Mrs. Roundell's Practical cookery book

It is a pity that Aubergines, the fruit of the Egg Plant, Solanum melongena, ovigerum, are not more frequently cultivated in England, for the plant is very decorative and the fruit useful. In France and Italy Aubergines are much eaten, but those imported are generally spoilt by their arrival here when full grown.. The best kind of Aubergine is the New York Purple. Gardeners are apt to grow this for exhibition and to cause a single fruit to weigh as much as ten or twelve pounds. But Aubergines for cooking should be gathered when they are only two or three inches long ; the seeds are not then formed, and the flavour is delicate. Aubergines can be fried in slices as beignets, or cut open lengthways and some of the pulp removed, mixed with grated breadcrumbs, pepper and salt, and either the yolk of an egg or a little cream. This stuffing is put back into the Aubergines, the two halves joined together and tied, and the fruit baked in a buttered tin. A sliced lemon should be handed with them. It is an improvement to warm the stuffing in a gill of vegetable stock before filling the Aubergines. If fairly large they will take nearly half an hour to bake. Aubergines when small are good if simmered till tender and served with either white or brown sauce. Or they can be, when cooked, cut open and filled as fonds d'artichauts a la Barigoule. Wyvern gives an excellent recipe for Aubergines au gratin. Parboil four very small Aubergines. Y AUBERGINES Let them get cold, cut them in halves lengthways, pick out the seeds with the point of a vegetable knife, butter them, and dredge over the surface of each a layer of grated Parmesan cheese. Arrange the Aubergines on a well-buttered fire-proof dish, and bake them for ten minutes. Pour round them a cupful of well-made thick brown sauce, and serve in the dish they were cooked in. In the South of France Aubergines and Vegetable Marrows are cooked a la Provencals. For this the Aubergines or Marrows are cut open lengthways, the seeds scooped out, a little salt sprinkled over, and the vegetables left to drain out the water. Fry them in oil. Have ready a stuffing made of breadcrumbs well browned, mixed with chopped parsley, chopped chives, thyme, marjoram, and moistened with a few drops of oil. Season with pepper and salt. Fill each half of the vegetable with this stuffing, and brown it in the oven or the Dutch oven. Broad Beans are generally served too old, when their tough skins would tax the digestion of an ostrich. Very young Broad Beans may be boiled in their pods, but this cannot be done after the pods have thickened and the flannel-like lining has appeared. Broad Beans, even when young, are better without their skins. They should be put on, shelled, in absolutely boiling water, and boiled till the skins crack, which will be in about twenty minutes. Salt should be added, but if too much is put in the Broad Beans will burst and spoil. As soon as the skins crack lift out the Broad Beans, drain them, and rub off the skins in a warm dry cloth. They can then be tossed in butter and served, or heated in a good parsley-and- butter sauce. Or they can be passed through a sieve, and made into rather a stiff puree moistened with parsley and butter.