The best mode of cooking carrots is to boil them with corned beef, and then serve them as a garnish around the meat. Carrots require a longer time to boil than almost any other vegetable. If large, boil them an hour and a half. It improves their appearance to cut them into shapes of balls or pears before boiling; or they may be cut into half-inch slices, and then shaped with the tin cutters ([see page 55]). These come in different sizes.
Beets.
If they are winter beets, soak them overnight; in any case, be very careful not to prick or cut the skin before boiling, as they will then lose their color; put them into boiling water, and boil until tender. If they are served hot, pour a little melted butter, pepper, and salt over them. They are often served cold, cut into slices, with some vinegar over them, or cut into little dice and mixed with other cold vegetables, for a winter salad.
Cauliflower, with White Sauce.
Trim off the outside leaves, and put the cauliflower into well-salted boiling water. Be careful to take it out as soon as tender, to prevent it dropping into pieces. Make, in a saucepan, a white sauce as follows: Put butter the size of an egg into the saucepan, and when it bubbles stir in a scant half tea-cupful of flour; stir well with an egg-whisk until cooked; then add two tea-cupfuls of thin cream, some pepper and salt. Stir it over the fire until perfectly smooth. Pour the sauce over the cauliflower, and serve. Many let the cauliflower simmer in the sauce a few moments before serving. The sauce Hollandaise is very fine for cauliflower.
Cauliflower is delicious served as a garnish around fried spring chickens, or with fried sweet-breads, when the white sauce should be poured over both. In this case, it should be made by adding the cream, flour, and seasoning to the little grease (half a tea-spoonful) that is left after sautéing the chickens or sweet-breads. Time to cook, fifteen minutes, if small; twenty minutes, if large.
Cauliflowers, with Cheese.
Add plenty of grated cheese (say a cupful to a pint of sauce) to the usual white sauce made for cauliflowers. Heat the sauce well, to melt the cheese thoroughly, and pour it over the cauliflowers.
Cauliflower is valuable as a salad, with the Mayonnaise dressing, or, mixed with other cold vegetables, with the French dressing. See Salads.