How to cook vegetables

Shredded Lettuce and Peas. An excellent way of cooking lettuce and green peas is to shred the lettuces and cook them with the peas in slightly-salted water ; when drained toss them in a saute-pan over the fire with a little fresh butter. Add a teaspoonful of flour, moisten with a little stock, and finish with 2 pats of fresh butter. Season to taste. Dish up, and serve hot. Lettuce Salad. Take 2 firm lettuces, remove the outer green leaves, core, wash and drain in a wire basket, then split and cut the leaves into quarters and put them in a bowl. Have some tomatoes, cut them in thin slices, and place over the lettuce. Season as follows : Mix one pinch of salt and one half-pinch of pepper in 2 tablespoonsful of vinegar, add ij tablespoonsful of oil pour over the salad, and serve. MOREL (Morille). Morel or, as the Germans call it, Morchel, is one of the fungi found in Switzerland, Germany, and also in this country, which may be used as food with safety. It is very scarce, but may be found in woods and orchards, where it is gathered for the markets. It has a hollow stalk, an inch or two high, with a yellowish or greyish ribbed head, two or three inches deep, and is said to possess great stimulating properties. It is brought into England dried, and, after being soaked, is used for flavouring soups, sauces, gravies, and stews. MUSHROOMS (Champignons). The edible varieties of these fungi are used in England principally as a flavouring for various kinds of made dishes, or in sauces. They are also grilled and used as a garnish ; they can be pickled, or dried and powdered for future use. In Russia, Poland, and some parts of Germany, where many species grow wild, they are used more extensively as an article of food . There are twenty-nine varieties of the edible mushroom, and one of the most beautiful of the British varieties is the red-fleshed mushroom, generally abundant in all woody places ; it is known by its brown warty top, white gills, and perfect Mushrooms ring encircling the bulbous stem ; it frequently attains a large size. The most popular species is the meadow mushroom, found all over the world. There is also the cepe and the morille species of mushroom known as boletus. Besides the edible mushrooms, there are unfortunately several varieties which are poisonous ; these are called toadstools in this country, and are known principally by their foetid odour, and the excessively acrid taste of their milk, which MUSHROOMS. generally changes colour when the stem is broken. One of these, the dathrus cancellasus, is said to produce cancer, and should not be touched. Creamed Mushrooms. Peel and wash a pound of white fresh mushrooms, cut off the stalks, drain and dry them. Heat up 2 oz. of butter in a saute- or stew-pan, put in the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and cook over a moderate fire for about 10 minutes. Then add \ pint of cream, let mushrooms and cream cook together for about 5 minutes and thicken with 1 oz. of butter kneaded with i oz. of flour. Dish up and serve hot. Mushrooms on Toast. After having peeled, washed, and drained some fresh mushrooms, toss them in butter in a frying-pan over a quick fire, and when done place them on toasted bread with some thinly-cut rashers of fried bacon. Dish up and serve. Mushroom Sautes.