Part 20

=Succotash.=--Cut the corn from six cobs, string, and cut into short lengths two cupfuls of kidney beans; cook for half an hour in boiling salted water to cover. Drain off nearly all the boiling water, and add one cupful of milk. Simmer for twenty minutes, stirring frequently. Season with pepper and salt. Add one tablespoonful of butter rolled in flour, and cook for ten minutes longer.

=Creole Corn Chowder.=--Slice three onions, and fry brown in butter. Add three peeled sliced tomatoes, three green peppers, seeded and chopped, and the corn cut from seven cobs. Cook for an hour, adding water as needed. Season with salt, sugar, and black pepper.

=Corn Omelette.=--Grate the corn from four ears, and cook in a boiler till tender, moistening as little as possible. Beat four eggs thoroughly, add three tablespoonfuls of cream, and bake in an omelette pan. When ready to fold, add the seasoned corn and turn out on a hot dish.

MARIGOLD (Calendula officinalis. Compositæ).

Sow in drills fifteen inches apart, early in April. Thin the plants out to a foot distant. The flowers of the pot marigold are gathered and dried and used as flavouring for soups, &c.

MARJORAM (Origanum Vulgare. Labiatæ).

A perennial plant of easy culture. Sow almost anywhere during spring or summer, as an edging to a garden path. The leaves are used for flavouring various dishes.

MINT (Mentha viridis. Labiatæ).

Mint prefers cool, deep soil, and does not object to partial shade. It revels in moisture. The old stems should be cut down every autumn and a mulch of old hotbed laid on will improve the quality of the next season’s growth. It may be raised from seed sown in April, but is better propagated by division of old roots at the end of March.

DISHES.

=Mint Jelly.=--This can be made with the young, fresh leaves. Soak one ounce of gelatine in a pint of salted water until soft, when the water is discarded. Add one and a half cupfuls of granulated sugar. Crush one pint of green mint, and pour one quart of boiling water over it. Let it stand whilst you are doing the other things, then strain through a jelly-bag, and bring to the boil. Pour over the gelatine and sugar, and stir for a minute. Turn into jelly glasses, and when firm keep in a cold place. If sealed, these will keep some time, or they may be served as soon as cold.

=Mint Sandwiches.=--Put into a basin a tablespoonful of fresh mint leaves cut fine, and pour over them a tablespoonful of hot water, and let it infuse for ten minutes. Strain, add two cupfuls of heavy whipped cream, salt and pepper to season, and one tablespoonful of gelatine, softened in a little cold water; dissolve over hot water. Turn into a square mould to cool. Cut in slices, and place between thin slices of brown bread.

=Mint Sherbet.=--Pour two cupfuls of boiling water over a bunch of bruised, fresh spearmint leaves. Cover, and let it stand on the back of the stove to infuse, then add one cupful of sugar. When the sugar is dissolved, strain, cool, add two-thirds of a cupful of grape juice, and one quarter of a cupful of lemon juice. Freeze to a much-liked consistency. Serve in sherbet glasses; ornament the top of each glass with crystallised jelly and a sprig of mint.

=Mint Sauce.=--Chop finely some mint--two or three tablespoonfuls; add to this an equal quantity of brown sugar; let it stand two hours, and just before using pour some brown vinegar over it, and dilute with a little cold water. This method will not affect people who suffer from indigestion.

MUSHROOM (Agaricus Campestris. Fungi).

For the growth of mushrooms it is almost indispensable that some pit or house protected from frost be available, though it is possible to make up successful beds out of doors during summer and early autumn. But an even temperature is necessary, and that never below 50°. It is not unusual to grow mushrooms under the staging of hothouses.

Fresh horse manure in quantity is the first requisite of a mushroom bed. This should be as free from straw as possible, and should be stacked in a heap about three feet high, and be turned and restacked twice at weekly intervals, to take the fire out of it.

Mix the manure well with about one-fourth its bulk of earth, and make up the bed about eighteen inches deep, leaving all tidy and neat. The mixture should be homogeneous and well mingled, and the whole well trodden and compact. When the temperature is about 75° insert the spawn in pieces about 4 × 3 × 2 inches in size, a foot apart all over the bed, including the sides. The spawn should be put in by hand, two inches deep.

When the spawn has thoroughly permeated the bed the original pieces should be withdrawn, and all carefully made smooth again. An inch of soil should now be laid over the whole bed, and watered moderately with tepid water.

Watering in moderation must be attended to, and when the mushrooms appear they should be gathered, stem and all, as it is important not to leave the old stems rotting in the bed.

For an outdoor bed the same procedure is carried out, and the bed is protected by a six-inch layer of hay or straw. A sheltered position should be chosen--much the sort of spot where one usually places the garden frames. Indeed, it is by no means bad practice to make the bed in such a frame and cover the glass with mats.

DISHES.

=Mushroom Croquettes.=--Peel and trim half a pound of mushrooms, chop the stalks and trimmings fine and rinse them in water. Simmer the chopped trimmings for twenty minutes in milk to cover. Strain and reserve the liquor; add cream or milk to make two cupfuls in all; season with salt and pepper. Cut the caps into small pieces, and fry in butter. Add two chopped hard-boiled eggs and a tablespoonful of the sauce. Heat thoroughly, take from the fire, and add the yolks of two raw eggs; cool, and shape into croquettes. Dip in the whites of two eggs and crumbs, and fry in deep fat. Serve with the sauce.

=Stewed Mushrooms.=--Pound in a mortar a few bits of onion. Put in a saucepan with two ounces of butter and two tablespoonfuls of oil. Brown to a light colour, then add twelve mushrooms cut in slices. Stew slowly for one hour; add a little salt and pepper and a good teaspoonful of flour mixed smooth with water; boil for three minutes, and serve very hot.

=Mushroom Pie.=--Take half a pound of butter beans, a quarter of a pound of mushrooms, one pound of chestnuts, two onions, one hard-boiled egg, one teacupful of tapioca (soaked overnight), some short-crust pastry.

Fill a dish with alternate layers of the above ingredients; add seasoning to taste. The onions and mushrooms to be fried, the chestnuts boiled and peeled, the butter beans cooked the day before until quite soft, and the egg cut into slices. Cover with the pastry made as follows:

Half a pound of flour, half a pound of nut butter, mix with cold water. Brush over with beaten egg, and bake.

Gravy with the Pie.--Melt one ounce of butter in a saucepan, stir in a tablespoonful of flour, and cook till a rich dark brown, stirring all the time. Add half a pint of vegetable stock, and bring to the boil. Before serving, add half a teaspoonful of marmite. Marmite is a pure vegetable extract, to be had from the Marmite Extract Company, 59 Eastcheap, London, E.C.