Culinary jottings

These excellent French tinned vegetables make, when cleverly amalgamated, a most delicious salad. For this thev should be iced. I have the highest respect for all country vegetables, and have given recipes for cooking brinjals, (hiregun), bandekae, (bhindi), greens, (bhagee), podolongkai, (chuchoonda), moringakai, (mooringa), &c., which will be found amongst my menus. Indian corn, or maize. Tam., makkacholum; Hind., boota; is capable of artistic treatment a l'Américaine, — stripped from the young pod, boiled like peas, and then drained, tossed in melted butter, peppered, salted and served. Plenty of butter is a sine qua non. Or the corn may be stripped off after boiling, and similarly treated. . It is useless to attempt to serve Indian corn unless the cobs be quite young. All country beans, from the '• duffin" bean downwards, may be cooked, when nice and young, as broad-beans (feves de marais) : — boiled, with plenty of salt in the water, till the skins crack, then peeled and tossed in batter, and served: or they may be sent up as Si puree somewhat stiffly worked. The water in which beans are cooked should be hoiling when they are first put in. Here is a good standard dish of beans (feves a la hourgeoise) : — Having boiled and skinned the beans, turn them into a stew-pan over a slow fire with a table-spoonful of tinned butter ; mix with them a table-spoonful of flour, and moisten with some of the water in which the beans were boiled ; season with pepper and salt, and when nice and creamy, serve. Dried haricot beans (Soissons) are now procurable in India, a few leading firms having imported them in the bag from France, and America. These vegetables will be found most valuable, for they are very nutritious and wholesome. They must be soaked for at least twelve hours, and then be placed in cold water with a little salt, and gradually boiled. When boiling point has been attained, the vessel should be drawn to the side of the fire, and its contents simmered till they are soft. They should be served with a pat of butter melting among them, a dust of freshly ground black pepper, and salt. Bacon, cut into dice and fried, may be introduced with them or they may be served a la 'potdelte, a la maitre d'hotel, or with brown sauce. When served in brown sauce with a leg of mutton, a sauce soiihise accompanying, you have yigot a la Bretonne. These beans (Lima) are exported from America in cans, already cooked. They can be served as above described. For country greens, follow the receipts given for spinach, sorrel, endive, and turnip-tops. A vegetable can always be got in the hot weather called (locally) " mollat" the tender branches or stalks of which are edible, (" mollay-keeray"). Treated as laid down for asparagus, you will find this vegetable worth trying. Be sure that the stalks are nice and young, cut them into three inch lengths, tie them in bundles, and boil them in boiling salt and water, then drain carefully, and serve them with a nice sharp sauce in a boat ; or iced, with cream. The young leaves of this plant can also be dressed as spinach. Water-cress common on our Hills, and fi-equently grown in private gardens, can be dressed like spinach, and in that form will be found most tasty.