A Handbook of Cookery for a Small House

small squares (the appearance of a dish is as important as the taste); boil gently for about half an hour or until tender, strain and serve very hot with a little melted butter poured over them, pepper and salt to taste. Carrots, if very young, must on no account be peeled, but only lightly scraped and then cooked in a covered saucepan till tender. Serve very hot with a little melted butter and a little finely chopped parsley sprinkled over them. Care should be taken not to boil too long as these tender young vegetables are apt to become soft and tasteless. When the carrots are older and bigger they should be carefully peeled and cut in rings about one-eighth of an inch thick. There is also this pretty and appetising way to serve carrots. Cook them as above directed and have ready the following in a lined saucepan (double saucepan): a half pint of boiling milk with salt to taste, one and a half level tablespoonfuls of household flour mixed smoothly in a basin with a half ounce of butter. Should the butter be hard and difficult to mix smooth, place the basin on the stove till the butter is soft enough to handle with a firm spoon. When mixed pour the boiling milk straight into the flour and butter stirring all the time, and always the same way; put back into the double saucepan and stir till it boils, add the cooked carrot and serve very hot as an additional vegetable or as a separate dish. Should the sauce be sticky or too thick judgment which will come with experience will quickly show the error to be a little too much flour or careless mixing. This sauce is also useful to compose a lunch dish with, by adding to it some chopped roast chicken and a thin slice of onion instead of carrots. Serve in a rather deep dish with croutons of fried bread or dry toast round the edge. A tin of prawns can be used instead of chicken in which case a small teaspoonful of anchovy