=To Boil Turnips= (_Garden, White_).--Wash thoroughly, put into clean
water, peel, and throw into cold water. Put into a saucepan of boiling
salted water for half an hour; if tender, drain and dish them on a
drainer, pour over white sauce, or Béchamel sauce.
=To Boil Turnips= (_Swedes, Field Grown_).--Prepare as above, then cut
in quarter and halve these, making the size uniform, boil in salted
water for half an hour, drain, and mash them with a little butter and a
very little hot milk, pepper, and salt. Pile up, and serve hot.
=Turnip Entremets.=--Having peeled your turnips, fry them in butter,
and when they are coloured, add a good tablespoonful of flour, stir
well, and then add some stock, and a very little sugar; cook them over
a slow fire, dish them up, and cover them with the sauce.
=Boiled Turnip Tops.=--Wash the greens thoroughly, and boil for half an
hour in salted water with a tiny piece of soda, drain, and season with
salt and pepper, add a little butter; or, after draining, rub through a
sieve and mix with a little brown sauce.
=Baked Turnips.=--Peel, parboil, and cut into slices, put into a
buttered baking dish, sprinkle with seasoned crumbs, moisten with milk
or stock, and bake until brown.
=Cream Turnips.=--Cut boiled turnips into dice, reheat in a cream or
white sauce, season with salt, pepper, and sugar, and serve on toast.
Add a little grated nutmeg if desired. Brown sauce may be used instead
of white.
=Turnip Charlotte.=--Boil white turnips until tender, drain and rub
them through a sieve. To one cupful of pulp add a quarter of a cupful
of thick cream, salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg to season, and the
stiffly beaten whites of three eggs. Turn into a buttered mould, and
bake in a pan of hot water, until the centre is firm. Turn out and
serve with white or Béchamel sauce.
=Turnip Croquettes.=--Wash, peel, and slice turnips, boil them in
salted water until very soft. Drain, press out the liquid, and wring
dry in a cloth. Season with salt and pepper, mix to a smooth paste with
the beaten yolk of an egg. Cool, shape into croquettes, dip in egg and
then in crumbs, and fry in deep fat.
=Turnips with Sweet Potatoes.=--Boil and mash separately two yellow
turnips and four large sweet potatoes, season with salt, pepper, and
butter, mix, and beat until very light, put into a buttered baking dish
with melted butter, and bake for twenty minutes.
=Glazed Turnips.=--(1) Boil small peeled turnips in rich stock to
cover, for half an hour, add a pinch of sugar, drain, reduce the stock
by rapid boiling. Brown the turnips in the oven, basting with the
stock, and serve very hot.
(2) Peel small turnips, and boil for ten minutes in salted water to
cover. Drain and sauté in butter, sprinkle with sugar, add a little
stock and cook until tender. Season with salt, pepper, and a little
cinnamon and nutmeg (if liked). Thicken the gravy with flour browned
with butter.
=Purée of Turnips.=--Peel, slice, and boil until soft in salted water,
rub through a sieve, season with pepper and salt, and thicken with
a tablespoonful of flour cooked in butter. Add half a cupful of hot
cream, in which a bit of soda has been dissolved, bring to the boil,
take from the fire and add a well beaten egg. Season with a little
onion juice if desired.
=Stuffed Turnips.=--Boil five turnips until soft. Drain, cut a slice
from the top of each and scoop out the pulp. Mash the pulp smoothly,
season with salt, pepper, and butter, sprinkle with flour, moisten with
cream and add the well beaten yolk of an egg. Fill the shells, and put
on the tops. Brush with beaten egg, and brown in the oven.
=Turnips au Gratin.=--Prepare according to directions given for
Cauliflower au gratin.
WITLOEF. _See_ Chicory.
VEGETABLE MARROW (_Cucurbita ovifera._ Ord. _Cucurbitaceæ_).
In its early stages the cultivation of marrows proceeds on the same
lines as that of cucumbers. There are several varieties to select from,
but the long green marrow is probably the best in flavour, and gives a
large return.
The seed should be sown in pots in March or April, and must be grown
in the hotbed. The plants must be kept well watered and warm, and in
May they should be put out on richly prepared ground under cold frames.
Every precaution should be taken to protect them from late frosts.
The vegetable marrow is hardier than the cucumber, and in June, plants
not put out earlier may be planted in well-prepared ground in the open.
Water must be given freely during dry weather, both to the plants in
frames and to those outside.
As the vines grow, the tops should be pinched out to induce them to
break back. And this pinching out should be continued, the shoot being
pinched above each set fruit. This results in short-jointed plants well
crowded with fruit. The lights from the frames may be removed about the
14th of June.
It is a mistake to let the fruit attain its full size before cutting.
Small half-grown marrows are more tender and of far better flavour than
large, hard fruit, which are only suitable for pickling.