Trim and wash the celery, and cut into short pieces, blanch them in salted water, and drain, then cook till tender in well-seasoned stock. Drain the cooked celery, and chop it rather finely. Melt the butter in a stew-pan, add the shallot (chopped), and fry a little, stir in the flour, blend these together, and gradually add a gill of milk. Stir till it boils, and put in the chopped celery. Season with salt and pepper, and cook for 15 minutes, add the egg-yolks at the last. Spread the mixture on a dish and let it get cold. Make up into croquettes—cork or ball shapes—egg and crumb them, fry in hot fat to a golden colour, drain them on a cloth or paper, and dish up.
RAGOÛT OF CELERY
Two or 3 heads of celery, 1 pint of white stock, ½ pint of milk, 2 tablespoonsful of cream, 1 medium-sized Spanish onion, 24 button onions, 1 dessert-spoonful of finely chopped parsley, 2 ozs. of butter, 2 ozs. of flour, salt, and pepper.
Wash and trim the celery, cut each stick into pieces about 2 inches long, cover with cold water, bring to the boil, and pour the water away. Put in the stock, the Spanish onion finely chopped, season with salt and pepper, and cook gently for about ½ an hour. Meanwhile, skin the onions, fry them in hot butter, but very slowly, to prevent them taking colour, drain well from fat, and keep them hot. Add the flour to the butter, and fry for a few minutes without browning. Take up the celery, add the strained stock to the milk, pour both on to the roux or mixture of flour and butter, and stir until boiling. Season to taste, add the cream and ½ the parsley, arrange the celery in a circle on a hot dish, pour over the sauce, pile the onions high in the centre, sprinkle over them the remainder of the parsley, and serve. The celery may also be served on croûtes of fried or toasted bread arranged in rows with the onions piled between them. A nice change may be made by substituting mushrooms for the onions.
STUFFED ONIONS
(Italian)
Remove from 6 onions the centres with an apple-corer and fill them up with the following stuffing: One tablespoon of grated Parmesan cheese mixed with 2 hard-boiled eggs and chopped parsley. Boil them first, then roll them in flour and fry them in olive-oil or butter. Then put them in a baking-dish with ½ tablespoon of grated Parmesan cheese and 1 tablespoon of melted butter. Put them in the oven and bake until golden.