How to cook vegetables

Pull all the leaves off 6 or more artichokes and remove the chokes. Trim the bottoms, cut in pieces, and put in a stew-pan with i or 2 oz. of butter ; season with salt and pepper, add a bouquet- garni and two peeled and sliced onions. Heat these ingredients over the fire, stirring well with a wooden spoon. As soon as the onions begin to turn yellow add enough veal or chicken stock to well cover the artichokes. Set the soup boiling quickly, and then put it aside to simmer for an hour. Remove the bouquet and drain the artichokes. Pound them into a mortar and rub through a fine sieve. Return it to the stew-pan and gradually add the stock ; let it come to the boil taking the precaution of keeping the soup always well stirred until it boils up. Let it simmer on the side of the stove until it is of the right consistency. Last of all add a little sugar, a piece of butter, and a gill of cream. Croutons fried in butter should be served with the soup. Fried Artichoke Quarters. Cut young artichokes into 6 pieces each and prepare them in the usual manner. Then put them into a pot of boiling and salted water to blanch them for five minutes. Drain them on a cloth. Dip each piece separately into frying batter and fry in deep fat to a golden brown. They must be kept moving whilst frying. Lift them out of the fat with a skimmer and place to drain on a wire frame. Season with salt and serve on a folded napkin. Fried parsley should be used as a garnish. Artichoke Bottoms a la Bechamel. Prepare the artichoke bottoms in the usual manner. Chop equal proportions of parsley, mushrooms, and shallots. Fry these for a few minutes in butter, add a small quantity of fresh breadcrumbs, season with salt, pepper, and mix with the yolks of two eggs. Fill the hollow of the artichoke bottoms with this, and then put them on a baking sheet or saute pan, into the oven (stuffed side up). Cook them for about twenty minutes, dish up, and pour over with white Bechamel sauce. Artichoke Bottoms a l'Italienne. Choose moderate-sized artichokes, as near as possible of equal size. Prepare them and cook in boiling water slightly flavoured with vinegar, until the leaves come off easily. Then plunge them into cold water. They must next be drained and then all the leaves removed. The choke is next taken away, when the bottoms are neatly trimmed and placed in a saute pan containing olive oil seasoned with pepper and salt. Place the pan in a hot oven and cook till they are done. Arrange the artichoke bottoms in a GREEN ARTICHOKES. 13 circle in a vegetable dish. Sauce over with Italian sauce. Artichoke Bottoms an Gratin. Boil the artichokes in salted water until the leaves can easily be pulled off. Trim the bottoms and fry them lightly in clarified butter. Stuff them with the following mixture, filling the hollow part : a few shallots chopped and lightly fried in butter, 4 or 5 minced mushrooms, a little parsley and breadcrumbs. Salt these ingredients, add a little Cayenne pepper and some well-reduced Allemande sauce.. Stuff the artichokes with this mixture, smooth the top with a small knife, then sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese. They are then browned in a hot oven and served with Madiere sauce. Artichoke Bottoms a la Lucullus.