Mrs. Beeton's Dictionary of Every-Day Cookery: The "All About It" Books

perfectly tender, as in the preceding recipe. If the water should boil away, replenish it with a little more cold, which makes the skin of the beans tender. Let them be very thoroughly done; drain them well; then add to them the butter, minced parsley, and a seasoning of pepper and salt. Keep moving the stewpan over the fire without using a spoon, as this would break the beans; and, when the various ingredients are well mixed with them, squeeze in the lemon-juice, and serve very hot. _Time._—From 2 to 2½ hours to boil the beans. _Average cost_, 4_d._ per quart. _Sufficient_ for 4 or 5 persons. _Seasonable_ in winter. BÉCHAMEL, or French White Sauce. _Ingredients._—1 small bunch of parsley, 2 cloves, ½ bay-leaf, 1 small bunch of savoury herbs, salt to taste; 3 or 4 mushrooms, when obtainable; 2 pints of white stock, 1 pint of milk or cream, 1 tablespoonful of arrowroot. _Mode._—Put the stock into a stewpan, with the parsley, cloves, bay-leaf, herbs, and mushrooms; add a seasoning of salt, but no pepper, as that would give the sauce a dusty appearance, and should be avoided. When it has boiled long enough to extract the flavour of the herbs, &c., strain it, and boil it up quickly again, until it is nearly half reduced. Now mix the arrowroot smoothly with the milk or cream, and let it simmer very gently for 5 minutes over a slow fire; pour to it the stock, and continue to simmer slowly for 10 minutes, if the sauce be thick. If, on the contrary, it be too thin, it must be stirred over a sharp fire till it thickens. Always make it thick, as it can easily be thinned with cream, milk, or white stock. This sauce is excellent for pouring over boiled fowls. _Time._—Altogether, 2 hours. _Average cost_, 3_s._ per quart, with cream at 1_s._ 6_d._ per pint. BÉCHAMEL MAIGRE, or Without Meat. _Ingredients._—2 onions, 1 blade of mace, mushroom trimmings, a small bunch of parsley, 1 oz. of butter, flour, ½ pint of water, 1 pint of milk, salt, the