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Jardiniere
With a small vegetable scoop dig out two medium-sized carrots and one good-sized turnip. Place them in a saucepan with a pint water and two saltspoons salt and let cook until soft, about thirty minutes. Drain the vegetables on a sieve and see that they are thoroughly dry. Put them back in the same saucepan with a light tablespoon butter, adding three tablespoons canned green peas, three tablespoons canned string beans cut into half-inch pieces, half a teaspoon fine sugar and a light saltspoon grated nutmeg. Mix all well together with a wooden spoon without mashing the vegetables, let slowly cook on the corner of the range for five minutes, and it will be ready for use. A piece of cauliflower and two tablespoons asparagus tips, cut into small pieces, and a few very small Brussels sprouts, all cooked separately, can be added to the jardiniere, if at hand.
A classic garnish of turned or scooped vegetables, meant to sit alongside a roast or braise rather than stand alone. The only real skill is in the knife work and in not letting the finished mixture turn to mush.
- The vegetable scoopThis is a parisienne scoop or small melon baller, used to cut carrot and turnip into uniform small balls. Trimmings are worth keeping for stock; a whole turnip yields surprisingly little once scooped.
- SaltspoonA saltspoon is a quarter teaspoon, so two saltspoons of salt for a pint of water is about half a teaspoon, and the nutmeg is a scant quarter teaspoon.
- Thirty minutes is too longThirty minutes is likely longer than needed -- small carrot and turnip balls in salted water are usually tender in eight to twelve minutes. Cook to a knife point rather than a clock, and drain the moment they yield.
- Drying mattersThe instruction to get them thoroughly dry on a sieve is the hinge of the dish. Wet vegetables will not take on the butter, and the finish comes out watery rather than glossy.
- "The corner of the range"On a wood or coal range this was generally the coolest part of the top. Use the lowest burner setting, and shake the pan rather than stir if you can; a wooden spoon can break the peas.
- Canned peas and beansCanned vegetables here are already fully cooked and soft, which is why they go in only at the end. Frozen peas and fresh beans blanched two minutes work better and hold their shape and colour.
- Optional additionsCauliflower, asparagus tips and Brussels sprouts are all cooked separately for a reason: their timings differ wildly, and boiling them together muddies both flavour and colour.
- YieldAs written this makes a garnish for perhaps four to six beside a piece of meat. Double or triple it if you want a vegetable side dish.