STEWS.

[No. 31.]—Brighton Stew.

Dissolve the butter in a stewpan, peel and halve the onions and fry them for about ten minutes, but do not allow to brown, stir in the flour, add the peas and stock, and simmer until the vegetables are tender, stirring frequently, then add the beans, lemon juice, and seasonings. Boil the cauliflower separately, break up the white part into neat pieces, add them to the stew, and simmer altogether for a few minutes. Pour into an entrée dish and serve very hot.

Note.—Good tinned peas will answer the purpose when fresh ones are not obtainable.

[No. 32.]—Carrot Stew.

Slice the carrots and onion, and fry them in the butter for ten minutes, but do not let them brown; add salt and water, and boil for one and a half hours; then stir in the rice, simmer for another half hour, stirring frequently, and serve.

[No. 33.]—Stewed Cucumber.

Peel and slice the cucumber, place it in an enamelled stewpan with the shalot finely minced, the butter, pepper, salt and water. Simmer very gently for about half an hour, or until quite tender.

Note.—May be served plain, or with [tomato sauce No. 181.]

[No. 34.]—Stewed Cucumber and Beetroot.

Slice the cucumber and beetroot, and fry them separately in half an ounce of butter for about five minutes. Place them together in a stewpan with the shalot finely minced, the pepper, salt and water, and stew gently for half an hour.

[No. 35.]—Stewed Cucumber with Sauce Piquante.

Peel and slice the cucumbers, place them in a stewpan with the other ingredients, and simmer for, half or three-quarters of an hour, leaving the lid off the last few minutes in order that none of the liquor may remain. Serve with [piquante sauce No. 171] poured over, and sippets of toast.

[No. 36.]—Braized Cucumber with Tomato Sauce.

Dissolve the butter in a small stewpan, peel and slice the cucumber in slices about a quarter of an inch thick, remove the seeds with a pointed knife, dry the slices in a clean cloth and braize them in the butter until tender (about a quarter of an hour), adding a little salt and pepper. When done (they must on no account be allowed to break), remove them carefully with a fork one by one on to a suitable sized dish, and place on one side. To make the sauce, cut up the tomatoes and shalot, and place them with the seeds and any rough pieces of the cucumber in the butter which has just cooked the cucumber, adding water and salt if needed; simmer for half an hour, strain, and thicken with semolina, or flour if preferred. Re-warm the cucumber by placing it in the oven, pour the sauce over, and serve.

[No. 37.]—Stewed Mushrooms.

For Mushroom Patties, etc.

Place the butter and flour in a small stewpan, and stir over a gentle heat until thoroughly mixed, add the milk and seasonings, and stir until it boils. Then place in the mushrooms, which have been cleaned and prepared, and boil gently until perfectly tender, stirring all the time. They are then ready for use.

[No. 38.]—Potato Stew.

Dissolve half an ounce of butter in a stewpan, place in the potatoes peeled, the shalot finely sliced, milk, water and seasonings (the peppercorns and lemon peel tied in muslin), and stew until tender. When done, lift the potatoes carefully out and place in a hot vegetable dish, remove the seasoning, thicken the liquor with the half ounce each of flour and butter, stirring until it boils; then pour over the potatoes, and serve.

[No. 39.]—Baked Potato Stew.

Peel sufficient potatoes to cover the bottom of a large and deep pie-dish (a cook's comfort is the best shape for this purpose), pour over them the sauce or stock, which must be highly seasoned and flavoured with herbs and spices. Bake in a moderate oven for one or one and a half hours, according to the size of the potatoes.

Note.—Light dumplings and boiled cabbage should accompany this dish.

[No. 40.]—Stewed Green Peas.

Wash the lettuce and cut it up rather fine, place it with the other ingredients in a stewpan, and simmer without the lid about half an hour, or until the peas are quite tender.

[No. 41.]—Green Pea and Lettuce Stew.

Stew the peas, lettuces and onion very gently with the butter and water for half an hour (three-quarters of an hour if the peas are not very young). Add the sugar and salt, then stir in the yolks of eggs and cream; continue stirring for a minute until it all thickens (but on no account allow it to boil, or the eggs will curdle), and serve with sippets of toasted bread.

[No. 42.]—Green Pea and Potato Stew.

Slice the potatoes and onions, and place them in a stewpan with the peas, mint and water. Simmer gently for one hour, remove the mint, add salt and butter, and stir for a few minutes over the fire.

[No. 43.]—Haricot Bean Stew.

Prepare and slice the vegetables, place them with the butter, beans, and water, in a stewpan, and simmer gently for two hours and a half; add salt.

[No. 44.]—Haricot Bean Stew.

Dissolve the butter in a stewpan, place in the beans, the onion cut up, and the water, and boil for two hours; add salt. Simmer for half an hour longer, then shake in the semolina, and continue stirring for about ten minutes. Cooked semolina will do equally well, and need only be added five minutes before serving (about a quarter of a pound will be required). Lastly, add tomatoes, which should have been previously stewed (see [No. 155]), and serve.

[No. 45.]—Haricot Bean Stew.

Boil the beans in the water with the butter, vegetables sliced, and the peppercorns, for two hours; remove the peppercorns, add salt and tapioca, and stir until it thickens.

[No. 46.]—Haricot Bean Ragoût.

Boil the haricot beans until tender, adding salt a short time previously. Strain and spread the beans on a dish that they may dry. Slice the carrots and turnips very fine, and boil for half an hour in the liquor; strain also. Slice the onions, and fry ten minutes in the butter, but do not allow them to brown; add haricots and flour, and simmer altogether another five minutes, stirring all the time. Chop the vegetables very fine, add to the beans and onions, pour in the liquor, stir until it boils and thickens, and serve.

[No. 47.]—Haricot Bean and Green Pea Stew.

Boil the haricot beans in the usual way with one pint of the water, one teaspoon of salt, and the onion sliced. When cooked, thicken with a paste of the flour and butter. Boil the green peas with the remainder of the water, salt, and mint. When tender, mix with the haricot beans, and serve with sippets of toast.

[No. 48.]—Irish Stew.

Place the lentils and butter with the vegetables, which must be sliced, in a saucepan with the water, and stew gently for one hour. Add seasonings a quarter of an hour before serving.

[No. 49.]—Lentil Stew with Forcemeat Cutlets.

Simmer the lentils gently in three pints of water for one and a half hours. Strain. Put a quarter of a pound of the lentils on one side to cool. Rub the rest through the wire sieve with a wooden spoon until nothing but the skins remain. In the meantime, boil the vegetables with sufficient water to cover, until quite tender. When thoroughly cooked pour into the lentil purée, add the sauce and salt, and re-warm. Prepare [forcemeat No. 77], adding the quarter of a pound of lentils chopped fine; shape into little cutlets (about twelve), brown in a frying-pan with the butter, place on a hot dish, pour the gravy over, and serve at once.

[No. 50.]—Rice Stew.

Slice the vegetables, place them in a saucepan with the salt and water, and boil for one hour, or until tender. When done, stand the saucepan on one side for a few minutes to get thoroughly off the boil. Mix the flour and butter well together, add them to the stew; re-boil and stir until it thickens; add rice, and boil for one or two minutes. If curry powder is liked, it should be mixed with the flour and butter, but the Worcester sauce may be added at the last moment.

[No. 51.]—Spanish Onion Stew.

Slice the carrot and turnip and fry a few minutes in the butter, place them in a saucepan together with the onions cut in quarters, the water, salt, celery and peppercorns. Boil gently until quite tender, remove the peppercorns, reduce the gravy, and serve with sippets of toast.

[No. 52.]—Tennis Stew.

Mix well together the potatoes, greens (which must be finely chopped), egg, and seasoning to taste, adding as many bread crumbs as are needful to render the mixture firm enough to roll into balls. Fry the balls in a little butter, or they may be rolled in egg and bread crumbs and dropped into boiling oil. (The latter way is specially recommended when only half the above quantity of vegetables is being used, and consequently only half an egg is needed; the other half should then be reserved for this purpose.) Arrange a circle of balls on a hot dish, have ready the carrots boiled, slice them rather thickly and shape them into the form of tennis bats; place them in the centre, and pour the sauce over them. If curried sauce be used, rice may either be served separately, or a border of it placed round the balls.

[No. 53.]—Tomato Ragoût.

Slice the onion, turnip and carrot, and cut the two latter into very neat or ornamental pieces, cut the celery very small, place altogether in a stewpan with the water and salt, and simmer gently for two and a half hours. Stew the tomatoes according to [No. 155] in a separate stewpan, using one ounce of butter. When the vegetables are quite tender, the tomato juice, which has been previously strained, should be added to them, and the whole thickened with the flour and remaining ounce of butter thoroughly mixed to a paste. The stew must be allowed to boil gently for a few minutes after it has been thickened, to cook the flour.

Note.—A small teaspoonful of Worcester sauce may be used instead of the pepper.

[No. 54.]—Rich Baked Vegetable Stew.

Melt the butter in a stewpan and fry in it the carrots and potatoes, sliced very thin, for about ten minutes, or until they begin to brown. Scald the tomatoes by pouring boiling water over them, remove the skins, slice them, and place in the stewpan with a sprinkle each of salt, pepper, sweet herbs, and the shalot, very finely minced. Stew altogether gently for about half an hour (the juice from the tomatoes with the butter makes sufficient liquor), and when thoroughly cooked, pour into a shallow pie-dish. Break the eggs and separate yolks from whites, beat the former and stir in the bread crumbs, with which have been mixed a pinch of salt and pepper; then beat the whites to a stiff froth, mix in with the yolks, stir well altogether and place over the stew in the form of crust, and bake a quarter of an hour in a very brisk oven. Serve hot or cold.

[No. 55.]—Vegetable Ragoût.

Prepare the vegetables, cutting the onions and turnips in quarters, and slicing the potatoes and carrots, place them together with the water, salt and half an ounce of butter in a saucepan, and boil for one hour. Scald the tomatoes, remove the skins, quarter and add to the ragoût; simmer for a quarter of an hour longer, then carefully strain away the vegetables and place them in a deep dish; return the liquor to the saucepan, and thicken with the flour and butter made into a paste; stir until the sauce boils and is free from lumps, then pour over the vegetables, and serve hot. Sippets of toast may be added with advantage.

Note.—Should the sauce remain lumpy it should be poured over the vegetables through a strainer.

[No. 56.]—Stewed Vegetable Marrow.

Peel and slice the marrow and remove the seeds; place these in a saucepan with the water and salt, and simmer for a quarter of an hour. Dissolve half an ounce of butter in a stewpan, put in the slices of marrow, and strain the liquor from the seeds over them; stew gently for half or one hour, according to the age of the marrow. When quite done, lift the pieces out carefully. Mix the other half ounce butter and flour into a paste, thicken the gravy with this, pour it over the marrow, and serve. A sprig of mint may be boiled with the seeds if liked.

Note.—This method of boiling vegetable marrows will be found greatly superior to that generally adopted, as in this case there is no waste nor loss of flavour.