CAULIFLOWER AU GRATIN
Break the boiled cauliflower into small flowerets. Place them in a pudding-dish in alternate layers with white sauce and grated cheese. Cover the top with crumbs moistened with butter, and bake until the sauce bubbles through the crumbs.
EGG-PLANT
Cut the egg-plant into slices one quarter of an inch thick, after removing the skin. Sprinkle the slices with salt. Pile them one upon another on the back of a dish. Place on them a plate holding a weight; let it stand one hour to express the juice. Dip the slices in egg and crumbs, or in egg and flour, and sauté on both sides in lard or drippings.
STUFFED EGG-PLANT
Boil an egg-plant twenty to thirty minutes, or until tender. Cut it in two lengthwise, and take out the pulp, using care not to break the skin. Mash the pulp, and season it with butter, salt, and pepper; replace it in the skins; sprinkle with bread-crumbs moistened in butter, and place in the oven to brown.
STUFFED PEPPERS
Use green sweet peppers of uniform size. Cut a piece off the stem end, or cut them in two lengthwise, and remove the seeds and partitions. Put them in boiling water for five minutes to parboil. Fill each one with a stuffing made of equal parts of softened bread-crumbs and minced meat well seasoned with salt, butter, and a few drops of onion juice. Place them in a baking-dish with water, or better stock, half an inch deep, and bake in a moderate oven for half an hour. Serve them in the same dish if a suitable one is used; if not, remove them carefully to another dish.
CHESTNUT PURÉE
Remove the shells; boil ten minutes; then drain and remove the skins. Put them in boiling salted water, and cook until tender; then drain, mash, and press them through a colander. Season with butter, salt, and pepper; moisten with cream, or milk, or stock.