_Time_,--10 minutes to boil, 5 minutes to simmer in the broth.
_Average cost_, 1d. per head.
_Sufficient_ for 3 or 4 persons.
_Seasonable_ from November to March.
TO BOIL HARICOTS BLANCS, or WHITE HARICOT BEANS.
1119. INGREDIENTS.--1 quart of white haricot beans, 2 quarts of soft water, 1 oz. of b.u.t.ter, 1 heaped tablespoonful of salt.
_Mode_.--Put the beans into cold water, and let them soak from 2 to 4 hours, according to their age; then put them into cold water, salted in the above proportion, bring them to boil, and let them simmer very slowly until tender; pour the water away from them, let them stand by the side of the fire, with the lid of the saucepan partially off, to allow the beans to dry; then add 1 oz. of b.u.t.ter and a seasoning of pepper and salt. Shake the beans about for a minute or two, and serve: do not stir them with a spoon, for fear of breaking them to pieces.
_Time_.--After the water boils, from 2 to 2-1/2 hours.
_Average cost_, 4d. per quart.
_Sufficient_ for 4 or 5 persons.
_Seasonable_ in winter, when other vegetables are scarce.
_Note_.--Haricots blancs, when new and fresh, should be put into boiling water, and do not require any soaking previous to dressing.
HARICOTS AND LENTILS.--Although these vegetables are not much used in this country, yet in France, and other Catholic countries, from their peculiar const.i.tuent properties, they form an excellent subst.i.tute for animal food during Lent and _maigre_ days. At the time of the prevalence of the Roman religion in this country, they were probably much more generally used than at present. As reformations are often carried beyond necessity, possibly lentils may have fallen into disuse, as an article of diet amongst Protestants, for fear the use of them might be considered a sign of popery.
HARICOTS BLANCS A LA MAITRE D"HOTEL.
1120. INGREDIENTS.--1 quart of white haricot beans, 1/4 lb. of fresh b.u.t.ter, 1 tablespoonful of minced parsley, pepper and salt to taste, the juice of 1/2 lemon.
[Ill.u.s.tration: HARICOT BEANS.]
_Mode_.--Should the beans be very dry, soak them for an hour or two in cold water, and boil them until perfectly tender, as in the preceding recipe. If the water should boil away, replenish it with a little more cold, which makes the skin of the beans tender. Let them be very thoroughly done; drain them well; then add to them the b.u.t.ter, minced parsley, and a seasoning of pepper and salt. Keep moving the stewpan over the fire without using a spoon, as this would break the beans; and, when the various ingredients are well mixed with them, squeeze in the lemon-juice, and serve very hot.
_Time_.--From 2 to 2-1/2 hours to boil the beans.
_Average cost_, 4d. per quart.
_Sufficient_ for 4 or 5 persons.
_Seasonable_ in winter.
HARICOT BEANS.--This is the _haricot blanc_ of the French, and is a native of India. It ripens readily, in dry summers, in most parts of Britain, but its culture has. .h.i.therto been confined to gardens in England; but in Germany and Switzerland it is grown in fields. It is usually harvested by pulling up the plants, which, being dried, are stacked and thrashed. The haulm is both of little bulk and little use, but the seed is used in making the esteemed French dish called haricot, with which it were well if the working cla.s.ses of this country were acquainted. There is, perhaps, no other vegetable dish so cheap and easily cooked, and, at the same time, so agreeable and nourishing. The beans are boiled, and then mixed with a little fat or salt b.u.t.ter, and a little milk or water and flour. From 3,840 parts of kidney-bean Einholff obtained 1,805 parts of matter a.n.a.logous to starch, 351 of vegeto-animal matter, and 799 parts of mucilage.
HARICOT BEANS AND MINCED ONIONS.
1121. INGREDIENTS.--1 quart of white haricot beans, 4 middling-sized onions, 1/4 pint of good brown gravy, pepper and salt to taste, a little flour.
_Mode_.--Peel and mince the onions not too finely, and fry them in b.u.t.ter of a light brown colour; dredge over them a little flour, and add the gravy and a seasoning of pepper and salt. Have ready a pint of haricot beans well boiled and drained; put them with the onions and gravy, mix all well together, and serve very hot.
_Time_.--From 2 to 2-1/2 hours to boil the beans; 5 minutes to fry the onions.
_Average cost_, 4d. per quart.
_Sufficient_ for 4 or 5 persons.
_Seasonable_ in winter.
HORSERADISH.
1122. This root, sc.r.a.ped, is always served with hot roast beef, and is used for garnishing many kinds of boiled fish. Let the horseradish remain in cold water for an hour; wash it well, and with a sharp knife sc.r.a.pe it into very thin shreds, commencing from the thick end of the root. Arrange some of it lightly in a small gla.s.s dish, and the remainder use for garnishing the joint: it should be placed in tufts round the border of the dish, with 1 or 2 bunches on the meat.
_Average cost_, 2d. per stick.
_Seasonable_ from October to June.
[Ill.u.s.tration: HORSERADISH.]
THE HORSERADISH.--This belongs to the tribe _Alyssidae_, and is highly stimulant and exciting to the stomach. It has been recommended in chronic rheumatism, palsy, dropsical complaints, and in cases of enfeebled digestion. Its princ.i.p.al use, however, is as a condiment to promote appet.i.te and excite the digestive organs. The horseradish contains sulphur to the extent of thirty per cent, in the number of its elements; and it is to the presence of this quality that the metal vessels in which the radish is sometimes distilled, are turned into a black colour.
It is one of the most powerful excitants and antis...o...b..tics we have, and forms the basis of several medical preparations, in the form of wines, tinctures, and syrups.
LETTUCES.
1123. These form one of the princ.i.p.al ingredients to summer salads; should be nicely blanched, and be eaten young. They are seldom served in any other way, but may be stewed and sent to table in a good brown gravy flavoured with lemon-juice. In preparing them for a salad, carefully wash them free from dirt, pick off all the decayed and outer leaves, and dry them thoroughly by shaking them in a cloth. Cut off the stalks, and either halve or cut the lettuces into small pieces. The manner of cutting them up entirely depends on the salad for which they are intended. In France the lettuces are sometimes merely wiped with a cloth and not washed, the cooks there declaring that the act of washing them injuriously affects the pleasant crispness of the plant: in this case scrupulous attention must be paid to each leaf, and the grit thoroughly wiped away.
_Average cost_, when cheapest, 1d. each.
_Sufficient_.--Allow 2 lettuces for 4 or 5 persons.
_Seasonable_ from March to the end of August, but may be had all the year.
[Ill.u.s.tration: LETTUCE.]
THE LETTUCE.--All the varieties of the garden lettuce have originated from the _Lactuca sativa_ of science, which has never yet been found in a wild state. Hence it may be concluded that it is merely another form of some species, changed through the effects of cultivation. In its young state, the lettuce forms a well-known and wholesome salad, containing a bland pellucid juice, with little taste or smell, and having a cooling and soothing influence on the system. This arises from the large quant.i.ties of water and mucilage it contains, and not from any narcotic principle which it is supposed to possess. During the period of flowering, it abounds in a peculiar milky juice, which flows from the stem when wounded, and which has been found to be possessed of decided medicinal properties.
BAKED MUSHROOMS.
(A Breakfast, Luncheon, or Supper Dish.)
1124. INGREDIENTS.--16 to 20 mushroom-flaps, b.u.t.ter, pepper to taste.
_Mode_.--For this mode of cooking, the mushroom flaps are better than the b.u.t.tons, and should not be too large. Cut off a portion of the stalk, peel the top, and wipe the mushrooms carefully with a piece of flannel and a little fine salt. Put them into a tin baking-dish, with a very small piece of b.u.t.ter placed on each mushroom; sprinkle over a little pepper, and let them bake for about 20 minutes, or longer should the mushrooms be very large. Have ready a _very hot_ dish, pile the mushrooms high in the centre, pour the gravy round, and send them to table quickly, with very _hot_ plates.
_Time_.--20 minutes; large mushrooms, 1/2 hour.
_Average cost_, 1d. each for large mushroom-flaps.