Peas, Stewed Green
INGREDI- ENTS for dish for 4 or 5 persons.-1 peck of peas, 1 lettuce, 1 onion, 2 oz. of butter, pepp pepper and salt to taste, 1 egg, ½ teaspoonful of powdered sugar.
This delicious vegetable, to be eaten in perfection, should be young, and not gathered or shelled long before it is dressed.
Shell the peas, wash them well in cold water and drain them; then put them into a to which salt and moist sugar have been saucepan with plenty of fast-boiling water, added in the above proportion; let them boil quickly over a brisk fire, with the lid of the saucepan removed, and be careful that the smoke does not draw in. When tender, pour them into a colander; put them into a hot vegetable-dish, and quite in the centre of the peas place a piece of butter the size of a walnut. Many cooks boil a small bunch of mint with the peas, or garnish them with it, by boiling a few sprigs in a saucepan by themselves. Should the peas be very old, and difficult to boil a good colour, a very tiny piece of soda may be thrown in the water previous to putting them in; but this must be very sparingly used, as it causes the peas, when boiled, to have a smashed and broken appearance.
With young peas there is not the slightest which, if well soaked and properly cooked, form occasion to use it.
TIME. Young peas, 10 to 15 minutes; the large sorts, such as marrowfats, &c., 18 to 24 minutes old peas, 1/2 hour.
SEASONABLE from June to the end of August.
Peas, Green, à la Française. - INGREDIENTS for dish for 4 or 5 persons.- 1 peck of green peas, 3 oz. of fresh butter, a bunch of parsley, 6 green onions, flour, a small lump of sugar, ½ teaspoonful of salt, a teaspoonful of flour. AVERAGE COST, 1s.
Shell sufficient fresh-gathered peas to fill 2 quarts; put them into cold water with the above proportion of butter, and stir them about until they are well covered with the butter; drain them in a colander, and put them in a stewpan with the parsley and onions; dredge over them a little flour, stir the peas well, and moisten them with boiling water; boil them quickly over a large fire for 20 minutes, or until there is no liquor remaining. Dip a small lump of sugar into some water, that it may soon melt; put it with the peas, to which add 1/2 teaspoonful of salt. Take a piece of butter the size of a walnut, work it together with a teaspoonful of flour, and add this to the peas, which should be boiling when it is put in. Keep shaking the stew- Shell the peas, and cut the onion and lettuce into slices; put these into a stewpan with the butter, pepper and salt, but with no more water than that which hangs around the lettuce from washing. Stew the whole very gently for rather more than 1 hour; then stir in a well-beaten egg, and about 1/2 teaspoonful of powdered sugar.
When the peas, &c., are nicely thickened, serve; but, after the egg is added, do not allow them to boil.
TIME.-1 hour.
SEASONABLE from June to the end of August.
Note. A good substitute for green peas may be found in those prepared by Hall and Co., an excellent vegetable.