YOUNG SPRING VEGETABLES

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19632, 28 October 1933, Page 11

YOUNG SPRING VEGETABLES

CONTINENTAL WAYS OF COOKING With the approach of summer we long for some new ways of preparing vegetables for those meals for which a salad is not always the solution. It requires imagination to be a good cook, and cooking vegetables in plain salted water does not exhaust their possibilities. Below are some Continental recipes for transforming our everyday vegetables into fresh and palatable dishes. Vegetable Souffle. —This dish is an economical one, as the tops of young beets or turnips are used in its preparation. If they are not available, substitute spinach. Cook the vegetables in a small amount of salted water. When soft, put through a sieve. Put some butter in a pan and a little minced onion. Add the puree and cook for about five minutes. For serving six or eight persons allow three or four eggs and add to the beaten yolks some thick white sauce, and grated cheese. Mix well and add the stiffly-whisked egg whites. Fold these in carefully. Put the mixture in a shallow, buttered souffle dish and bake in a moderate oven. This is a very unusual and delicious dish.

Braised Lettuce.—Wash some small heads of lettuce and drop in boiling water, cooking for 15 minutes. Plunge up and down in cold water. Put a lump of butter in a casserole, with sliced carrots, minced onions, thyme and bay leaf. Lay the lettuce on top and season. Pour in some bouillon (stock) and cook in the oven for one half-hour.

Carrots Vichy.—Prepare the carrots needed and cut in thin slices. Season with salt and pepper and a dash of sugar. Put in a lump of butter and cover with water. Cook slowly and, when tender and the liquid is reduced add another piece of butter. Carrots require plenty of butter. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve. Spinach Pie.—Cook the amount of spinach needed, but do not use any water. Drain and chop fine. Mix it with butter, meat, gravy and a dash of nutmeg. Season highly with salt and pepper and a little cayenne. Cook for five minutes, adding a spoonful or two of cream, and, if available, one half-teaspoonful of sugar. Line a pie-tin with short pastry and put the spinach into it. Cover with pastry and bake until brown. Celery Stuffed With Meat Select small heads of celery and cook about 10 minutes in salted water. Separate the pieces a little from the centre. Chop cooked veal, bits of left-over chicken and sweetbreads if available; if not, they can be omitted. Make a thick white sauce with butter, flour and milk, adding to this some grated cheese, one egg yolk, aqd a grate of nutmeg. Cook the meat in butter before adding the sauce. Cook for five minutes and cool. The celery also must be cold. Put some of the mixture between the pieces of celery. After stuffing, cut the stalks in two, lengthwise. Roll them in egg and then in floflur, and fry in oil or butter. Pour over them some meat gravy and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve with grated cheese. Equal parts of glycerine and lemon juice mixed together and poured into a bottle will keep your hands soft and white. Put the mixture on before the hands are absolutely dry. Rub in well, and give a final drying with a soft towel.