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Some Kitchen Kinks: Beat
Beat the butter and flour together until creamy, then stir into the contents of the stewpan. Simmer ten minutes, being careful not to scorch the sauce; serve very hot.
Cabbage with Sausage. 6 sausages. 1 quart minced cabbage. 1½ teaspoonful pepper.
Salt. if necessary.
Fry the sausages crisp and brown.
Take from the frying pan and pour off all but three tablespoonsful of the fat. Put the minced cabbage in the frying pan and cook six minutes.
Arrange in a hot dish and garnish with the sausages. Serve mashed potatoes with this dish. Purée of Cabbage and Potatoes. 1 pint boiled finely-minced cabbage. 6 medium-sized potatoes. 2 tablespoonsful butter or savory drippings. 2 teaspoonsful salt. 1/2 teaspoonful pepper. 1/2 pint hot milk.
Peel the potatoes and put them in a stewpan with boiling water enough to cover them. Cook just thirty minutes. Pour off the water and mash fine and light. Beat in the hot milk, seasoning, and cabbage. Cook about five minutes longer.
Cauliflower.-This vegetable, which a few years ago was a luxury, is now cultivated by nearly all market gardeners, and is within the means of all housekeepers. It is a most delicious vegetable, when properly cooked, and vile when improperly cooked, which generally means when overcooked.
Remove all the large green leaves and the greater part of the stalk. Put the head down in a pan of cold water which contains to each quart a teaspoonful of salt and a teaspoonful of vinegar. Let it soak in this water an hour or more. This is to draw out worms, if any should be hidden in the vegetable. When ready to cook the cauliflower put it into a large stewpan, stem end down, and cover generously with boiling water. Add a tablespoonful of salt and cook with the cover of the saucepan partially off, boiling gently all the time. A large, compact head will require a full half hour, small heads from twenty to twenty-five minutes. If the flowers are loose the heat penetrates to all parts quickly. When compact a little extra time should be allowed for the cooking, but the time must never exceed the half hour.
The cauliflower begins to deteriorate the moment it begins to be overcooked.
Overcooking, which is very common, can be told by the strong flavor and dark color. It makes the vegetable not only unpleasant to the eye and palate, but indigestible also. If this vegetable must be kept warm for any length of time, cover the dish with a piece of cheese cloth. In hotels and restaurants it is better to blanch it, chill with cold water, and then heat in salted boiling water when needed.
Creamed Cauliflower. 1 pint cooked cauliflower. 1 pint milk. 1 teaspoonful salt. 1/3 teaspoonful pepper. 1 tablespoonful butter. 1/2 tablespoonful flour. 3 slices toasted bread.
APPENDIX Have the cooked cauliflower broken into branches and seasoned with half the salt and pepper. Put the butter in a saucepan and on the fire. When hot add the flour and stir until smooth and frothy, then gradually add the milk, stirring all the time.
When the sauce boils add the salt, pepper, and the cauliflower. Cook 10 minutes and dish on the slices of toast. Serve very hot.
Broccoli. This vegetable is a species of cauliflower and can be cooked and served in the same manner.