[624]CHAPTER XVIIIVEGETABLES AND FARINACEOUS PRODUCTSThepreparatory treatment of vegetables—parboiling and braising, &c.—having been explained inChapter X., as also the preparation of purées, creams, and vegetable garnishes, it is now only necessary to deal with each vegetable separately.Artichokes (Artichauts)2028—ARTICHAUTSA LA BARIGOULETake some very fresh and tender artichokes. After having trimmed their tops, take off the outermost leaves; parboil the artichokes; remove their hearts, and completely clear them of their chokes. Season them inside, and fill them with a preparation of Duxelles (No.224), combined with a quarter of its weight of fresh, grated, fat bacon, and as much butter.Wrap the stuffed artichokes in thin slices of bacon; string them, and set them in a saucepan prepared for braising. Braise them gently with white wine, and cook them well.When about to serve them, remove the string and the bacon, and dish them.Strain the braising-liquor, and clear it of grease; thicken it with the necessary quantity of good half-glaze sauce; reduce it sufficiently to produce only a very little sauce, and pour the latter over the artichokes.2029—CŒURS D’ARTICHAUTSA LA CLAMARTSelect some very tender small artichokes, and trim them.Set them in a butteredcocotte, with a small quartered carrot and three tablespoonfuls of freshly-shelled peas to each artichoke, add a large faggot and a little water, and salt moderately. Cover and cook gently in a steamer. When about to serve, withdraw the faggot, and slightly thicken the liquor with a littlemaniedbutter.Serve the preparation in thecocotte.[625]2030—ARTICHOKES WITH DIVERS SAUCESCut the artichokes evenly to within two-thirds of their height; trim them all round; string them, and plunge them into slightly-salted boiling water. Cook them rather quickly; drain them well, just before serving them, and remove the string.Dish on a napkin, and send a butter, a Hollandaise, or a mousseline sauce, &c., at the same time.When artichokes, cooked in this way, have to be served cold, remove their chokes, dish them on a napkin, and send a Vinaigrette sauce separately.2031—ARTICHAUTSA LA PROVENÇALESelect some very small Provençal artichokes; trim them, and put them in an earthenware stewpan containing some very hot oil. Season with salt and pepper; cover the stewpan, and leave to cook for about ten minutes.Then add, for each twelve artichokes, one pint of very tender, freshly-shelled peas, and a coarsejulienneof one lettuce.Cover once more, and cook gently without moistening. The moisture of the peas and the lettuce suffices for the moistening, provided the stewpan be well covered and the fire be not too fierce—both of which conditions are necessary to prevent evaporation on too large a scale.2032—QUARTIERS D’ARTICHAUTSA L’ITALIENNETurn, trim, and quarter some fair-sized artichokes. Trim the quarters, removing the chokes therefrom; rub them with a piece of lemon to prevent their blackening; plunge them one by one into fresh water; parboil and drain them. This done, set them in a sautépan on a litter of aromatics, as for braising; make them sweat in the oven for seven or eight minutes; moisten with white wine; reduce the latter; and moisten again, to within half their height, with brown stock. Cook gently in the oven until the quarters are very tender.When about to serve, set them in a vegetable dish; strain the cooking-liquor; clear it of grease, and reduce it; add an Italian sauce to it, and pour this sauce over the quartered artichokes.2033—FONDS D’ARTICHAUTS FARCISSelect some medium-sized artichokes; clear them of their leaves and their chokes; trim their bottoms, rub them with lemon to prevent their blackening, and cook them in a Blanc (No.167), keeping them somewhat firm.After having drained them, stuff them with a little Duxelles,[626]prepared according to No.224. Arrange them on a buttered dish; sprinkle the Duxelles with fine raspings and a little melted butter, and set in a hot oven for agratinto form.Serve a Madeira sauce at the same time.2034—FONDS D’ARTICHAUTSA LA FLORENTINEPrepare the artichoke-bottoms as above.Meanwhile fry a large, chopped onion in butter; add thereto two-thirds lb. of parboiled and chopped spinach per twelve artichokes. Stir over an open fire, that all moisture may evaporate, and add salt and pepper, a piece of crushed garlic the size of a pea, a tablespoonful of anchovy purée, and two tablespoonfuls of Velouté. Cook gently for ten minutes.Stuff the artichoke-bottoms with this preparation; arrange them on a buttered dish; coat with Mornay sauce; sprinkle with Gruyère, cutbrunoise-fashion, and set to glaze in a fierce oven.Upon withdrawing the dish from the oven, sprinkle the artichoke-bottoms with a few drops of melted anchovy butter.2035—FONDS D’ARTICHAUTS AUX POINTES D’ASPERGESPrepare the artichoke-bottoms as above; stew them in butter, and garnish them with asparagus-heads, cohered with cream, and heaped in pyramid-form.Lay them on a buttered dish; coat with Mornay sauce, and set to glaze quickly.2036—FONDS D’ARTICHAUTS SAUTÉSRemove the leaves and the chokes from the artichokes, trim the bottoms, and slice them up raw. Season them with salt and pepper; toss them in butter; set them in a vegetable-dish, and sprinkle them with herbs.2037—PURÉEOU CRÈME D’ARTICHAUTSTake some very tender artichokes; trim and turn the bottoms, and half-cook them, keeping them very white. Complete their cooking in butter, and rub them through a fine sieve, together with the butter used in cooking.Put the purée thus obtained in a saucepan, and add to it the half of its bulk of mashed, very smooth, and creamy potatoes.Finish the purée with a little fresh and a little hazel-nut butter, the latter being used to increase the flavour of the artichokes.[627]2038—ASPARAGUS (Asperges)The best-known varieties of asparagus in Englandare:—1. The Lauris asparagus, which is par excellence the early-season kind.2. The green, Parisian asparagus, which is very small, and of which the most diminutive sticks, also called sprew, serve for garnishes.3. The Argenteuil asparagus—very much in demand while it is in season.4. English asparagus, which is somewhat delicate in quality, but inclined to be small. During the season there are, besides, several other kinds of asparagus imported from Spain or France, which, though not equal to the four kinds above mentioned, may nevertheless be used for soups or garnishes instead of asparagus-heads or sprew.Asparagus should be had as fresh as possible; it should be cleaned with care, quickly washed, tied into faggots, and cooked in plenty of salted water. Certain kinds, the flavour of which is somewhat bitter, should be transferred to other water as soon as cooked, with the view of reducing their bitterness.Asparagus is dished on special silver drainers, or on napkins.2039—ASPERGESA LA FLAMANDEAccording to Flemish custom, asparagus is served with one hot, hard-boiled half-egg, and one oz. of melted butter per person. The egg-yolk is crushed, seasoned, and finished with the butter by the consumers themselves. This accompaniment may also be prepared beforehand and served in a sauceboat.2040—ASPERGES AU GRATINDish the asparagus in rows, and coat the heads of each row with a little Mornay sauce. When all are dished, two-thirds cover the bunch with a band of buttered paper, and coat the uncovered portion with Mornay sauce. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan; glaze quickly at the salamander, remove the paper, and serve at once.2041—ASPERGESA LA MILANAISEHaving thoroughly drained the asparagus, set it on a long, buttered dish sprinkled with grated Parmesan; arrange it in successive rows, each of which sprinkle in the region of the heads with grated Parmesan. When about to serve, cover the cheese-powdered parts copiously with nut-brown butter, and set to glaze slightly at the salamander.[628]2042—ASPERGESA LA POLONAISEThoroughly drain the asparagus; set it on a long dish, in rows, and besprinkle the heads with hard-boiled egg-yolk and chopped parsley, mixed. When about to serve, cover the heads with nut-brown butter, combined with one oz. of very fresh and fine bread-crumbs per four oz. of butter.2043—ASPARAGUS WITH VARIOUS SAUCESButter sauce, Hollandaise,Mousseline, and Maltese sauces are the most usual adjuncts to asparagus. Béarnaise sauce without herbs is also served occasionally, likewise melted butter.When eaten cold, it may be served with oil and vinegar or a mayonnaise—more particularly a Chantilly mayonnaise,i.e., one to which beaten cream has been added.2044—SPREW WITH BUTTER(Pointes d’Asperges)Sprew or green asparagus is chiefly used for garnishing or as a garnishing ingredient, but it may also be served as a vegetable with perfect propriety. Cut the heads into two-inch lengths, and put them together in faggots.Cut what remains of them into bits the size of peas. After having washed the latter, plunge them into boiling salted water, and cook them quickly, that they may keep green.This done, thoroughly drain them; let their moisture evaporate by tossing them over the fire; cohere them with butter, away from the fire, and dish them in a timbale with the faggots on top.They are usually served in small patty crusts, or in small tartlet crusts, with a few sprew tops on each small patty or tartlet.2045—POINTES D’ASPERGESA LA CRÈMEPrepare them, and cook them in salted water as above.Their cohesion with cream is in pursuance of the procedure common to other vegetables similarly prepared, and they are served like those of No.2044.Egg-Plant (Aubergines)2046—AUBERGINESA L’ÉGYPTIENNECut them into two lengthwise; trim them round the edges;ciselthe middle of each with the view of facilitating the cooking process, and cook them.Drain them; remove the pulp from their insides, and set the shells on a butteredgratindish.This done, chop up the withdrawn pulp; add thereto a little[629]chopped onion cooked in oil, and the same quantity of very lean, chopped, and cooked mutton as there is egg-plant pulp.Fill the egg-plant shells with this preparation; sprinkle with a few drops of oil, and set in the oven for fifteen minutes. On withdrawing the dish from the oven, set on each egg-plant a few roundels of tomato, tossed in oil; sprinkle with chopped parsley, and serve.2047—AUBERGINES AU GRATINFry the egg-plants as above; empty them, chop up their pulps, and add to it an equal weight of dry Duxelles (No.223). Garnish the shells with this preparation, set them on agratindish, sprinkle them with raspings and a few drops of oil, and cause thegratinto form.Surround the egg-plants with a border of light half-glaze sauce when serving.2048—AUBERGINES FRITESCut the egg-plants into thin roundels; season and dredge them, and fry them in smoking oil. Dish them on a napkin, and serve immediately, that they may be eaten crisp. If they wait at all, they soften, and thereby lose quality.2049—AUBERGINESA LA PROVENÇALEProceed as for No.2047, but replace the Duxelles by tomatoes tossed in oil and flavoured with a little garlic.Set thegratinto form in the same way, and surround the egg-plants with a border of tomato sauce when taking them out of the oven.2050—AUBERGINES SOUFFLÉESCut some fine egg-plants into two;ciselthem, and fry them in the usual way; remove the pulp from their insides, and set the shells on a butteredgratindish. Finely chop the withdrawn pulp, and mix therewith an equal quantity of reduced Béchamel sauce, combined with grated Parmesan.Add some white of egg beaten to a stiff froth, allowing as much of it as for an ordinarysoufflé.Garnish the egg-plant shells with this preparation, and cook in a moderate oven, as for ordinarysoufflé. On withdrawing the dish from the oven, serve instantly.2051—AUBERGINESA LA TURQUEPeel the egg-plants and cut them, each lengthwise, into six slices.Season, dredge, and fry these slices in oil; pair them off, and join them together by means of a very firm preparation of raw[630]egg-yolks and grated, fresh cheese. When about to serve, dip them into batter, and fry them in smoking oil.Dish on a napkin with very green fried parsley.These stuffed slices of egg-plant may be treatedà l’anglaiseinstead of with batter.2052—CARDOONS (Cardons)Treatment and Cooking Process.—After having suppressed the green outside leaf-stalks, detach the white ones all round, and cut these into three-inch lengths. Peel these lengths, rub them with lemon, that they may not blacken, and throw them, one by one, into fresh acidulated water.Prepare the heart of the cardoon in the same way, after having withdrawn the fibrous parts, and cook the whole in a Blanc (No.167), with one lb. of chopped veal fat, sprinkled over its surface, that the cardoon may be kept from blackening by exposure to the air.Cook gently for about one and one-half hours.2053—CARDONS AU PARMESANAfter having well drained the sections, build them into a pyramid in successive layers. Sprinkle each row with a few drops of good half-glaze sauce, and with grated Parmesan. Cover the whole with the same sauce; sprinkle with grated Parmesan, and set to glaze quickly.2054—CARDONSA LA MORNAYProceed exactly as above, but replace half-glaze sauce by Mornay sauce. Glaze quickly, and serve immediately.2055—CARDONSA LA MILANAISEProceed as for “Asperges à la Milanaise” (No.2041).2056—CARDONS WITH VARIOUS SAUCESThey may be served either with gravy, or Half-glaze, Cream, Hollandaise,Mousseline, Italienne, or Bordelaise sauces.The sauce is either poured over them or served separately.If the sauce be poured over the cardoons, they are dished in a timbale; if the sauce be sent separately, they may be served on a silver drainer, like asparagus.2057—CARDONSA LA MOELLEDish the cardoons in a pyramid on a round dish; cover them with a marrow sauce (No.45), and surround them with very small puff-paste patties garnished with poached marrow dice. Or dish the cardoons in a timbale, and set thereon the heart[631]cut into roundels and arranged in a crown, with a slice of poached marrow on each roundel of heart.Cover the whole with marrow sauce.2058—CŒUR DE CARDON AUX FINES HERBESHaving cooked the heart of the cardoon, trim it all round so as to give it the cylindrical shape, and cut it laterally into roundels one-third inch thick.Roll these roundels in some pale, thin, buttered meat glaze, combined with chopped herbs. Prepared in this way, the heart of a cardoon constitutes an excellent garnish for Tournedos andsautédchickens.Carrots (Carottes)2059—CAROTTES GLACÉES POUR GARNITURESNew carrots are not parboiled; they are turned, whole, halved, or quartered, according to their size, and then trimmed. If old, they should be turned to the shape of elongated olives, and parboiled before being set to cook.Put the carrots in a saucepan with enough water to cover them well, one-half oz. of salt, one oz. of sugar, and two oz. of butter per pint of water.Cook until the water has almost entirely evaporated, so that the reduction may have the consistence of a syrup.Sautéthe carrots in this reduction, that they may be covered with a brilliant coat.Whatever be the ultimate purpose for which the carrots are intended, they should be prepared in this way.2060—CAROTTESA LA CRÈMEPrepare the carrots as above, and, when the moistening is reduced to the consistence of a syrup, cover them with boiling cream.Sufficiently reduce the latter, and dish in a timbale.2061—CAROTTESA LA VICHYSlice the carrots, and, if they be old, parboil them.Treat them exactly after the manner of the “Glazed Carrots” of No.2059; dish them in a timbale, and sprinkle them with chopped parsley.2062—PURÉEDE CAROTTESSlice the carrots, and cook them in slightly-salted water, with sugar and butter, as for “Glazed Carrots,” and a quarter of their weight of rice. Drain them as soon as they are cooked; rub them through a fine sieve; transfer the purée to a sautépan,[632]and dry it over a fierce fire, together with three oz. of butter per lb. of purée.Now add a sufficient quantity of either milk or consommé to give it the consistence of an ordinary purée. Dish in a timbale with triangularcroûtonsof bread-crumbs, fried in butter at the last moment.This purée is very commonly served as a garnish with braised pieces of veal.2063—FLAN AUX CAROTTESThis is served either as a vegetable or a sweet.Line a flawn ring with good, short paste (No.2358); coat the inside of the flawn with a round piece of paper, and fill it with rice or split peas. Bake it without letting it brown; remove the split peas or the rice, as also the paper, and garnish the flawn crust with a slightly sugared purée of carrots. Cover this purée with half-discs of carrot cooked as for No.2059, and kept unbroken. Coat with the cooking-liquor of the carrots reduced to a syrup, and put the flawn in the oven for five minutes.2064—CELERY (Céleri)Celery for braising should be non-fibrous, white, and very tender. Cut the sticks till they measure only eight inches from their roots; remove the green leaves all round; trim the root; wash with great care, parboil for one-quarter hour, and cool.This done, braise them after recipe No.275. When they are cooked, cut each stick into three pieces, and double up each section before dishing and serving.2065—VARIOUS PREPARATIONS OF CELERYThe recipes given for cardoons may be applied to celery. On referring to the respective recipes, therefore, celery may beprepared:—Au Parmesan,Sauce Mornay,à la Milanaise,Italienne,Hollandaise, with gravy, &c.2066—PURÉE DE CÉLERISlice the celery; parboil it, and stew it, until it is quite cooked, in a little very fat consommé.Drain as soon as cooked; rub through a sieve, adding the while the cooking-liquor cleared of all grease; thicken the purée with about one quart of very white and firm potato purée; heat; add butter at the last moment, and dish in a timbale.[633]2067—PURÉEDE CÉLERI-RAVE(Celeriac)Peel the celeriac; cut it into sections, and cook it in salted water.Drain and rub it through tammy, adding plain-boiled, quartered potatoes the while in the proportion of one-third of the weight of the purée of celeriac.Put the purée in a sautépan; add to it three oz. of butter per lb.; dry it over a fierce fire, and bring it to its normal consistence by means of milk. When about to serve, add butter, away from the fire, and dish in a timbale.CèpesThosecèpeswhich are barely opened or not opened at all are not parboiled. Contrariwise, those which are open should be washed, parboiled, and stewed in butter, after having been well dried.2068—CÈPESA LA BORDELAISECollop thecèpes; season them with salt and pepper; put them into very hot oil, and toss them until they are thoroughly frizzled. Almost at the last moment add, per one-half lb. ofcèpes, one oz. ofcèpestalks, which should have been put aside and chopped up, one teaspoonful of chopped shallots, and a tablespoonful of bread-crumbs—the object of which is to absorb any excess of oil, once thecèpeshave been served.Toss the whole together for a few minutes; dish in a timbale, and complete with a few drops of lemon juice and some chopped parsley.2069—CÈPESA LA CRÈMECollop thecèpes, and stew them in butter with a dessertspoonful of chopped onion per one-half lb. ofcèpes; the onion should have been cooked in butter, without colouration.When they are stewed, drain them; cover them with boiling cream, and boil gently until the latter is completely reduced. At the last moment finish with a little thin cream, and dish in a timbale.2070—CÈPESA LA PROVENÇALEProceed as for No.2068, but substitute for the shallots some chopped onion and a mite of crushed garlic.Dish in a timbale, and complete with a few drops of lemon juice and some chopped parsley.2071—CÈPESA LA ROSSINIProceed as for No.2069, and add to thecèpesone-third of their weight of thickly-sliced, raw truffles, stewed at the same[634]time as the former. When about to serve, finish with a little pale melted meat glaze, and dish in a timbale.Mushrooms (Champignons)Cookery includes under this head only the white Parisian mushroom and the meadow mushroom, which is the kind so commonly used in England.The other kinds are always identified by special and proper terms.2072—CHAMPIGNONSA LA CRÈMEProceed as described under No.2069.2073—CHAMPIGNONS SAUTÉSAfter having washed the mushrooms, dried, andciseledthem, and seasoned them with salt and pepper, toss them with butter in a frying-pan over a fierce fire. Sprinkle them with chopped parsley at the last moment, and dish them in a timbale.2074—CHAMPIGNONS GRILLÉSTake some large Parisian or meadow mushrooms. Carefully peel them; season them; smear them with oil, by means of a brush, and grill them gently.Set them on a round dish, and garnish their midst with well-softened, Maître-d’Hôtel butter.2075—CHAMPIGNONS FARCISSelect some fine, medium-sized mushrooms; suppress their stalks; wash them, and dry them well. Set them on a dish; season them; sprinkle them with a few drops of oil; put them in the oven for five minutes, and garnish their midst with Duxelles (No.224) shaped like a dome, and thickened or not with bread-crumbs.Sprinkle the surface with fine raspings and a few drops of oil or melted butter, and set thegratinto form in a somewhat fierce oven.2076—FLAN GRILLÉAUX CHAMPIGNONSLine a buttered flawn-mould with good lining paste (No.2358).Garnish it with very fresh and barely opened English mushrooms, tossed in butter with a little chopped onion, cohered with cream, and cooled.Moisten the edges of the flawn-mould, and deck it with criss-cross strips of short paste, as for a latticed apple-flawn.Gildthe lattice work; bake the flawn in a very hot oven, and serve it the moment it is withdrawn.[635]2077—TARTELETTES GRILLÉESAUX CHAMPIGNONSThese tartlets constitute an excellent and beautiful garnish, more particularly for Tournedos and Noisettes. Proceed exactly as for No.2076, but use tartlet moulds the size of which is determined by the dimensions of the piece or preparation which they are to accompany.2078—TURNED AND GROOVED MUSHROOMS FOR GARNISHINGTake some very fresh mushrooms; wash and drain them quickly.Suppress their stalks flush with their heads; turn or groove the latter with the point of a small knife, and throw them, one by one, into a boiling liquor prepared asfollows:—For two lbs. of mushrooms, put one-sixth pint of water, one-third oz. of salt, two oz. of butter, and the juice of one and one-half lemons, in a saucepan. Boil; add the mushrooms, and cook for five minutes. Transfer to a bowl immediately, and cover with a piece of buttered paper.2079—PURÉE DE CHAMPIGNONSClean, wash, and dry two lbs. of mushrooms. Quickly peel them, and rub them through a sieve. Put this purée of raw mushrooms into a sautépan with two-thirds pint of reduced Béchamel sauce, and one-sixth pint of cream. Season with salt, white pepper, and nutmeg; reduce over an open fire for a few minutes, and finish, away from the fire, with three oz. of best butter.2080—MORELS (Morilles)The Spring mushroom or Morel is the one most preferred by connoisseurs. There are two kinds of morels—the pale and the brown kind—both excellent, though some prefer the former to the latter, and vice versâ.In spite of what connoisseurs may say regarding the error of washing morels, I advocate the operation, and urge the reader to effect it carefully, and without omitting to open out the alveolate parts, so as to wash away any sand particles that may be lodged therein.The Cooking of Morels.—If they be small, leave them whole; if large, halve or quarter them. After having properly drained them, put them in a saucepan with two oz. of butter, the juice of a lemon, and a pinch of salt and another of pepper per lb. of morels. Boil, and then stew for ten or twelve minutes. Never forget that the vegetable juices produced by the morels should be reduced and added to their accompanying sauce.[636]2081—MORILLESA LA CRÈMEProceed as forCèpesand Mushrooms with Cream.2082—MORILLES FARCIESSelect some large morels, and wash them well.Suppress their stems; chop them up, and prepare them like a Duxelles (No.223).Add to this Duxelles half of its bulk of very smooth sausage-meat.Open the morels on one side; fill them with the prepared forcemeat, and set them on a buttered dish, opened side nethermost.Sprinkle with fine raspings, and use plenty of melted butter; cook for twenty minutes in a moderate oven, and serve the dish as it stands.2083—MORILLESA LA POULETTECook them as described under No.2080, and add them to a Poulette sauce (No.101), together with their cooking-liquor reduced.Dish in a timbale, and sprinkle with a pinch of chopped parsley.2084—MORILLES SAUTÉESAfter having thoroughly washed the morels, dry them well in a towel, and halve or quarter them according to their size.Season them with salt and pepper, andsautéthem with butter in an omelet-pan, over a sufficiently fierce fire, to avoid the exudation of their vegetable moisture. Dish them in a timbale; squeeze a few drops of lemon juice over them, and sprinkle them with chopped parsley.2085—TOURTE DE MORILLESCook the morels as explained under No.2080, and drain them well.Reduce their cooking-liquor by a quarter, and add to it two tablespoonfuls of very thick cream and one oz. of butter per lb. of morels.Heat this sauce without boiling it, toss the morels in it, and set them in atourtecrust, or merely in the centre of a crown of puff-paste, lying on a dish.Morels prepared in this way may also be served in a Vol-au-vent crust (No.2390).2086—MOUSSERONS, ORONGES, GIROLESThese varieties of esculent fungi are not much liked in England.[637]The best way to prepare them is to toss them quickly in butter.2087—BRIONNE (Chow-chow)This excellent vegetable, which has only become known quite recently, is beginning to be appreciated by connoisseurs. It is in season from the end of October to the end of March—that is to say, at a time when cucumbers and vegetable marrows are over. It greatly resembles these last-named vegetables, and is prepared like them, while the recipes given for cardoons may also be applied to it.2088—CHICORY, ENDIVE AND BELGIAN CHICORY(Chicorée Frisée, Escarole, Endive)Three kinds of chicory are used for cooking,viz:—1. Curled chicory, improperly termed “Endive” in England.2. Flemish chicory, which is genuine endive in its primitive state,i.e., grown in the open air. It greatly resemblesEscarole.3. Brussels chicory, or the Belgian kind; obtained from cultivating the root of Flemish chicory in the dark.This last kind is quite different from the first two, both with regard to its quality and its culinary treatment, and it will be dealt with later under the name of “Endive.”2089—CHICORÉEA LA CRÈMEParboil the chicory for ten minutes in plenty of boiling water. Cool it; press the water out of it, and chop it up.Cohere it with four and one-half oz. of pale roux per two lbs. of chicory; moisten with one quart of consommé; season with salt and a pinch of powdered sugar, and braise in the oven, under cover, for one and one-half hours.Upon withdrawing it from the oven, transfer it to another saucepan; add three-fifths pint of cream and two oz. of butter, and dish in a timbale.2090—PAIN DE CHICORÉEBraise the chicory as described above.Upon withdrawing it from the oven, mix with it (per lb.) five stiffly-beaten eggs; put it into an even, buttered mould, and set to poach in abain-marie.Before unmoulding the “loaf,” let it rest awhile, that the middle may settle. Turn out just before serving, and cover with a cream sauce.2091—PURÉE DE CHICORÉEBraise the chicory, and rub it through a sieve. Mix it with one-third of its bulk of smooth mashed potatoes with cream; heat; add butter away from the fire, and dish in a timbale.[638]2092—SOUFFLÉ DE CHICORÉEBraise about one-half lb. of chicory, keeping it somewhat stiff, and rub it through a sieve. Add to it the yolks of three eggs, also two oz. of grated Parmesan and the whites of three eggs, beaten to a stiff froth.Dish in a buttered timbale; sprinkle with grated Parmesan, and cook after the manner of an ordinarysoufflé.N.B.—Thissouffléof chicory may also be cooked in small cases, and it makes an excellent garnish for large pieces of veal or ham.2093—CHICORÉEA LA FLAMANDECut the chicory into two-inch lengths; parboil it; cool it, and then proceed for the rest of the operation as described under No.2089—the only difference being that it is not chopped.2094—ENDIVES OR BRUSSELS CHICORYWhatever be the purpose for which they are intended, endives should always be cooked preparatively asfollows:—After having washed and cleaned them, put them in a well-tinned saucepan containing (per three lbs. of endives) a liquor prepared from the juice of a lemon, a pinch of salt, one oz. of butter, and one-fifth pint of water. Cover the saucepan; boil quickly, and complete the cooking on the side of the fire for from thirty to thirty-five minutes.Endives may thus be served plain, and constitute a very favourite vegetable or garnish. They may accompany all Relevés of butcher’s meat.Some cardoon recipes may also be applied to them, more particularlyà la Mornay,à la Crème, andà la Milanaise—all of which suit them admirably.2095—CABBAGES (Choux)From the culinary standpoint, cabbages may be divided into seven classes, asfollows:—1. White cabbages: used almost solely in the preparation of sauerkraut.2. Red cabbages: used as a vegetable, as a hors-d’œuvre, or as a condiment.3. Round-headed or Savoy cabbages: specially suited to braising and the English method of cooking.4. Scotch kale and spring cabbages: always prepared in the English fashion.5. Cauliflowers and broccoli: the flower of these is most[639]commonly used, but the leaves are cooked in the English way when they are tender.6. Brussels sprouts.7. Kohlrabi: the roots of these may be dished as turnips, and the leaves cooked in the English way, provided they be young and tender.2096—WHITE CABBAGES(Choux Blancs)In an extreme case, these cabbages may be braised like the green Savoys, but they are usually too firm, and they are therefore only used in the preparation of sauerkraut.2097—SAUERKRAUT (Choucroûte)If the sauerkraut be somewhat old, set it to soak in cold water for a few hours. It is best, however, to avoid this measure, if possible, and to use only fresh sauerkraut.When about to cook it, drain it, if it has been soaked, and press all the water out of it. Then pull it to pieces in such a way as to leave no massed leaves; season it with salt and pepper, and put it into a braising-pan lined with slices of bacon. Add, for ten lbs. of sauerkraut, three quartered carrots, three medium-sized onions, each stuck with a clove, a large faggot, three oz. of juniper berries and one-half oz. of peppercorns contained in a canvas bag, six oz. of goose dripping or lard, and one lb. ofblanchedbreast of bacon, the latter to be withdrawn after one hour’s cooking.Moisten, just enough to cover, with white consommé; cover with slices of bacon; boil, and then cook in the oven for five hours with lid on.To serve Sauerkraut.—Withdraw the vegetables, the faggot, and the juniper berries, and set the sauerkraut in a timbale, after having well drained it.Surround it with thin slices of ham, rectangles of bacon, and some poached Frankfort or Strasburg sausages.Red Cabbages (Choux Rouges)
Thepreparatory treatment of vegetables—parboiling and braising, &c.—having been explained inChapter X., as also the preparation of purées, creams, and vegetable garnishes, it is now only necessary to deal with each vegetable separately.
Take some very fresh and tender artichokes. After having trimmed their tops, take off the outermost leaves; parboil the artichokes; remove their hearts, and completely clear them of their chokes. Season them inside, and fill them with a preparation of Duxelles (No.224), combined with a quarter of its weight of fresh, grated, fat bacon, and as much butter.
Wrap the stuffed artichokes in thin slices of bacon; string them, and set them in a saucepan prepared for braising. Braise them gently with white wine, and cook them well.
When about to serve them, remove the string and the bacon, and dish them.
Strain the braising-liquor, and clear it of grease; thicken it with the necessary quantity of good half-glaze sauce; reduce it sufficiently to produce only a very little sauce, and pour the latter over the artichokes.
Select some very tender small artichokes, and trim them.
Set them in a butteredcocotte, with a small quartered carrot and three tablespoonfuls of freshly-shelled peas to each artichoke, add a large faggot and a little water, and salt moderately. Cover and cook gently in a steamer. When about to serve, withdraw the faggot, and slightly thicken the liquor with a littlemaniedbutter.
Serve the preparation in thecocotte.
Cut the artichokes evenly to within two-thirds of their height; trim them all round; string them, and plunge them into slightly-salted boiling water. Cook them rather quickly; drain them well, just before serving them, and remove the string.
Dish on a napkin, and send a butter, a Hollandaise, or a mousseline sauce, &c., at the same time.
When artichokes, cooked in this way, have to be served cold, remove their chokes, dish them on a napkin, and send a Vinaigrette sauce separately.
Select some very small Provençal artichokes; trim them, and put them in an earthenware stewpan containing some very hot oil. Season with salt and pepper; cover the stewpan, and leave to cook for about ten minutes.
Then add, for each twelve artichokes, one pint of very tender, freshly-shelled peas, and a coarsejulienneof one lettuce.
Cover once more, and cook gently without moistening. The moisture of the peas and the lettuce suffices for the moistening, provided the stewpan be well covered and the fire be not too fierce—both of which conditions are necessary to prevent evaporation on too large a scale.
Turn, trim, and quarter some fair-sized artichokes. Trim the quarters, removing the chokes therefrom; rub them with a piece of lemon to prevent their blackening; plunge them one by one into fresh water; parboil and drain them. This done, set them in a sautépan on a litter of aromatics, as for braising; make them sweat in the oven for seven or eight minutes; moisten with white wine; reduce the latter; and moisten again, to within half their height, with brown stock. Cook gently in the oven until the quarters are very tender.
When about to serve, set them in a vegetable dish; strain the cooking-liquor; clear it of grease, and reduce it; add an Italian sauce to it, and pour this sauce over the quartered artichokes.
Select some medium-sized artichokes; clear them of their leaves and their chokes; trim their bottoms, rub them with lemon to prevent their blackening, and cook them in a Blanc (No.167), keeping them somewhat firm.
After having drained them, stuff them with a little Duxelles,[626]prepared according to No.224. Arrange them on a buttered dish; sprinkle the Duxelles with fine raspings and a little melted butter, and set in a hot oven for agratinto form.
Serve a Madeira sauce at the same time.
Prepare the artichoke-bottoms as above.
Meanwhile fry a large, chopped onion in butter; add thereto two-thirds lb. of parboiled and chopped spinach per twelve artichokes. Stir over an open fire, that all moisture may evaporate, and add salt and pepper, a piece of crushed garlic the size of a pea, a tablespoonful of anchovy purée, and two tablespoonfuls of Velouté. Cook gently for ten minutes.
Stuff the artichoke-bottoms with this preparation; arrange them on a buttered dish; coat with Mornay sauce; sprinkle with Gruyère, cutbrunoise-fashion, and set to glaze in a fierce oven.
Upon withdrawing the dish from the oven, sprinkle the artichoke-bottoms with a few drops of melted anchovy butter.
Prepare the artichoke-bottoms as above; stew them in butter, and garnish them with asparagus-heads, cohered with cream, and heaped in pyramid-form.
Lay them on a buttered dish; coat with Mornay sauce, and set to glaze quickly.
Remove the leaves and the chokes from the artichokes, trim the bottoms, and slice them up raw. Season them with salt and pepper; toss them in butter; set them in a vegetable-dish, and sprinkle them with herbs.
Take some very tender artichokes; trim and turn the bottoms, and half-cook them, keeping them very white. Complete their cooking in butter, and rub them through a fine sieve, together with the butter used in cooking.
Put the purée thus obtained in a saucepan, and add to it the half of its bulk of mashed, very smooth, and creamy potatoes.
Finish the purée with a little fresh and a little hazel-nut butter, the latter being used to increase the flavour of the artichokes.
The best-known varieties of asparagus in Englandare:—
1. The Lauris asparagus, which is par excellence the early-season kind.
2. The green, Parisian asparagus, which is very small, and of which the most diminutive sticks, also called sprew, serve for garnishes.
3. The Argenteuil asparagus—very much in demand while it is in season.
4. English asparagus, which is somewhat delicate in quality, but inclined to be small. During the season there are, besides, several other kinds of asparagus imported from Spain or France, which, though not equal to the four kinds above mentioned, may nevertheless be used for soups or garnishes instead of asparagus-heads or sprew.
Asparagus should be had as fresh as possible; it should be cleaned with care, quickly washed, tied into faggots, and cooked in plenty of salted water. Certain kinds, the flavour of which is somewhat bitter, should be transferred to other water as soon as cooked, with the view of reducing their bitterness.
Asparagus is dished on special silver drainers, or on napkins.
According to Flemish custom, asparagus is served with one hot, hard-boiled half-egg, and one oz. of melted butter per person. The egg-yolk is crushed, seasoned, and finished with the butter by the consumers themselves. This accompaniment may also be prepared beforehand and served in a sauceboat.
Dish the asparagus in rows, and coat the heads of each row with a little Mornay sauce. When all are dished, two-thirds cover the bunch with a band of buttered paper, and coat the uncovered portion with Mornay sauce. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan; glaze quickly at the salamander, remove the paper, and serve at once.
Having thoroughly drained the asparagus, set it on a long, buttered dish sprinkled with grated Parmesan; arrange it in successive rows, each of which sprinkle in the region of the heads with grated Parmesan. When about to serve, cover the cheese-powdered parts copiously with nut-brown butter, and set to glaze slightly at the salamander.
Thoroughly drain the asparagus; set it on a long dish, in rows, and besprinkle the heads with hard-boiled egg-yolk and chopped parsley, mixed. When about to serve, cover the heads with nut-brown butter, combined with one oz. of very fresh and fine bread-crumbs per four oz. of butter.
Butter sauce, Hollandaise,Mousseline, and Maltese sauces are the most usual adjuncts to asparagus. Béarnaise sauce without herbs is also served occasionally, likewise melted butter.
When eaten cold, it may be served with oil and vinegar or a mayonnaise—more particularly a Chantilly mayonnaise,i.e., one to which beaten cream has been added.
Sprew or green asparagus is chiefly used for garnishing or as a garnishing ingredient, but it may also be served as a vegetable with perfect propriety. Cut the heads into two-inch lengths, and put them together in faggots.
Cut what remains of them into bits the size of peas. After having washed the latter, plunge them into boiling salted water, and cook them quickly, that they may keep green.
This done, thoroughly drain them; let their moisture evaporate by tossing them over the fire; cohere them with butter, away from the fire, and dish them in a timbale with the faggots on top.
They are usually served in small patty crusts, or in small tartlet crusts, with a few sprew tops on each small patty or tartlet.
Prepare them, and cook them in salted water as above.
Their cohesion with cream is in pursuance of the procedure common to other vegetables similarly prepared, and they are served like those of No.2044.
Cut them into two lengthwise; trim them round the edges;ciselthe middle of each with the view of facilitating the cooking process, and cook them.
Drain them; remove the pulp from their insides, and set the shells on a butteredgratindish.
This done, chop up the withdrawn pulp; add thereto a little[629]chopped onion cooked in oil, and the same quantity of very lean, chopped, and cooked mutton as there is egg-plant pulp.
Fill the egg-plant shells with this preparation; sprinkle with a few drops of oil, and set in the oven for fifteen minutes. On withdrawing the dish from the oven, set on each egg-plant a few roundels of tomato, tossed in oil; sprinkle with chopped parsley, and serve.
Fry the egg-plants as above; empty them, chop up their pulps, and add to it an equal weight of dry Duxelles (No.223). Garnish the shells with this preparation, set them on agratindish, sprinkle them with raspings and a few drops of oil, and cause thegratinto form.
Surround the egg-plants with a border of light half-glaze sauce when serving.
Cut the egg-plants into thin roundels; season and dredge them, and fry them in smoking oil. Dish them on a napkin, and serve immediately, that they may be eaten crisp. If they wait at all, they soften, and thereby lose quality.
Proceed as for No.2047, but replace the Duxelles by tomatoes tossed in oil and flavoured with a little garlic.
Set thegratinto form in the same way, and surround the egg-plants with a border of tomato sauce when taking them out of the oven.
Cut some fine egg-plants into two;ciselthem, and fry them in the usual way; remove the pulp from their insides, and set the shells on a butteredgratindish. Finely chop the withdrawn pulp, and mix therewith an equal quantity of reduced Béchamel sauce, combined with grated Parmesan.
Add some white of egg beaten to a stiff froth, allowing as much of it as for an ordinarysoufflé.
Garnish the egg-plant shells with this preparation, and cook in a moderate oven, as for ordinarysoufflé. On withdrawing the dish from the oven, serve instantly.
Peel the egg-plants and cut them, each lengthwise, into six slices.
Season, dredge, and fry these slices in oil; pair them off, and join them together by means of a very firm preparation of raw[630]egg-yolks and grated, fresh cheese. When about to serve, dip them into batter, and fry them in smoking oil.
Dish on a napkin with very green fried parsley.
These stuffed slices of egg-plant may be treatedà l’anglaiseinstead of with batter.
Treatment and Cooking Process.—After having suppressed the green outside leaf-stalks, detach the white ones all round, and cut these into three-inch lengths. Peel these lengths, rub them with lemon, that they may not blacken, and throw them, one by one, into fresh acidulated water.
Prepare the heart of the cardoon in the same way, after having withdrawn the fibrous parts, and cook the whole in a Blanc (No.167), with one lb. of chopped veal fat, sprinkled over its surface, that the cardoon may be kept from blackening by exposure to the air.
Cook gently for about one and one-half hours.
After having well drained the sections, build them into a pyramid in successive layers. Sprinkle each row with a few drops of good half-glaze sauce, and with grated Parmesan. Cover the whole with the same sauce; sprinkle with grated Parmesan, and set to glaze quickly.
Proceed exactly as above, but replace half-glaze sauce by Mornay sauce. Glaze quickly, and serve immediately.
Proceed as for “Asperges à la Milanaise” (No.2041).
They may be served either with gravy, or Half-glaze, Cream, Hollandaise,Mousseline, Italienne, or Bordelaise sauces.
The sauce is either poured over them or served separately.
If the sauce be poured over the cardoons, they are dished in a timbale; if the sauce be sent separately, they may be served on a silver drainer, like asparagus.
Dish the cardoons in a pyramid on a round dish; cover them with a marrow sauce (No.45), and surround them with very small puff-paste patties garnished with poached marrow dice. Or dish the cardoons in a timbale, and set thereon the heart[631]cut into roundels and arranged in a crown, with a slice of poached marrow on each roundel of heart.
Cover the whole with marrow sauce.
Having cooked the heart of the cardoon, trim it all round so as to give it the cylindrical shape, and cut it laterally into roundels one-third inch thick.
Roll these roundels in some pale, thin, buttered meat glaze, combined with chopped herbs. Prepared in this way, the heart of a cardoon constitutes an excellent garnish for Tournedos andsautédchickens.
New carrots are not parboiled; they are turned, whole, halved, or quartered, according to their size, and then trimmed. If old, they should be turned to the shape of elongated olives, and parboiled before being set to cook.
Put the carrots in a saucepan with enough water to cover them well, one-half oz. of salt, one oz. of sugar, and two oz. of butter per pint of water.
Cook until the water has almost entirely evaporated, so that the reduction may have the consistence of a syrup.Sautéthe carrots in this reduction, that they may be covered with a brilliant coat.
Whatever be the ultimate purpose for which the carrots are intended, they should be prepared in this way.
Prepare the carrots as above, and, when the moistening is reduced to the consistence of a syrup, cover them with boiling cream.
Sufficiently reduce the latter, and dish in a timbale.
Slice the carrots, and, if they be old, parboil them.
Treat them exactly after the manner of the “Glazed Carrots” of No.2059; dish them in a timbale, and sprinkle them with chopped parsley.
Slice the carrots, and cook them in slightly-salted water, with sugar and butter, as for “Glazed Carrots,” and a quarter of their weight of rice. Drain them as soon as they are cooked; rub them through a fine sieve; transfer the purée to a sautépan,[632]and dry it over a fierce fire, together with three oz. of butter per lb. of purée.
Now add a sufficient quantity of either milk or consommé to give it the consistence of an ordinary purée. Dish in a timbale with triangularcroûtonsof bread-crumbs, fried in butter at the last moment.
This purée is very commonly served as a garnish with braised pieces of veal.
This is served either as a vegetable or a sweet.
Line a flawn ring with good, short paste (No.2358); coat the inside of the flawn with a round piece of paper, and fill it with rice or split peas. Bake it without letting it brown; remove the split peas or the rice, as also the paper, and garnish the flawn crust with a slightly sugared purée of carrots. Cover this purée with half-discs of carrot cooked as for No.2059, and kept unbroken. Coat with the cooking-liquor of the carrots reduced to a syrup, and put the flawn in the oven for five minutes.
Celery for braising should be non-fibrous, white, and very tender. Cut the sticks till they measure only eight inches from their roots; remove the green leaves all round; trim the root; wash with great care, parboil for one-quarter hour, and cool.
This done, braise them after recipe No.275. When they are cooked, cut each stick into three pieces, and double up each section before dishing and serving.
The recipes given for cardoons may be applied to celery. On referring to the respective recipes, therefore, celery may beprepared:—
Au Parmesan,Sauce Mornay,à la Milanaise,Italienne,Hollandaise, with gravy, &c.
Slice the celery; parboil it, and stew it, until it is quite cooked, in a little very fat consommé.
Drain as soon as cooked; rub through a sieve, adding the while the cooking-liquor cleared of all grease; thicken the purée with about one quart of very white and firm potato purée; heat; add butter at the last moment, and dish in a timbale.
Peel the celeriac; cut it into sections, and cook it in salted water.
Drain and rub it through tammy, adding plain-boiled, quartered potatoes the while in the proportion of one-third of the weight of the purée of celeriac.
Put the purée in a sautépan; add to it three oz. of butter per lb.; dry it over a fierce fire, and bring it to its normal consistence by means of milk. When about to serve, add butter, away from the fire, and dish in a timbale.
Thosecèpeswhich are barely opened or not opened at all are not parboiled. Contrariwise, those which are open should be washed, parboiled, and stewed in butter, after having been well dried.
Collop thecèpes; season them with salt and pepper; put them into very hot oil, and toss them until they are thoroughly frizzled. Almost at the last moment add, per one-half lb. ofcèpes, one oz. ofcèpestalks, which should have been put aside and chopped up, one teaspoonful of chopped shallots, and a tablespoonful of bread-crumbs—the object of which is to absorb any excess of oil, once thecèpeshave been served.
Toss the whole together for a few minutes; dish in a timbale, and complete with a few drops of lemon juice and some chopped parsley.
Collop thecèpes, and stew them in butter with a dessertspoonful of chopped onion per one-half lb. ofcèpes; the onion should have been cooked in butter, without colouration.
When they are stewed, drain them; cover them with boiling cream, and boil gently until the latter is completely reduced. At the last moment finish with a little thin cream, and dish in a timbale.
Proceed as for No.2068, but substitute for the shallots some chopped onion and a mite of crushed garlic.
Dish in a timbale, and complete with a few drops of lemon juice and some chopped parsley.
Proceed as for No.2069, and add to thecèpesone-third of their weight of thickly-sliced, raw truffles, stewed at the same[634]time as the former. When about to serve, finish with a little pale melted meat glaze, and dish in a timbale.
Cookery includes under this head only the white Parisian mushroom and the meadow mushroom, which is the kind so commonly used in England.
The other kinds are always identified by special and proper terms.
Proceed as described under No.2069.
After having washed the mushrooms, dried, andciseledthem, and seasoned them with salt and pepper, toss them with butter in a frying-pan over a fierce fire. Sprinkle them with chopped parsley at the last moment, and dish them in a timbale.
Take some large Parisian or meadow mushrooms. Carefully peel them; season them; smear them with oil, by means of a brush, and grill them gently.
Set them on a round dish, and garnish their midst with well-softened, Maître-d’Hôtel butter.
Select some fine, medium-sized mushrooms; suppress their stalks; wash them, and dry them well. Set them on a dish; season them; sprinkle them with a few drops of oil; put them in the oven for five minutes, and garnish their midst with Duxelles (No.224) shaped like a dome, and thickened or not with bread-crumbs.
Sprinkle the surface with fine raspings and a few drops of oil or melted butter, and set thegratinto form in a somewhat fierce oven.
Line a buttered flawn-mould with good lining paste (No.2358).
Garnish it with very fresh and barely opened English mushrooms, tossed in butter with a little chopped onion, cohered with cream, and cooled.
Moisten the edges of the flawn-mould, and deck it with criss-cross strips of short paste, as for a latticed apple-flawn.
Gildthe lattice work; bake the flawn in a very hot oven, and serve it the moment it is withdrawn.
These tartlets constitute an excellent and beautiful garnish, more particularly for Tournedos and Noisettes. Proceed exactly as for No.2076, but use tartlet moulds the size of which is determined by the dimensions of the piece or preparation which they are to accompany.
Take some very fresh mushrooms; wash and drain them quickly.
Suppress their stalks flush with their heads; turn or groove the latter with the point of a small knife, and throw them, one by one, into a boiling liquor prepared asfollows:—
For two lbs. of mushrooms, put one-sixth pint of water, one-third oz. of salt, two oz. of butter, and the juice of one and one-half lemons, in a saucepan. Boil; add the mushrooms, and cook for five minutes. Transfer to a bowl immediately, and cover with a piece of buttered paper.
Clean, wash, and dry two lbs. of mushrooms. Quickly peel them, and rub them through a sieve. Put this purée of raw mushrooms into a sautépan with two-thirds pint of reduced Béchamel sauce, and one-sixth pint of cream. Season with salt, white pepper, and nutmeg; reduce over an open fire for a few minutes, and finish, away from the fire, with three oz. of best butter.
The Spring mushroom or Morel is the one most preferred by connoisseurs. There are two kinds of morels—the pale and the brown kind—both excellent, though some prefer the former to the latter, and vice versâ.
In spite of what connoisseurs may say regarding the error of washing morels, I advocate the operation, and urge the reader to effect it carefully, and without omitting to open out the alveolate parts, so as to wash away any sand particles that may be lodged therein.
The Cooking of Morels.—If they be small, leave them whole; if large, halve or quarter them. After having properly drained them, put them in a saucepan with two oz. of butter, the juice of a lemon, and a pinch of salt and another of pepper per lb. of morels. Boil, and then stew for ten or twelve minutes. Never forget that the vegetable juices produced by the morels should be reduced and added to their accompanying sauce.
Proceed as forCèpesand Mushrooms with Cream.
Select some large morels, and wash them well.
Suppress their stems; chop them up, and prepare them like a Duxelles (No.223).
Add to this Duxelles half of its bulk of very smooth sausage-meat.
Open the morels on one side; fill them with the prepared forcemeat, and set them on a buttered dish, opened side nethermost.
Sprinkle with fine raspings, and use plenty of melted butter; cook for twenty minutes in a moderate oven, and serve the dish as it stands.
Cook them as described under No.2080, and add them to a Poulette sauce (No.101), together with their cooking-liquor reduced.
Dish in a timbale, and sprinkle with a pinch of chopped parsley.
After having thoroughly washed the morels, dry them well in a towel, and halve or quarter them according to their size.
Season them with salt and pepper, andsautéthem with butter in an omelet-pan, over a sufficiently fierce fire, to avoid the exudation of their vegetable moisture. Dish them in a timbale; squeeze a few drops of lemon juice over them, and sprinkle them with chopped parsley.
Cook the morels as explained under No.2080, and drain them well.
Reduce their cooking-liquor by a quarter, and add to it two tablespoonfuls of very thick cream and one oz. of butter per lb. of morels.
Heat this sauce without boiling it, toss the morels in it, and set them in atourtecrust, or merely in the centre of a crown of puff-paste, lying on a dish.
Morels prepared in this way may also be served in a Vol-au-vent crust (No.2390).
These varieties of esculent fungi are not much liked in England.
[637]The best way to prepare them is to toss them quickly in butter.
This excellent vegetable, which has only become known quite recently, is beginning to be appreciated by connoisseurs. It is in season from the end of October to the end of March—that is to say, at a time when cucumbers and vegetable marrows are over. It greatly resembles these last-named vegetables, and is prepared like them, while the recipes given for cardoons may also be applied to it.
Three kinds of chicory are used for cooking,viz:—
1. Curled chicory, improperly termed “Endive” in England.
2. Flemish chicory, which is genuine endive in its primitive state,i.e., grown in the open air. It greatly resemblesEscarole.
3. Brussels chicory, or the Belgian kind; obtained from cultivating the root of Flemish chicory in the dark.
This last kind is quite different from the first two, both with regard to its quality and its culinary treatment, and it will be dealt with later under the name of “Endive.”
Parboil the chicory for ten minutes in plenty of boiling water. Cool it; press the water out of it, and chop it up.
Cohere it with four and one-half oz. of pale roux per two lbs. of chicory; moisten with one quart of consommé; season with salt and a pinch of powdered sugar, and braise in the oven, under cover, for one and one-half hours.
Upon withdrawing it from the oven, transfer it to another saucepan; add three-fifths pint of cream and two oz. of butter, and dish in a timbale.
Braise the chicory as described above.
Upon withdrawing it from the oven, mix with it (per lb.) five stiffly-beaten eggs; put it into an even, buttered mould, and set to poach in abain-marie.
Before unmoulding the “loaf,” let it rest awhile, that the middle may settle. Turn out just before serving, and cover with a cream sauce.
Braise the chicory, and rub it through a sieve. Mix it with one-third of its bulk of smooth mashed potatoes with cream; heat; add butter away from the fire, and dish in a timbale.
Braise about one-half lb. of chicory, keeping it somewhat stiff, and rub it through a sieve. Add to it the yolks of three eggs, also two oz. of grated Parmesan and the whites of three eggs, beaten to a stiff froth.
Dish in a buttered timbale; sprinkle with grated Parmesan, and cook after the manner of an ordinarysoufflé.
N.B.—Thissouffléof chicory may also be cooked in small cases, and it makes an excellent garnish for large pieces of veal or ham.
Cut the chicory into two-inch lengths; parboil it; cool it, and then proceed for the rest of the operation as described under No.2089—the only difference being that it is not chopped.
Whatever be the purpose for which they are intended, endives should always be cooked preparatively asfollows:—
After having washed and cleaned them, put them in a well-tinned saucepan containing (per three lbs. of endives) a liquor prepared from the juice of a lemon, a pinch of salt, one oz. of butter, and one-fifth pint of water. Cover the saucepan; boil quickly, and complete the cooking on the side of the fire for from thirty to thirty-five minutes.
Endives may thus be served plain, and constitute a very favourite vegetable or garnish. They may accompany all Relevés of butcher’s meat.
Some cardoon recipes may also be applied to them, more particularlyà la Mornay,à la Crème, andà la Milanaise—all of which suit them admirably.
From the culinary standpoint, cabbages may be divided into seven classes, asfollows:—
1. White cabbages: used almost solely in the preparation of sauerkraut.
2. Red cabbages: used as a vegetable, as a hors-d’œuvre, or as a condiment.
3. Round-headed or Savoy cabbages: specially suited to braising and the English method of cooking.
4. Scotch kale and spring cabbages: always prepared in the English fashion.
5. Cauliflowers and broccoli: the flower of these is most[639]commonly used, but the leaves are cooked in the English way when they are tender.
6. Brussels sprouts.
7. Kohlrabi: the roots of these may be dished as turnips, and the leaves cooked in the English way, provided they be young and tender.
In an extreme case, these cabbages may be braised like the green Savoys, but they are usually too firm, and they are therefore only used in the preparation of sauerkraut.
If the sauerkraut be somewhat old, set it to soak in cold water for a few hours. It is best, however, to avoid this measure, if possible, and to use only fresh sauerkraut.
When about to cook it, drain it, if it has been soaked, and press all the water out of it. Then pull it to pieces in such a way as to leave no massed leaves; season it with salt and pepper, and put it into a braising-pan lined with slices of bacon. Add, for ten lbs. of sauerkraut, three quartered carrots, three medium-sized onions, each stuck with a clove, a large faggot, three oz. of juniper berries and one-half oz. of peppercorns contained in a canvas bag, six oz. of goose dripping or lard, and one lb. ofblanchedbreast of bacon, the latter to be withdrawn after one hour’s cooking.
Moisten, just enough to cover, with white consommé; cover with slices of bacon; boil, and then cook in the oven for five hours with lid on.
To serve Sauerkraut.—Withdraw the vegetables, the faggot, and the juniper berries, and set the sauerkraut in a timbale, after having well drained it.
Surround it with thin slices of ham, rectangles of bacon, and some poached Frankfort or Strasburg sausages.