"We live not upon what we eat, but upon what we digest."

We come now to consider the middle courses of dinner in which lies the crux of the difficulty to the aspirant who wishes to contrive such without recourse to the flesh-pots. This is where, too, we must find the answer to those half-curious wholly sceptical folks who ask us, "Whatever do you have for dinner?" Most of them will grant that we may get a few decent soups, though no doubt they retain a sneaking conviction that at best these are "unco wersh," and puddings or sweets are almost exclusively vegetarian. But how to compensate for that little bit of chicken, ox, or pig—no one now-a-days owns to taking much meat!—is beyond the utmost efforts of their imagination. Of course we can't have everything. When a "reformed" friend of mine was asserting that we could have no end of delicacies, one lady triumphantly remarked "Anyhow, you can't have a leg of mutton." That is true, but then we must remember that it's not polite to speak of "legs," especially with young ladies learning cooking. Liver or kidneys are not particularly nice things to speak about either, and I am sure if we reflected on what their place is in the economy of the body, we should think them still less nice to eat.

But joking apart, there is a growing tendency to get as far away as we can from their origin in the serving of meat dishes. The old-time huge joints, trussed hares, whole sucking pigs, &c., are fast vanishing from our tables, and the smart chef exerts himself to produce as many recherche and mysterious little made dishes as possible. Not a few of these are quite innocent of meat, indeed, that is the complaint urged against them by those who believe that in flesh only can we have proper sustenance. But little research is needed, however, to show that apart from flesh foods there are immense and only partially developed resources in the shape of cereals, pulses, nuts, &c., and, it is to these that we must look for our staple solid foods. In a small work like this it is impossible to do much more than indicate the lines upon which to go, but I shall try to give as many typical dishes as I can, and to suggest, rather than detail, variations and adaptations.

We must first study very briefly the various food elements, and learn the most wholesome and suitable combination of these. In an ordinary three-course dinner we must arrange to have a savoury that will fitly follow the soup and precede the sweets. Thus, if we have a light, clear, or white soup, we shall want a fairly substantial savoury, and if the soup has been rather satisfying it must be followed by a lighter course.

The lightest savouries are prepared mostly from starch foods, as rice, macaroni, &c., while for the richer and more substantial we have recourse to peas, beans, lentils, and nuts.

The first set of savouries given are of the lighter description, and are well suited to take the place of the fish course at dinner.

LIGHT SAVOURIES.

Fillets of Mock Sole.

Bring to boil 1/2 pint milk and stir in 2 ozs. ground rice or 3 ozs. flaked rice. Add 1 oz. butter, teaspoonful grated onion, and a pinch of mace. Add also three large tablespoonfuls of potato which has been put through a masher or sieve, mix, and let all cook for 10 to 20 minutes. As the mixture should be fairly stiff this can best be done in a steamer or double boiler. When removed from the fire add 1 egg and 1 yolk well beaten. Mix thoroughly and turn out on flat dish not quite 1/2 inch thick, and allow to get quite cold. Divide into fillet-shaped pieces, brush over with white of egg beaten up, toss in fine bread crumbs and fry in deep smoking-hot fat. Drain, and serve very hot, garnished with thin half or quarter slices of lemon, and hand round Dutch sauce in tureen.

Fillets of Artichoke.

Boil some Jerusalem Artichokes till tender, but not too soft, cut in neat slices, and egg, crumb, and fry as above.

Chinese Artichokes.

Salsify, Scorzonera, &c., may be done in same way. Serve with Dutch or tomato sauce. A variety is made by simply boiling or steaming in milk and water. Drain, and serve with parsley or other sauce poured over.

Celery Fritters.

Get a good-sized head of well-blanched celery, trim and cut in small pieces, put in salted boiling water for a few minutes, then drain. Into a stewpan, or much better a steamer or double boiler, put 1/2 oz. butter, and into that shred a very small Spanish onion or a few heads of spring onion or shallots. Add the drained celery, one or two spoonfuls milk, salt, white pepper, and pinch mace. Allow to cook till quite tender then pour over a slice of bread free from crust and crumbled down. If the bread is not moist enough add a little hot milk. Allow to stand for a time, then drain away any superfluous moisture. The difficulty is to get this dry enough, and that is why a double saucepan is much better than an open pan, in which it is scarcely possible to cook dry enough without burning. Make a sauce with 1/2 oz. butter, 1/2 oz. flour, and 1/2 gill milk, and when it thickens add the panada, celery, &c. Stir over gentle heat till the mixture is quite smooth and leaves the sides of the pan. Remove from the fire and mix in one or two beaten eggs. Turn out to cool, shape into fritters, and fry as mock sole.

Cauliflower Fritters

are made same as above, with cauliflower in place of celery.

Note.—The eggs in this and mock sole may be left out, though they are an improvement and help to bind the mixture together. Variety can be obtained by varying the seasonings, adding a little lemon juice or Tarragon vinegar, &c., either to the mixture or to the sauce.

Macaroni Omelet.

Boil 2 ozs. short cut macaroni in salted boiling water, and drain. Put 3 dessertspoonfuls flour in a basin, smooth with a little cold milk, and pour a breakfast-cupful boiling milk over it, stirring vigorously all the time. Add one or two spoonfuls of cream—or a little fresh dairy butter or nut butter beat to a cream—2 beaten eggs, teaspoonful minced parsley, same of grated onion, the macaroni, a large cup bread crumbs, seasoning of pepper, salt, &c. Mix very well. Put in buttered pie-dish and bake 30 to 40 minutes in brisk oven. Turn out and serve with brown or tomato sauce. Some grated cheese may be added if liked.

Macaroni Cutlets.

Boil 3 or 4 ozs. macaroni in salted water for 15 minutes. Drain, and stew or steam till very tender along with some shred onion and tomatoes previously fried together, without browning, in 1 oz. butter. If too dry add a very little milk. When quite tender mix in enough bread crumbs to make a rather stiff consistency, also 1 or 2 ozs. grated cheese. Mix well over the fire. Add a beaten egg, pinch mace, and any other seasoning. Mix well again, turn out to cool, form into pear-shaped cutlets, egg, crumb, and fry in usual way.

Macaroni Egg Cutlets

are made by adding 2 finely chopped hard boiled eggs to the above mixture. Add when macaroni is cooked, along with crumbs, raw egg, seasoning, &c.

Celery Egg Cutlets

are made by adding the hard-boiled eggs to the mixture for celery fritters. Both of these are specially delicious, and this forms an excellent way of using up cold cooked stuff—savoury rice, vermicelli, &c.—so that one can have a dainty savoury with very little trouble. This is of no little importance in an age when so many demands are made upon the time and energy of the average housewife, and one would do well to study while preparing any dish requiring a good deal of care and labour, to have sufficient over to make a fricassee of some sort for another time.

Rice and Lentil Mould

comes in very handy in this way. Put 1 oz. butter in saucepan and shred into it very finely a large Spanish onion or an equal quantity white of small onions or leeks. Cover, and allow to sweat over gentle heat for 10 minutes. Some finely shred white celery along with the onions is a welcome addition, but is not indispensable. Pick and wash well 1/4 lb. yellow lentils and bring to boil in water to cover. Do the same with 3 ozs. rice. The lentils and rice may be boiled together, but are nicer done separately. Add to onion, &c., in saucepan, along with seasoning to taste of curry powder, &c. Some tomato pulp or chutney is very good. Mix lightly so as not to make it pasty. Remove from fire, add a beaten egg, and press into a plain buttered mould. Tie down with buttered paper and steam for one hour. Turn out and serve with tomato sauce. It may also be garnished with slices of hard-boiled egg, beetroot, fried tomatoes, &c.

Kedgeree.

A very good kedgeree is made with much the same ingredients as above. The lentils may be left out, and chopped tomato or carrot flaked (on one of those threesome graters is best) and fried along with the onion, may be used instead. The rice must be boiled as for curry and made very dry. Boil 2 or 3 eggs hard, chop finely, and mix with the other ingredients in saucepan. Make all very hot, and serve piled up on hot dish with any suitable garnish and curry or tomato sauce. A spoonful finely chopped parsley would be an improvement to both this and rice mould. Fried parley and thin slices of lemon make a suitable garnish for this and similar dishes, while parsley fried in fat at a low temperature, 200 degrees, crushed and sprinkled over a mould, cutlets, &c., both looks and tastes good. Any kedgeree that is left over will make excellent cutlets for breakfast, &c.

Macaroni Mould

is made by using cooked macaroni instead of rice in recipe for rice mould.

Macaroni Timbale.

Boil 6 ozs. long pipe macaroni—in as long pieces as convenient—in salted boiling water 20 to 25 minutes, and drain. Have a plain mould—a small enamel pudding basin is best—butter it well, and line closely round it with the macaroni. Fill in with any savoury mixture, such as lentils, tomatoes, mushrooms, celery, carrots, &c. Put more strips of macaroni or a slice of buttered bread on the top. Cover with buttered paper and steam 1-1/2 hours. Turn out and serve with sauce. Garnish suitably, cooked tomatoes, &c.

Roman Pie

Boil 4 ozs. macaroni and drain. Butter a pie-dish and put in half the macaroni. Scald 4 or 5 tomatoes in boiling water for a few minutes, when the skin will come off easily. Boil 2 eggs hard and slice. Have 2 ozs. cheese grated, and sprinkle half of it over the macaroni, then put half of the eggs and half the tomatoes. Season with salt, pepper, and a little grated onion (I keep an old grater for the purpose). Take 8 or 10 medium-sized flap mushrooms, if to be had, clean and trim, removing the stalks. Add a layer of them, and repeat as before, but put the mushrooms before the tomatoes. Cover the top thickly with bread-crumbs. Make a stock with the trimmings of mushrooms and tomatoes. Put dessertspoonful butter in saucepan, stir in half teaspoon flour, same of made mustard, and perhaps a little ketchup. Add the stock—there should be about a teacupful—stir till it boils, and pour equally over the pie. Dot over with bits of butter, and bake one hour in fairly brisk oven.

In case this pie may be voted rather elaborate by some, I may say that it is excellent with several of the items left out. The eggs, mushrooms, cheese—any one of these, or all three may be dispensed with, and what may be lost in richness and flavour will be compensated in delicacy and digestibility. Any of this pie that is left over may be made into cutlets, so that one can have a second dish with little extra trouble.

NOTE.—When fresh tomatoes are not to be had tinned ones will do.

Tomato and Rice Pie.

Wash well a teacupful good rice—Patna is best for this dish as it does not become so pulpy as the Carolina—and put on with cold water to cover and a little salt. Allow to cook slowly till it has absorbed all the water. Add a little more if too dry, but do not stir. Peel 1 lb. tomatoes, cut in 1/2 inch slices and put a layer in buttered pie-dish. Put in the rice—or as much of it as wanted—sprinkle with curry and seasoning to taste. Put rest of tomatoes on top, more seasoning, and layer of bread-crumbs. Put plenty of butter on top and bake 3/4 hour.

Note.—Tinned tomatoes may be used when fresh ones are not at hand. Any of the dishes with tomatoes, rice, &c., may have grated cheese or hard-boiled eggs added at discretion, and in this way the several dishes may be varied and adapted to suit different tastes and requirements.

Casserole of Rice.

Wash well 6 ozs. whole rice and drain. Melt in saucepan 2 ozs. butter or 1-1/2 ozs. Nut Butter. Put in rice with as much white stock or water as will cover it, a little salt, pinch mace if liked, and allow to simmer very slowly or steam in double boiler till quite soft. Stir well, and if too stiff add a little more water, but it must not be 'sloppy.' Beat well till quite smooth and set aside to cool. Butter plain mould and line with rice nearly an inch thick. Fill in with any savoury materials, such as tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, celery, fried slices of carrot, lentils, &c. An hour before dinner cover with buttered paper and steam. Turn out on hot dish, cut a round off the top, and either serve as it is with garnish and sauce, or brush over with beaten egg, sprinkle with fine crumbs, and brown in brisk oven.

Vegetable Goose.

Put 2 teacupfuls crumbs in basin and pour boiling water or milk over. Let soak for a little, then press out as much moisture as possible. Add dessertspoonful grated onion, teaspoonful chopped parsley, pinch herbs or mace, salt, white pepper, 1/2 teaspoonful "Extract," and some mushroom ketchup. Mix all well, and add a beaten egg to bind. If too stiff add a little milk, stock, or gravy. Put in flat well-buttered baking-tin, and bake for about an hour, basting occasionally with butter or vegetable fat. Serve with fried tomatoes or any suitable sauce.

Celery Souffle.

This is exceedingly good if nicely made and served. Clean 1/2 lb. white crisp celery and cut small. Simmer in enamel pan or steam with as little milk as possible till tender, then boil rapidly to reduce the liquid. Rub through a sieve and set aside to cool. Beat 1 oz. fresh butter to a cream and add yolks of 2 eggs, one at a time, beating well in, also barely 1 oz. grated cheese and seasoning to taste. Mix well. Beat whites of 3 eggs quite stiff and mix in very lightly. Butter souffle tin and tie band of buttered paper round, to come 2 inches above the rim. Fill in mixture—not more than three-fourths full, and steam very gently in barely an inch of water for 1 hour. Turn out on very hot dish and serve immediately, or slip off paper band and pin hot napkin round. If allowed to stand any time it will be quite flat before serving. A rather daintier if more troublesome way is to fill small souffle cases three-fourths full with the above mixture. Sprinkle a little grated Parmesan cheese and celery, salt on the top, and bake in hot oven 10 minutes. Arrange tastefully on hot napkin.

NOTE.—Very dainty souffle cases are now to be had in white fluted fire-proof china. These can come straight to table without any trouble of swathing with napkins, paper collars, and the like.

Celery Cream

is another delicacy well suited to a special occasion. Prepare and cook celery as for souffle, drain and rub through sieve. Have enamelled or earthenware saucepan on the table, rub the bottom with a little butter, and break in 2 large eggs or 3 small ones. Season with white pepper, celery salt, lemon juice, mace, &c., and beat slightly. Take 1/2 gill cream and same of milk, drained from the celery, and add to eggs, &c. Place over a slow fire, or better still, a gas stove turned low, and stir till the mixture thickens, but it must not boil, then add the celery and mix. Have one large timbale mould or 8 to 10 small ones well buttered, fill in with the cream, cover with buttered paper, and steam very gently till set—30 minutes if large mould—10 minutes if small ones. If a large one turn out and fill in centre with tomatoes, mushrooms, &c. If small ones arrange round ashet with baked tomatoes, spinach, green peas, &c., in the centre of the dish.

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Asparagus Cream

is prepared in the same way, putting tender cooked asparagus in place of the celery.

Celery or Asparagus Quenelle

is made much in the same way. To every teacupful celery or asparagus pulp allow 2 cupfuls fine white bread crumbs. Beat up two or three eggs, add, and mix well. Steam in large or small moulds, or divide into spoonfuls, shape round, and poach in boiling water, stock, or milk. Serve with cooked tomatoes or sauce, or they may be put in tureen with clear or white soup.

Many toothsome variants of the foregoing recipes will suggest themselves as one goes along, so that it is needless to detail each at length. Thus, fritters, moulds, quenelles, &c., may be varied at pleasure by substituting cauliflower, the white of spring onions or leeks, &c., for the celery or other ingredients mentioned. By the way, we do not appreciate the food value of leeks as much as we ought. A dozen or so of the thickest

Leeks Stewed or Steamed

in milk or stock, and served with the liquor made into a white sauce, is a dish as delicious as it is wholesome and blood-purifying.

Needless to say, everything should be the best of its kind and absolutely fresh. To ensure this we should make a point of using as far as possible those which are in season at the time, as however well preserved they may be, vegetables, especially the finer sorts, lose in flavour and wholesomeness every hour between the garden and pot.

Substantial Savouries.

We come now to the more substantial savouries which form the staple part of the ordinary family dinner. These, along with soup and pudding, will furnish an excellent three-course meal, and where time—or appetite—is limited, as in the rush to and from school or business, two sources will be found ample.

German Lentil Stew.

Among the various pulse foods, of which there are fifty or sixty different kinds, though only some half-dozen are at all well-known, German lentils are one of the most valuable. In this country they are but little used, but they only need be known to be heartily appreciated. As far as my experience goes, every one who has once sampled them is loud in their praises. Even in those households where meat is used they might come as a change and variety, and help to solve the problem of that typical, much-to-be-pitied housekeeper who so pathetically wished there might be "a new animal" discovered!

Well, "to return to our"—ahem—lentils. These German or Prussian lentils are quite different from the ordinary yellow kind. They are green or olive coloured, much larger, and of a flat tabloid shape. They are exceedingly savoury, and—if that is any recommendation—so "meaty" in flavour that it is almost impossible to convince people that they are quite innocent in that respect. They are usually sold at about double the price of yellow lentils, and even then are very cheap; but this is a fancy price, charged because of their being a novelty, and I may say that I get the very finest quality, perfectly clean and free from grit, at the extremely low price of 2d. per lb.

To make a stew, which is the basis of a number of other dishes, take 1/2 lb. German lentils and scald for a minute or two in boiling water to make sure that they are thoroughly clean. Drain, and put in good-sized saucepan with plenty of fresh boiling water, and allow to simmer very gently for an hour. In another stewpan melt 1 oz. butter, and into that shred very finely two or three onions. Cover, and cook 10 to 15 minutes to bring out the flavour. They may brown or not as preferred, but there must not be the least suspicion of burning. Turn the lentils into this pan, add some chopped celery if at hand—it is very good without, but to my taste most dishes are improved by celery—and allow to simmer an hour longer. See that there is plenty of water—there should be a rich brown gravy. Add seasoning to taste of salt, pepper, Jamaica pepper, parsley, &c. A few tomatoes may be added, or carrots, turnips, &c. A few ozs. macaroni, par-boiled in salted boiling water and added an hour or less before, will make one of the many pleasing varieties of this dish. Serve like a mince, garnished with sippets of toast or fried bread, or toasted Triscuits.

Savoury Pot-Pie.

Line a pudding basin with suet paste [Footnote: See pastry.], and fill in with lentils cooked as above, and tomatoes, or any vegetables, such as carrots, turnips, cauliflower, beetroot, &c., to keep the mixture from being too heavy, for whatever may be thought to the contrary, there is a much larger proportion of solid nutriment to the bulk in pulse foods than in the "too, too solid flesh" which we esteem so highly. And, at the risk of wearying readers with reiteration, I must say again that herein lies the danger. Quite a number of people have told me that they would like such foods, but they could not take enough to keep up their strength, and were reproachfully incredulous when, ignoring the gentle insinuation as to other people's capacity, I told them the great difficulty was to take little enough! But we must finish the pot-pie. Put a thin round of paste on the top. Wet the edges and press together, tie down with greased paper, and steam 2 to 3 hours. Turn out and send to table with suitable hot garnish.

The same paste may be made into little balls or flat cakes and put to cook with lentil stew, but great care must be taken to see that there is plenty gravy, and that they cook very gently, for if they "catch" ever so slightly they are spoiled. All danger of this can be avoided by steaming in a basin or jar instead of cooking in open pan.

Savoury Brick.

Take about 2 teacupfuls cooked German lentils—not too moist. Put in a basin and add a cupful fine bread crumbs, and a cupful cold boiled rice or about half as much mashed potatoes. Add any extra seasoning—a little ketchup, Worcester sauce, Marmite or Carnos Extract, &c.—also a spoonful of melted butter. Mix well with a fork and bind with one or two beaten eggs, reserving a little for brushing. Shape into a brick or oval, and press together as firmly as possible. Brush over with beaten egg, put in buttered tin, and bake for half-an-hour. Or it may be put in saucepan with 1 oz. butter or Nut Butter that has been made very hot. Cover and braize for 10 minutes. Turn and cook for another 10 minutes. Add a little flour and seasoning to the butter, and then a cupful boiling water, stock, or diluted "Extract," and allow to simmer a little longer. Serve with garnish of beetroot or tomatoes.

This can also be made into a delicious

Cold Savoury.

Bake or braize as above. Remove to the ashet on which it is to be served.
Allow to get quite cold, then glaze. [Footnote: See Glaze.]

Sausages

are made of the same ingredients as savoury brick. Pound well in a basin, so as to have all the materials nicely blended, or put in a saucepan over gentle heat, and mash well with a wooden spoon. See that the seasoning is right. Some chopped tomatoes and mushrooms are an improvement, also some grated onion, ketchup, and "Extract." These should be put in saucepan with a little butter until lightly cooked, then the lentils, &c., should be added, the whole well mixed and turned out to cool. When quite cold, flour the hands and form into small sausages. Brush over with beaten egg and fry, or put on greased baking tin and bake till a crisp brown. They may need a little basting, or to be turned over to brown equally.

The filling for

Sausage Rolls

is compounded exactly as above, but should be rather moister, and have more butter added to prevent their being too dry. Have quantity required of rough puff pastry. [Footnote: See Pastry.] Roll out and divide into 9 or 10 4-inch squares. Put a little sausage meat in centre, wet the edges and fold over. Press the edges lightly together with pastry cutter, if you have one, brush all over with beaten egg except the edges. Place on oven plate and put at once in hot oven. Bake 20 to 30 minutes. They may be served either hot or cold, but are best hot. They can easily be re-heated in oven at any time.

Fifeshire Bridies

may have the same filling put in plain short crust, or raised pie-crust, rolled very thin and cut in oval or diamond shapes. Fold over, and turn up the under edge all round. Brush over with egg and bake—if raised pie crust—in rather a slower oven.

Rissoles.

Roll out rough puff or short crust very thin, stamp out into rounds, put a little of the mince on one, wet edges and put another on top, press very firmly together, brush over with egg and fry in deep, smoking-hot fat.

German Pie.

Take an ordinary pie-dish, such as used for steak pie. Have one or two large Spanish onions half-cooked, remove the centres, and put in pie-dish. This will serve both to keep up the paste and to hold gravy. Fill up the dish with partially stewed German lentils, and either sliced tomatoes or pieces of carrot and turnip first fried in a little butter. There should also be plenty of chopped onions put in the bottom of the dish, which should be buttered. Fill nearly up with well-seasoned stock, "Extract," gravy, or water, cover with rough puff paste, and bake for an hour or longer, according to size. There should be a hole in top of pastry, covered with an ornament, which could be lifted off, and some more gravy put in with a funnel. Serve very hot. If to be used cold, a little soaked tapioca should be cooked with it, or some vegetable gelatine might be dissolved in the gravy.

By way of variety, a few force-meat balls may be put in; also mushrooms when in season.

Haricot Pie

is made much the same as above, substituting Butter Beans or Giant Haricots for the German lentils. They should be soaked all night and nearly cooked before using. Put in a layer of beans, sprinkle in a little tapioca, then put a layer of sliced tomatoes and repeat. Fried beetroot may be used instead of tomatoes, and crushed vermicelli or bread crumbs instead of tapioca.

Haricot Raised Pie,

which is very good to eat cold for pic-nic luncheon, &c., is made as follows:—Soak 1/2 lb. large beans all night, when the skins should come off easily, and put to stew or steam with butter, shred onions, and a very little stock or water till soft, but not broken down. Set aside to cool. Prepare a raised pie case [Footnote: See Pastry.], put in half the beans, a layer of sliced tomatoes, and a layer of hard-boiled eggs. Repeat. Put on lid, which should have hole in centre, and bake in a good, steady oven for an hour. Meanwhile, have some strips of vegetable gelatine soaking, pour off the water, and bring to boil in a cupful well-seasoned stock, "Extract," gravy, &c. Stir till gelatine is dissolved, and when the pie is removed from the oven, pour this in. When cold this should be a firm jelly, and the pie will cut in slices. If tomato or aspic jelly is prepared, some of that would save trouble. Melt and pour in.

There are many other toothsome ways of serving haricot and butter beans. In every case they should first be well washed, soaked, and three-parts cooked with stock or water, butter, onions, and seasoning.

Savoury Haricot Pie.

This is made without paste. Put a layer of beans in buttered pie-dish, then pieces of carrot and turnip—previously par-boiled—to fill up the dish. Pour in a little gravy. Cover with a good white sauce, well seasoned with made mustard, chopped parsley, &c., and coat thickly with bread crumbs. Dot over with bits of butter, and bake 30 or 40 minutes.

Many variations will suggest themselves—cauliflower, parsnips, vegetable marrow, sliced tomatoes, beetroot, &c., instead of the other vegetables. Or the same ingredients as in the first haricot pie might be used, with the crumbs instead of pastry.

Haricot Ragout.

Half pound soaked beans boiled till tender in one pint water, with butter and sliced onions. Drain, but keep the liquor. Slice some carrots and turnips thin, fry lightly, and then simmer in the liquor for half-an-hour. Put a little butter in stewpan, slice and cook two onions in that, with the lid on, stir in a tablespoonful flour, and add the haricots, vegetables, and the liquor. Simmer gently till all are quite cooked, and serve. Some tomatoes or a little extract may be added, and it can be varied in many other ways.

Golden Marbles.

Take nearly a teacupful of haricots pulped through a sieve, and add to this 2 ozs. bread crumbs. Same of mashed potatoes; a shallot finely minced, or a spoonful of grated onion. Beat up an egg and add, reserving a little. Mix thoroughly, and form into marbles. Coat with the egg, toss in fine crumbs, and fry in smoking-hot fat till golden brown in colour.

Haricot Kromeskies

can be made with the same mixture as for marbles. Some chopped tomatoes, beetroot, or mushrooms may be added. If the mixture is too moist add a few more crumbs; if too dry add a little ketchup, milk, tomato juice, &c. Form into sausage-shaped pieces or small flat cakes. Dip into frying batter, and drop into smoking-hot fat. When a golden brown lift out, and drain on absorbent paper. Serve them, as also the golden marbles, on sippets of toast or fried bread with tomato or parsley sauce.

Haricot Croquettes or Cutlets

are of course made with any of these mixtures. Shape into cutlets, egg, crumb, and fry in the usual way.

There are an immense number more dishes which can be made with pulse foods, for which I have not space here. There are also a number of new varieties of pulses being put upon the market, which can be used with advantage to vary the bill of fare and enlarge its scope.

Giant Split Peas

are especially good, and might be used in any of the foregoing recipes in place of haricots. One advantage is that they do not require soaking. If scalded with boiling water, drained, and put to cook in fresh boiling water, they will be quite soft in little over an hour.

The best quality of butter beans also need no soaking. After scalding for a few minutes the skins come off quite easily. There is also a new variety called

Butter Peas, or "Midget" Butter Beans,

which I can heartily recommend. In appearance they resemble the small haricots, but are much finer and boil down very quickly. They make a very rich white soup, and may, of course, be used for any of the savouries for which recipes are given. Scald with boiling water (or they may merely be rubbed in a clean coarse cloth), plunge into more boiling water—the quantity proportioned to the purpose for which intended, soups, stews, &c.—and simmer till just tender, but not broken down.

Though they can be made up in a host of ways they are perhaps nicest as a simple stew. When just cooked—and great care must be taken not to _over_cook, for much of the substance, as well as the delicacy of flavour, is lost if we do—have a saucepan with some shred onions, sweated till tender, but not in the least coloured, in a little butter. Stir in a spoonful of flour, and when smooth a gill of milk, or the stock from the butter peas. Stir till it thickens and add the peas themselves, and any extra seasoning required. See that all is quite hot, and serve garnished with sippets of toast.

Brown Lentils

also furnish us with unlimited possibilities for new dishes. They are as yet rather difficult to procure, but need only to be known to become very popular. They somewhat resemble German lentils, but are much browner and smaller. Being so small, extra trouble must be taken to see that they are clean and free from grit. They can be used in place of German lentils for any of the soups or savouries for which recipes are given. They cook very quickly, and care must be taken with them also not to waste any of their goodness up the chimney.

Toad-in-a-Hole.

Make the sausages the same as in previous recipe, only using brown lentils instead of German lentils. Put in a buttered pie-dish and pour over the following

Batter.

Beat up one or two eggs. Add 3 tablespoonfuls flour, and by degrees two gills milk, also seasoning of grated onion, chopped parsley, white pepper, "Extract," &c. While

Fresh Green Peas or Beans

are to be had, one need not be confined to the dried pulses. Cook the peas, broad beans, or French beans, as directed in "Vegetables." Serve with poached or buttered eggs, fried or baked tomatoes, &c.

One might go on ad infinitum to suggest further combinations and variations of the different pulse foods, but these must be left to suggest themselves, for I must now pass on to another class of foods.