=To Boil Leeks.=--Prepare the leeks by cutting off the roots, the green
ends, and the outer leaves, cut the stalks into six-inch lengths, put
a tablespoonful of vinegar and one dessertspoonful of salt into a
saucepan of boiling water, tie the leeks into bundles and boil them
gently till they are perfectly tender--three-quarters of an hour or
longer if they are very large--drain them well, and serve on toast with
white sauce poured over them.
=Leeks with Parmesan Cheese.=--Take fifteen leeks, cut them into
two-inch lengths, and put them into cold water, boil them in boiling
salted water, when cooked put them into cold water again, drain and
dry them, fry in butter over a hot fire, add five tablespoonfuls of
white or cream sauce, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and the yolk of a
hard-boiled egg. Mix well together, and put into a baking dish, brown
them in the oven, and serve hot.
=Leek Omelette.=--Make a cheese omelette in the usual way, and when
ready to roll, put in two leeks previously trimmed, and cut up and
stewed in brown sauce.
LENTILS (_Ervum Lens. Leguminosæ_).
Though lentils are not grown in England I give a few dishes, as every
grocer can supply them at a reasonable price.
=To Boil Lentils.=--Soak a breakfast-cupful of lentils overnight; pick
out and throw away those that float, put into two quarts of boiling
salted water, and simmer slowly for an hour and a half. Drain and serve
on toast, putting a little butter on the top of the lentils. The water
in which the lentils were boiled can be used as stock with the addition
of onions, carrots, parsley, and celery.
=Baked Lentils with Nuts.=--Mix a cupful of boiled lentils with half a
cupful of Brazil nuts chopped finely. Season with salt and grated onion.
Put into a buttered baking dish with half a cupful of water. Make a
pastry of two cupfuls flour, and two tablespoonfuls of peanut butter.
Moisten with ice water and roll out into a crust to cover the baking
dish.
Cover and bake for one hour. Serve in the same dish with cream sauce,
drawn butter or tomato sauce.
=Curried Lentils.=--(1) Chop finely three large onions, three green
peppers, one clove of garlic. Brown half a pound of washed lentils
in butter; add the chopped mixture and cold salted water to cover;
boil until tender. Drain and add two sliced onions fried brown, two
tablespoonfuls of butter, and one tablespoonful of curry powder. Serve
with a border of boiled rice.
=Potted Lentil Savoury.=--Take a half pint of cooked lentils, three
ounces of mashed potatoes, two ounces of bread-crumbs, one beaten egg,
a little chopped parsley, a little onion juice, salt and pepper, and
one ounce of butter.
Put all in a pan, and mix well together, with two ounces of grated
cheese, stirring all the time. When cooked turn into a mortar, pound
well, and put into potting dishes, covering the tops with melted
butter. This makes excellent sandwiches with a little mustard spread on.
=Lentil Gruel.=--A useful and highly nutritious food for invalids is
lentil gruel or broth.
To make the gruel, take a dessertspoonful of lentil flour, mix smooth
with some cold milk, and add nearly one pint of milk which has been
brought to the boil. Boil for fifteen minutes and flavour with a little
cinnamon or vanilla. Serve with toast, and sugar to taste.
Lentil flour costs threepence a pound and is similar to Revalenta
Arabica.
=Lentil Porridge.=--Put three ounces of lentil flour, a little salt and
pepper, into half a pint of cold water, stir, and add another half pint
of boiling water, put it on the fire, and boil for twenty minutes, stir
in an ounce of butter before serving, some may like a little barley
meal; it is better for invalids.
=Lentil Croquettes.=--Soak overnight three cupfuls of lentils; drain,
and cook slowly for an hour in boiling water to cover, drain, press
through a sieve, season with salt and pepper, add a spoonful of minced
parsley, two spoonfuls of cream, a teaspoonful of onion juice, and a
dash of grated nutmeg, cool, shape into croquettes, dip in egg and
crumbs, and fry in deep fat; serve with tomato sauce.
=Lentil à l’Egyptien.=--Soak two cupfuls of lentils overnight, drain
and cook until soft in boiling water to cover, boil an equal quantity
of rice. Cook together a can of tomatoes, a chopped onion, a bay leaf,
and a blade of mace, simmer slowly until it has the consistency of
a thick sauce, drain the lentils, mix with the rice and one or two
pounded cardamom seeds. Press the tomatoes through a sieve, add a
heaped tablespoonful of butter, pour over the lentils, and serve.
=Lentil Omelette.=--Make an omelette in the usual way; put on a
tablespoonful of cooked and drained lentils, which have been tossed in
butter; fold the omelette over; serve with tomato sauce.
=An Italian Dish.=--Soak a pint of lentils in cold water for twelve
hours, strain them, put them into hot water, bring to the boiling
point quickly, then simmer slowly for an hour; after draining, cook
them in boiling water till quite soft, pass them through a sieve, add
two ounces of butter, a very little onion juice, salt and pepper, and
stir the whole for a quarter of an hour over the fire, and add two
tablespoonfuls of cream before serving.
=Lentil Toast.=--Thoroughly rinse five ounces of lentils, put into
a small saucepan with enough water to well cover them, cook slowly
till tender and the water is all absorbed--ten to twenty minutes--add
butter, pepper, salt, spread the mixture thickly on hot buttered
toast, and serve with mint sauce; suitable as a supper or breakfast
dish.--_Mrs. C. W. Earle’s recipe._
=Lentil Soup.=--Put a quarter of a pound of brown German lentils to
soak in cold water the day before they are wanted; boil them over a hot
fire, being careful to cover them, and only put enough water to soak
them, draw to one side and simmer slowly, keep adding a little water,
removing from the surface any scum or skins, fry an onion until brown
in butter, add a tablespoonful of flour, and pour into the lentil soup
gradually, stirring well all the time; add hot water if necessary and
salt and pepper to taste. Serve with crusts of fried bread.--_Mrs. C.
W. Earle’s recipe._
LETTUCE (_Lactuca sativa._ Ord. _Compositæ_).
The first sowing should be made early in March, some such early cabbage
variety as “Tom Thumb” or “Commodore Nutt” being selected. This sowing
should be made in a box in the hotbed, and at the same time a sowing
both of early and later sorts may go into the cold frame or warm border
for succession. As soon as the seedlings are up the box must go into
the cold frame to harden the plants off, and early in April they may
be pricked out in a warm bed, six inches apart. Any surplus seedlings
here or in the cold frame should go into the salad bowl. Indeed these
lettuce thinnings are so useful, that it is almost worth while to grow
them like mustard and cress for cutting when the leaves are but three
inches long.
Towards the middle of March sowings may be made out of doors of both
cos and cabbage varieties. These sowings should be repeated about every
three weeks through the spring and summer. As the plants come on they
should be pricked out a foot apart in between other crops and in any
odd corner. If lettuces be put out about May 14 between the third and
fourth sowing of peas, it is a good way of ensuring succession to put
out a main crop lettuce a foot apart and dib in the intervals a “Tom
Thumb.” The latter will come to maturity and be off the ground well out
of the way of the larger sort.
In hot, dry soils we find that the cos lettuce is very apt to run to
seed without forming heart. On this account some such sort of cabbage
lettuce as “Standwell” is preferred for these soils. In a good garden
soil the White Paris cos cannot be beaten for general use.
About mid-July it is well to sow a row of cabbage lettuce on the ridge
between celery trenches. This sowing should be made very thinly indeed.
When the plants are nicely up they may be thinned to nine inches, and
the thinnings transplanted if there be room for them. It will be found
that the plants grown from first to last in the same place will stand
summer heat better than those that are transplanted, and will also come
in before them.
Early in August a last outdoor sowing of “Tom Thumb” should give
plants that will, some of them, provide outdoor salad in October, and
some, put into a cold frame, will last well into November or even to
Christmas.
Lettuces require an open, rich soil and plenty of moisture to grow
them in perfection. A slight dressing of nitrate in showery weather,
as soon as they are well established from planting out, will push
them forward rapidly, and is specially important for autumn lettuces.
During dry weather water must be freely given; in order to facilitate
the application of water it is well to prick out the later plants into
shallow trenches or drills.