The housekeeper's guide to preserved meats, fruits, vegetables, &c

HARICOT BEANS. — White haricot beans are generally in this country used in the dried state. On the Continent they are a very 'favourite article of food, and are cooked fresh. It is to be regretted that this very cheap food is not more generally used in this country. They are very nice served with meat, and make an excellent garnish for a variety of dishes, or they can be served by themselves, and make a very substantial and satisfying dish on occasions when meat is not eaten. To cook haricot beans proceed as follows : — Take say a pint of beans, and put them to soak for about twelve hours in some cold water in which a little tiny piece of soda has been dissolved. Indeed, it will always be best when haricot beans are to be used to put them to soak overnight. In the morning they should be drained off, but the cook should first see if any of the beans are floating on the surface. The bulk of the beans will of course sink, but occasionally two or three may be seen to float on the surface, which shows they are bad. The reason they float is that there is a little hollow space inside, which is probably mildewed, and contains air. These beans, therefore, should be thrown away. Next take the bulk of the beans and boil them for about an hour, or till they are quite tender. If the beans are required for occasions on which persons do not take meat, they should be boiled in plain water, but should they be required for ordinary occasions, it is far best to boil them in some kind of coarse stock — as, for instance, water that has been used for boiling a piece of bacon or ham, or a leg of pork, or a piece of pickled pork, which is admirably adapted for boiling 68 ' haricot beans. The fact is that these beans require some kind of fat, and if animal fat be objected to they should be moistened with a piece of butter or a little oil. When the beans are quite tender strain them off, and mix with them either a spoonful of good white sauce, such as bechamel sauce, or, better still, a spoonful of sauce supreme. Add a brimming teaspoonful of finelychopped parsley. Mix the whole well together, and serve. As a substitute for white sauce a small piece of butter should be used, in which case the beans should be mixed in the butter and chopped parsley added, as well as the juice of half a lemon and a little pepper and salt. A little lemon juice, though not so much as half a lemon, may also be added when the beans are served with white sauce. One very nice way of serving white beans for those who do not object to Italian cooking, is to mix them up with about a quarter of a pint of good olive oil. Before warming up the beans in oil rub the bottom of the stewpan thoroughly with one or two beads of garlic, then add some chopped parsley and some black pepper. However, of course, many English persons would strongly object both to the oil and the garlic. These beans contain a great deal of nourishment, and are probably cheaper than bread. They are very satisfying, and I cannot too strongly recommend them in the cases I have mentioned — namely, those meals at which, for various reasons, persons do not take meat. One other very nice way of cooking haricot beans is to boil them with a piece of pickled pork or a piece of bacon in the same water.