Cresson (Watercress)

Ingredients

• 2oz. of butter
• 2oz. of flour
• half a pint of water (or weak stock)
• white pepper
• salt
• a grate of nutmeg
• sufficient lemon juice, or vinegar

Method

1. 1

   Chop washed cress and stir butter and flour over heat until browned.

2. 2

   Moisten with water or stock, season, add cress, and boil.

3. 3

   Serve hot.

As published

This recipe was extracted from The "Queen" cookery books: Vegetables (1902) by S. Beaty-Pownall, page 72. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

salt over them, cover them with another plate, and let them stand for about two hours ; now lift the plates together, and pour off all the water you can, then dry the strips in a clean cloth, being careful not to break them ; turn them into another well-floured cloth, and toss them about lightly to coat each piece evenly with flour. Put a few of these pieces at a time into the frying basket, and boil in very hot fat. Directly the strips begin to colour and to crisp, lift them out on to a sheet of kitchen paper, and let them drain in front of the fire till the rest of the pieces are all cooked in the same way ; dust with fine salt and coralline pepper, and send to table with a quartered lemon and 144 VEGETABLES. brown bread and butter. Vegetable marrows are very good mashed, and in that condition are extremely nice cooked like Duchesse potatoes, or fried in batter. Vegetable macedoine. — This is a very favourite French garnish, and is used both hot and cold. The vegetables are cooked separately in salted boiling water, then drained, and tossed in a little butter and a morsel of sugar till nicely glazed, when they are piled up in a shape, and put in the centre of the dish as a garnish to cutlets, &c. Another way is, when parboiled, to mix them with just enough rather thick sauce (white or brown, according to the use you wish to make of them) to make them adhere, and toss them over the fire in this till quite hot, and serve them as before. A macedoine should contain four different kinds of vegetables, and frequently does consist of many more. French beans, flageolets, haricots, turnips, asparagus points, peas, celeriac, broccoli, cauliflower, &c., can all be used, and the colours should be nicely assorted. Root vegetables, such as carrots or turnips, &c., should be either cut into dice, slices, or small olive shapes, whilst the cauliflower is broken up into tiny sprays. cold. — Prepare the vegetables exactly as above, and leave them till cold, then mix them with just liquid aspic, or any mayonnaise aspic to taste, and either mould them or serve them piled up rockily in the centre of a dish. There is another garnish of this sort known as the Jardiniere, and it is often difficult to distinguish between the two, as many cooks seem to use the two words inter- changeably ; but I believe, strictly speaking, this VEGETABLES. 145 vegetable garnish is called a maa'doine, when moulded or heaped up altogether, whilst if the different veget- ables are served round the dish to be garnished, in separate little heaps, each kind by itself, it is known as a J ardiniere. Vegetable souffl'. — ^ Almost any kind of vegetable may be made into a souffle, if boiled till quite soft, carefully dried in a clean cloth, and then sieved ; to half a pint (a breakfastcupful) of this puree add two tablespoonfuls of any rich and thick sauce to taste, the yolks of two eggs, with pepper and salt, and at the last the whites of the eggs beaten to a very stiff froth ; pour into one large, or several small, paper souffle cases, and bake in a hot oven for twenty minutes for the large case, or ten to twelve minutes for the small ones, and serve at once. These souffles may be vai’ied almost indefinitely by using different flavourings ; for instance, grated Parmesan, coralline pepper, minced parsley or chives, &c., may be all used, or two kinds of vegetables may be mixed, making a puree with one and stirring in the other in cubes or sprays, according to its nature. Thus a puree of tomatoes mixed with broken-up cauliflower, and seasoned with coralline pepper and grated cheese, makes a very palatable vegetable entremets. for soup. — The question of the proportions of vegetables to be used in soup making is one that often perplexes novices, so we may here give the ideal proportions observed by M. Gouffi^ and other first-rate chefs. For each pound of meat in stock- making allow 3^oz. each of carrots, turnips, and large onions, 4 to .5oz. leeks, rather under ^oz. of celery, L 146 VEGETABLES. and two-thirds of an ounce of parsnip. These last are not indispensable, but may be replaced by extra carrots ; the leeks, also, if not at hand, may be replaced by an extra Spanish onion or so ; whilst in winter the pro- portion of turnip may be reduced by fully one-third. These proportions are for pot au feu, clear soup, or consomme. 'Watercress (Cresson). — This is seldom used here save in the raw state, and if well washed and nicely seasoned with oil, vinegar, pepper, and salt, makes a decidedly praiseworthy salad, alone or mixed with other salading. But it .also is very good if cooked, and, in Germany especially, is much liked, both as a vegetable entremets and as soup. d Valleraande. — Well wash the cress in several waters, then chop it lightly ; stir together over the fire 2oz. each of butter and flour till per- fectly blended and delicately browned, now moisten it with half a pint of water (or weak stock) and stir it all till it boils ; season it with white pepper, salt, a grate of nutmeg, and sufficient lemon juice, or vinegar, to acidulate it pleasantly, lay in the cress, let it boil up well, and serve. steioed. — Pick over and well wash the cress, then boil it in plenty of boiling salted water till nearly cooked, when it must be lifted out, and drained on a colander to remove all the water possible. Mean- while melt l^oz. of butter,

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.