Book of Household Management — 054 - Recipes. Chapter 25. Part 1.

[Illustration: ARTICHOKES.

] _Mode_.

--Wash the artichokes well in several waters; see that no insects remain about them, and trim away the leaves at the bottom.

Cut off the stems and put them into _boiling_ water, to which have been added salt and soda in the above proportion.

Keep the saucepan uncovered, and let them boil quickly until tender; ascertain when they are done by thrusting a fork in them, or by trying if the leaves can be easily removed.

Take them out, let them drain for a minute or two, and serve in a napkin, or with a little white sauce poured over.

A tureen of melted butter should accompany them.

This vegetable, unlike any other, is considered better for being gathered two or three days; but they must be well soaked and washed previous to dressing.

_Time_.

--20 to 25 minutes, after the water boils.

_Sufficient_,--a dish of 5 or 6 for 4 persons.

_Seasonable_ from July to the beginning of September.

[Illustration: CARDOON ARTICHOKE.

] THE COMPOSITAE, OR COMPOSITE FLOWERS.

--This family is so extensive, as to contain nearly a twelfth part of the whole of the vegetable kingdom.

It embraces about 9,000 species, distributed over almost every country; and new discoveries are constantly being made and added to the number.

Towards the poles their numbers diminish, and slightly, also, towards the equator;

but they abound in the tropical and sub-tropical islands, and in the tracts of continent not far from the sea-shore.

Among esculent vegetables, the Lettuce, Salsify, Scorzonera, Cardoon, and Artichoke belong to the family.

FRIED ARTICHOKES.

(Entremets, or Small Dish, to be served with the Second Course.

) 1081. INGREDIENTS.

--5 or 6 artichokes, salt and water: for the batter,--1/4 lb.

of flour, a little salt, the yolk of 1 egg, milk.

_Mode_.

--Trim and boil the artichokes by recipe No. 1080, and rub them over with lemon-juice, to keep them white.

When they are quite tender, take them up, remove the chokes, and divide the bottoms; dip each piece into batter, fry them in hot lard or dripping, and garnish the dish with crisped parsley.

Serve with plain melted butter.

_Time_.

--20 minutes to boil the artichokes, 5 to 7 minutes to fry them.

_Sufficient_,--5 or 6 for 4 or 5 persons.

_Seasonable_ from July to the beginning of September.

A FRENCH MODE OF COOKING ARTICHOKES.

1082. INGREDIENTS.

--5 or 6 artichokes; to each 1/2 gallon of water allow 1 heaped tablespoonful of salt, 1/2 teaspoonful of pepper, 1 bunch of savoury herbs, 2 oz.

of butter.

_Mode_.

--Cut the ends of the leaves, as also the stems; put the artichokes into boiling water, with the above proportion of salt, pepper, herbs, and butter; let them boil quickly until tender, keeping the lid of the saucepan off, and when the leaves come out easily, they are cooked enough.

To keep them a beautiful green, put a large piece of cinder into a muslin bag, and let it boil with them.

Serve with plain melted butter.

_Time_.

--20 to 25 minutes.

_Sufficient_,--5 or 6 sufficient for 4 or 5 persons.

_Seasonable_ from July to the beginning of September.

ARTICHOKES A L'ITALIENNE.

1083. INGREDIENTS.

--4 or 6 artichokes, salt and butter, about 1/2 pint of good gravy.

_Mode_.

--Trim and cut the artichokes into quarters, and boil them until tender in water mixed with a little salt and butter.

When done, drain them well, and lay them all round the dish, with the leaves outside.

Have ready some good gravy, highly flavoured with mushrooms; reduce it until quite thick, and pour it round the artichokes, and serve.

_Time_.

--20 to 25 minutes to boil the artichokes.

_Sufficient_ for one side-dish.

_Seasonable_ from July to the beginning of September.

CONSTITUENT PROPERTIES OF THE ARTICHOKE.

--According to the analysis of Braconnet, the constituent elements of an artichoke are,--starch 30, albumen 10, uncrystallizable sugar 148, gum 12, fixed oil 1, woody fibre 12, inorganic matter 27, and water 770. BOILED JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES.

1084. INGREDIENTS.

--To each 1 gallon of water allow 1 heaped tablespoonful of salt; artichokes.

_Mode_.

--Wash, peel, and shape the artichokes in a round or oval form, and put them into a saucepan with sufficient cold water to cover them, salted in the above proportion.

Let them boil gently until tender; take them up, drain them, and serve them in a napkin, or plain, whichever mode is preferred; send to table with them a tureen of melted butter or cream sauce, a little of which may be poured over the artichokes when they are _not_ served in a napkin.

[Illustration: JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES.

] _Time_.

--About 20 minutes after the water boils.

_Average cost_, 2d.

per lb.

_Sufficient_,--10 for a dish for 6 persons.

_Seasonable_ from September to June.

USES OF THE JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE.

--This being a tuberous-rooted plant, with leafy stems from four to six feet high, it is alleged that its tops will afford as much fodder per acre as a crop of oats, or more, and its roots half as many tubers as an ordinary crop of potatoes.

The tubers, being abundant in the market-gardens, are to be had at little more than the price of potatoes.

The fibres of the stems may be separated by maceration, and manufactured into cordage or cloth; and this is said to be done in some parts of the north and west of France, as about Hagenau, where this plant, on the poor sandy soils, is an object of field culture.

MASHED JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES.

1085. INGREDIENTS.

--To each 1 gallon of water allow 1 oz.

of salt; 15 or 16 artichokes, 1 oz.

butter, pepper and salt to taste.

_Mode_.

--Boil the artichokes as in the preceding recipe until tender;

drain and press the water from them, and beat them up with a fork.

When thoroughly mashed and free from lumps, put them into a saucepan with the butter and a seasoning of white pepper and salt; keep stirring over the fire until the artichokes are quite hot, and serve.

_Time_.

--About 20 minutes.

_Average cost_, 2d.

per lb.

_Sufficient_ for 6 or 7 persons.

_Seasonable_ from September to June.

JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES WITH WHITE SAUCE.

(Entremets, or to be served with the Second Course as a Side-dish.

) 1086. INGREDIENTS.

--12 to 15 artichokes, 12 to 15 Brussels sprouts, 1/2 pint of white sauce, No. 538. _Mode_.

--Peel and cut the artichokes in the shape of a pear; cut a piece off the bottom of each, that they may stand upright in the dish, and boil them in salt and water until tender.

Have ready 1/2 pint of white sauce, made by recipe No. 538; dish the artichokes, pour over them the sauce, and place between each a fine Brussels sprout: these should be boiled separately, and not with the artichokes.

_Time_.

--About 20 minutes.

_Average cost_, 2d.

per lb.

_Sufficient_ for 6 or 7 persons.

_Seasonable_ from September to June.

THE JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE.

--This plant is well known, being, for its tubers, cultivated not only as a garden vegetable, but also as an agricultural crop.

By many it is much esteemed as an esculent, when cooked in various ways; and the domesticated animals eat both the fresh foliage, and the tubers with great relish.

By some, they are not only considered nourishing, but even fattening.

BOILED ASPARAGUS.

1087. INGREDIENTS.

--To each 1/2 gallon of water allow 1 heaped tablespoonful of salt; asparagus.

[Illustration: ASPARAGUS ON TOAST.

ASPARAGUS TONGS.

] _Mode_.

--Asparagus should be dressed as soon as possible after it is cut, although it may be kept for a day or two by putting the stalks into cold water; yet, to be good, like every other vegetable, it cannot be cooked too fresh.

Scrape the white part of the stems, _beginning_ from the _head_, and throw them into cold water; then tie them into bundles of about 20 each, keeping the heads all one way, and cut the stalks evenly, that they may all be the same length; put them into _boiling_ water, with salt in the above proportion; keep them boiling quickly until tender, with the saucepan uncovered.

When the asparagus is done, dish it upon toast, which should be dipped in the water it was cooked in, and leave the white ends outwards each war, with the points meeting in the middle.

Serve with a tureen of melted butter.

_Time_.

--15 to 18 minutes after the water boils.

_Average cost_, in full season, 2s.

6d.

the 100 heads.

_Sufficient_.

--Allow about 50 heads for 4 or 5 persons.

_Seasonable_.

--May be had, forced, from January but cheapest in May, June, and July.

[Illustration: ASPARAGUS.

] ASPARAGUS.

--This plant belongs to the variously-featured family of the order _Liliaceae_, which, in the temperate regions of both hemispheres, are most abundant, and, between the tropics, gigantic in size and arborescent in form.

Asparagus is a native of Great Britain, and is found on various parts of the seacoast, and in the fens of Lincolnshire.

At Kynarve Cove, in Cornwall, there is an island called "Asparagus Island," from the abundance in which it is there found.

The uses to which the young shoots are applied, and the manure in which they are cultivated in order to bring them to the highest state of excellence, have been a study with many kitchen-gardeners.

ASPARAGUS PEAS.

(Entremets, or to be served as a Side-dish with the Second Course.

) 1088. INGREDIENTS.

--100 heads of asparagus, 2 oz.

of butter, a small bunch of parsley, 2 or 3 green onions, flour, 1 lump of sugar, the yolks of 2 eggs, 4 tablespoonfuls of cream, salt.

_Mode_.

--Carefully scrape the asparagus, cut it into pieces of an equal size, avoiding that which is in the least hard or tough, and throw them into cold water.

Then boil the asparagus in salt and water until three-parts done; take it out, drain, and place it on a cloth to dry the moisture away from it.

Put it into a stewpan with the butter, parsley, and onions, and shake over a brisk fire for 10 minutes.

Dredge in a little flour, add the sugar, and moisten with boiling water.

When boiled a short time and reduced, take out the parsley and onions, thicken with the yolks of 2 eggs beaten with the cream; add a seasoning of salt, and, when the whole is on the point of simmering, serve.

Make the sauce sufficiently thick to adhere to the vegetable.

_Time_.

--Altogether, 1/2 hour.

_Average cost_, 1s.

6d.

a pint.

_Seasonable_ in May, June, and July.

MEDICINAL USES OF ASPARAGUS.

--This plant not only acts as a wholesome and nutritious vegetable, but also as a diuretic, aperient, and deobstruent.

The chemical analysis of its juice discovers its composition to be a peculiar crystallizable principle, called asparagin, albumen, mannite, malic acid, and some salts.

Thours says, the cellular tissue contains a substance similar to sage.

The berries are capable of undergoing vinous fermentation, and affording alcohol by distillation.

In their unripe state they possess the same properties as the roots, and probably in a much higher degree.

ASPARAGUS PUDDING.

(A delicious Dish, to be served with the Second Course.

) 1089. INGREDIENTS.

--1/2 pint of asparagus peas, 4 eggs, 2 tablespoonfuls of flour, 1 tablespoonful of _very finely_ minced ham, 1 oz.

of butter, pepper and salt to taste, milk.

_Mode_.

--Cut up the nice green tender parts of asparagus, about the size of peas; put them into a basin with the eggs, which should be well beaten, and the flour, ham, butter, pepper, and salt.

Mix all these ingredients well together, and moisten with sufficient milk to make the pudding of the consistency of thick batter; put it into a pint buttered mould, tie it down tightly with a floured cloth, place it in _boiling water_, and let it boil for 2 hours; turn it out of the mould on to a hot dish, and pour plain melted butter _round_, but not over, the pudding.

Green peas pudding may be made in exactly the same manner, substituting peas for the asparagus.

_Time_.

--2 hours.

_Average cost_, 1s.

6d.

per pint.

_Seasonable_ in May, June, and July.

BOILED FRENCH BEANS.

1090. INGREDIENTS.

--To each 1/2 gallon of water allow 1 heaped tablespoonful of salt, a very small piece of soda.

[Illustration: Scarlet Runner.

] _Mode_.

--This vegetable should always be eaten young, as, when allowed to grow too long, it tastes stringy and tough when cooked.

Cut off the heads and tails, and a thin strip on each side of the beans, to remove the strings.

Then divide each bean into 4 or 6 pieces, according to size, cutting them lengthways in a slanting direction, and, as they are cut, put them into cold water, with a small quantity of salt dissolved in it.

Have ready a saucepan of boiling water, with salt and soda in the above proportion; put in the beans, keep them boiling quickly, with the lid uncovered, and be careful that they do not get smoked.

When tender, which may be ascertained by their sinking to the bottom of the saucepan, take them up, throw them into a colander; and when drained, dish and serve with plain melted butter.

When very young, beans are sometimes served whole: when they are thus dressed, their colour and flavour are much better preserved; but the more general way of dressing them is to cut them into thin strips.

_Time_.

--Very young beans, 10 to 12 minutes; moderate size, 15 to 20 minutes, after the water boils.

_Average cost_, in full season, 1s.

4d.

a peck; but, when forced, very expensive.

_Sufficient_.

--Allow 1/2 peck for 6 or 7 persons.

_Seasonable_ from the middle of July to the end of September; but may be had, forced, from February to the beginning of June.

FRENCH MODE OF COOKING FRENCH BEANS.

1091. INGREDIENTS.

--A quart of French beans, 3 oz.

of fresh butter, pepper and salt to taste, the juice of 1/2 lemon.

_Mode_.

--Cut and boil the beans by the preceding recipe, and when tender, put them into a stewpan, and shake over the fire, to dry away the moisture from the beans.

When quite dry and hot, add the butter, pepper, salt, and lemon-juice; keep moving the stewpan, without using a spoon, as that would break the beans; and when the butter is melted, and all is thoroughly hot, serve.

If the butter should not mix well, add a tablespoonful of gravy, and serve very quickly.

_Time_.

--About 1/4 hour to boil the beans; 10 minutes to shake them over the fire.

_Average cost_, in full season, about 1s.

4d.

a peck.

_Sufficient_ for 4 or 5 persons.

_Seasonable_ from the middle of July to the end of September.

BOILED BROAD OR WINDSOR BEANS.

1092. INGREDIENTS.

--To each 1/2 gallon of water, allow 1 heaped tablespoonful of salt; beans.

[Illustration: BROAD BEAN.

] _Mode_.

--This is a favourite vegetable with many persons, but to be nice, should be young and freshly gathered.

After shelling the beans, put them into _boiling_ water, salted in the above proportion, and let them boil rapidly until tender.

Drain them well in a colander; dish, and serve with them separately a tureen of parsley and butter.

Boiled bacon should always accompany this vegetable, but the beans should be cooked separately.

It is usually served with the beans laid round, and the parsley and butter in a tureen.

Beans also make an excellent garnish to a ham, and when used for this purpose, if very old, should have their skins removed.

_Time_.

--Very young beans, 15 minutes; when of a moderate size, 20 to 25 minutes, or longer.

_Average cost_, unshelled, 6d.

per peck.

_Sufficient_.

--Allow one peck for 6 or 7 persons.

_Seasonable_ in July and August.

NUTRITIVE PROPERTIES OF THE BEAN.

--The produce of beans in meal is, like that of peas, more in proportion to the grain than in any of the cereal grasses.

A bushel of beans is supposed to yield fourteen pounds more of flour than a bushel of oats; and a bushel of peas eighteen pounds more, or, according to some, twenty pounds.

A thousand parts of bean flour were found by Sir II.

Davy to yield 570 parts of nutritive matter, of which 426 were mucilage or starch, 103 gluten, and 41 extract, or matter rendered insoluble during the process.

BROAD BEANS A LA POULETTE.

1093. INGREDIENTS.

--2 pints of broad beans, 1/2 pint of stock or broth, a small bunch of savoury herbs, including parsley, a small lump of sugar, the yolk of 1 egg, 1/4 pint of cream, pepper and salt to taste.

_Mode_.

--Procure some young and freshly-gathered beans, and shell sufficient to make 2 pints; boil them, as in the preceding recipe, until nearly done; then drain them and put them into a stewpan, with the stock, finely-minced herbs, and sugar.

Stew the beans until perfectly tender, and the liquor has dried away a little; then beat up the yolk of an egg with the cream, add this to the beans, let the whole get thoroughly hot, and when on the point of simmering, serve.

Should the beans be very large, the skin should be removed previously to boiling them.

_Time_.

--10 minutes to boil the beans, 15 minutes to stew them in the stock.

_Average cost_, unshelled, 6d.

per peck.

_Seasonable_ in July and August.

ORIGIN AND VARIETIES OF THE BEAN.

--This valuable plant is said to be a native of Egypt, but, like other plants which have been domesticated, its origin is uncertain.

It has been cultivated in Europe and Asia from time immemorial, and has been long known in Britain.

Its varieties may be included under two general heads,--the white, or garden beans, and the grey, or field beans, of the former, sown in the fields, the mazagan and long-pod are almost the only sorts; of the latter, those known as the horse-bean, the small or ticks, and the prolific of Heligoland, are the principal sorts.

New varieties are procured in the same manner as in other plants.

BOILED BEETROOT.

1094. INGREDIENTS,--Beetroot; boiling water.

_Mode_.

--When large, young, and juicy, this vegetable makes a very excellent addition to winter salads, and may easily be converted into an economical and quickly-made pickle.

(_See_ No. 369. ) Beetroot is more frequently served cold than hot: when the latter mode is preferred, melted butter should be sent to table with it.

It may also be stewed with button onions, or boiled and served with roasted onions.

Wash the beets thoroughly; but do not prick or break the skin before they are cooked, or they would lose their beautiful colour in boiling.

Put them into boiling water, and let them boil until tender, keeping them well covered.

If to be served hot, remove the peel quickly, cut the beetroot into thick slices, and send to table melted butter.

For salads, pickle, &c. , let the root cool, then peel, and cut it into slices.

_Time_.

--Small beetroot, 1-1/2 to 2 hours; large, 2-1/2 to 3 hours.

_Average cost_, in full season, 2d.

each.

_Seasonable_.

--May be had at any time.

[Illustration: BEETROOT.

] BEETROOT.

--The geographical distribution of the order Saltworts (_Salxolaceae_), to which beetroot belongs, is most common in extra-tropical and temperate regions, where they are common weeds, frequenting waste places, among rubbish, and on marshes by the seashore.

In the tropics they are rare.

They are characterized by the large quantities of mucilage, sugar, starch, and alkaline salts which are found in them.

Many of them are used as potherbs, and some are emetic and vermifuge in their medicinal properties.

The _root_ of _garden_ or red beet is exceedingly wholesome and nutritious, and Dr. Lyon Playfair has recommended that a good brown bread may be made by rasping down this root with an equal quantity of flour.

He says that the average quality of flour contains about 12 per cent.

of azotized principles adapted for the formation of flesh, and the average quality of beet contains about 2 per cent.

of the same materials.

BOILED BROCOLI.

1095. INGREDIENTS.

--To each 1/2 gallon of water allow 1 heaped tablespoonful of salt; brocoli.

[Illustration: BOILED BROCOLI.

] _Mode_.

--Strip off the dead outside leaves, and the inside ones cut off level with the flower; cut off the stalk close at the bottom, and put the brocoli into cold salt and water, with the heads downwards.

When they have remained in this for about 3/4 hour, and they are _perfectly_ free from insects, put them into a saucepan of _boiling_ water, salted in the above proportion, and keep them boiling quickly over a brisk fire, with the saucepan uncovered.

Take them up with a slice the moment they are done; drain them well, and serve with a tureen of melted butter, a _little_ of which should be poured over the brocoli.

If left in the water after it is done, it will break, its colour will be spoiled, and its crispness gone.

_Time_.

--Small brocoli, 10 to 15 minutes; large one, 20 to 25 minutes.

_Average cost_, 2d.

each.

_Sufficient_,--2 for 4 or 5 persons.

_Seasonable_ from October to March; plentiful in February and March.

[Illustration: BROCOLI.

] THE KOHL-RABI, OR TURNIP-CABBAGE.

--This variety presents a singular development, inasmuch as the stem swells out like a large turnip on the surface of the ground, the leaves shooting from it all round, and the top being surmounted by a cluster of leaves issuing from it.

Although not generally grown as a garden vegetable, if used when young and tender, it is wholesome, nutritious, and very palatable.

BOILED BRUSSELS SPROUTS.

1096. INGREDIENTS.

--To each 1/2 gallon of water allow 1 heaped tablespoonful of salt; a _very small_ piece of soda.

_Mode_.

--Clean the sprouts from insects, nicely wash them, and pick off any dead or discoloured leaves from the outsides; put them into a saucepan of _boiling_ water, with salt and soda in the above proportion;

keep the pan uncovered, and let them boil quickly over a brisk fire until tender; drain, dish, and serve with a tureen of melted butter, or with a maître d'hôtel sauce poured over them.

Another mode of serving is, when they are dished, to stir in about 1-1/2 oz.

of butter and a seasoning of pepper and salt.

They must, however, be sent to table very quickly, as, being so very small, this vegetable soon cools.

Where the cook is very expeditious, this vegetable, when cooked, may be arranged on the dish in the form of a pineapple, and, so served, has a very pretty appearance.

_Time_.

--From 9 to 12 minutes after the water boils.

_Average cost_, 1s.