Considering that the root of the dandelion is so largely used in medicine for making taraxacum, it is to be regretted that the leaves of the plant are not utilised in this country as they are abroad for making salad. These leaves can be obtained in London at a few shops in the French colony of Soho. The leaves are washed, dried, placed in a salad-bowl, and dressed with oil and vinegar in the ordinary way. CAULIFLOWER SALAD.--The remains of a cold boiled cauliflower makes a very good salad if only the white part be used. It can be mixed with remains of cold potatoes, some chopped blanched parsley should be sprinkled over the top, and it can be dressed with oil and vinegar in the ordinary way; or it can be served up with a sauce made from oiled butter similar to that described for dressing cold asparagus.
Cut up 1 lb. of cold boiled potatoes, grate fine 1 onion and mix with these, add watercress, or mustard and cress, and boiled and sliced beetroot; flavour with pepper, salt, oil, and vinegar as above. Hard-boiled eggs may be cut into slices and added, and sliced apples or pieces of orange may be advantageously mixed with the other ingredients. When oranges are added to a salad the onion must be left out.
Endives come into season long before lettuces, and are much used abroad for making salads. The drawback to endive is that it is tough, and the simple remedy is to boil it. Take three or four white-heart endives, throw them into boiling water slightly salted. When they get tender take them out and instantly throw them into cold water, by which means you preserve their colour. When quite cold, take them out again, drain them, dry them thoroughly, and pull them to pieces with the fingers. Now place them in a salad-bowl, keeping the whitest part as much as possible at the top. Place some hard-boiled eggs round the edge, and sprinkle a little chopped blanched parsley over the white endive. You can, if you like, put a few spikes of red beet-root between the quarters of eggs. It is a great improvement to rub the salad-bowl with a bead of garlic, or you can rub a crust of bread with a bead of garlic, and toss this lightly about in the salad when you mix it.
In boiling beet-roots be careful not to break them, or else they will bleed and lose their colour. When the beet-root is boiled and cold, peel it, and cut it into thin slices. It can be dressed with oil and vinegar, or vinegar only, adding pepper and salt. Some persons dress beet-root with a salad-dressing in which cream is used instead of oil; but never use cream and oil. To mix cream and oil is like mixing bacon with butter.
Endive is generally used as a salad, but is very nice served as a vegetable, stewed. White-heart endives should be chosen, and several heads will be required for a dish, as they shrink very much in cooking. Wash and clean the endives very carefully in salt and water first, as they often contain insects. Boil them in slightly salted water till they are tender, then drain them off, and thoroughly extract the moisture; put them in a stew-pan with a little butter, pepper, salt, and nutmeg, let them stew for some little time; add the juice of a lemon, and serve. It will make the dish much prettier if you reserve one head of endive boiled whole. Place the stewed endive on a dish, and sprinkle some chopped blanched parsley over it, then place the single head of endive upright in the centre, and place some fried bread round the edge.
A mixture of celery and beet-root makes a very nice winter salad. The beet-root, of course, is boiled, and the celery generally sliced up thin in a raw state. It is a great improvement to boil the celery till it is nearly tender. By this means you improve the salad, and the celery assists in making vegetarian stock. WATER-CRESS.--Water-cress is sometimes mixed with other salad, but when eaten alone requires no dressing, but only a little salt.
1 lb. of cold boiled potatoes, 6 hard-boiled eggs, the juice of 1/2 a lemon, pepper and salt to taste. Cut the potatoes and eggs into slices, dust them with pepper and salt, add the lemon juice, and mix all well together. Make the mayonnaise as follows; 1-1/2 gills of good salad oil, the yolks of 2 eggs, 1 saltspoonful of mustard, lemon juice, pepper, and salt to taste. Take a clean cold basin, and place in it the yolks of the eggs beaten up. Drop the oil into them, drop by drop, stirring with a wooden spoon quickly all the time. Great care should be taken, especially in the beginning, as the eggs easily curdle when the oil is stirred in too fast. When the mayonnaise gets very thick add carefully a little lemon juice to thin it down, then add again oil and lemon juice alternately until all the oil is used up. Smooth the mustard with a little lemon juice, and stir it in last of all with sufficient pepper and salt. Taste the mayonnaise, and add lemon juice or seasoning as required. Vinegar may be used instead of lemon juice if the latter is not conveniently had. The mayonnaise should be made in a cold room, as it may curdle if made in a hot room. Should an accident happen, beat up another yolk of egg and start afresh with a little fresh oil, and when going on well stir in, drop by drop, the curdled mayonnaise. Mix part of it with the eggs and potatoes, and pour the rest over the salad; garnish with watercress.
The old-fashioned English mixed salad generally consisted of English lettuce cut up into strips crossways, to which was added mustard and cress, boiled beetroot, chopped celery, spring onions, radishes, and watercress. It is by no means a bad mixture when dressed with oil, and, of course, it can be dressed it a l'Anglaise. It makes an excellent accompaniment to a huge hunk of cheese, a crusty loaf, a good appetite, and a better digestion.
This is a very delicious salad, met with in Italy. It consists of a great variety of boiled vegetables, which are placed in a mould and served in aspic jelly. This latter, however, is not allowed in vegetarian cookery. A very good imitation, however, can be made as follows:--First take as many cold vegetables as you can, consisting of new potatoes, sliced, and cut up with a cutter into pretty-looking shapes. You can also take green peas, asparagus tops, cold boiled cauliflower, French beans, beet-root, &c. These vegetables should be dressed with a little oil, tarragon vinegar, pepper and salt, and can be placed in a mould or plain round basin. This basin can now be filled up with a little water thickened with corn-flour, hot. When it is cold, it can be turned out and sent to table in the shape of a mould.
