Mrs. Roundell's Practical cookery book

Watercress makes an excellent puree cooked like Spinach, and is a good and uncommon salad. But it needs very careful picking, as insects lodge in the wrinkles of the leaves, especially at the back. Watercress can, if constantly watered, be grown in a garden in a shady spot, but it is not nearly so good in flavour as when grown in a clear running stream. Mud ruins it, but in a shallow running stream the water will not often entirely freeze over, and Watercress can be gathered nearly all through the year. In Cornwall Stewed Watercresses are eateu with boiled WATERCRESS chicken, or as a vegetable by themselves. Lay the Watercresses in strong salt and water, pick them carefully, wash them well, and stew them in water for ten minutes. Then drain and chop them, return them to the stewpan with a bit of butter, some pepper and salt, and stew till tender. Just before serving put in a. little delicate vinegar. Serve sippets of fried bread, or Wyvern’s shortbread biscuits, with the Watercresses. VEGETABLES— PART III. PICKLED VEGETABLES. Gherkins. — Gherkins, the cornichons of French cookery, are a small form of Cucumber. They are pickled in salt and vinegar (foreign cooks add garlic, tarragon, capsicums, and cloves), and used, cut in thin rings or slices, as a sharp flavouring. A few of these rings, plainly pickled, give an excellent flavour to melted butter, and a teaspoonful of tarragon vinegar should be added. For haddock or whiting this sauce is much to be recommended. Capers. — Capers, the French capres, are the buds of the Caper shrub. They are only used in a preserved state, like Gherkins, for although the Caper is tolerably hardy in the South of England it- is only cultivated as an ornamental shrub. The small Capers imported from the South of France are the best. For Caper Sauce see page 178. Cepes. — These young shoots of the vine may be good when eaten fresh in Southern Europe. But when imported they are hard and tasteless, and it is waste of money to buy them. MACEDOINE OF FRESH VEGETABLES. Boil the vegetables lightly, and be careful not to over-cook them. Choose equal quantities of four separate vegetables, and boil them separately. They are spoilt for a Macedoine if they are boiled together. The vegetables must not be mashed, but they must be quite distinct in little heaps. If possible, have two green vegetables in a Macedoine, such as peas and asparagus, or French beans and flageolets. The other vegetables can be B B 2 372 MACEDOINE OE FRESH VEGETABLES carrot, young turnip, celeriac, Jerusalem artichokes, or Japanese artichokes, cut into small dice. These vegetables, boiled separately, and then gently heated in sauce blonde (see page 130) in the bain-marie, form an excellent centre for a dish of cutlets, or, if served cold, for a dish of cold fillets of sole masked with sauce blonde. Or, for a cold dish, mayonnaise may be used instead of sauce blonde. The great point is the separate cooking of the vegetables ; they must be quite tender, and yet not pulpy. Of course, cooked vegetables which have already been served can be used, and if skilfully treated thev make an excellent Macedoine. Little heaps of Macedoine are a great addition to a salad if it is served round cold chicken or cold fish.