The "Queen" cookery books: Vegetables

turn them out into a basin, and leave them to get cold in their own liquor. They can now be trimmed if necessary, but remember that all such trimmings, together with the stock in which they were cooked, must be saved, as the former are excellent for forcemeats, Ac., whilst the latter is perfect for sauces, gravies, &c. Never use the rough outer skin. Other ways are the following : Truffles, steamed. — After washing and peeling the truffles as above, fill the lower part of a steamer with two parts water to one of sherry, arrange the truffles on the steamer, and steam for an hour. Serve in a napkin. The proper truffles à la serviette, are cooked when washed and brushed (but not peeled) by wrapping each in a sheet of wet paper, and burying them in hot wood ashes for an hour, when thev are taken out of the papers and served in a napkin. À l'Italienne. — Well wash, peel, and slice some nice fresh truffles, lay these in a buttered fireproof dish, strew them with finely-minced parsley, chives, or shallot, pepper, and a little salt ; pour enough best salad oil over them to moisten all nicely, then cover them down closely, set them in the oven for fifteen to twenty minutes, and serve with a squeeze of lemon juice over them at the last. Au champagne. — Line a stewpan with sliced ham, lay the washed and peeled truffles on this, with some sliced onion, peppercorns, cloves, and salt, pour in sufficient champagne to cover all this generously, just bring it to the boil, and draw it to the side and let it all simmer gently for an hour or more ; then lift the truffles out carefully, and U9 serve in a napkin. The liquor makes delicious sauce for cutlets, &c. Turnips (Navels). — Of these there are practically (for culinary purposes) two kinds, the English and the French, the latter being the most expensive, and, according to a good many cooks, possessing the most flavour, but this I venture to believe is a good deal due to their never being seen on the market save when young. As a matter of fact, once they are past their first youth, turnips should, according to connoisseurs, never be served save mashed. If old, turnips should be rather thickly peeled, but when really young it is sufficient to well wash and scrape them. To boil them put them on in slightly salted water, let this reboil, then draw it to the side of the stove, and let them simmer gently till done, which, for young ones, will take from twenty to thirty minutes, whilst older ones require from forty-five minutes to an hour and a half. These latter may he halved or quartered, according to their size, and then naturally take more or less time to cook, according to their size. mashed. — Cook the turnips as above, drain them and sieve them, put on this pulp with a pat of butter, pepper, salt, and, if liked, grated nutmeg, stir them well over a slow fire till the puree is sufficiently thick and dried, moistening it if necessary with a little new milk or cream. sauced. — New turnips boiled as above can, when well drained, be served with either of the following sauces : First stir together loz. of butter, and a dessertspoonful of flour till smooth, season