Page:The Virginia Housewife or, Methodical Cook, Mary Randolph, 1836.djvu/108

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THE VIRGINIA HOUSEWIFE.

stalk flat at the bottom, let them lie in salt and water an hour before you boil them. Put them in boiling water, with a handful of salt in it—skim it well, and let it boil slowly till done, which a small one will be in fifteen minutes, a large one in twenty—and take it up the moment it is enough: a few minutes longer boiling will spoil it.


RED BEET ROOTS,

Are not so much used as they deserve to be; they are dressed in the same way as parsnips, only neither scraped nor cut till after they are boiled; they will take from an hour and a half to three hours in boiling, according to their size; to be sent to the table with salt fish, boiled beef, &c. When young, small and juicy, it is a very good variety, an excellent garnish, and easily converted into a very cheap and pleasant pickle.


PARSNIPS,

Are to be cooked just in the same manner as carrots; they require more or less time, according to their size; therefore match them in size, and you must try them by thrusting a fork into them as they are in the water; when this goes easily through, they are done enough: boil them from an hour to two hours, according to their size and freshness. Parsnips are sometimes sent up mashed in the same way as turnips.