Culinary jottings

The puree of turnips with cream is, of course, well known, and all root vegetables make toothsome additions to your ordinary dish of meat, or cutlets, us purees, or mixed cunningly as a macedoine de legumes. Small ' early' carrots (carottes) and PARSNIPS (panais) may be trimmed a uniform size, boiled gently, and finally tossed in butter, in a frying-pan, with pepper, salt, and some finely-powdered sugar. Or, they may be similarly treated, and sent up a la mattre d'hutel, aux fines herbes, &c. Carrots cut into round balls, gently simmered till tender in blanc, and then dressed with sauce blonde, or a la poulette, make a charming central garnish for a dish of cutlets, which, when thus presented, should be called " a la Nivernaise.'' Carrots a la Flamande are worthy of close consideration : — Choose a pound and a half of tender carrots, blanch them in scalding water, scrape off their tough skin, and j trim them in slices the eighth of an inch thick. Put the pieces into a stew-pan with one ounce of butter, a pinch] of salt and one of sugar, and a coffee-cupful of water. Cover the pan, and simmer for twenty minutes, shaking the pan occasionally to ensure even cooking. When done, remove the pan, let its contents cool a little, and then stir in two yolks of eggs, a coffee-cupful of cream, and half an ounce of butter ; add a table- spoonful of chopped parsley and serve. The ONION, (oignon,) can be made a good deal of either stuffed plainly, or with sheeps' kidney, as I have described in my menus : indeed whether plainly boiled, or stewed, onions rarely fail to please those who are fond of them. A very presentable dish is " oignons au gratin^ made in this way : — boil them in milk till tender ; cut them up as finely as possible and mash them, pass through a wire sieve, mix the pulp well, adding a coffee-cupful of cream, or milk enriched with the yolk of an egg, pepper, and salt. Put the puree into a shallow pie-dish, strew a layer of grated cheese over the surface, and bake for a few minutes till the top takes colour. You must, of course, butter the pie-dish, and also sprinkle a little melted butter over the cheese. Onions, if of a moderate size, can be served a la creme, a la hechamel, a l'Espagnole, 8fc., and are invariably acceptable with the releve when so treated. Vegetable marrows, (courges a la moelle,) are very nice, and in their turn not to be passed over. I think the best way of cooking them is to steam, or bake them till all but done, then to lift, and drain them, removing the seeds, and shaping them into fillets, &c., as desired. You can then heat the fillets up in a previously made white, or brown sauce flavoured to taste, and serve them as soon as tender. Marrows should, of course, be peeled before steaming. The vegetables marrow is also worthy of a place amongst entremets de legumes, when served " au gratin," baked in layers, or fillets, in a little stock, and dusted over with grated cheese ; or as " heignets" : — partly cooked, and cut into convenient pieces, which should be dipped in batter, and fried a golden brown in boiling fat.