Wash the shoots and young leaves of nettles very thoroughly in slightly salted water, dry well and mince very finely. Put this into a stewpan with 1 tablespoonful of finely-chopped onion, a suspicion of brown sugar, season with pepper and salt to taste, pour in a little stock or water, and stew gently at the side of the fire until quite tender; then mix together 1 oz. of butter and 1 teaspoonful of salt, till perfectly smooth, add this to the nettles, with ½ a tablespoonful of thick cream or new milk, stir it all well together till quite hot, and serve on slices of hot toast. If liked, the onion may be omitted, when the nettles are treated exactly like spinach.
Purée of Watercress (Hot)
Wash some watercress well, getting rid of all faded or discoloured parts, then put it on in plenty of boiling salted water, and boil it till almost cooked; lift it out, and drain on a sieve or colander to get rid of as much water as possible. Meanwhile melt about 1½oz. of butter in a pan, put the watercress on in this, sprinkle it lightly with flour, and stir it all together over the fire for about 10 minutes, then add about 2 gills of good stock, season with pepper and salt; cook it for 10 minutes longer, stirring it continuously, rub it through a sieve and serve very hot, garnished with quartered hard-boiled eggs, and fried croûtons.
Stewed Lettuce
Treat exactly as in the previous recipe.
Purée of Turnip Tops
Proceed as for watercress or lettuce.
Cauliflower with Tomato Sauce (Hot)
Clean and soak the cauliflower in salt and water for 1 hour, then plunge it into boiling water, returning it again to cold water. After this put it in a pan of boiling water slightly salted (½ oz. of salt to 1 gallon of water) and boil it until tender, 20 to 25 minutes. In the meantime make ½ pint of tomato purée by the following recipe, and when the cauliflower is cooked place it on a hot dish, pour the purée over it, sift some finely-grated brown crumbs over it and serve.