Wholesome cookery

Cook the potatoes, peel and slice them, and dress them while they are hot with a little oil, vinegar, pepper and salt, chopped parsley, tarragon, chervil, a few sliced gherkins, and anchovies. Serve when cold. If liked, dress them with cream and lemon-juice in place of oil and vinegar. 135. — Souffle Potatoes. Peel the potatoes; cut them downwards in slices half an inch thick ; dry them in a cloth. Have a saucepan of fat almost boiling; put in the potatoes and let them cook about 10 minutes; take them out, drain them ; let them get nearly cold. Boil the fat up again, and when quite boiling, put in the potatoes GO and cook them about 4 minutes. The potatoes ought to come out perfectly dry, a pale gold colour, and very much swollen — in fact, about twice the size they were when they went in. Sprinkle them with salt ; serve at once. 136. — Potatoes “ a la Creme.” Boil some potatoes, peel them, and slice them. Put a lump of butter in a saucepan, with salt, pepper, flour to thicken, a little nutmeg, chopped parsley, and small piece of shallot ; stir in some cream, and continue stirring till the sauce boils; then put in the sliced potatoes. Simmer a couple of minutes, and serve. 137. — Parisian Potatoes. Put a lump of butter in a saucepan, with a finely chopped onion ; when a pale brown colour, add a glass of water and some peeled raw potatoes, pepper, salt, and a little chopped thyme and parsley. Simmer slowly till cooked. 138. — Italian Potatoes. Boil 1 pound of potatoes, then peel them and pound them ; add 3 ounces of butter, a little bread-crumb soaked in milk ; add sufficient milk to make the mixture .smooth but not liquid, then 3 yolks of eggs well G1 beaten, and 2 whites of eggs beaten to a froth. Place this high up on a baking-dish, smooth it with a knife, pour over some hot butter, and bake it in the oven. Must be served immediately it is cooked. 139. — Potatoes and White Sauce. Boil the potatoes, and peel them and cut them in slices ; at once arrange them on the dish and pour over a white sauce. 140. — Cauliflower “ au Gratin.” Boil a cauliflower about two-thirds ; divide it into branches. Make a melted butter sauce, into which you mix some grated Gruyere and Parmesan cheese. Place a layer of cauliflower on a baking-dish, then cover with sauce ; then another layer of cauliflower and another layer of the sauce ; sprinkle a little cheese over the whole, then a few bread-crumbs ; pour a little hot butter over the top, and bake. N.B. — Unless the cauliflower is divided into layers it will not be good, as the sauce must cover every portion. It is also a great mistake to simply sprinkle cheese over the top ; some must be mixed in the sauce too. For those who do not like cheese, a cauliflower can be prepared in this manner with a plain melted butter, leaving out the cheese. 141. — Cauliflower Fritters. Boil some cauliflowers about two-thirds; divide them into pieces of equal size ; dip each piece in a thick yellow or white sauce; put them on one side to get cold. Then take each piece with a spoon, dip carefully into frying batter, so that it is entirely covered. Fry in boiling fat, and serve with fried parsley. N.B. — The cauliflower can, for a change, be dipped in a little oil and vinegar, pepper and salt, instead of the sauce, and allowed to become cold, before frying as above.