CHAPTER XVIII.
VEGETABLES.
Persons who live in the country, may generally have fresh vegetables; but in towns, and especially in London, the case is different; and vegetables not quite fresh are very inferior to those which have been only a short time out of the ground.—Take the outside leaves off all of the cabbage kind, and plunge the part you mean to cook into cold water, the heads downwards; let there be plenty of water, and a large piece of salt, which helps to draw out the insects. Examine the leaves well, and take off all the decayed parts. They should be boiled in soft water, to preserve their flavour, and alone, to preserve their colour. Allow as much water as the vessel will hold, the more the better; and a handful of salt. The shorter time they are in the water the better, therefore see that it boil fast, before you put the vegetables in, and keep it boiling at the same rate afterwards; let the vessel be uncovered, and take off all scum. When done, take them out of the water instantly, and drain them; they ought then to go to table, for vegetables, particularly green ones, suffer in look and in taste, every moment they wait.
In dressing vegetables, as well as in making soup, the French greatly excel us, for they always cook them enough. Besides they make more of them than we do, by various ways of dressing them, with gravy and cream. Several receipts are here given, by which a side or supper dish, may be prepared at very little cost, particularly in the country, where fresh vegetables are always at hand.
Salads, if mixed with oil, are not injurious, except in peculiar cases, for they are cooling and refreshing in hot weather, and beneficial in many respects, in the winter. Most persons, particularly the Londoners, eat cucumbers, but strange to say, they do not, generally, value a well made salad so highly.
Potatoes to Boil.
The best way, upon the whole, is to boil, not steam them. Much depends upon the sort of potato, and it is unfair to condemn a cook's ability in the cooking of this article, until it be ascertained that the fault is really hers, for I have seen potatoes that no care or attention could boil enough, without their being watery, and others that it would be difficult for any species of cookery to spoil. They should be of equal size, or the small ones will be too much done before the large ones are done enough; do not pare or cut them; have a saucepan so large that they will only half fill it, and put in cold water sufficient to cover them about an inch, so that if it waste, they may still be covered; but too much water would injure them. Put the saucepan on the fire, and as soon as the water boils, set it on one side, to simmer slowly till the potatoes will admit a fork; the cracking of the skin being too uncertain a test; having tried them, if tender, pour the water off, and place the saucepan by the side of the fire, take off the cover, and lay a folded cloth, or coarse flannel, over the potatoes. Middling sized ones will be boiled enough in fifteen minutes. Some (and I believe it is the practice in Ireland), when they have poured off the water, lay the potatoes in a coarse cloth, sprinkle salt over, and cover them a few minutes, then squeeze them lightly, one by one, in the folds of a dry cloth, peel and serve them. Some peel potatoes for the next day's dinner and put them into cold water enough to cover them, over night; the water is poured off just before the potatoes are boiled. After the beginning of March potatoes should be peeled before they are boiled, and after April they should always be mashed. Potatoes may be dressed in various ways to make supper or side dishes, and there are sauces suitable to enrich them. Young Potatoes.—Rub the skin off with a cloth, then pour boiling water over them in a saucepan, let it simmer, and they will soon be done.
Potatoes to Fry, Broil, or Stew.
Cold potatoes may be cut in slices and fried in dripping, or broiled on a gridiron, then laid on a sieve to drain; serve on a hot dish, and sprinkle a little pepper and salt over them. Garnish with sprigs of curled parsley, or the parsley may be fried and strewed over.—Or: when the potatoes are nearly boiled enough, pour off the water, peel and flour them, brush with yolk of egg, and roll them in fine bread-crumbs or biscuit-powder, and fry in butter or nice dripping.—Or: stewed gently with butter; turn them, while stewing; pour a white sauce in the dish.
Potatoes to Mash.
Peel them, cut out the specks, and boil them: when done, and the water poured off, put them over the fire for two or three minutes, to dry, then put in some salt and butter, with milk enough to moisten sufficiently to beat them to a mash. The rolling-pin is better than anything else. Cream is better than butter, and then no milk need be used. Potatoes thus mashed may be put into a shape, or scallop-shells, with bits of butter on the top, then browned before the fire; either way makes a pretty dish.—Or: they may be rolled up, with a very little flour and yolk of egg into balls, and browned in the dripping-pan under roast meat. These balls are pretty as a garnish.—Or: make them up into a Collar, score it, and brown it before the fire, then serve it with a brown gravy in the dish.
Colcannan.
Boil 4 lbs. potatoes, also as many of the inside leaves of curled kale as will fill a saucer. Mash the two together in the saucepan the potatoes were boiled in, to keep them hot; put a piece of butter in the centre, when you serve it. Some prefer parsley to kale, but use less.
Potatoes to Roast.
Some cooks half boil them first. They should be washed and dried. If large, they will take two hours to roast, and should be all of a size, or they will not all be done alike.—Or: pour off the water, peel and lay them in a tin pan, before the fire, by the side of roasting meat. Baste, from the dripping-pan, and turn them to brown equally.
Potatoe Pie.
Having washed and peeled the potatoes, slice them, and put a layer into the pie dish, strew, over a little chopped onion, small bits of butter, salt, and pepper (and, if you like, hard-boiled egg in slices), then put more potatoes, and so on, till the dish is full; add a little water, then stick over the top nearly ¼ lb. of fresh butter, in bits; cover with a light puff paste, and bake an hour and a half.
Potatoe Balls.
Mash quite smooth 7 or 8 mealy potatoes, with 3 oz. of butter, 2 table-spoonsful cream, 1 of essence of anchovy, and 1 or 2 eschalots very finely chopped; make up into balls, dip them into egg beaten, and brown them. Garnish with curled parsley, for a side or supper dish.
Potatoe Ragout.
Mash 1 lb. of potatoes with butter (no milk or cream), and grate in some ham, nutmeg, salt, pepper, 2 eggs beaten, and a very little flour. Mix well together, and form it into loaves, or long thin rolls, fry or stew of a light brown, for a garnish to veal cutlets, or a dish by themselves.
Potatoes à la Maître d'Hotel.
Boil, peel, and cut the potatoes in slices ½ an inch thick, put them into a stew-pan with some young onions skinned, chopped parsley, butter (a large piece), pepper, salt, and a little broth to moisten the potatoes. Toss them till the parsley is cooked; serve with parsley and butter poured over.
Cabbages to Boil.
Wash well, and quarter them, if large. A young cabbage is done in from twenty minutes to half an hour, a full grown one will take nearly an hour. Have plenty of water, that they may be covered, all the time they are boiling; scum well. Serve melted butter. Savoys, Sprouts, and Young Greens.—Boil the same as cabbages, but twenty minutes will be sufficient.
Cabbage à la Bourgeoise.
Wash and pick quite clean a large cabbage; take the leaves off one by one, and spread upon each some forcemeat, made of veal, suet, parsley, salt, and pepper, mixed with a little cream and an egg; then put the leaves together, in the form of a whole cabbage, tie this up securely at each end, and stew it in a braise. When it is tender, take it out, and press in a linen cloth to clear it from the fat. Cut in two, in a dish, and pour good gravy over it.
Red Cabbage to Stew.
Melt sufficient butter, to stew the quantity of cabbage; cut it into shreds and put it into a saucepan, with a chopped onion, 2 cloves, a bay leaf, cayenne pepper and salt. Keep the saucepan covered close, and when done, add a good spoonful of vinegar. This may be spread in a dish, and sausages served on it.
Cabbage, Greens, or Spinach to Curry.
After they are boiled, drain, chop and stew them in butter with curry powder to taste; the powder previously mixed with salt, pepper, and vinegar. It is an improvement to spinach, to add sorrel; and some like a small quantity of chopped onion. To these curries you may add minced veal, chicken or rabbit, and serve with a gravy of veal; or, if to be maigre, minced cold fish, prawns or oysters, and fish gravy.
Spinach.
As spinach harbours insects, and is often gritty, wash it in two or three waters; then drain it on a sieve. Some boil it in very little water, but this is not a good way. Put a small handful of salt into the water, and when it boils, scum well; put in the spinach, and boil it quickly till quite tender, ten minutes will be enough. Pour it into a sieve, then squeeze between two plates or trenchers, chop fine, and put it into a small saucepan, with a piece of butter and a little salt. Stir with a spoon, five minutes over the fire, spread in a dish, score nicely, and serve it hot.—Spinach, Sorrel, and Chicory, may be stewed, the two former in equal portions together, or all separately, for fricandeaus. Wash, pick, and stew very slowly, in an earthen vessel, with butter, oil, or broth, just enough to moisten them.—Or: do not put any liquid at all, but when tender, beat up the sorrel, &c. &c. with a bit of butter.
Spinach au Gras.
When boiled, pour through a sieve and press it, to squeeze the water out; put a large piece of butter or dripping into a saucepan, and, when it has melted, put in some sippets of toasted bread for a few minutes, take them out and put in the spinach chopped fine, and a little good gravy of the day before, or out of the dripping-pan, if you be roasting meat, or some good broth, pepper, salt, nutmeg, and flour; simmer a few minutes, and serve with the toasts round it. Au Sucre.—Having boiled and squeezed all the water from spinach, chop, and put it into a saucepan with a good sized piece of butter, pepper, salt, nutmeg, and a little flour. Shake the saucepan over the fire a few minutes, then put in some cream or very good milk, to moisten the spinach, and 2 or 3 lumps of sugar, according to taste. Simmer very gently, and serve it garnished with toasts.
Asparagus and Sea Kale.
Scrape the stalks quite clean, and throw them into a large pan of cold water. Tie them in bundles of equal size with tape, not string, as that is likely to break off the heads; cut the ends of the asparagus even, and having a pot of boiling water ready (it ought to be scummed when the water boils), put in the bundles. When the stalks are tender, the asparagus is done; but loses flavour by being a minute too long in the water; indeed, it is the only one which will bear being a little firm. Before it is done, toast the round of a loaf, dip it into the boiling water, lay it in a dish, and the asparagus on it. Serve melted butter with asparagus and kale. The French, when the butter is melted, beat up the yolk of an egg, and stir in it, by degrees, a small quantity of vinegar, enough to flavour it; stir well for two minutes over the fire, and it is an excellent sauce for asparagus, or any green vegetable.
Cauliflower and Brocoli.
Choose middling sized ones, close and white, trim off the outside leaves, and cut off the stalks at the bottom. Strip off all the side shoots, peel off the skin of the stalk, and cut it close at the bottom. Boil and scum the water, then put the vegetables in; cauliflower will be done in fifteen or twenty minutes, and spoiled if it boil longer. Brocoli in from ten to fifteen minutes. Lift out of the water with a slice. Serve melted butter. Both may be served on toasts, and the sauce for asparagus served with them, either for the second course or for supper.
Cauliflower with Parmesan.
Boil nicely and place it in a dish (not a close one), grate cheese over, and then pour white sauce over. Brown it, grate more cheese, then pour more white sauce over. Brown it again before the fire, or with a salamander. Serve it with white sauce, or melted butter in a dish.
Cauliflower to Stew.
Boil a large cauliflower till nearly done, then lift it out very gently, separate it into small pieces, put these into a stew-pan, with enough rich brown gravy to moisten, and let it stew till tender. Garnish with slices of lemon.—Or: if you have no gravy, put into a stew-pan a piece of fat bacon, 2 or 3 green onions, chopped small, a blade of mace, and a very little lemon thyme, shake the stew-pan over the fire, ten minutes, then put in the cauliflower, let it brown, add a very little water, and let it stew.—Or: if to be a maigre, put a lump of butter into a saucepan, an onion minced, some nutmeg, salt, and pepper, shake the saucepan over the fire a few minutes, then put in the pieces of cauliflower, and pour in enough boiling water to moisten; simmer it a few minutes, add the yolks of 3 eggs well beaten, turn the saucepan over the fire till the eggs are cooked, then serve the cauliflower.
Cauliflower or Brocoli to Fry.
Boil till nearly tender enough to eat, then pick it in nice pieces, dip them in a batter made of ¼ lb. flour, the yolks of 3 eggs and a coffee-cupful of beer, pepper, and salt. Then fry the pieces in boiling lard, of a light brown, and put them on a sieve to drain and dry before the fire.—Or: dip them first in egg, then in fine crumbs of bread, and then egg again, before you fry them.—Celery and onions the same.—Serve white sauce.
Peas.
They should be shelled but a short time before they are cooked. The younger, of course, the better. When the water boils, scum it, put the peas in, with a little salt, and a piece of sugar, and let them boil quickly from fifteen to twenty minutes. When done, drain, and put them in a dish with some bits of fresh butter; stir the peas with a silver spoon, and cover the dish. Some like mint boiled with peas; others boiled alone, chopped, and laid in little lumps round them.—Or: after they are partly boiled, drain and stew the peas in a little broth, with a lettuce, a little green onion, and mint, or a sliced cucumber in the place of the lettuce; stew them till nearly done before you put in the peas; add a little salt, pepper, and brown or white sugar. Essence of ham, or mushroom catsup, may be added.—Or: when the peas are partly cooked, drain, and rub in some butter kneaded in flour, then stew them in weak broth, till quite done; add salt, a bunch of parsley, and green onions. Before you serve the peas, drain them, dip a lump of sugar into boiling water, stir it amongst them, and grate parmesan over. For maigre dinners, use more butter, instead of broth. In White Sauce.—Put quite young peas into a stew-pan, with a piece of butter, a cabbage lettuce, and a little each of parsley and chives. Do not add any liquor, but stew them very gently over a slow fire. When done, stir, by degrees, ½ pint cream, and the beat yolks of 3 eggs, into the peas; let it thicken over the fire, but not boil, then serve it. The peas which are eaten in their shells may be dressed in this way.
Windsor Beans.
Boil in plenty of water, with salt, and a bunch of parsley. Serve parsley and butter; garnish with chopped parsley. The French parboil them, take off the skins, stew them, and when done pour a rich veal gravy over.
French Beans.
Cut off the stalks, and if the beans are not young, string them, cut them in two, slantways; if old, split first, then cut them slantways; if very young, do not cut them at all. Lay them in water, with a little salt, for about half an hour. Then put them into water, boiling fast, and boil till tender. Serve melted butter. These beans may be stewed in all the ways directed for peas. Beans à la Maitre d'Hotel.—Warm them up in parsley and butter.
Turnips.
Some think turnips are most tender when not pared before they are boiled, but the general practice is to cut off a thick peel. Most persons slice them also, but it is not the best way. An hour and a half of gentle boiling is enough. When done, lift them out with a slice, and lay them on a sieve to drain; when dry, serve them. To very young turnips leave about an inch of the green top. To Mash Turnips.—Squeeze them as dry as possible between two trenchers, put them into a saucepan with a little new milk or cream, beat well with a wooden spoon, to mash them, add a piece of butter and a little salt; stir over the fire till the butter is melted, then serve them. It is an improvement to put in with the cream a table-spoonful of powdered sugar. To Ragout.—Turnips may be made a ragout to serve under or round meat. Cut in slices an inch thick, and parboil them; then stew them in broth, which, if not already seasoned, may be seasoned at the time the turnips are put to it. When done, skim off the fat, and serve in the dish with any stew or braise, or by themselves. Turnips and Parsnips to Stew White.—Parboil, cut in four, and stew them in weak broth, or milk and water (enough liquid to keep the turnips from burning); add salt and mace. As the liquid diminishes, put in a little good cream, and grated nutmeg. When done, mix with them a piece of butter rolled in flour.
Turnip Tops.
When they have been carefully picked, let them lie in cold water an hour. Boil in plenty of water, or they will taste bitter. If quite fresh and young, twenty minutes will be enough. Drain them on the back of a sieve.
Parsnips.
Boil them the same as turnips; or longer, according to their size and quality.
Carrots.
Boil the same as turnips; but if old, longer.—Turnips, carrots, and parsnips may be dressed together, or separately, in the following way:—Cut up 2 or 3 onions (or less, according to the quantity of roots), and put them into a stew-pan, with a large piece of butter kneaded in brown flour. Shake the saucepan a few minutes over the fire, then put in a little broth, let it stew slowly while you prepare the roots. Scald, or parboil, turnips, carrots, parsnips, and celery, cut them in thin slips, and put them to the onions; season with salt and pepper. When done, add a little made mustard and vinegar.—Or: wash and parboil them, cut in thin slices, and put them in a saucepan with a large piece of butter, a bunch of parsley, sweet basil, chives, a clove of garlic, and an eschalot. Shake them over the fire, add a little salt, whole pepper, a blade of mace, and some flour, then put in a very little broth or milk and water. Stew it gently till they are tender, and the liquid reduced. Lift out the herbs, and put in some cream (according to the quantity required), with 2 or 3 eggs beaten up in it. Turn the saucepan, over the fire, till the sauce thickens. When done, add a little vinegar.
Beet Root and Mangel Wurzel.
Wash but do not scrape it, for if the skin be broken, the colour is lost. A middling-sized beet root will take from three to four hours to boil, and the same sized mangel wurzel another hour. When quite tender it is done. Serve it, cut into thin slices; thick melted butter poured over.
Onions to Boil.
Peel and boil them till tender in milk and water. The time required must depend upon their size.—They may be served in white sauce. Onions to Stew.—Spanish onions are best. Peel and parboil very gently; then stew them in good broth, or milk and water, and season with white pepper and salt. When done, thicken the sauce with butter rolled in flour, lift out the onions, place them in a dish, and pour the sauce over.—Or: stew them in rich, brown gravy. Onions to Roast.—Roast them before the fire, in their skins.
Cucumbers to Stew.
Pare the cucumbers, and cut them in four, longways; to each one put a small onion, sliced; then stew them in broth, with cayenne, pepper, salt, and nutmeg. When done, lay them in a dish, thicken the sauce with butter rubbed in flour, and pour over them. For maigre dinners, stew them in enough water to moisten them, with a large piece of butter: when done, pour some cream, mixed with beaten yolk of egg, into the saucepan, enough to make a sufficiency of sauce, let it thicken over the fire, lay the cucumbers in a dish, and pour the sauce over.—Or: cut onions and cucumbers in halves, fry in butter, and pour good broth or gravy over them; then stew till done, and skim off the fat.
Celery to Stew.
Cut the head in pieces of 3 inches long, and stew as directed for cucumbers. Some cooks stew it whole, or, if very large, divided in two, and in strong brown gravy.—Or: if to be white, in rich veal broth, and add some cream. It must be cooked till quite tender to eat well.
Mushrooms and Morels.
Both are used in sauces and ragouts. For stewing, button mushrooms, or the smallest flaps, are best. Trim them carefully, for a little bit of mould will spoil the whole. Stew them, in their own gravy, in an earthen vessel, with a very little water to prevent their burning. When nearly done, add as much rich brown gravy as is required for sauce, a little nutmeg, and, if you like, finely sliced ham, cayenne, pepper, and salt, if required; thicken, by mixing the yolk of an egg, by little and little, into the gravy. If to be white, squeeze lemon juice over the mushrooms, after they have stewed in their own gravy: add a tea-spoonful of cream, a piece of butter rolled in flour, cayenne, white pepper, salt, and nutmeg; thicken with the yolk of an egg. Mushrooms to Broil.—The largest flaps are best, but should be fresh gathered. Skin them, and score the under side. Lay them, one by one, into an earthen vessel, brushing each one with oil, or oiled butter, and strewing a little pepper and salt over each. When they have steeped in this, an hour and a half, broil, on both sides, over a clear fire, and serve with a sauce of melted butter, minced parsley, green onions, and the juice of a lemon.
Salsify.
Boil the young shoots, about a year old, as asparagus.
Scorzonera and Skirrets.
The same as carrots; and are good in soup.
Artichokes.
Take off the outer leaves and cut off the stalks. Wash well in cold water, and let them lie in it some time. Put them head downwards, into the pot, take care to keep the water boiling, and add more as it diminishes, for they ought to boil two hours, or more. Float a plate or dish on the top to keep the artichokes under. Draw out a leaf, and if tender, they are done, but not else. Drain them dry, and serve melted butter, in a tureen. To Fry.—Cut off an inch or more, of the leaves, and cut the artichoke down in slices of ¾ of an inch thick, taking out the choke. Parboil the slices in salt and water, then fry them in a pan nearly full of boiling lard, to be quite crisp, and of a fine colour. Drain them before the fire a few minutes.
Jerusalem Artichokes.
Boil, but do not let them remain in the water after they are done, or they will spoil; pour melted butter over.—Or: they may be cooked in a rich brown gravy, or white sauce, and served with sippets of toasted bread.
Artichoke Bottoms.
If dried, soak them, then stew in gravy.—Or: boil in milk, and serve them in white sauce.
Endive to Stew.
Trim off all the green part, wash, cut in pieces, and parboil it till about half done; drain well, and chop it, not very fine; put it into a stew-pan with a little strong gravy, and stew gently till quite tender; season with pepper and salt, and serve as sauce to roast meat or fricandeaus.
Lettuce to Stew.
Wash, parboil, and stew, in rich brown or white gravy; if to be white, thicken with cream and yolk of egg. Lay them in a dish and pour gravy over.
Cabbage Lettuce with Forcemeat.
Parboil gently, for half an hour, then dip into cold water, and press them in your hand. Strip off the leaves, spread a forcemeat, rich or maigre as you please, on each leaf:—Or: put the forcemeat into the middle of each lettuce; tie them up, neatly, in their original shape, and stew them in gravy. When done, serve with the gravy poured over.
Vegetable Marrow.
This may be boiled and served on toast, like asparagus; serve melted butter.—Or: when nearly cooked enough by boiling, divide in quarters, and stew gently in gravy like cucumbers.—Or: serve it in white sauce.
Marrow to Stuff (Italian).
Cut very young ones, about six inches long, in two, lengthways; take out the seeds and pulp with a small spoon, put a little salt on each one, and lay them between 2 cloths, the hollow part down, to draw the water out. Soak some crumb of bread in warm broth or milk and water, beat it up like thick pap, add pepper, salt, the beaten yolks of 2 eggs, nutmeg and lemon peel; to this the Italians add grated parmesan; pour off the water, and fill the vegetable marrow with this stuffing; put the halves together, bind them slightly with thread, brush over beaten yolk of egg, cover with bread-crumbs, and lay them, singly, in a broad shallow stew-pan, well rubbed round the sides and the bottom with butter. Place the stew-pan over a slow fire, cover it, and when the butter is dried up, keep the marrow moistened with broth. When nearly cooked enough, put in some tomata sauce, and then put hot coals on the lid of the stew-pan to brown the vegetables. Minced fowl and grated ham may be added to the stuffing. To Fry.—Cut the long shaped ones (quite young), in four, longways, and each piece into long thin slices, lay these between cloths, sprinkle salt over to draw out the water, and let them lie half an hour: during which, prepare a smooth batter of flour, water, and 2 eggs, dip the marrow into it, and fry in lard, of a light brown. Shake the pan gently, but do not touch the fry, lest the paste should break and the fat get in, and make it greasy. Spread a sheet of paper on a sieve, lay the fry on it, before the fire a few minutes to dry, then serve it.
Cardoons.
Choose the whitest, and cut them into pieces of 2 inches long; half boil them in salt and water, with a very little vinegar; pour off the water, take out the cardoons, and peel off the threads; finish by stewing them, in stock of fish or meat, and butter, if required, to enrich it. Mix some flour with a little oil, the whites of 2 eggs, and a little white wine. Cut the pieces of cardoon in 2, dip them in the above mixture, and fry them in lard, of a light brown.
Lentils
Are chiefly used to make cullis for soups and made dishes, as follows: pick and wash ½ a pint or more, according to the quantity wanted. Stew them in broth; when done, pulp them through a sieve, and season as you like.
Samphire to Boil.
Boil in a good deal of water, with salt in it, till quite tender. Serve melted butter.
Laver.
This is generally prepared at the sea coast, and requires only to be heated. This is done best over a lamp, or, at a distance over the fire. When hot stir in a piece of butter, and a very little lemon juice or vinegar.
Haricots Blanc.
These should be soaked, at least, all night. Then be poured from the water, and stewed in broth, or with butter, salt, pepper, chopped parsley and young onions. They must be cooked till tender, or they are not eatable.
SALADS.
Lettuce, endive, and small salading, are the most commonly used, but there are many other greens which eat well, as salads. They should be fresh gathered, well washed, picked, and laid in water with a little salt in it. When you take them out, which should not be till just before they are wanted, shake them well, lay them in a cloth, shake that, to make them as dry as possible, but do not squeeze, for that will destroy their crispness.
In countries where salad is in more general request than in England, the greatest pains are bestowed to have it in perfection. It is essential to a good salad, that the leaves of lettuces should be crisp; and the French people shake them in a basket, made for the purpose, which answers better than anything. The French are justly famed for their salads, but the main cause of their superiority in them, is attributable to the abundance and goodness of both the oil and the vinegar used in the mixture.
To dress Salad.
Do not cut it up till you are going to mix it. Strew a little salt, and then pour over it, 3 table-spoonsful of oil to 1½ of vinegar, add a little pepper, and stir it up well with a spoon and fork. There ought not to be a drop of liquid at the bottom of the bowl. To this may be added hard-boiled yolk of egg, also beet root well boiled and sliced. Any kind of salad may be dressed in this way. Good oil is not dear, but exceedingly wholesome. The least degree of the flavour of garlic is liked by some in salad, and may be obtained by cutting open a clove and rubbing it a few times round the salad bowl. Some persons like a very little grated parmesan, in their salad.
Where oil is not liked, use oiled butter, or cream. Rub very smooth on a soup plate the yolks of hard-boiled eggs, with thick cream; when this is done, add more cream, or oiled butter, vinegar, pepper, and salt to your taste, and mix the salad in it: or pour the mixture into the bowl, the salad on the top, and do not stir it up at all, but leave this to be done at table.
The top of a dressed salad should be garnished with slices of beet root, contrasted with rings of the white of hard-boiled eggs; or a few young radishes and green onions, or cresses, tastefully arranged on the top. Plovers and sea birds' eggs may be laid on the top, arranging some herb to form each one's nest; or all in one nest, in the centre. A pretty salad is a great ornament to a table, and not an expensive one.
The following list may be imperfect, but though there may be other herbs which would be useful in salads, all these are good.
| Lettuce. Radishes. Water Cresses. Young Onions. Corn Salad. Endive. Celery. Mustard and Cress. Chervil. |
Coriander. Tarragon. Nasturtiums. Sorrel. Young Spinach. French Fennel. Burnet. Basil. Chicory. |
The French make salads of cold boiled cauliflower, celery, French beans, and haricots. A mixture of either with some green herbs, dressed with oil, is very good; by way of variety.
Lobster Salad.
Prepare a mixture of white lettuce, and green salading, mix it with cream or oil; take out the coral of the lobster, and dispose it amongst the vegetables so as best to contrast the colours.—Or: lobster may be cut up, dressed as eaten at table, then mixed with lettuce and small salading also cut up and dressed; the dressing of each must be according to taste. Some persons dress their lobster with lemon juice and cayenne. Put the mixture into a salad bowl, light sprigs of cresses on the top, and heaps of the coral amidst them.
Italian Salad.
About three hours before the salad is wanted, bone and chop 2 anchovies, and mix them in a salad bowl, with an eschalot, and some small salading, or lettuce, or any herbs, fresh gathered; boil 2 eggs hard, bruise the yolks, then mix them with 2 spoonsful of oil, 1 of vinegar, a little pepper, and a little made mustard. To this sauce, put very thin slices of cold roast meat of any kind, fowl, game, or lobster (and any cold gravy), and leave them to soak. Garnish it prettily. Cold fish may be dressed in this way; then hard-boiled eggs may be added; and, with either meat or fish, cold boiled vegetables. Nicely garnished, these salads are pretty for supper tables. Capsicums, barberries, and pickled fruit are of use in ornamenting them.
Cucumbers
Should be fresh, mixed with onion, and never eaten without oil.