Vaughan's Vegetable Cook Book Part 2

LIMA BEANS.

After sh.e.l.ling a quart of lima beans, cook in boiling salted water until tender, then stir in a lump of b.u.t.ter the size of an egg and pepper and salt to taste; or season with milk or cream, b.u.t.ter, salt and pepper, or melt a piece of b.u.t.ter the size of an egg, mix with it an even teaspoonful of flour, and a little meat broth to make a smooth sauce.

Put the beans in the sauce and let them simmer very slowly for fifteen minutes. Just before serving add a tablespoonful of chopped parsley and salt and pepper to taste.

STRING BEANS BOILED.

Take the pods as fresh and young as possible and shred them as finely as a small knife will go through them, cutting them lengthwise. Put into salted water and boil until tender. Then drain and serve with plenty of sweet b.u.t.ter, and they will be as delicate as peas. If one likes vinegar, a little of it will improve the dish.

STRING BEANS PICKLED.

Boil beans until tender, and then put into strong vinegar; add green peppers to taste.

STRING BEAN SALAD.

Cook the beans in salted water, drain and season while warm with salt, pepper, oil and vinegar. A little onion juice is an improvement. (See French Salad Dressing.)

STRING BEAN SOUP.

Boil one pint of string beans cut in inch lengths, in one pint of veal or celery stock and one pint of water, add a few slices of potatoes, a stalk of tender celery chopped, half a small onion, two or three leaves of summer savory and a clove. When soft rub through a sieve. Put in a saucepan and cook together a tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter, a heaping tablespoonful of flour and a pint of rich milk. Add this to the stock and pulp, season with pepper and salt and serve.

WHITE NAVY BEANS CURRIED.

If the fresh kidney beans are not obtainable soak a pint of the dried over night. Boil in two quarts of water for two hours or until tender.

Drain, when soft, and put into a saucepan with an ounce of b.u.t.ter, one small onion chopped fine, one saltspoonful of salt and a half-teaspoonful of curry powder. Toss the beans in this mixture for a few moments over the fire; then mix smoothly a tablespoonful of flour with a large cup of milk and season highly with a tablespoonful each of chopped parsley, chopped bacon, tomato catchup and chutney, adding also a saltspoonful of salt, and add to the beans; set the saucepan on the back of the range and let the contents simmer three-quarters of an hour, adding more milk if the curry becomes too thick. Serve with plain boiled rice.

CHICAGO RECORD.

BAKED BEETS.

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Bake two large beets, take off the hard outside, and the inner part will be surprisingly sweet. Slice and pour over a sauce made with two tablespoonfuls of b.u.t.ter, juice of half a lemon, a half teaspoonful of salt and a dash of pepper.

BEETS AND b.u.t.tER SAUCE.

Boil three or four beets until tender in fast boiling water, slightly salted, which must entirely cover them. Then sc.r.a.pe off the skin, cut the beets into slices, and the slices into strips. Melt an ounce of b.u.t.ter, add to it a little salt, pepper, sugar and a teaspoonful of vinegar. Pour over the beets and serve. A small minced onion added to the sauce is sometimes considered an improvement.

BEET SALAD.

Slice cold boiled beets; cut into neat strips, and serve with white crisp lettuce; pour over a mayonnaise dressing; or slice the beets and put in layers with slices of hard boiled eggs, or, with new potatoes and serve on lettuce with French dressing garnished with water cress.

SWEET PICKLED BEETS.

Boil beets in a porcelain kettle till they can be pierced with a silver fork; when cold cut lengthwise to size of a medium cuc.u.mber; boil equal parts of vinegar and sugar, with a half tablespoonful of ground cloves to a gallon of vinegar; pour boiling hot over the beets.

SUGAR BEET PUDDING.

The following recipe of Juliet Corson's was traveling the round of the newspapers a few years ago:--Boil the beets just tender, peel and cut into small dice. Take a pint of milk to a pint of beets, two or three eggs well beaten, a palatable seasoning of salt and pepper and the least grating of nutmeg; put these ingredients into an earthen dish that can be sent to the table; bake the pudding until the custard is set, and serve it hot as a vegetable. A favorite Carolina dish.

BOILED BORECOLE OR KALE.

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Use a half peck of kale. Strip the leaves from the stems and choose the crisp and curly ones for use, wash through two waters and drain. Boil in salted water twenty minutes, then pour into a colander and let cold water run over it, drain and chop fine. Brown a small onion in a tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter, and add the kale, seasoning with salt and pepper, add a half teacupful of the water in which the kale was boiled, and let all simmer together for twenty minutes. Just before taking from the stove add a half cup of milk or cream, thickening with a little flour. Let boil a moment and serve.

KALE GREENS.

These make excellent greens for winter and spring use. Boil hard one half hour with salt pork or corned beef, then drain and serve in a hot dish. Garnish with slices of hard boiled eggs, or the yolks of eggs quirled by pressing through a patent potato masher. It is also palatable served with a French dressing.

KALE ON TOAST.

Boil kale, mix with a good cream sauce and serve on small squares of toast.

BROCCOLI.

Broccoli if not fresh is apt to be bitter in spite of good cooking.

Strip off all the side shoots, leaving only the top; cut the stalk close to the bottom of the bunch, throw into cold water for half an hour, drain, tie in a piece of cheese cloth to keep it from breaking and boil twenty minutes in salted water. Take out carefully, place upon a hot dish, pour over it a cream sauce and serve very hot; or it may be served on toast.

BRUSSELS SPROUTS.

Wash in cold water, pick off the dead leaves, put them in two quarts of boiling water, with a tablespoonful of salt, and a quarter teaspoonful of bi-carbonate of soda. Boil rapidly for twenty minutes with the saucepan uncovered, then drain in a colander, and serve with drawn b.u.t.ter or a cream sauce.

BOILED CABBAGE.

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Slice a cabbage fine and boil in half water and half milk, when tender add cream and b.u.t.ter. This is delicious.

A CABBAGE CENTER PIECE.

Take a head of cabbage, one that has been picked too late is best, for the leaves open better then, and are apt to be slightly curled. Lay the cabbage on a flat plate or salver and press the leaves down and open with your hand, firmly but gently, so as not to break them off. When they all lie out flat, stab the firm, yellow heart through several times with a sharp knife, until its outlines are lost and then place flowers at random all over the cabbage.