A guide to modern cookery

Then rub it through tammy; thicken it with the yolks of six eggs or three whole eggs beaten to a stiff froth and strained through a strainer. Heat, and finish with one-sixth pint of cream and five oz. of butter. Dish in a timbale, and sprinkle with strong, veal stock. 2186—OXALIS Cook this in boiling salted water after having well cleaned and washed it. It may then be prepared ‘‘a la Créme,”’ stuffed, or ‘‘ au Gratin.’’ Oxalis purée is called Purée Brésilienne, and is prepared in the same way as turnip purée. 2187—SWEET POTATOES Sweet potatoes are generally served, baked in their skins, and accompanied by fresh butter. They may also be prepared according to the majority of potato-recipes, especially the following :— Sautées, Gratinées, Mashed, Duchesse, &c. They may also be fried; but, in that case, they should be served the moment they are ready, for they soften very quickly. Finally, they may be prepared soufflé-fashion, after the directions given under ‘* Soufflé de Pommes de Terre.”’ 2188—PEAS (Petits Pois) Whatever be the treatment to which peas are to be subjected, always take them very green and freshly gathered, and shell them only at the last minute. Peas are one of the vegetables most prone to lose their quality through want of care. If pre- pared with pains, the delicacy of their flavour is incomparable; but the slightest neglect on the part of the operator renders them savourless and commonplace. 2189—PETITS POIS A L’ANGLAISE Cook them quickly in salted boiling water; drain them, and dry them by tossing them over a fierce fire. Dish them in a timbale, and serve some pats of very fresh butter separately. 2190—PETITS POIS AU BEURRE As soon as the peas are cooked, drain them and toss them over a fierce fire, to dry. Then season them with a pinch of powdered sugar, and cohere them, away from the fire, with butter, in the proportion of three oz. per pint of peas. 2191—PETITS POIS A LA BONNE-FEMME Fry twelve oz. of small onions and four oz. of breast of bacon, cut into dice and blanched in butter; add one-half oz. of flour to the latter; cook the roux for a moment; moisten with one-half pint of consommé and boil. Put one quart of freshly-shelled peas into this sauce; add the onions and the bacon, together with a bunch of parsley; and cook, reducing the sauce to half in so doing. 2192—PETITS POIS A LA FLAMANDE Prepare one-half Ib. of new carrots as though they were to be glazed. When half-cooked, add two-thirds pint of freshly-shelled peas to them. Complete the cooking of the two vegetables together, and, at the last moment, add butter away from the fire. 2193—PETITS POIS A LA FRANCAISE Take a saucepan, of a size a little larger than would be necessary to just hold the following products, and put into it one quart of freshly-shelled peas; a faggot containing the heart of a lettuce, two sprays of parsley, and two of chervil; twelve small onions, four oz. of butter, one-third oz. of sait, and twothirds oz. of loaf-sugar. Mix the whole together until it forms a compact mass, and place in the cool until ready for cooking. Add three tablespoonfuls of water, when about to cook the peas, and cook gently with lid on. When about to serve, withdraw the faggot; cisel the lettuce; add it to the peas, and cohere the whole with butter, away from the fire. N.B.—Raw, ciseled lettuce may be added to the peas; but, as various tastes must be allowed for, it is better to insert the lettuce whole, and to mix it with the peas afterwards, if it be so desired. The lettuce may also be quartered and laid on the peas without being mixed with them. 2194—PETITS POIS A LA MENTHE Cook the peas in salted water, together with a bunch of fresh mint. Then prepare them in the English way or ‘‘ au Beurre,’’ and lay a few parboiled mint leaves upon them when serving.