English and French cookery

Beetroot and Potatoes. — Take 2 young boiled beetroots, which will take from 2 to 3 hours to simmer in plenty of boiling water ; peel when cold, cut in slanting direction, so as to make oval pieces ; peel and cut in small dice 2 middling-sized onions, put in a pan with 2 ounces of butter, fry white, stirring continually with a spoon ; add a spoonful of flour, and enough milk to make a thickish sauce, add 3 saltspoonfuls of salt, 4 of sugar, 1 of pepper, a spoonful of vinegar, and boil a few minutes ; put in the slices to simmer for about 20 minutes, have ready some mashed potatoes, with which make a border in the dish 1 inch high, then put the beetroot and sauce in the centre, and serve. Boiled Broccoli. — Strip off the leaves that are not required, and cut the inner ones level with the flower ; wash in strong salt and water, and plunge into boiling water with a little salt, and cook quickly in an uncovered saucepan. Remove from the water directly they are done. Brussels Sprouts. — Remove any dead leaves, and well wash ; plunge into boiling water, with a small piece of soda and salt in the proportion of 1 tablespoonful to 4 gallon of water. Boil over a quick fire until tender, and serve plain or with melted butter. Carrots, when young, should be washed and brushed, not scraped, before cooking — and old carrots are better prepared in this way — then rubbed with a clean coarse cloth after boiling. Young carrots require 4 hour, and fully-grown 14 to 2 hours. To ascertain if they are done, stick a fork into them. When they feel soft they are ready for serving. Celery, Stewed. — Cut off any decayed leaves and the outside pieces, and well wash. Cut each head lengthwise into quarters, and boil in sufficient water to cover it till tender. Serve with white sauce poured over. Cauliflower, Boiled. — Cut off the stalk and decayed outer leaves, and well wash. Put into fast-boiling water with a little salt, and boil quickly in an uncovered saucepan until tender. Drain, and serve with melted butter. Cauliflower, Stuffed. — After cleaning, cut a large cauliflower into sprigs, and plunge them for a minute or two in boiling water. Remove and drain. Cover the bottom of the saucepan with thin slices of bacon, and put in the sprigs, packing tightly, head downwards, and filling in the vacant spaces with the following stuffing : 3 tablespoonfuls of finely minced veal, 3 of beef suet, 4 of bread-crumbs, a teaspoonful of chopped parsley, a little pepper and salt, a teaspoonful of minced chives or onions, and a dozen mushrooms cut small. Put these upon the cauliflower, and pour over them 3 well-beaten eggs. Fill up the saucepan with flavoured stock, and simmer gently until the cauliflower is tender. Green Peas. — Shell, wash in cold water, and drain ; then put them into a saucepan with plenty of fast-boiling water, to which a little salt and moist sugar have been added ; boil quickly over a brisk fire, with the lid of the saucepan uncovered. When tender, pour them into a colander ; put them into a hot vegetable-dish, and in the centre place a piece of butter the size of a walnut. A small bunch of mint may be boiled with the peas.