Beans (Haricots), Croquettes of.
Put a quart of small white haricot beans to soak in tepid water all night long; dry, put them in cold water, and boil over a slow fire for about an hour. Drain and dry them again, and put into boiling water for another hour. Pass them through a sieve and put them in a sauce-pan with four ounces of fresh butter, one tablespoonful of white wine vinegar, one of balm-mint, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well together, cook, and let cool. Then roll up into balls (or croquets), dip them into the yolk of an egg, cover them with finely grated bread-crumbs, and fry with good fresh butter. Serve up very hot.
Beans (Haricots) ‘alla Fiorentina.’
Half-boil a quart of haricot beans in salted water, strain, and put them into a sauce-pan with some fried, browned butter in it. Mix, then drain off the butter, and add the following sauce: Melt four ounces of fresh butter, skim it carefully, add some flour and mix well, add some broth and stir until it is of the consistency of a sauce, and leave it to boil. Then pass the sauce through a sieve, put it back on the fire, and stir to prevent its sticking to the sauce-pan, add two yolks of eggs, the juice of half a lemon, and some finely chopped-up parsley. Pour the sauce over the beans before serving up hot.
Beans (Haricots) ‘alla Maître d’Hôtel.’
Put some young, green, shelled haricot beans into boiling water, when half-cooked add a pinch of salt, and a little butter. Take them out, drain, and put them at once into a sauce-pan with butter, chopped parsley, salt, pepper, and some lemon juice. Toss them well, and serve up very hot.
Beans (Haricots) ‘alla Milanese.’
Take young, green haricot beans and throw them in boiling water. When half-cooked add a little salt and some butter, and boil them again for five or six minutes. Then take them out, strain, and put them, whilst still hot, into a sauce-pan with a dessert-spoonful of chopped-up parsley, salt, pepper, the juice of a lemon, and four ounces of fresh butter. Toss them, and serve on a hot dish. (If the beans are dry you must put them into cold water and boil them for one or two hours first.)
Beans (Haricots) ‘alla Polenta.’
Put a quart of white haricot beans into tepid water for the night. Dry, and put them into cold water, and boil for about an hour over a slow fire; dry them again, put them into boiling water, and boil for nearly an hour. Mash, and pass them through a sieve, place them in a sauce-pan with three ounces of butter, a little salt and pepper, stir well together, and boil them again for ten minutes. Serve up very hot.