender; then dip in a batter made as follows: Beat 2 eggs with ¼ lb. flour, 1 saltspoonful baking powder, and 1 teacupful water until as smooth as possible, adding the water by degrees; season with salt and pepper. This batter is very good for frying any vegetables.

(_c_) With Cheese.--Mix some grated Parmesan with butter which has been melted in white sauce, or plain cream, as preferred. Boil the scorzonera roots, and lay them neatly in a dish, pour over the sauce, which has been thoroughly heated, but not allowed to boil, sprinkle it well all over with grated Parmesan, then brown it in the oven, or with a salamander.

_Seakale._--(_a_) Trim it and tie it up in bundles, and lay them in plenty of salted water, boiling fast; when quite done, drain them well, and serve with a plain salad dressing in a boat, or with white sauce over. _Salad Dressing_: 1 pinch of salt, 1 of pepper, 2 tablespoonfuls olive oil, 1 of tarragon vinegar, and 1 teaspoonful mustard. Take the ingredients in the above proportions, and beat them smooth. _White Sauce_: Put into a saucepan, with 1 pint white stock, a small onion, one clove, a blade of mace, and a faggot of herbs; boil for 1 hour, strain, thicken with 1 dessertspoonful arrowroot, boil up again, and add by degrees ½ pint cream.

(_b_) Choose short, thick kale, trim it carefully and tie it in bundles, boil in water with plenty of salt; when tender, drain it carefully and lay it in a dish on toasted bread dipped in the water the kale has been boiled in; serve with melted butter sauce. Finely grated cheese sifted over the kale is considered by many an improvement. In this case the kale should be browned with a salamander before being sent to table.

_Sorrel._--Pick and wash a quantity of sorrel, put it into a saucepan with a little water and some salt, when thoroughly done drain off all the moisture and pass the sorrel through a hair sieve. Amalgamate a piece of butter and 1 tablespoonful flour in a saucepan on the fire, put in the sorrel and stir well for some minutes, then add pepper and salt to taste, and the yolk of 1 egg beaten up with a little cold stock and strained.

_Spinach._--(_a_) Pick and wash perfectly clean 2-3 lb. spinach, put it into a saucepan with a little water, and let it boil till quite done. Turn it out on a hair sieve to drain, throw the water away, and pass the spinach through the sieve. Put a good lump of butter into a saucepan with a pinch of flour, mix well, add the spinach, pepper and salt to taste, and a little milk; stir well and serve.

(_b_) Mashed.--Pick and wash the spinach very carefully, and then put it into boiling salted water, and boil 10 minutes, or until quite tender; drain, then pass it through a hair sieve, season with pepper, salt, and put it into a stewpan with a piece of butter and a few tablespoonfuls of cream or Béchamel sauce; stir over the fire until quite hot, and serve either with cutlets, fricandeau, grenadins, poached eggs, &c., or in a vegetable dish with fried sippets of bread.

_Tomatoes._--(_a_) Baked.--Cut 6 tomatoes in halves, remove the pips, and fill the inside with a mixture of breadcrumbs, pepper, and salt, in due proportions; place a small piece of butter on each half tomato, and lay them then close together in a well-buttered tin. Bake in a slow oven about ½ hour, and serve. They may be eaten hot or cold.

(_b_) Forced.--Prepare the following forcemeat: 2 oz. mushrooms minced small, 2 shallots, likewise minced, a small quantity of parsley, a slice of lean ham chopped fine, a few savoury herbs, and a little cayenne and salt. Put all these ingredients into a saucepan with a lump of butter, and stew all together until quite tender, taking care that they do not burn. Put it by to cool, and then mix with them some breadcrumbs and the well-beaten yolks of 2 eggs. Choose large tomatoes as nearly of the same size as possible; cut a slice from the stalk end of each, and take out carefully the seeds and juice; fill them with the mixture which has already been prepared, strew them over with breadcrumbs and some melted butter, and bake them in a quick oven until they assume a rich colour.

(_c_) Meat Pudding.--Cover the bottom of a pudding dish with breadcrumbs; put on them a layer of underdone meat, cut in thin slices; then a layer of tomatoes, peeled and also sliced; to 1 pint add 1 even tablespoonful sugar; then a few bits of butter, pepper, salt, and a little onion if agreeable; then breadcrumbs, meat, and tomatoes, repeating until the dish is full; put over all a layer of breadcrumbs, and bake until a light brown. Serve hot.

(_d_) Stuffed.--Dip some tomatoes in hot water, peel them, cut them in half, and remove the pips. Rub a baking sheet with shallot, butter it well, and lay the tomatoes in it, filling each half with the following composition: 2 parts breadcrumbs, 1 part ham finely minced, and, according to taste, parsley and sweet herbs also finely minced, and pepper and salt. Put a small piece of butter on each half tomato, and bake them ¼ hour. Have ready some round pieces of buttered toast; on each of these put a half tomato, and serve.

_Truffles._--First prepare the sauce. Put into a small clean stewpan 2 oz. butter, set on the stove, and slice into it 1 onion, 1 carrot, and a little lean ham cut into squares, fry altogether of a light brown. Now stir into these 1 dessertspoonful flour, add 1 bay leaf, a sprig of thyme, a few sprays of parsley, 3 cloves, a small blade of mace, a little salt and cayenne, and ½ pint of stock. Mix well together with a wooden spoon, and set on the fire to simmer ½ hour, taking off the scum as it rises. Next cut from a square loaf a thick slice of bread; it should be quite 1 in. thick. Scoop out the middle, so as to make a hollow about half-way through the bread, and fry in plenty of clean lard to a golden brown. Drain on a sieve and keep warm. Now wash 6 large truffles, and cut into thin slices, put them into a sautépan or frying pan, with a little butter and a small quantity of minced parsley and onion, fry gently about 10 minutes, taking care they do not get dry when done. Place the truffles in the hollow of the bread, strain the sauce over, put some of the ham on the corners of the bread, and sprinkle a little chopped hard-boiled eggs over the truffles. This makes a very pretty and savoury dish for the second course, and is a good way of finishing a bottle of truffles that may have been required for any other purpose.

_Turnips._--(_a_) Boiled.--Take small new turnips, peel, and boil them in salted water; drain them thoroughly. Melt 1 oz. butter in a saucepan, add to it 1 dessertspoonful flour, pepper, salt, grated nutmeg, and a small quantity of milk or cream; put in the turnips; simmer gently a few minutes, and serve.

(_b_) Mashed.--Take new or old turnips, pare them, and put them to boil in salted water; when done drain them, squeeze out the water from them, and pass them through a hair sieve. Put the pulp into a saucepan with a piece of butter, pepper, salt, and grated nutmeg; stir well, and moisten with a little milk or cream. Then work them with a spoon on a slow fire until sufficiently dried up.

_Turnip Tops._--(_a_) When green vegetables are scarce, many people find desirable dishes made from turnip tops, if properly and presentably cooked. The growth of these turnip tops may be forced by placing the roots in a greenhouse, hot frame, or any warm place, when the tops will soon be seen to begin to sprout, and will prove far more delicate and edible than the ordinary turnip tops grown in a garden or field from turnips. When the tops are quite small and almost white (which they will be if the roots are covered over with straw) they may be dressed to resemble seakale, with white sauce, and will be found very delicious, having no strong turnipy flavour. When grown larger and the leaves are green, the stalks get fibrous and stringy; the leaves should then be stripped off and boiled with plenty of water. When sufficiently done, strain and squeeze off the water as much as possible, mince them fine, and put them through a sieve as is done with spinach. Serve very hot with sippets of fried toast, or with gravy if preferred.

(_b_) Take a quantity of turnip tops, picked clean and washed, put them in a saucepan with a little water. When thoroughly done put them on a hair sieve to drain. When all the water is thoroughly drained from them, pass them through the sieve. Mix in a saucepan 1 tablespoonful flour with about 1 oz. butter, add the turnip-top purée, stir well, put in pepper and salt to taste, and serve hot in a dish garnished with fried sippets of bread, and lay on the top ½ doz. poached eggs. Fill a shallow sautépan with water and sufficient salt, add a little vinegar, a few peppercorns, and some leaves of parsley. When the water is on the point of boiling (it should never be allowed to boil) break 2 or more eggs into it (according to the size of the pan), and put on the cover. When done, take them out carefully, brush them clean on both sides with a paste brush, and cut each egg with a round fluted paste cutter, so as to get them of a uniform shape.

_Vegetable Marrow._--(_a_) Parboil 2 moderate-sized marrows, cut in 4 lengthwise, drain them carefully, and dispose them on a well-buttered dish, previously well rubbed with shallot or slightly rubbed with garlic. Sprinkle plenty of grated Parmesan over them, pepper and salt, and grated nutmeg; put a few pieces of butter on the top, and over all a good sprinkling of very fine baked breadcrumbs. Bake about 20 minutes, and serve in the dish.