À la mode cookery

In cooking vegetables care must be taken to cook them sufficiently or they are indigestible. And in France and Germany we always find them well cooked ; and, consequently, they excel us in it ; and they make more of them than we do by the various ways of dressing them with gravy and cream. Vegetables should never be washed after they have been cut and sliced, and, when cooking, must be put into boiling and salted water, and the lid should be left off the saucepan. Great care is necessary in their washing to get rid of grit, earwigs, &c. Cauliflower, asparagus, French beans, &c., may sometimes have a bitter taste owing to accidents of culture, therefore, it is well to put a lump of sugar into the water, which will counteract the bitterness if there be any. When vegetables are a bad colour it is simply carelessness in not keeping the water boiling all the time and the lid raised. When cooked, the greens, &c., should be lifted out and put into a colander to drain, unless the kitchen possesses one of Braby's vegetable saucepans and strainers, in which the vegetables can be cooked and drained in the same saucepan. I always use one, and it is far less trouble to the cooks, who in these days always like to spare themselves. It is a great mistake to squeeze the water from vegetables ; it bruises them. Steaming vegetables is very much done abroad, which is done by placing them on one of the 'Rapid' steamers and steaming them till done. When vegetables are frosted, after preparing them for cooking, lay them in cold salted water all night, standing the vessel in which they are placed in a warm room. The vegetables must be quite covered with water. I recommend every housewife to keep in the scullery a wire vegetable rack shown in Plate XVI., it keeps the vegetables clean and fresh. Jerusalem Artichokes alia Parmigiana Wash and peel the artichokes, shaping them like pears of uniform size. Put two ounces of butter in a saucepan, and arrange the artichokes in circles in it. Strew over some pepper, salt, and lemon-juice ; pour a quarter of a pint of good gravy over them, put the lid on, and simmer for half an hour, basting them occasionally. They should colour a deep yellow. Serve Morny sauce round them. The sauce is made with a quarter of a pint of white stock, which must simmer till reduced to one half; add two ounces of grated Parmesan and parsley, and stir over the fire three minutes ; then simmer for a quarter of an hour, stirring slowly. Asparagus Patties Line some patty-cases with puff paste, bake them, and fill the insides with heads of asparagus that PLATE XVI. A, Vegetable Rack ; B, Asparagus Saucepan ; C, Brooklyn Boiler D, Brooklyn Fluted Crust Bread Pans ; E, Raisin Stoner. DRESSED VEGETABLES I I I have been boiled, and pour Irlandaise sauce over them. Carrot and Turnip Mould (To be eaten with Boiled Pork) Take some carrots, boil them in good stock. Mash them and pass them through a wire sieve, add pepper and salt to taste and a little butter ; put them into a border-mould. Mash some turnips in milk ; after boiling, add pepper and salt to taste and some cream ; beat them thick over the fire. Turn the carrots out of the border- mould, and put the turnip puree in the centre, piling it high. Truffles a la Milan