A few very small fat rashers of bacon rolled up and fried are a great improvement to this dish.

CHAPTER XX.

FIFTY RECIPES FOR VEGETABLES

TOMATOES STUFFED

* 6 Tomatoes—­2d. * * 1/4 lb.  Veal Forcemeat—­2d. * * 1 oz.  Cheese—­1 1/2d. * * 6 pieces Fried Bread—­1/2d. * * Total Cost—­6d. * * Time—­10 Minutes * Choose tomatoes of a good colour, and all about the same size; scoop out the centre.  Grate up the cheese and mix it with the forcemeat, put this into the tomatoes; place on a buttered tin, and bake in the oven for ten minutes.  Put each tomato on to a round of fried bread, and serve.

POTATOES IN WHITE SAUCE

* 1 lb.  Potatoes—­1d. * * 1/2 pint White Sauce * * Salt and Pepper—­2d. * * Total Cost—­3d. * * Time—­Half an Hour * Peel and slice the potatoes, put them in water seasoned with salt, and boil for five minutes; strain off the water, make some white sauce by directions given elsewhere.  Lay in the potatoes and simmer gently till they are soft, but not broken; place them on a hot dish and pour the sauce over.

TO BOIL POTATOES

To boil potatoes properly much care and judgement are required.  They should be peeled thinly, and well washed in cold water, but not soaked; put them into a saucepan and kept for this vegetable only.  Just cover them with cold water seasoned with salt, and bring to a boil.  Then simmer very gently for about twenty minutes; test them with a fork, and if soft, strain off the water and toss them in a saucepan over the fire until they are dry.  Some potatoes will not bear boiling as long as this, but begin to break soon after they boil up.  When this is the case, pour off nearly all the water, leaving only one inch at the bottom of the saucepan.  Cook the potatoes slowly in this and then strain off and dry.  Potatoes that are very troublesome to boil often steam well; they must be allowed from an hour to one hour and a half, according to the quantity of water over which they are cooking.

TO BOIL NEW POTATOES

New potatoes may be either scraped while raw, or peeled after boiling; they are a better flavour if cooked in their skins.  In either case they should be well washed in cold water, plunged into boiling water seasoned with salt and a sprig of mint, and boiled quickly until a fork will go through easily; then strain off the water, dry, and serve.

TO BOIL CABBAGE