Cookery for every household

To Prepare the Celery. — Wash and brush the celery, dividing the stalks and removing any decayed and brown parts. Cut the stalks into short equal lengths and any pieces that are thick split in two. Tie with tape into bundles and blanch by throwing them into boiling water and allowing them to cook for 7 or 8 minutes. Then drain. To Stew. — Put the stock and butter into a stewpan, bring to the boil and add the celery. Cook slowly with the lid on the pan until the celery is quite tender. Then lift it out on to a hot dish, remove the tape, and keep it warm. Boil down the stock in the pan until there is just about a teacupful, remove any grease from the top, and if it is not a good colour add a little glaze. Pour this over and round the celery and sprinkle a little finely chopped parsley on the top. Note. — The outer stalks of celery will do very well for stewing if the inside part has been served cold or as a salad. Time to stew, f to 1 hour. Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons. 469. Celery with Cream Sauce (CSleri a la Creme) 1 head of celery. 1 dessert-sp. flour. \ pt. milk. 2 table-sps. cream. 1 oz. butter. Seasoning. Wash and brush the celery as in last recipe and cut it in small pieces. Put it into a saucepan with enough boiling water to cover it, boil from 5 to 10 minutes and pour the water off. Add the milk and stew the celery slowly until it is quite tender. Then strain, reserving the milk. Melt the butter in the saucepan, add the flour and mix until smooth. Then pour in the milk in which the celery was cooked and stir until boiling. Return the celery to this sauce with the cream and seasoning, simmer for a few minutes and then serve hot. Garnish with sippets of dry toast. Time to cook, \ to f hour. Sufficient for 3 or 4 persons. 470. Celery To Fry (CSleri Frit) Celery. I Egg and bread-crumbs. A little flour. | Seasoning. Wash and brush the celery, cutting it into pieces about 4 or 5 inches in length. Tie these in bundles, throw them into a saucepan with enough boiling water to cover them, add a little salt, and let them boil slowly about 15 minutes, but without allowing the celery to become too soft. Drain it well and spread the pieces on a cloth to dry. (The water in which the celery was cooked should not be thrown away, but put into the stock pot or used in the making of soup.) Next dip the pieces of celery in a little flour, coating them lightly, and then egg and bread-crumb them. Fry in boiling fat (see French Frying, p. 248) until a golden brown colour and drain well on kitchen paper. Dish them up cross bars on a hot dish and garnish with parsley. Notes. — A little grated Parmesan may be mixed with the bread-crumbs if liked, or the celery may be soaked in a marinade of oil and vinegar (see Recipe 460) before being coated. Frying batter may also be used instead of the bread-crumbs. 471. Celery Souffle (Souffle de Celeri) | lb. white celery. | pt. milk. 1 bay-leaf. 1 shallot. A few parsley stalks. 1 oz. butter. 1 oz. flour. 2 table-sps. grated Parmesan. Seasoning. 2 or 3 eggs.