Page:Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management.djvu/927

Rh Time.—10 minutes to boil the beans, 15 minutes to stew them in the stock. Average Cost, unshelled, 6d. to 10d. per peck. Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons. Seasonable in July and August.

Ingredients.—1½ pints of shelled beans, ¾ of a pint of good brown stock, ½ a glass of sherry, 1 oz. of butter, 1 oz. of flour, 1 small onion finely chopped, 1 teaspoonful of finely-chopped parsley, 6 or 8 button mushrooms, 1 bay-leaf, 2 or 3 sprigs of thyme, salt and pepper, lemon-juice.

Method.—Shell the beans, put them into boiling water, boil rapidly for 6 or 7 minutes, then drain, and remove the skins. Have the stock ready boiling in a stewpan, add to it the beans, onion, thyme, and bay-leaf, season with salt and pepper, and simmer gently from 20 to 30 minutes, according to the age of the beans. Meanwhile fry the mushrooms for a few minutes in the hot butter without browning, then transfer them to the stewpan containing the beans. Add the flour to the butter, cook over the fire until it acquires a nut-brown colour, then strain in the stock from the other stewpan, and stir until a perfectly smooth sauce is obtained. Season to taste, add the parsley, sherry and lemon-juice, the beans and mushrooms, and when thoroughly hot, serve. If liked, the dish may be garnished with tiny rolls of crisply-fried bacon, croûtes of fried bread, or potato croûtes (see recipe No. 1576). The sherry and mushrooms may be omitted, and the dish would then be Broad Beans with Brown Sauce. Vegetarians could substitute vegetable stock or milk for the meat stock.

Time.—From 35 to 40 minutes. Average Cost, 1s. to 1s. 3d. Sufficient for 6 or 7 persons. Seasonable in July and August.

See Lima, or Butter Beans. Recipe No. 1525.

Ingredients.—Broccoli. To each ½ gallon of water allow 1 heaped tablespoonful of salt.

Method.—Strip off the dead leaves, and cut off the inside ones level with the flower, cut off the stalk close to the bottom, and put the broccoli into cold salt and water or vinegar and water with the heads downwards. Let them remain for about ¾ of an hour, then put them into a saucepan of boiling water, salted in the above proportion, and keep them boiling gently with the stalk upwards and the saucepan uncovered. Take them up with a slice the moment they are done; drain them well, and serve with a tureen of melted butter, a little of which should be