8o THE BOOK OF VEGETABLES 



culture of carrots for cattle in fields ; a thing that until 

 of late years was never known, and which now amply 

 shows itself profitable and beneficial in such places 

 where land proper for the growth of carrots is found , 

 and, where that happens, a good crop of carrots will be 

 worth nine or ten pounds per acre." 



To boil Carrots 



Carrots are best eaten when very young, and they 

 should then be cooked only just long enough to render 

 them tender. This will take from half-an-hour to an hour. 



To bake Carrots 



The Flemish method of cooking small young carrots 

 consists in first scraping them and boiling them till 

 tender. Dry them, and fry them in butter for ten 

 minutes. Add a sufficiency of stock just to immerse the 

 carrots and allow to simmer till the stock is reduced by 

 a half. Add a little pepper and salt, a little chopped 

 parsley and a little cream. Place in a buttered pie-dish, 

 cover with buttered paper and bake for ten minutes or 

 a quarter of an hour. 



To make 



Carrot Soup, , 



take six medium sized carrots and two onions, slice 

 them and place them in a stewpan together with two 

 quarts of stock, a teaspoonful of salt and a quarter of 

 a teaspoonful of pepper. Simmer for about two hours, 

 strain (or leave unstrained) and serve. The vegetarian 

 may use as stock the water in which haricot beans or 

 lentils have been cooked. 



Almost any vegetables may be used in the making of 

 the excellent 



Minestra, 



or thick broths, so frequently served in Italy, yet so 

 much more adapted to our colder climate. To make 



