English and French cookery

Haricot Beans. — After soaking a pint over-night, put them into \ gallon of cold soft water, with 1 ounce of butter ; simmer very slowly for about 3 hours ; drain and put into a stewpan, with a little salt, pepper, chopped parsley, 2 ounces of butter, and the juice of a lemon ; place on the fire for a few minutes, stir well, and serve. Hominy. — To prepare hominy as a vegetable, boil whole in plenty of water 4 hours, and strain it through a colander for the table. Leeks. — Trim off the root, the outer leaves, and the green ends, and cut the stalks into 4-inch lengths. Tie them in bundles, put into boiling water, with a dessertspoonful of salt and a tablespoonful of vinegar, and boil until quite tender. Drain and serve like asparagus on hot toast, pouring white sauce or melted butter over. Mushrooms au Naturel. — Cut off the stalks and wipe the mushrooms carefully. To cook enough for one person, put in a large saucer with a piece of fresh butter the size of a walnut, aud a little pepper and salt. Turn another saucer over them, and let them stand on the top of a stove till cooked in their own juice. Mushrooms la Provencals.— Cut the stalks off short, and peel. Lay them in an earthenware vessel with the underside uppermost. Pour in a little oil, salt, pepper, sweet herbs minced very fine, and powdered mace to taste. Cover close, and serve when quite tender. so Ragout de Champignons.— Oil a little butter in a Btewpan, and throw the mushrooms, well picked and cleaned, into it, with a tiny bunch of parsley and a morsel of garlic. Sprinkle all with flour, and add equal quantities of white stock, good gravy, and white wine according to the number of mushrooms. Let them stew for an hour, and thicken with butter into which some flour has been rubbed. Stewed Mushrooms. — Squeeze into a basin of cold water the juice of a lemon. Cut off the ends of the stalks and peel some mushrooms, and throw into the basin. Take them out with the hands, so as to avoid any sediment, and put into a stewpan with a lump of fresh butter, salt and pepper to taste, and a teaspoonful of lemon-juice. Cover the pan, and stew gently for half an hour, then thicken with a little flour, add a few spoonfuls of cream or milk, a little grated nutmeg, and cayenne pepper. Let all stew till the mushrooms are quite tender, and skim before serving. Onions a la Creme. — Boil 4 Spanish onions in water slightly salted until cooked, about 1 hour. Drain them and put into a stewpan with 3 ounces butter rubbed smoothly with a tablespoonful of flour, and salt and pepper to taste. Shake the pan constantly, and stir in slowly i pint new milk. Serve the onions on toast, with the sauce poured over. Spanish Onions, Baked. — Put the onions, with their skins on, into a saucepan of boiling water slightly salted, and boil quickly for 1 hour. Take out, wipe thoroughly, wrap each in a separate piece of paper, and bake in a moderate oven for about 2 hours. They may be served in their skins, and eaten with a piece of cold butter and a seasoning of pepper and salt ; or be peeled, with a gravy. Parsnips, Boiled. — Wash, scrape, and remove all blemishes from the parsnips, cut them into quarters, and plunge into boiling water that has been slightly salted. Boil quickly until tender, and skim the water once or twice while cooking.