Cut three good-sized turnips into slices, or parallelograms, as long as the turnip, and about half an inch thick. If they are not young and tender, they should be boiled until half done; but they should not be boiled at first if young. Put a piece of butter the size of an egg into a saucepan; when hot, put in the pieces of turnips, and fry them to a light-brown color. When done, add a heaping tea-spoonful of sugar; mix, and then pour in a tea-cupful of stock (boiling water would answer, but not so well); put this at the side of the fire to simmer until they are done, adding a little pepper and salt. Now put a little more butter, the size of a walnut, into a saucepan, adding a heaping tea-spoonful of flour; mix, and add a little lukewarm water. When smoothly mixed, add the sauce of the turnips; when both are well mixed, add the turnip slices; they are then ready to serve.
Parsnips Sautéd.
Parboil them; then, after cutting lengthwise, sauté them to a light-brown in a little hot butter or drippings.
Parsnip Fritters.
This is undoubtedly the best manner of cooking parsnips: Scrape, and, if large, cut them; put them into well-salted boiling water, and boil until tender; then mash them, adding to four or five parsnips a heaping tea-spoonful of flour, one or two eggs well beaten, pepper and salt to taste. Form the mixture into small cakes three-quarters of an inch thick and two and a half inches in diameter, and fry them on both sides to a delicate brown in a sauté pan, with a little hot butter. Serve hot.
Oyster-plant Fritters
are best made into little cakes, as described for parsnip fritters. They may, however, be made smaller, in order to imitate fried oysters.
Oyster-plants Stewed.
As you scrape them, throw them into a bowl of cold water, in which is mixed a table-spoonful of vinegar. When all are scraped, cut them either into half-inch lengths, or lengthwise into four pieces, which again cut into three-inch lengths; throw them into boiling water, in which are half a tea-spoonful of salt and one-third of a tea-spoonful of sugar to one quart of water. When done, drain, and mix them with white sauce, either drawn butter or a simple Bechamel.