—Take twenty-four medium-sized, sound okras, and wash them well in cold water. Drain thoroughly, and pare both ends. Have a saucepan containing salted boiling water, into which plunge the okras, and let them cook for fifteen minutes. Lift them out with a skimmer, and lay them on a cloth to drain. Use the boiled okras for sautéing, salad, or any other purpose desired.
1031. Okras, Sautés à la Créole.
—Prepare twenty-four okras as for [No. 1030]. Place in a sautoire one ounce of good butter, one medium-sized minced onion, and a medium-sized, minced green pepper. Place on the stove for six minutes, until it is of a golden color, and add two raw, peeled tomatoes cut into pieces, three tablespoonfuls of Espagnole ([No. 151]), a pinch of salt, the third of a pinch of pepper, and one crushed clove of garlic. Add the okras, put the lid on, and cook slowly for fifteen minutes. Place in a hot, deep dish, sprinkle over them a teaspoonful of chopped parsley, and serve.
1032. Macédoine of Vegetables.
—Cut a small, raw carrot with a vegetable-scoop; put it into salted boiling water, and cook for fifteen minutes; repeat with a small, raw turnip, cooking each separately; drain, and place them in a saucepan with half a gill of cooked peas, the same quantity of cooked half-inch lengths of string beans, two tablespoonfuls of cooked flageolets, and a small piece of cauliflower, if at hand. Moisten with half a pint of hot béchamel ([No. 154]), and season with half a pinch each of salt and pepper, and the third of a pinch of nutmeg. Let it simmer well for ten minutes, and use when required.
1033. Jardinière of Vegetables.
—Prepare exactly as in [No. 1032], substituting half a pint of hot Madeira sauce ([No. 185]) for the béchamel.
1034. Boiled Hominy.
—Wash a quart of very white hominy in fresh water; drain, put in a saucepan with a quart of cold water, and place it on the fire, adding a pinch of salt. Boil for thirty minutes, stirring it well, and serve.