How to cook vegetables

Peel 2 cucumbers, cut them into sections about i £ in. in length, and divide each piece in two. Take out the centre part of each, sprinkle over with salt, and let stand for about i hour. Wash well, then cook with 2 oz. of butter, a little stock, a teaspoonful of castor sugar, vinegar, cayenne, and a peeled onion. A J hour of cooking is sufficient. Drain the cucumbers on a cloth, and when ready to serve dip each in frying batter and fry in hot fat to a golden brown. Take up, drain, sprinkle with salt, dish up, garnish with parsley, and serve with tomato sauce, separately. Cucumber Cream Soup. Peel 3 or 4 cucumbers, cut them into small pieces, and take out the seedy part. Blanch, cool, and drain ; then put them in a stew-pan with 4 oz. of butter, moisten with a quart of white stock, and boil up. Skim and add the crumby part of 2 French rolls previously soaked in milk. Boil whilst stirring, then let it simmer for ½ hour. Pass the soup through a fine sieve, return to the stew-pan, and season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Just before serving add a gill of cream and 2 oz. of butter. If liked, 2 to 3 dozen ball shapes, cut from the cucumber cooked in salted water, may be added to the soup when serving. Cucumber Croustades. Cut half a loaf of bread into the shape of a croustade, about 3 in. high, fry it, and set on a dish. Peel 2 large cucumbers, cut each into pieces about 2 in. long, split them, scoop out the centre parts, place them in a stew-pan with 1 oz. of butter, and season with pepper, salt, grated nutmeg, and a teaspoonful of castor sugar. Moisten with white stock, sufficient to cover, and let it simmer gently for A hour. Dress the cucumber in the croustade, add 2 tablespoonsful of Bechamel sauce, the juice of half a lemon, and a G little cream ; boil up, bind with a yolk of egg, and strain over the dish, sprinkle with chopped parsley, and serve. Cucumber a la Tomate. Peel thinly i large or 2 medium-sized cucumbers, cut them into i-in. thick slices or cubes, and with a small pastry cutter cut out the centre portion of each. Place them in a pie-dish, and marinade them with oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Mix a jar of potted meat with a little cream or fresh butter. Fill the cavities of the cucumber shapes with this. Dish up on a folded napkin, put a slice of ripe tomato on top of each, and garnish with a hard-boiled yolk of egg rubbed through a sieve and placed in the centre of the tomato. Garnish the dish with sprigs of fresh parsley, and serve. Cold Stuffed Cucumber a la Reine. 1 good-sized cucumber, 3 oz. cooked chicken or veal, 6 small mushrooms, 1 oz. cooked ham, £ gill white sauce, } gill aspic and \ gill fresh cream.