Put over the fire in a saucepan three-quarters of a cup of rich milk and three ounces of butter, let them come to a boil, then add three ounces of dried and sifted bread crumbs and an even tablespoonful of flour. Let it cook, stirring all the time until it is a smooth paste and detaches itself from the sides of the pan, remove from the fire and set it aside to cool. When cold beat three eggs light, stir in a little at a time, beating well until the mixture is smooth and all the beaten egg used, then add a heaping teaspoonful of sugar, three heaping tablespoonfuls of walnut meats chopped fine, two tablespoonfuls of rich cream, and salt and pepper to taste. Take four large, fine celeriac roots, clean, scrub and scrape them. Cut off a slice from the top of each to make a cover, then with an apple corer remove the inside, taking care not to pierce the root, leave a shell a quarter of an inch thick. Fill each with the dressing, leaving fully half an inch at the top for it to swell. Place the cover on each, tie well the roots to prevent breaking in the cooking, stand them in a saucepan with water to reach not quite to the top of the roots, and put in all the celeriac removed from the roots, boil gently until tender—about an hour—adding boiling water from time to time as it evaporates. When they are tender take them out of the water and put them aside, keeping them hot. Strain the water they were boiled in, form what is left from the stuffing into small cylinders, boil five minutes in the strained stock, take them out and put with the roots to keep warm. Then take a generous tablespoonful of butter, an even tablespoonful of flour, brown them together in a spider, add two heaping tablespoonfuls of chopped walnuts and let them brown a little, then stir in gradually the stock the roots were boiled in and cook until it thickens. Arrange the roots in the center of the platter, the cylinders around them and pour the sauce over all. Garnish with parsley, putting a tiny sprig of celery leaves in the top of each root.
[SPRING CABBAGE STEWED.]
Cut the cabbage very small, throw into a saucepan, cover with boiling water, when nearly done add salt. Cook until tender, drain well in a colander. Make a rich cream sauce—it must be quite thick, as the cabbage will thin it—add a saltspoonful of mace, then the cabbage, let it come to a boil and serve.
[SPRING CABBAGE WITH CREAM SAUCE.]
Boil a young cabbage or part of one until perfectly tender, when done drain all the water from it in a colander, place in a vegetable dish and pour over it a rich cream sauce.
[SPRING TURNIPS IN CREAM SAUCE.]
Pare and cut into dice some young turnips, cook them tender in as little water as possible, salt when nearly done. Have ready a cream sauce, nicely seasoned, and after draining the turnips put them into the sauce, let them come to the boiling point and remove immediately from the fire, turn them into the serving dish, sprinkle a little finely chopped parsley over the top and serve. A tiny grain of mace added to the sauce is an improvement, but it must be used with great care.
[WHITE BREAD BALLS.]
Take four ounces of bread from which the crust has been removed, cut it into dice. Put half a cup of milk in a saucepan with two ounces of butter and a teaspoonful of sugar, let it come to a boil, then stir in the bread and continue stirring until it no longer cleaves to the pan, remove from the fire. When cool stir into it two eggs, one at a time, and a little salt. Cook in boiling water, as described for other balls, and serve in a cream sauce as a vegetable. (See [spinach balls], [page 74].)