Vaughan's Vegetable Cook Book Part 11

Parsley is the prime favorite of the garnishes. Its pretty curled leaves are used to decorate fish flesh and fowl and many a vegetable. Either natural, minced or fried, it is an appetizing addition to many sauces, soups, dressings and salads.

FRIED PARSLEY.

Wash the parsley very clean, chop fine and fry in b.u.t.ter in the proportion of one tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter to one pint of minced parsley.

When soft, sprinkle with bread crumbs, moisten with a little water, and cook ten or fifteen minutes longer. Garnish it with sliced boiled egg.

To be eaten with pigeon.

PARSLEY VINEGAR.

Fill a preserving bottle with parsley leaves, freshly gathered and washed, and cover with vinegar. Screw down the top and set aside for two or three weeks. Then strain off the vinegar, add salt and cayenne pepper to taste, bottle and cork. Use on cold meats, cabbage, etc.

PARSLEY SAUCE. (See Sauces.)

BOILED PARSNIPS.

Wash, sc.r.a.pe and cut them into slices about an inch thick, put them in a saucepan with salted water and cook until tender, drain, cover with good rich milk, season with b.u.t.ter, pepper and salt to taste, bring to a boil and serve.

BROILED PARSNIPS.

After parsnips are boiled, slice and broil brown. Make a gravy as for beefsteak.

BROWNED PARSNIPS.

Put two or three thin slices of salt pork in the bottom of a kettle and let them brown, sc.r.a.pe and slice the parsnips and pare about the same amount of potatoes, leaving them whole if they are small. Place in alternate layers in the kettle, and add sufficient water to cook them, leaving them to brown slightly. They must be closely watched as they burn very easily. Requires about one and a half hours to cook and brown nicely. Remove the vegetables and thicken the gravy with a little flour; add pepper and salt, and a small lump of b.u.t.ter. Serve pork and vegetables on a large, deep platter and pour over the gravy.

FRIED PARSNIPS.

Sc.r.a.pe and wash parsnips, cut off the small end and cut the thick part into half-inch-thick slices. Put them in boiling water with a tablespoonful each of salt and sugar. Boil an hour or until nearly done and drain; beat two eggs, four tablespoonfuls of flour and half a pint of milk together, season with salt and pepper. Dip the slices of parsnip into the batter, then in bread crumbs and fry in boiling lard or drippings until a golden brown. Pile them in a heap on a napkin and serve very hot.

PARSNIP FRITTERS.

Sc.r.a.pe and halve the parsnips, boil tender in salted water, mash smooth, picking out the woody bits; then add a beaten egg to every four parsnips, a tablespoonful of flour, pepper and salt to taste, and enough milk to make into a thin batter; drop by the tablespoonful into hot lard, and fry brown. Drain into a hot colander and dish.

MASHED PARSNIPS.

Boil parsnips tender in salted water, drain and mash them through a colander. Put the pulp into a saucepan with two or three tablespoonfuls of cream and a small lump of b.u.t.ter rubbed in flour, stir them over the fire until the b.u.t.ter is melted and serve.

MOCK OYSTERS.

Use three grated parsnips, three eggs, one teaspoonful of salt, one teacupful of sweet cream, b.u.t.ter half the size of an egg, three tablespoonfuls of flour. Fry as pancakes.

PARSNIP PUFFS.

Take one egg, well beaten, and add (without stirring until the ingredients are in) one teacupful each of cold water and flour, one heaping teaspoonful of baking powder, half a teaspoonful of salt, one teacupful of well-mashed, boiled parsnips; stir very lightly and only enough to mix. Do not let it stand long. Drop by the tablespoonful into hot, melted fat in a frying pan, and cook until a delicate brown.

CHICAGO RECORD.

AMBUSHED PEAS.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Cut the tops off of biscuits or buns twenty-four hours old. Scoop out the inside and put both sh.e.l.ls and tops into the oven to crust. Pour into them peas after they have been boiled and mixed with a cream sauce to which an egg has been added, also minced parsley or mint if liked.

Cover carefully with the tops and serve hot.

BOILED PEAS.

Do not sh.e.l.l peas until ready to cook. Salt, and slightly sweeten if needed boiling water, drop the peas so slowly into the water it will not stop boiling. Boil the peas until tender without covering and they will keep their color. They will generally cook in about twenty minutes, take them up with a little of the liquor in which they were boiled, b.u.t.ter and pepper them, and they are much better to add a little sweet cream, but will do without. If they are cooked immediately upon gathering, they will need no sugar; if allowed to remain twelve hours or more, a tablespoonful of sugar will be found an addition. A sprig of mint or a little parsley may be added. Pea-pods are sometimes boiled in a small quant.i.ty of water, then are skimmed out and the peas are boiled in this liquor.

PEAS AND b.u.t.tERED EGGS.

Stew a pint of young peas with a tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter, a little salt, pepper and chopped parsley, until they are tender; beat up two eggs and pour over them the boiling peas. Serve at once on toast before the eggs harden.

CANAPES OF PEAS.

These form a dainty entree. To prepare the canapes take some slices of stale bread about two inches thick and cut into neat rounds with a large biscuit cutter. With a smaller cutter mark a circle in the center of each round and scoop out the crumbs from it to the depth of one inch.

This must be carefully done, so there will be a firm bottom and sides.

Lay these around in a shallow dish and pour over them a half-pint of milk in which one egg has been thoroughly beaten. This proportion of egg and milk is sufficient for six canapes. Let them lie in this for a few minutes; then take up very carefully and slip into very hot lard. When of a pale golden brown remove with a skimmer and drain on blotting paper. Boil a pint of freshly cleaned peas in unsalted water until tender; drain well. Put into a saucepan with two spoons of b.u.t.ter, dredge in a dessertspoonful of flour and add a saltspoon of salt and a quarter of a pint of milk. Let it come to a boil; then fill the canapes with this, give a dusting of pepper on the top of each, arrange on a platter and garnish with parsley and slices of lemon.

CHICAGO RECORD.

PEAS AND LETTUCE.

Use a pint of peas and two young lettuces cut small. Put in as little water as possible to use and not burn, let them boil until tender, then add a square of sugar, the yolks of two eggs well beaten and two tablespoonfuls of cream. Stir together a short time but do not boil.

PEAS AU PARMESAN.

Grate one and one-half ounces of cheese, add to it two tablespoonfuls of cream, a gill of milk, a tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter, saltspoonful of salt and four shakes of pepper. Place in an enameled pan and stir over the fire until the b.u.t.ter and cheese are dissolved. Then put in a pint and a half of fresh young peas, previously boiled until tender, drained and seasoned with a half-teaspoonful of salt. Stir the mixture a few moments. Serve as hot as possible.

CHICAGO RECORD.