Parboil them; then, after cutting lengthwise, _sauté_ them to a light-brown in a little hot butter or drippings.
This is undoubtedly the best manner of cooking parsnips: Scrape, and, if large, cut them; put them into well-salted boiling water, and boil until tender; then mash them, adding to four or five parsnips a heaping tea-spoonful of flour, one or two eggs well beaten, pepper and salt to taste. Form the mixture into small cakes three-quarters of an inch thick and two and a half inches in diameter, and fry them on both sides to a delicate brown in a _sauté_ pan, with a little hot butter. Serve hot.
are best made into little cakes, as described for parsnip fritters. They may, however, be made smaller, in order to imitate fried oysters.
As you scrape them, throw them into a bowl of cold water, in which is mixed a table-spoonful of vinegar. When all are scraped, cut them either into half-inch lengths, or lengthwise into four pieces, which again cut into three-inch lengths; throw them into boiling water, in which are half a tea-spoonful of salt and one-third of a tea-spoonful of sugar to one quart of water. When done, drain, and mix them with white sauce, either drawn butter or a simple Bechamel.
The best mode of cooking carrots is to boil them with corned beef, and then serve them as a garnish around the meat. Carrots require a longer time to boil than almost any other vegetable. If large, boil them an hour and a half. It improves their appearance to cut them into shapes of balls or pears before boiling; or they may be cut into half-inch slices, and then shaped with the tin cutters (see page 55). These come in different sizes.
If they are winter beets, soak them overnight; in any case, be very careful not to prick or cut the skin before boiling, as they will then lose their color; put them into boiling water, and boil until tender. If they are served hot, pour a little melted butter, pepper, and salt over them. They are often served cold, cut into slices, with some vinegar over them, or cut into little dice and mixed with other cold vegetables, for a winter salad.
Trim off the outside leaves, and put the cauliflower into well-salted boiling water. Be careful to take it out as soon as tender, to prevent it dropping into pieces. Make, in a saucepan, a white sauce as follows: Put butter the size of an egg into the saucepan, and when it bubbles stir in a scant half tea-cupful of flour; stir well with an egg-whisk until cooked; then add two tea-cupfuls of thin cream, some pepper and salt. Stir it over the fire until perfectly smooth. Pour the sauce over the cauliflower, and serve. Many let the cauliflower simmer in the sauce a few moments before serving. The _sauce Hollandaise_ is very fine for cauliflower.