Cookery for every household

they feel tender. Drain them well and cut them in dice. Then grease a fireproof gratin dish and arrange in it alternate layers of cucumber and grated cheese, seasoning to taste. The amount of salt will depend on the kind of cheese used. When all is in, moisten the contents of the dish with cream or a little thin white sauce, sprinkle with bread or biscuit crumbs and lay a few small pieces of butter on the top. Bake in a moderate oven until well browned. Sufficient for 3 or 4 persons. 477. Cucumber, To Stew (Concombre au Jus) 1 large cucumber. \ pt. brown stock. Seasoning. 1 dessert-sp. butter. 1 tea-sp. flour. 1 tea-sp. chopped parsley. Pare the cucumber, and cut it into pieces three inches in length. Halve these pieces lengthwise, and take out the seeds. Throw them into boiling water salted in the proportion of one dessertspoonful to one quart. Boil 5 minutes, and drain. Melt the butter in a stewpan, let it turn slightly brown, and mix in the flour. Then add the stock and stir until boiling. Place the cucumber in this sauce, put the lid on the pan, and stew slowly until tender. When ready, carefully dish the pieces in a hot vegetable dish, skim the sauce, and strain it over. Sprinkle with parsley and serve as hot as possible. Time to stew, about 20 minutes. Sufficient for 3 or 4 persons. 478. Cucumber a la Poulette (Concombre a la Poulette) 1 large cucumber. Boiling water. 1 dessert-sp. flour. 1 dessert-sp. butter. 1 yolk of egg. Pepper, salt. 1 dessert-sp. lemon juice. Peel the cucumber and cut it in three or four pieces according to size. Split the pieces and scoop out all the seeds with a small spoon. Have ready on the fire a small saucepan (an earthenware one is best), with just sufficient boiling water to cover the cucumber, and add a little salt. Throw the cucumber into this and let it simmer gently until quite clear and tender. Then drain, reserving the water, and keep the cucumber warm over hot water whilst making the sauce. Mix the butter and flour together in a saucepan, add by degrees I tea-cupful of the water in which the cucumber was cooked, stir until boiling and cook a few minutes, adding a little white pepper and more salt if necessary. Then draw the saucepan to the side of the fire and add the yolk of egg, stirring it in quickly. Cook just a minute, but do not boil again or the sauce will curdle. Arrange the pieces of cucumber neatly in a hot dish, remove the sauce from the fire, add the lemon juice and strain it over. Serve at once. Time to cook, about 20 minutes. Sufficient for 3 or 4 persons. 476. Cucumbers au Gratin 1 or 2 fresh cucumbers. Grated cheese. Cream. Seasoning. Bread-crumbs. A little butter. Take one or two cucumbers according to size, peel them, and either boil or steam them until 479. Scalloped Cucumber : or 2 cucumbers. . Spanish onion. t pt. white sauce. Peel the cucumbers, cut them in quarters and ■emove the seeds. Then steam them over boiling 2 table-sps. chopped nuts. 2 table-sps. bread-crumbs. A little butter.