VEGETABLES.

Soft water is the best for boiling all vegetables. Fresh vegetables boil in one-third less time than stale ones. Green vegetables should be put into plenty of boiling water and salt, and boiled rapidly, without covering, only until tender enough to pierce with the finger nail; a bit of common washing soda, or of carbonate of ammonia, as large as a dried pea, put into the boiling water with any of the vegetables except beans, counteracts any excess of mineral elements in them, and helps to preserve their color. A lump of loaf sugar boiled with turnips neutralizes their excessive bitterness. Cabbage, potatoes, carrots, turnips, parsnips, onions, and beets, are injured by being boiled with fresh meat, and they also hurt the color of the meat, and impair its tenderness and flavor. When vegetables are cooked for use with salt meat, the meat should first be cooked and taken from the pot liquor, and the vegetables boiled in the latter. The following table will be a guide in boiling vegetables, but it must be remembered that the youngest and freshest boil in the least time; and that in winter all the roots except potatoes require nearly double the time to cook, that they would take in summer, when they are new; spinach, ten to fifteen minutes; brussels sprouts, peas, cauliflowers, and asparagus, fifteen to twenty minutes; potatoes, cabbage, corn, and string-beans, twenty to thirty minutes; turnips, onions, and squash, twenty to forty minutes; beets, carrots, and parsnips, about one hour.

147. Asparagus with Melted Butter.—Trim the white tough ends from two bunches of asparagus, tie it in packages of about a dozen stalks each; put them into three quarts of boiling water, with three tablespoonfuls of salt, and boil them gently until done, about twenty minutes; meantime make some drawn butter according to receipt for caper sauce, omitting the capers; fit two slices of toast to the bottom of the dish you intend to use, dip it for one instant in the water in which the asparagus has been boiled, lay it on the dish, and arrange the asparagus in a ring on it with the heads in the centre; send the butter to the table in a gravy boat, with the dish of asparagus.

148. Green Peas.—Boil two quarts of freshly shelled peas in two quarts of boiling water with half an ounce of butter, one bunch of green mint, and one teaspoonful each of sugar and salt, until they begin to sink to the bottom of the sauce-pan: drain them in a colander, season them with a saltspoonful of salt, and a quarter of a saltspoonful of pepper, and send them to the table hot.

149. String Beans.—These beans are generally marketed while they are unripe, and cooked in the shell; in that condition two quarts of them should be stringed, split in halves, cut in pieces two inches long, and thrown into boiling water with a tablespoonful of salt, but no soda or ammonia should be added, as its action discolors them; a few sprigs of parsley and an ounce of pork can be boiled with them to their improvement; when they are tender, which will be in about half an hour, they should be drained, and served with melted butter, made as for caper sauce, but without the capers.

150. Baked Beets.—Clean eight smooth beets with a soft cloth or brush; bake them in a moderate oven about one hour; rub off the skin, baste them with butter and lemon juice, return them to the oven for five minutes, and serve them hot.

151. Brussels Sprouts.—Trim two quarts of Brussels sprouts, wash them thoroughly, put them in three quarts of boiling water with two tablespoonfuls of salt, and boil them gently until tender, about fifteen minutes, shaking the sauce-pan occasionally; then drain them in a colander, being careful not to break them; put them again into the sauce-pan with one ounce of butter, a teaspoonful of lemon juice, a saltspoonful of salt, and quarter of a saltspoonful of white pepper; toss them gently over the fire, while you make some rounds of buttered toast for the bottom of a platter; when this is ready shake the Brussels sprouts upon it, and serve hot. Some persons like the addition of two ounces of grated Parmesan cheese; and others serve them with the Béchamel sauce named in receipt No. 84.

152. Stuffed Cabbage.—Cut the leaves of a large white cabbage as whole as possible, cut out the stalks, wash the leaves well, and boil them only until tender, in three quarts of boiling water and salt, with a piece of soda as large as a dried pea; have ready some sausage meat highly seasoned, and as soon as the cabbage is tender carefully drain it in a colander, run cold water from the faucet over it, and, without tearing the leaves, lay them open on the table, two or three upon each other, making eight or ten piles. Divide the sausage meat, and lay a portion in the centre of each, fold the cabbage over it in a compact roll and tie it in place with cord; lay the rolls on a baking sheet, season with salt and pepper, put over each a tablespoonful of any rich brown gravy and brown a little in a quick oven; serve at once, on small rounds of toast.

153. Red Cabbage.—Cut a firm head of red cabbage in shreds, lay it in a sauce-pan with the following ingredients; one gill of vinegar, one teaspoonful each of ground cloves and salt, half a saltspoonful of pepper, two ounces of butter, and two ounces of sugar; stew it gently until tender, about one hour, shaking the pan to prevent burning, and serve it hot.

154. Baked Cauliflower.—Thoroughly wash a large cauliflower, boil it in plenty of boiling water and salt, until tender, about twenty minutes; drain it whole; pour over it one gill of Béchamel sauce, made as in receipt No. 84, dust it thickly with cracker dust, or bread crumbs, and Parmesan cheese, mixed in equal proportions, and brown it ten minutes in a quick oven.