Cassell's dictionary of cookery

Arrowroot, To Prepare. — Mix a dessert-spoonful of arrowroot with a little cold water. Pour on it, very gradually, half a pint of water boiled with a little lemon-rind ; stir it briskly, and boil for a few minutes. Sweeten it, and add a little sherry or port wine. For infants, a drop of cinnamon-water, or of the essence of caraway-seeds, may be put in. Fresh milk may be substituted for the water, then the wine may be omitted. If there is any fear that the milk is in the slightest degree adulterated, it will be much better to use preserved milk, if for invalids. In that case no sugar will be required. Probable cost, 2d. per pint without the wine. Sufficient for one person. Arrowroot to thicken Sauces.— Arrowroot may be used to thicken sauces for those who object to butter, as invalids often do. Mix a dessert-spoonful of arrowroot smoothly with a little cold water, and stir it into a pint of the boiling liquid. Time to boil, four or five minutes. Probable cost, Id. Sufficient for one pint of sauce. Arrowroot Water. — A Drink for Invalids.— Boil the thinly-peeled rind of a small lemon in a quart of water. Pour it, when boiling, over a table-spoonful of arrowroot which has been mixed with two table-spoonfuls of wine or brandy, if these are allowed, if not, with a little cold water ; stir it well, sweeten it slightly, and let it boil again two or three minutes. A little lemon- juice is an improvement. Sufficient to make a quart of the liquid. Probable cost, without the wine, 3d. Articlioke Bottoms.— Take a few artichoke bottoms, dried. Soak them, and boil them in sufficient clear stock to cover them. When tender, which may be ascertained by sticking a fork into them, take them out, let them drain, then put a little forcemeat into each one, and serve them in a napkin. Time to boil, if young, three-quarters of an hour ; if fully grown, an hour and a half. Sufficient, one for each person. Probable cost, 3d. each. Articlioke Bottoms, To Pickle.— Parboil the artichokes; pull out the leaves, and do not remove the choke. Allow them to cool ; put them into pickle-bottles. Boil sufficient vinegar to fill up the bottles, adding to every quart of vinegar a dessert-spoonful of salt, a small tea-spoonful of white pepper, and a blade of mace. Simmer it for twenty minutes. Put it aside, and when cold pour it into the bottles, which must be corked closely. Probable cost. Is. for a pint bottle. Artichoke Bottoms, Stewed.— Dried artichoke bottoms should be soaked for two or three hours in warm water, then boiled in salt and water, and served with white sauce poured over them ; or stewed in gravy flavoured with ketchup, salt, and pepper, and thickened with flour. Time to boil, three-quarters of an hour. Artichoke Salad. — Wash thoroughly and quarter some very young artichokes. Remove the chokes, and eat them like radishes, with pepper, salt, vinegar, and oil. They taste like nuts, and make a nice relish. Time to prepare, ten minutes. Probable cost, 2d. or 3d. each.