How to cook vegetables

Blanch some firm cabbage lettuces, previously trimmed and washed, in salted water, for about 5 minutes ; then drain, let cool, and press well ; split down the middle, and introduce in the centre a stuffing of pounded sausage meat, to which some chopped mushrooms have been added. Shape the stuffed lettuces neatly to give each its natural shape, and tie each with thin string. Then arrange in a saute-pan lined with slices of bacon, a sliced carrot, 2 peeled and sliced onions, 2 cloves, and a bouquet garni. Moisten with stock, and season with salt and pepper ; cover with slices of bacon, and braise for about 30 minutes or longer. When the lettuces are cooked, place them in a vegetable dish. Pour over some Madeira sauce with an addition of lettuce stock previously skimmed and reduced, and serve hot. Fried Lettuce Hearts. Trim the lettuces, preserving only the heart and the white leaves. Cook as stated for braised lettuces. Drain and press in a cloth to extract the water. Shape each lettuce neatly. When cold, brush over with beaten egg, then roll them in breadcrumbs. Fry in deep fat to a golden colour, drain, dish up, and serve hot. Braised Lettuce with Green Peas. Wash, trim, and blanch 6 or 8 firm cabbage lettuces, braise them in some well-flavoured stock, take up, drain, trim again, and put into shape. Reduce the stock to a glaze, put in the lettuces, and finish in a moderate oven for 10 minutes (cover with buttered paper or stew-pan lid). Glaze each head with the reduced stock, or else a little dissolved meat glaze, dish upon croutons of bread about the size of the lettuces, dress in a circle. Have ready some H green peas cooked in salted water, strain, and put in the centre of the dish. Place a piece of fresh butter on top, and serve. Braised Lettuce ( another way). Another way of cooking lettuces and peas, is to shred the lettuces and cook them with the peas in salted water ; they are drained, then tossed in a saute-pan over the fire for several minutes, using fresh butter for sauteing. A dessertspoonful of flour is then sprinkled in and stirred, moisten with a little stock, and finish with 2 pats of fresh butter. Season to taste, dish up, and serve. 4 Lettuce Timbales. Eight firm cabbage lettuces, 3 eggs, gill rich gravy, | gill Madeira sauce, 2 oz. butter, f oz. flour, \ gill double cream, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Trim and wash the lettuces, boil fast till tender in slightly-salted water, drain, squeeze out the moisture, and chop them very finely. Melt oz. of butter in a stew-pan, add the flour, stir for a few minutes to cook the flour, then add the minced lettuces, moisten with the gravy, stir with a wooden spoon till the whole simmers ; cook for a few minutes, remove the pan from the fire, and let cool a little ; next add by degrees the yolks of 3 eggs and the whites of 2, also the cream. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg. Fill up some well-buttered plain dariole or timbale moulds, stand them in a saute-pan half filled with boiling water, and poach in the oven for 30 to 35 minutes. Unmould on a hot dish, and serve with Madeira sauce. This makes an excellent vegetable entremet, and as a garnish it is particularly adapted for such dishes as braised fillet of beef, fricandeau of veal, sweetbreads, braised lamb, neck or leg, or with almost any kind of remove or releve. LETTUCE.