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Cauliflower, with Parmesan Cheese
Choose three or four young, firm, white cauliflowers, cut off the stalks and the stems, making them flat, so that they will stand nicely in the dish. Cleanse them thoroughly, and boil them until tender, but not sufficiently so to run any risk of their breaking. Dish them in such a way as to make them look like one cauliflower, and powder them thickly with grated Parmesan cheese. Pour a good sauce over this. When it is firmly set, add another layer of cheese, and strew over this some finely-grated bread-crumbs. The sauce may be made thus. Rub a table-spoonful of flour into half an ounce of fresh butter, mix it smoothly over the fire, and add very gradually a breakfast-cupful of water, one pinch of salt, and a small pinch of pepper. Stir it constantly till it boils, then take it from the fire for a minute or two, and add slowly the yolk of an egg mixed with the juice of half a lemon and a tea-spoonful of water. Stir until the whole is well mixed. Brown the cauliflower with a salamander or in a hot oven, pour a little sauce round, and serve hot, as a third course dish. Time to boil the cauliflower, twelve to twenty minutes. Probable cost, 4d. or 6d. each. Sufficient for six persons.