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Take young, tender, green peas, wash them, and put them into a stew-pan, with sufficient fresh butter to keep them from burning,but no water. Season them with a littleblack pepper, and a very little salt. Set them over a moderate fire, and stir them about till the butter is well mixed through them. Let them simmer till quite soft and slightly broken; take off the lid occasionally, and give them a stir up from the bottom. If you find them becoming too dry, add some more butter. When done, drain off what superfluous butter may be about the peas, and send them to table hot. They will be found excellent.
To the taste of many persons, they will be improved by a lump or two of loaf-sugar put in with the butter, and also by a few sprigs of mint, to be removed before the peas go to table.
Lima beans may be stewed in butter, as above; also, asparagus tops, cut off from the white stalk.
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Having washed four lettuces, and stripped off the outside leaves, take their hearts, and (having chopped them well) put them into a stew-pan with two quarts of young green peas, freshly shelled; a lump or two of loaf-sugar; and three or four leaves of green mint minced as finely as possible. Then put in four slices of cold ham, and a quarter of a pound of butter divided into four bits, and rolled in flour; and two table-spoonfuls of water. Add a little cayenne, and let the whole stew for about twenty-five minutes, or till the peas are thoroughly done. Next take out the ham, and add to thestew half a pint of cream. Let it continue stewing five minutes longer. Then send it to table.
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Cover the bottom and sides of a stew-pan with large fresh leaves taken from lettuces. Have ready the peas, which should be young and green. To each quart of shelled peas allow two table-spoonfuls of fresh butter, and a lump of loaf sugar. Add a very little pepper and salt, and a sprig of green mint. Cover the pan closely, and let it stew for half an hour, or till the peas are thoroughly done. Then take them out from the lettuce leaves, and send only the peas to table.
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Half-boil the carrots; then scrape them nicely, and cut them into thick slices. Put them into a stew-pan with as much milk as will barely cover them; a very little salt and pepper; and a sprig or two of chopped parsley. Simmer them till they are perfectly tender. When nearly done, add a piece of fresh butter rolled in flour. Send them to table hot. Carrots require long cooking; longer than any other vegetable.
Parsnips and salsify may be stewed in the above manner, substituting a little chopped celery for the parsley.
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Having peeled and washed the spinach very nicely, put it into abain marie, or inside kettle, without any water, and cover it closely. Pour the water into the outside kettle, and you may hurry the boiling by throwing a handful of salt in the outside tin, taking care that none of the salt gets into the inside. When the spinach is well stewed, take it up and drain it without squeezing or pressing, as that will make it tough and dry. Then chop it small, and add some hard-boiled eggs, also chopped. Season it with pepper and fresh butter, stir it well together, return it to the kettle, and let it stew a quarter of an hour or more. Serve it up with buttered toast and poached eggs laid upon it.
Spinach being very watery, should always bestewedrather than boiled. If you have nobain marie, the water that remains about the spinach, after it has been washed, will suffice to stew it slowly.
Spinach juice, for coloring green, must be strained, and boiled slightly. You can obtain plenty of juice by pounding the leaves.
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Let the cucumbers be full-grown, but not in the least yellow or hard. They are then only fit to be saved for seed. Lay the cucumbers in a pan of cold water for an hour or more, or till it is nearly time to send them to table, being careful not to set them in the sun. Have ready another pan of freshwater, (very cold) and having pared the cucumbers, slice them into it. Transfer them to a deep china or white-ware dish. Season them with vinegar, pepper, salt, and a little salad oil, taking care not to use too much salt. When there is no dislike to onions, peel and slice a few that are mild, and mix them with the cucumbers. It is usual now, at the best tables, to have the onions in a small separate dish, (sliced with vinegar and pepper) to be eaten by those that like them, and omitted by those who do not. Onions, (and also salad oil) are said to render cucumbers more wholesome.
Tomatos (raw) are frequently sliced, seasoned, and sent to table in the manner of cucumbers. Tomatos are always wholesome.
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Pare six fine fresh cucumbers. Cut each of them lengthways into four pieces; lay them for an hour in a pan of cold water. Take a clean stew-pan, and place in its bottom two table-spoonfuls of good fresh butter. Then put in the slices of cucumber, and sprinkle them slightly with a very little pepper. Add two table-spoonfuls of cold water. Set the pan over a moderate fire, and let the cucumbers stew slowly for half an hour or more, till they are well cooked. Keep the pan closely covered, except when you have to remove the lid to stir the stew. Serve them up hot, at breakfast, or as a side dish, at dinner.
Persons who have no objection to the taste of onions, will think the cucumbers improved by the addition of the half of a moderate sized onion, sliced thin and stewed with them.
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Where asparagus is plenty, there is no better way of cooking it than the following. Take it as nearly of a size as possible, wash it, and cut off the stalks very short, leaving them not more than half an inch in length. Two quarts of water will be sufficient to boil one quart of asparagus tops; allow a tea-spoonful of salt to this quantity of water, and set it over the fire to boil. When the water is boiling hard, put in the asparagus, and boil it fast for at least half an hour. To see if it is done, take up two or three of the largest pieces and taste them. While it is boiling, prepare two slices of bread cut half an inch thick, and (having removed the crust) toast the bread brown on both sides. Have ready a large jill of melted (or drawn) fresh butter. When the asparagus is done, take it up with a perforated skimmer, and lay it on a sieve to drain. Dip the slices of toast (one at a time) first in the hot asparagus liquor, and then in the melted butter. Lay the slices, side by side, in a deep dish, and cover it with the asparagus, laid evenly over and round the toast. Then add the remainder of the drawn butter, and send the asparagus to table hot, in a covered dish.
This is a much nicer way than that of boiling and serving it up with the long stalks left on. And where you have asparagus in abundance, (for instance in a country garden,) it may always be cooked in this manner.
This is from the receipt of Mr. N. Darling, of New Haven.
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Take two bundles of fine full-grown asparagus. Cut off the green tops or points as far down as the white stalk. Take a sufficient quantity of fresh oysters, the finest you can get at that season. Put the asparagus tops into a stew-pan, with enough of oyster liquor (previously strained) to stew them quite tender. Stew the oysters themselves in another pan with some more of their liquor, seasoned with pepper, mace, and nutmeg, adding a large piece of fresh butter, divided into four, and each part rolled in flour. Do not let the oysters stew more than five minutes, or they will become tough and shriveled. When they are merely plumped, take them out and cut them up small, omitting the gristle or hard part. Set the mixture over the fire for about five minutes, stirring all the time. Have ready some slices of nice toast, with all the crust pared off; the slices dipped for a minute in hot water. Butter the toast, and cover with it the bottom of a deep dish, and fill it with the mixture of asparagus and oysters.
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Boil a dozen eggs quite hard. Slice and fry in fresh butter five or six onions. Slice (whites and yolks together) ten of the eggs, reserving two for the seasoning. Drain the sliced onions, and lay them on a dish with the sliced eggs placed upon them. Cover the dish, and keep it hot. Take the two remaining eggs, grate the yolks, and mix them with cream and grated nutmeg, and a very little cayenne. Put this mixture into a very small sauce-pan, give it one boil up, pour it over the eggs and onions, and send it to table hot. For those who have no objection to onions this is a nice side dish.
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Boil eight eggs till quite hard, and when done, throw them directly into cold water. Then put the yolks into a mortar, and pound them to a paste, moistening them as you proceed with the beaten yolks of threeraweggs, seasoned with as much salt as will lieflatupon a shilling, and a little cayenne, and powdered nutmeg and mace. Mix the whole well together, and make it up into small round balls. Throw them into mock-turtle soup, or into stewed terrapin, about two minutes before you take it up.
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Take a sufficiency of finely-grated bread-crumbs; hard-boiled yolk of egg, grated; fresh butter, and a little curry powder. Pound the whole in a mortar, moistening it withraw yolk of egg (well-beaten) as you proceed. Make it into small balls, and add them to stewed chicken or rabbit, about five minutes before you take it up.
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Scald and peel as many ripe tomatos as will fill a large, deep, stone jar. Set them into a warm oven for an hour. Then skim off the watery liquid that has risen to the top, and press and squeeze the tomatos in a sieve. Afterwards add salt, cayenne, pounded mace, and powdered nutmeg, to your taste; and to every quart of tomatos allow a half a pint of cider vinegar. Stew the whole slowly in a porcelain kettle for three hours, (stirring it frequently from the bottom,) till it becomes a smooth, thick paste. Then put it into small jars or glasses, and cover it closely, pasting paper over each. It is an excellent sauce, at the season when fresh tomatos are not to be had, and is very good to thicken soup.
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Take fine large fresh ochras; cut them into thin, round slices; string them on threads, and hang them up in festoons to dry in the store-room. Before using, they must be soaked in water during twenty-four hours. They will then be good (with the addition of tomato paste) to boil in soup or gumbo.
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Put into a large stew-pan some pieces of the lean of fresh beef, cut up into small bits, and seasoned with a little pepper and salt. Add sliced ochras and tomatos, (either fresh or dried ochras and tomato paste.) You may put in some sliced onions. Pour on water enough to cover it well. Let it boil slowly, (skimming it well,) till everything is reduced to rags. Then strain and press it through a cullender. Have ready a sufficiency of toasted bread, cut into dice. Lay it in the bottom of a tureen, and pour the strained gumbo upon it.
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For boiling, the ochras should be young and small. Wash them, and cut off a small piece from each end. Boil them till very tender throughout. Then drain them well, and transfer them to a deep dish. Lay among them some bits of fresh butter, and season them with pepper. Cover the dish, that the butter may be warm and melt the sooner. Or you may make a sauce of half a pint of milk boiled, and when it has come to a boil enrich with a quarter of a pound of very good fresh butter, divided into four pieces; each piece rolled in a little flour, the butter stirred in gradually and smoothly, as soon as the milk is taken off the fire. Pour this sauce over the dish of ochras, and keep it covered till it has gone to table.
We prefer the first way, putting the bit of butter cold into the hot ochras, with either milk orflour, and letting the butter melt gradually, in the manner of green beans. You may boil with them a small piece of very good bacon, removing when the ochras are taken off the fire. Season with pepper.
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The best onions for cooking are the white or silver-skinned. The red-skinned are generally strong and coarse. Shalots are very small and delicate. Some sorts of large onions are milder and nicer than those of middle size, and some that are very small have a powerful taste and smell. The outer skin of most onions should be peeled entirely, and the ends cut off. All onions are the better for boiling, before they are cooked for any other purpose. Put them into a stew-pan with cold water, and when they have come to a boil pour off that water, and replace it with fresh cold also. Boil them slowly till quite tender all through, which will not be in less than half an hour; more, if they are large. When done, drain them well, dish them, and pour over them some nice melted butter.
To Stew Onions.—Peel, slice them, and stew them in milk, enriched with butter rolled in flour, and seasoned with a little cayenne and a few blades of mace.
To Roast Onions.—Select fine large onions; do not peel them, but place them in a bake-pan, and set them in an oven. Bake them slowly till tender all through. When done, peel off the outer skin,and send them hot to table, to eat with pepper and cold butter.
They are very good when covered up and roasted under hot ashes, taking care that they are done quite through to the heart.
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When the peas are shelled, wash them in a pan of cold water. Put on the peas in cold water, (a little salted) and let them boil very fast. If nice peas, they will generally be done in a quarter of an hour after beginning to boil. When simmering, add to them a lump or a spoonful of loaf-sugar, and a sprig of fresh green mint, (half a dozen leaves) having first ascertained if mint is not disliked by any person who is to eat of the peas. To some the taste and odor of mint is very agreeable, to others very disgusting, as is the case with onions, and many other things that are liked by the majority.
When the peas are all soft or tender, take out the mint, drain the peas through a cullender till not a drop of water is left among them; transfer them to a deep dish, mix into them some of the best fresh butter, and sprinkle them with pepper. Cover them immediately, and send them to table hot.
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Having prepared the peas as above, put them into a stew-pan without any water. Mix among them plenty of bits of nicefresh butter, sufficient to cook them. Let them stew slowly in the butter till they are quite soft, stirring them up from the bottom frequently. Drain and dish them. They will be found very fine—better than if boiled in water. Peas should not be stewed this way, except in places where plenty of goodfreshbutter is to be easily obtained.
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The largest and finest peas are what the English call marrowfat. The sugar pea is next. All green peas for boiling should be young and tender, but not so young as to be tasteless or insipid. As a general rule, nearly every article of food is best when it has just attained its full growth and ripeness; after that period the older it is the worse. Peas, so old as to be hard and yellow, are unfit to eat. In some ultra economical houses, good peas are things unknown. They are not bought in spring or early summer while young and fresh, but are never thought cheap enough till they become hard and yellow. Afterwards, when they reach the cheap state, a quantity are bought low, and put into jars not to be touched till next spring, when they are boiled, (with great difficulty, for they never become soft,) andattemptedto be passed off "as this year's fresh peas"—and by the time the family have gotten through withthem, "this year's young peas" have become old. Do not believe (for it is untrue,) that any eatable can be kept inallits genuine freshness and original flavor, by merely secluding thementirely from air. They will not spoil or decompose if skillfully managed; but theyhave not exactlytheir natural taste and consistence. It is better for those whonever make pickles or preserves, to wait for fresh vegetables or fruit, till they are actually in market—or, if put up in jars, to add something more than parboiling and seclusion from the air. Vinegar, salt, sugar, spice and alcohol, will be found the grand and universal articles for securing the goodness of nearly all eatables. Without some of these along with them, things that have not spoiled while secluded from air, will surely spoil almost as soon as the jars are opened, and the external air admitted to them.
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Take young and tender beans, the seeds just forming in the pods. Take off the string with a knife, leaving no bits of string adhering to the beans, either at top or bottom. Do not split them. Cut each bean into three pieces,not more, and as you cut them throw them into a pan of cold water, kept beside you for the purpose. The old-fashioned way is now obsolete of cutting them into dice or diamonds, or of splitting them. The more they are cut up (beside the trouble and time wasted,) the more the water gets through them when cooking; the more tasteless they become, and the more difficult they are to drain. We have never met with beans that, when cut small, had not a puddle of greasy water in the bottom of the dish, andsometimes the water was all through the dish, and the beans floating in it. Shame on such bean-cooking! When the beans are all ready for the pot, throw them into boiling water very slightly salted, and they will generally be done in half an hour after they have come to a boil. Transfer them to a sieve; and press, and drain them well, till no water is left about them. Then put them into a deep dish, mix them with fresh butter, and dredge them with black pepper.
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Shell the lima beans into a pan of cold water. Let them lie in it an hour. Put them in boiling water, little more than enough to cover them, and boil them till soft and tender. When done, drain and serve them up in a deep dish, adding among them a good piece of butter. The Lima beans now raised in North America have become coarse and white, requiring a renewal of fresh stock or new seeds from Peru. They will then be green and delicate again, as formerly.
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Choose the sweet potatos large, and nearly of the same size, then you can either boil or roast them. When small they should always be boiled; as, when baked or roasted, the skin becomes so thick and hard, that it takes up nearly the whole potato. Wash them very clean, and cut off a bit from each end. Put them into a large pot of boiling water withoutsalt, and boil them steadily for at least an hour. Probe them with a narrow-bladed sharp knife, and if it does not easily penetrate all through the largest potato, (in at one side and out at the other) continue the boiling till all are soft throughout. Then take them up, peel them, and keep them warm till sent to table.
To Bake Sweet Potatosthey should all be large. Wash them, dry them, and cut off the ends. Then bake them in an oven, lying side by side, not piling one on another. Or else (which is better) roast them in hot ashes. They will not be done in less than an hour and a half, perhaps longer. Then wipe them clean, and serve them up in the skins. Eat them from the skins, with cold butter and a tea-spoon.
To Stew Sweet Potatos.—Wash and wipe them. Then scrape off the skins with a sharp knife. Split them, and cut them into long pieces. Stew them with fresh pork, veal, or beef; first putting at the bottom a very little butter or water to start them, and then the gravy of the meat will suffice for cooking them—skimming it well. Water to stew should be hot.
Mashed Sweet Potatosare very nice. When well boiled, mash them smoothly with a potato beetle. Mix them with fresh butter, and then stir them well, or beat them with a large wooden spoon to render them light. Afterwards, you may make them into round thick cakes, and touch the surface of every one with pepper—red or black. This is a breakfast dish for company.
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Have all your turnips nearly of the same size. Pare them; and if large cut them in half. Put them into boiling water, very slightly salted, and keep them closely covered. Twenty minutes will boil them if very small and young; their flavor is then very fine. Afterwards, according to their size, they will require of gentle boiling, from three-quarters to a full hour. Keep them boiling till, on trying them with a fork, you find them perfectly tender all through. Then take them up, drain them well, and pour melted butter over them; touch the top of each with a spot of black pepper. If very old and spongy, they are only fit for the pig barrel. It is said that if boiled in their skins, (though requiring a much longer time to cook well) they have a fine flavor, and are less watery. You can try it.
If the turnips are to be mashed, cut them into small pieces, boil them very soft, and drain and squeeze them till all the water is pressed out. Then mash them very smooth. Transfer them to a deep dish, and mix them with amoderate portionof fresh butter. Turnips are generally served with too much butter. Season them with pepper. When sent to table take care not to set them in a sunny place, as it will give them a bad taste.
Turnips, baked in an oven, are very good—for a change.
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Have ready two well-boiled potatos, peeled andrubbed through a sieve; they will give peculiar smoothness to the mixture. Also, a very small portion of raw onion, not more than aquarterof a tea-spoonful, (as the presence of the onion is to be scarcely hinted,) and the pounded yolks of two hard-boiled eggs. Mix these ingredients on a deep plate with one tea-spoonful of salt, one of made mustard, three table-spoonfuls of olive oil, and one table-spoonful of vinegar. Add, lastly, a tea-spoonful of essence of anchovy; mash, and mix the whole together, (using a boxwood spoon) and see that all the articles are thoroughly amalgamated. Having cut up a sufficiency of lettuce, that has been well washed in cold water, and drained, add to it the dressing immediately before dinner, mixing the lettuce through it with a boxwood fork.
This salad dressing was invented by the Rev. Sydney Smith, whose genius as a writer and a wit is well known on both sides the Atlantic. Ifexactlyfollowed, it will be found very fine on trial; no peculiar flavor predominating, but excellent as a whole. The above directions are taken from a manuscript receipt given by Mr. Smith to an American gentleman then in London.
In preparing this, or any other salad-dressing, take care not to use that excessively pungent and deleterious combination of drugs which is now so frequently imposed upon the public, asthe best white wine vinegar. In reality, it has no vinous material about it; and it may be known by its violent and disagreeable sharpness, which overpowersand destroys the taste (and also the substance) of whatever it is mixed with. It is also very unwholesome. Its color is always pale, and it is nearly as clear as water. No one should buy or use it. The first quality ofrealcider vinegar is good for all purposes.
The above receipt may be tried for lobster dressing.
A Spanish proverb says, that for compounding agoodsalad, four persons are required—a spend-thrift for oil; a miser for vinegar; a man of judgment for salt; and a madman for stirring the dressing.
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Having skinned a pair of cold fowls, remove the fat, and carve them as if for eating; cut all the flesh entirely from the bones, and either mince it or divide it into small shreds. Mix with it a little smoked tongue or cold ham, grated rather than chopped. Have ready one or two fine fresh lettuces, picked, washed, drained, and cut small. Put the cut lettuce on a dish, (spreading it evenly,) or into a large bowl, and place upon it the minced chicken in a close heap in the centre. For the dressing, mix together the following ingredients, in the proportion of the yolks of four eggs well beaten, a tea-spoonful of powdered white sugar, a salt-spoon of cayenne; (no salt if you have ham or tongue with the chicken,) two tea-spoonfuls of made mustard, six table-spoonfuls of salad oil, and five of celery vinegar. Stir this mixture well: put it into a smallsauce-pan, set it over the fire, and let it boil three minutes,(not more,) stirring it all the time. Then set it to cool. When quite cold, cover with it thickly, the heap of chicken in the centre of the salad. To ornament it, have ready half a dozen or more, hard-boiled eggs, which, after the shell is peeled off, must be thrown directly into a pan of cold water to prevent them from turning blue. Cut each egg (white and yolk together) lengthways into four long pieces of equal size and shape; lay the pieces upon the salad all round the heap of chicken, and close to it; placing them so as to follow each other round in a slanting direction, something in the form of a circular wreath of leaves. Have ready, also, some very red cold beet, cut into small cones or points all of equal size; arrange them in a circle upon the lettuce, outside of the circle of cut egg. To be decorated in this manner, the salad should be placed in a dish rather than a bowl. In helping it, give each person a portion of every thing, and they will mix them together on their plates.
This salad should be prepared immediately before dinner or supper; as standing long will injure it. The colder it is the better.
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Having washed the carrots, and scraped off the outer skin with a sharp knife, or taken off a very thin paring, split them a few inches down, leaving a long cleft in the upper half only, and put them on to cook in plenty of boilingwater, with a little salt in it. There is no table vegetable that needs more boiling than a carrot. Small young carrots require at least half an hour. If large, they must boil from one to two hours, according to their size. When you find them tender throughout, dish them, with melted butter poured round them. They are eaten plain, only with boiled beef or boiled mutton. They are often added to soups and stews, when they must be put in long before the other vegetables. For soups and stews the nicest way is to grate them (before boiling,) on a coarse grater. This way they improve both the taste and color.
Carrots are very nice, sliced thin after boiling, put into a sauce-pan, with bits of butter dredged with flour, seasoned with pepper, and stewed soft without any water.
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Scrape the parsnips, and split them half way down. Put them into boiling water with a little salt. Parsnips require less boiling than carrots; and, according to their size, will take from half an hour to an hour. Skim the water while they are boiling. When quite tender take them up, drain them, dish them, and pour melted butter over them. They are especially eaten with corned pork, or salted cod; but are good with various things. They are excellent stewed with fresh beef, or fresh pork, for a plain dinner.
Fried Parsnipsmake a nice breakfast dish.They must first be parboiled; then split, and cut into long pieces, and fried brown in fresh butter, or in nice dripping of veal or beef.
Baked Parsnips.—Split and parboil them. Then place them in a large dish. Lay among them some bits of fresh butter, and bake them brown. Eat them with any sort of roast meat.
Parsnip Fritters.—Boil and peel half a dozen large parsnips, and then split and cut them in pieces. Make a nice batter, allowing four beaten eggs to a pint of milk, and four table-spoonfuls of flour. Have ready over the fire, a frying-pan with boiling lard. Put in a large spoonful of batter; upon that a piece of parsnip, and cover it with another spoonful of batter. Proceed thus till you have used up the parsnips. When done, drain them from the lard, and serve them hot at breakfast or dinner.
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Beets must be washed very clean, but not scraped, trimmed, or cut till after they are boiled. Put them on in boiling water; and, according to their size, boil them steadily from one hour and a half, to two hours and a half, but they must not be probed (to ascertain if they are tender all through,) but pinched with the fingers. Then peel off the skins, and trim them neatly. Hold the beet in a pan of cold water while you peel it. Do it quickly. Serve them up either split or sliced, with melted butter poured over them, and seasoned with pepper. Or else theymay be sliced thick, (allowing them to get cold,) and spiced vinegar poured over them. Red beets are usually dressed with vinegar; the white or pale ones with melted butter.
Baked Beetshave a finer flavor, and are more nutritious than when boiled. Wash and wipe them dry, but do not skin or cut them till after cooking. They must be thoroughly done before they are taken out of the oven, and then pared and trimmed. According to their size they will require from four to six hours baking. Their blood-red color makes them ornamental to the table; but when cooked in soups or stews they add little to the taste, which is overpowered by that of other ingredients.
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See that the squashes are not turning old, and hardening. Wash them, and cut them into four pieces each; but do not split them. Put them on in boiling water, with a little salt. Boil them steadily till quite tender throughout. Then take them up, and mash or drain them through a cullender, pressing them with a broad short-handled wooden ladle. All the water (of which there will be a profusion,) must be entirely squeezed out. Serve them up very dry, and smoothly and evenly mashed, having first mixed with them avery little butter; and season them with very little pepper. Much butter gives them a disagreeable taste and consistence, and the butter should be fresh andgood. It is better to mash squashes, turnips, pumpkins, &c., without any butter, than to use that which is salt and bad. The flat white ones are the best summer squashes; the striped green are more watery; the cashaw, or yellow winter squash, is best of all, and grows well in the New England states, from whence, as it keeps well all winter, it is often brought in barrels. Every family should get a barrel of winter squashes from Boston. They do not thrive in the middle States. In New Jersey and Pennsylvania, they cannot be raised even from the best yankee seed, turning pumpkinish the next year, and afterwards becoming quite pumpkins, and very bad ones too. But when raised in their native soil and climate nothing of the squash kind is equal to them. They are very dry and sweet, and of a rich yellow color. Take them out of the barrel, and keep them far apart on the shelves or floor of a dry pantry.
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No pumpkin is too large to be good, but they may be too old. Cut a good deep-colored pumpkin in half, and empty out all the seeds, &c. Then cut it into pieces, and pare them. Put the pieces of pumpkin into a pot with barely sufficient water to keep them from burning. When they are thoroughly done or soft all through, take them up; drain, mash, and press them through a cullender. They must beverydry. Put the stewed pumpkin into a dish, and mix it with a small portion of butter. Season itwith black pepper, and eat it with boiled corned beef, or corned pork, or bacon.
Stewed pumpkin is chiefly used for pies and puddings.
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Take a pint of stewed pumpkin. Mix together a pint ofWest Indiamolasses and a pint of milk, adding two large table-spoonfuls of brown sugar, and two table-spoonfuls of ground ginger. Beat three eggs very light, and stir them, gradually, into the milk and molasses. Then, by degrees, stir in the stewed pumpkin. Put it into a deep dish, and bake it without a crust. This is a good farm-house pudding, andequallygood for any healthy children.
For a large family, double the quantities of ingredients—that is, take a quart of milk, a quart of molasses, four spoonfuls of brown sugar, four spoonfuls of ginger, six eggs, and a quart of stewed pumpkin.
You had best have at handmore than a quartof pumpkin, lest when mixed it should not hold out. This pudding is excellent made of winter squash.
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Peel and wash a quart of very fresh mushrooms, and cut off all the stems. Button mushrooms are best; but if you can only procure large ones, quarter them. Sprinkle them slightly with salt and pepper, and put them into a stew-pan with a quarter of a pound of nice fresh butter, cut in pieces andslightly dredged with flour. Keep the lid closely covered all the time. When quite tender, put the mushrooms into a deep dish, in the bottom of which is laid a nice toast that has had all the crust pared off, and been dipped for a minute in hot water, and slightly buttered. Serve up the mushrooms closely covered. They require no seasoning.
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Take large fine fresh mushrooms. Peel them and remove the stems. Lay them on their backs in a large dish, (not letting them touch each other) and put into each mushroom, (as in a cup) a bit of the best fresh butter. Set the dish in an oven and bake them. Send them to table in the same dish; or transfer them to another, with a large toast at the bottom. There is no better way of cooking mushrooms than this.
If you cannot procure good butter, cook them in nice olive oil.