Mrs. Beeton's Recipes
Three recipes from the more than 1,800 found in Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management. All others can be found at http://www.mrsbeeton.com
Cucumber Soup (recipe #127)
INGREDIENTS: 1 large cucumber, a piece of butter the size of a walnut, a little chervil and sorrel cut in large pieces, salt and pepper to taste, the yolks of 2 eggs, 1 gill (5 oz.) of cream, 1 quart of medium stock (recipe #105)
MODE: Pare the cucumber, quarter it, and take out the seeds; cut it in thin slices, put these on a plate with a little salt, to draw the water from them; drain, and put them in your stewpan, with the butter. When they are warmed through, without being browned, pour the stock on them. Add the sorrel, chervil, and seasoning, and boil for 40 minutes. Mix the well-beaten yolks of the eggs with the cream, and add at the moment of serving.
Time: 1 hour. Sufficient for 4 persons.
Fried Cucumber (recipe # 1113)
INGREDIENTS: 2 or 3 cucumbers, pepper and salt to taste, flour, oil or butter.
MODE:Pare the cucumbers and cut them into slices of an equal thickness, commencing to slice from the thick, and not the stalk end of the cucumber. Wipe the slices dry with a cloth, dredge them with flour, and put them into a pan of boiling oil or butter; Keep turning them about until brown; lift them out of the pan, let them drain, and serve, piled lightly in a dish. These will be found a great improvement to rump-steak: they should be placed on a dish with the steak on the top.
Time: 5 minutes. Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons.
Salsify (recipe #1149)
INGREDIENTS: Salsify; to each 1/2 gallon of water allow - 1 heaped Tbsp salt, 1 oz. of butter, 2 Tbsp lemon juice.
MODE: Scrape the roots gently, so as to strip them only of their outside peel; cut them into pieces about 4 inches long, and, as they are peeled, throw them into water with which has been mixed a little lemon-juice, to prevent their discolouring. Put them into boiling water, with salt, butter, and lemon-juice in the above proportion, and let them boil rapidly until tender; try them with a fork; and, when it penetrates easily, they are done. Drain the salsify, and serve with a good White Sauce (recipe # 367) or French melted butter (recipe #378).
Time: 30 - 50 minutes.
Note: This vegetable may be also boiled, sliced, and fried in batter of a nice brown. When crisp and a good colour, they should be served with fried parsley in the centre of the dish, and a little fine salt sprinkled over the salsify.