Stew them gently in water, stock, or milk, until quite tender, adding pepper and salt to taste.
Then thicken the gravy with a little flour, and let it cook well, stirring carefully.
Before serving, stir in a little cream or butter.
Take thin peelings of potatoes, and twist into fancy shapes, or cut the potatoes into thin slices.
Dry them well in a cloth, and drop them into hot fat (_see_ French Frying) until quite crisp, and of a light brown colour.
Remove them with a fish-slice or colander-spoon, and drain them on kitchen paper.
_Ingredients_--6 or 8 ripe tomatoes. 1 oz. of butter. ½ oz. of flour. 1 gill of stock or milk. 1 dessertspoonful of chopped parsley. 1 dessertspoonful of chopped cooked ham. 1 dessertspoonful of grated Parmesan cheese. A few button mushrooms, chopped. A few drops of lemon juice. Some white and browned bread-crumbs. Pepper and salt.
_Method._--Melt the butter in a small stewpan.
Then add the stock or milk; stir and cook well.
Then mix in sufficient white bread-crumbs to make the mixture stiff.
Add the parsley, mushrooms, cheese, ham, lemon-juice, pepper, and salt.
Pile a little of the stuffing on each, and sprinkle a few browned bread-crumbs over.
Put them on a greased baking-sheet, and cook them in a moderate oven for about a quarter of an hour.
_Ingredients_--1 cauliflower. 1 oz. of butter. 1 oz. of flour. 1 gill of water. 2 tablespoonfuls of cream. 2 oz. of grated Parmesan cheese. Pepper, salt, and a little cayenne.
_Method._--Boil the cauliflower; remove the green leaves.
Place it, with the flower upwards, in a vegetable-dish, and press it into an oval shape.
Then add the cream, and one ounce of Parmesan cheese, pepper, salt, and cayenne.
Sprinkle the remainder of the cheese over it, and brown, either with a salamander or in a quick oven.
_Ingredients_--2 lb. of potatoes. 2 oz. of butter. 2 eggs. Pepper and salt. Some white bread-crumbs.
_Method._--Boil the potatoes, and rub them through a wire sieve.
Mash them well with the butter, pepper, and salt.
Flour the hands very slightly, and form the mixture in balls, or any other shape preferred.
Brush them over with beaten egg, and cover them with crumbs.
Slightly mould them again when the crumbs are on them.
Fry in a frying-basket, in hot fat (_see_ French Frying).