Vaughan's Vegetable Cook Book Part 8

=Pot Marigold.=--Marigold has a bitter taste, but was formerly much used in seasoning soups and is still in some parts of England. The flowers are dried and are used medicinally and for coloring b.u.t.ter and cheese.

=Pimpinella, or Salad-Burnet.=--The young tender leaves are used as a salad; they have a flavor resembling that of cuc.u.mbers.

=Rosemary.=--A distillation of the leaves makes a pleasant perfume and is also used medicinally. It is one of the sweet herbs for seasoning.

=Rue.=--This is one of the bitter herbs yet is sometimes used for seasoning.

=Saffron.=--The dried pistils are used for flavoring and dyeing. Some people use it with rice. It is often used in fancy cooking as a coloring material.

=Sage.=--The leaves both fresh and dried are used for seasoning, meats and dressings especially.

=Summer Savory.=--Summer savory is used for flavoring, and especially for flavoring beans.

=Tarragon or Esdragon.=--Esdragon with its fine aromatic flavor is a valuable adjunct to salads and sauces.

=Tarragon or Esdragon Vinegar.=--Strip the leaves from the fresh cut stalks of tarragon. Put a cupful of them in a wide mouthed bottle and cover with a quart of cider or wine vinegar, after fourteen days, strain, bottle and cork tightly.

=Tagetis Lucida.=--Its leaves have almost the exact flavor of tarragon and can be used as its subst.i.tute.

=Thyme.=--Thyme is one of the sweet herbs and its leaves are favorites for seasoning in cooking.

=Winter Savory.=--The leaves and young shoots, like summer savory are used for flavoring foods.

=Wormwood.=--Wormwood is used medicinally as its name implies.

HORSERADISH CREAM APPLE SAUCE.

Stew six sour apples and sift; let cool, and add two heaping tablespoonfuls of grated horseradish; when cold and ready to serve add double the amount of whipped cream, slightly sweetened.

CHICAGO RECORD.

KALE. (See Borecole.)

KOHL RABI.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Strip the leaves from the stem, put on in salted water and boil. Peel the tubers, slice thin and boil until tender; drain and chop very fine both leaves and tubers separately, then mix thoroughly; brown a tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter and a little flour in a saucepan, add the kohl rabi and cook for a moment, then add a cup of meat broth and boil thoroughly; serve very hot.

LEAVES FOR CULINARY PURPOSES.

In addition to sweet and bitter herbs, we have many leaves available for seasoning. The best known and most used are bay leaves, a leaf or two in custards, rice, puddings and soups adds a delicate flavor and aroma.

A laurel leaf answers the same purpose. Bitter almond flavoring has a subst.i.tute in fresh peach leaves which have a smell and taste of bitter almond. Brew the leaves, fresh or dry, and use a teaspoonful or two of the liquid. Use all these leaves stintedly as they are strongly aromatic, and it is easy to get too much. The flowering currant gives a flavor that is a compound of the red and black currant; gooseberry leaves in the bottled fruit emphasize the flavor, and it is said keep the fruit greener. A fresh geranium or lemon verbena leaf gives a delightful odor and taste to jelly. A geranium leaf or two in the bottom of a cake dish while the cake is baking will flavor the cake. Nasturtium leaves and flowers find a place in sandwiches and salads. The common syringa has an exact cuc.u.mber flavor and can be a subst.i.tute for cuc.u.mber in salads or wherever that flavor is desired. Lemon and orange leaves answer for the juice of their fruits. Horseradish and grape leaves have use in pickles. Carrot, cuc.u.mber and celery leaves give the respective flavors of their vegetables. Tender celery leaves can be thoroughly dried and bottled for winter use. The use of leaves is an economy for a household, and a source of great variety.

LEEKS.

Leeks are generally used to flavor soups, sauces and salads and are seldom brought to the table as a separate dish. However, they are semi-occasionally served as follows:--Boiled and dressed with a cream sauce; or when two-thirds done are put to soak in vinegar seasoned with salt, pepper and cloves, then are drained, stuffed, dipped in batter and fried.

BOILED LETTUCE.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Take the coa.r.s.er part of lettuce not delicate enough for a salad, boil in salted water until soft, then drain thoroughly. Slightly brown a tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter and a dessertspoonful of flour in a saucepan, put in the lettuce, let it cook up once or twice, then add a half-cup of stock and boil thoroughly, just before serving add a gill of cream and give a sprinkle of nutmeg if the flavor is liked.

LETTUCE SALAD.

Lettuce leaves whole or shredded are served with vinegar, salt, pepper, mustard and a little sugar, or with a French or mayonnaise dressing; or it is shredded and mixed with veal and egg, sweetbreads, shrimps, cress, cuc.u.mber, tomatoes or other salad material and is treated with the various salad dressings, mentioned above.

STEWED GREEN PEAS WITH LETTUCE.

Sh.e.l.l a half peck of peas, and shred two heads of lettuce; boil together with as little water as possible to keep it from burning, and stir often for the same purpose. Stew one hour, set back on the stove, and add one tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter, one teaspoonful of sugar, salt, and a dash of cayenne pepper and just as it is taken up, one well beaten egg, which must not be allowed to boil. Serve at once.

STUFFED LETTUCE.

Use five clean heads of lettuce, wash thoroughly, open up the leaves and fill between with any highly seasoned meat--sweetbreads, chicken or veal preferred--or make a forcemeat stuffing. Tie up the heads, put into a saucepan with any good gravy, stock or sauce and cook until thoroughly heated through; serve in the gravy.

LETTUCE SOUP.

Use three small lettuce heads, clean, drain, chop and put into a saucepan with a tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter, cover and let steam for a few minutes, then add two quarts of good soup stock or one quart each of stock and milk, add a half-cup of rice and boil until the rice is soft.

Strain through a sieve, or not, as one fancies, season with salt, pepper, return to the fire, add a pint of cream, let it come just to the boiling point and serve.

MANGOES.

Mangoes are made from cuc.u.mbers, melons, peppers, tomatoes and peaches.

The following recipe applies to all but the peaches. Select green or half grown melons and large green cuc.u.mbers, tomatoes, or peppers.

Remove a narrow piece the length of the fruit, and attach it at one end by a needle and white thread, after the seeds of the mango have been carefully taken out. Throw the mangoes into a brine of salt and cold water strong enough to bear up an egg, and let them remain in it three days and nights, then throw them into fresh cold water for twenty-four hours. If grape leaves are at hand, alternate grape leaves and mangoes in a porcelain kettle (never a copper one) until all are in, with grape leaves at the bottom and top. Add a piece of alum the size of a walnut, cover with cider vinegar and boil fifteen minutes. Remove the grape leaves and stuff the mangoes. Prepare a cabbage, six tomatoes, a few small cuc.u.mbers and white onions, by chopping the cabbage and tomatoes and putting all separately into brine for twenty-four hours and draining thoroughly. After draining chop the cuc.u.mbers and onions. Drain the mangoes, put into each a teaspoonful of sugar, and two whole cloves. Add to the vegetable filling, one-fourth ounce each of ground ginger, black pepper, mace, allspice, nasturtium seed, ground cinnamon, black and white mustard, one-fourth cup of horseradish and one-fourth cup sweet oil. Bruise all the spices and mix with the oil, then mix all the ingredients thoroughly and stuff the mangoes, fit the piece taken out and sew in with white thread or tie it in with a string around the mango. Put them into a stone jar and pour over them hot cider vinegar sweetened with a pound or more of sugar to the gallon to suit the taste.

If they are not keeping properly pour over again fresh hot vinegar.

MARTYNIAS.

Gather the pods when young and tender enough to thrust a needle through them easily, later they become hard and useless for pickles. Leave half an inch of stem on each, and lay them in salt water a couple of days, then cook in weak vinegar until tender, but not so long as to break them. Drain well from this, place them in jars and prepare vinegar for them in the proportion of an ounce each of cloves, allspice and black pepper to a gallon of vinegar; scald all these together with half a teaspoonful of prepared mustard. Pour hot over the martynias, cover closely and keep in a cool place. They will soon be ready for use.

MRS. HOOD.

MELON, MUSK.