Cook celery, bacon fat, and onion in the frying pan for ten minutes; dredge with flour, put in baking dish, add stock (first rinsing frying pan with a little of it), cover, and bake in a moderate oven an hour and a half. Serve on toast. Add salt to stock if necessary.

253.--CREAMED CELERY ROOT (Celeriac) WITH CHEESE

Peel celery root, cut in half-inch cubes, and cook until tender in boiling salted water, to which a tablespoon of vinegar has been added.

To three cups of root add one and one-half cups of White Sauce (see No.

207); put into a baking dish, sprinkle with a third of a cup of grated cheese, and place in a hot oven until cheese melts. Celery may be used in place of celery root.

254.--SOUTHERN CORN PUDDING

1 tablespoon bacon fat 1 egg well beaten 1/2 green pepper chopped 1 cup milk 1 slice onion chopped 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 can corn chopped 1/4 teaspoon paprika 2 tablespoons dried bread crumbs 2 slices bacon chopped fine

Cook pepper and onion in bacon fat five minutes; add corn, crumbs, egg, milk, and seasonings; pour into a greased baking dish, sprinkle with the chopped bacon, and bake in a slow oven until firm, or about twenty-five minutes.

855.--CUc.u.mBERS SAUTeED

Peel two cuc.u.mbers, cut in halves crosswise, slice in one-third-inch slices lengthwise, and soak in salted water for one hour; drain, dry, dip in flour seasoned with salt and pepper, and saute in hot fat until brown. Serve on toast.

256.--CARROTS SAUTeED

Select very small carrots; wash, sc.r.a.pe, and cook until tender in boiling salted water. Drain, dredge with flour, and saute in fat until brown.

257.--CARROTS VINAIGRETTE

4 cups carrots cut in half-inch cubes 3/4 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup vinegar 1 tablespoon shortening

Cook carrots in boiling salted water until tender, and drain; heat vinegar, sugar, and shortening to the boiling point, add carrots, and cook slowly half an hour, stirring occasionally.

258.--BAKED EGG PLANT

1 small egg plant 1/4 teaspoon paprika 1 onion finely chopped 1/2 cup boiling water 1 cup soft stale bread crumbs 2 tablespoons b.u.t.ter 1 teaspoon salt

Pare and slice egg plant, cut into half-inch cubes, soak in cold salted water half an hour, and drain; mix with onion, crumbs, and seasonings, and put into a greased baking dish; add boiling water, dot over with b.u.t.ter, and bake one hour in a moderate oven.

259.--FRIED EGG PLANT

Cut a small egg plant in one-third-inch slices; pare; cut each slice in quarters; soak in cold salted water for half an hour; drain; season with pepper and salt, dip in crumbs, then in egg, and then in crumbs again; and fry in deep fat about three minutes. Or dip in flour and saute in b.u.t.ter.

260.--EGG PLANT JULIENNE

Cut egg plant in two-inch slices, and pare; cut into quarter-inch vertical slices, and cut slices into quarter-inch strips; soak in cold salted water for half an hour; drain; dry, and fry in deep fat about three minutes.

261.--CREAMED LEEKS

Cut off tops of two bunches of leeks, and soak in cold water ten minutes; drain, and cook in boiling salted water about twenty minutes, or until tender; drain, and serve with White Sauce (see No. 207). The tops may be used for flavoring soups.

262.--ONIONS IN POTATO NESTS

1 quart small white onions 1/8 teaspoon pepper 1 tablespoon b.u.t.ter 1 tablespoon b.u.t.ter 6 potatoes 1/4 cup hot milk 1/3 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Peel onions and cook in boiling salted water about one hour, or until tender; drain, and add b.u.t.ter. Pare, boil, and mash potatoes, season with pepper and salt, add b.u.t.ter and hot milk, and beat until light; shape potato into small nests with a spoon, or force through a bag and a rose tube. Fill with onions and sprinkle with parsley.

263.--GREEN PEAS (Canned)

Remove from can and rinse with cold water; put in saucepan, cover with cold water, bring to boiling point, and drain. Season with one-half teaspoon salt, one-fourth teaspoon pepper, one tablespoon b.u.t.ter, and two tablespoons of milk.

264.--PEAS AND LETTUCE

1 head lettuce 1 tablespoon b.u.t.ter 1/2 cup stock or water 1 tablespoon flour 3/4 teaspoon salt 1 can peas 1/8 teaspoon pepper 1 sprig mint 1 teaspoon sugar

Wash lettuce, drain, and chop; add stock and salt, and simmer half an hour; add pepper and sugar, and thicken with b.u.t.ter and flour blended together; add peas drained from their liquor, and mint, and simmer ten minutes. Remove mint before serving.

265.--STUFFED GREEN PEPPERS

6 green peppers 1/2 cup tomatoes 2 tablespoons bacon fat 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon grated onion 1/4 cup b.u.t.tered crumbs 1 cup cooked rice

Cut off one inch of the tops of peppers, and chop the tops; remove seeds and veins from peppers, scald with boiling water, and drain; cook chopped pepper with onion in the bacon fat for five minutes; add rice, tomatoes, and salt; fill peppers, cover with crumbs, place in a baking dish or in individual ramekins, and bake in a moderate oven half an hour.

266.--BOILED POTATOES

Wash potatoes, pare as thin as possible, remove the eyes, and soak in cold water from fifteen minutes to one hour, according to the age of the potato; cook in boiling salted water about half an hour, or until tender, allowing one tablespoon of salt to two quarts of boiling water.

Drain, and dry on the back of the range or in the front of the oven with the door open. Serve very hot in an uncovered dish.

267.--BAKED POTATOES

Select medium-sized potatoes, scrub well, place in tin pan, and bake in a hot oven for about forty minutes.

268.--CREAMED POTATOES

2 cups raw potato b.a.l.l.s 1 cup White Sauce (see No. 207) or half-inch cubes 1 teaspoon finely chopped parsley 1 slice onion

Cook potatoes with the onion in boiling salted water until tender; drain; remove the onion, mix with sauce, and sprinkle with parsley. If potato b.a.l.l.s are used, cover unused potato with water and save for soup.