256 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
Bechamel sauce, and sprinkle with grated cheese, half Gruyere and 
half Parmesan. Bake and brown nicely, and serve hot. 
Pumpkin with Cheese.' — Peel a small pumpkin, cut it in two and 
remove the seedy part, steep in salt water for \ an hour, take out, and 
drain. Cut as many slices as may be required (the remainder will 
keep in salt water) ; melt some fresh butter in a stew-pan, put in the' 
slices, season with a little salt, pepper, and aromatic spice ; fry for 
a few minutes. Dish up on a buttered gratin dish, sprinkle the top 
thickly with grated Parmesan cheese, some fresh breadcrumbs, and 
a few small bits of butter. Bake in a hot oven for 10 minutes, and 
serve. 
Cucumbers. 
Fried Cucumber. — Peel 2 cucumbers, cut them into sections about 
1 J in. in length, and divide each piece in two. Take out the centre 
part of each, sprinkle over with salt, and let stand for about 1 hour. 
Wash well, then cook with 2 oz. of butter, a little stock, a teaspoonful 
of caster sugar, vinegar, cayenne, and a peeled onion. A J of an 
hour's cooking is sufficient. Drain the cucumbers on a cloth, and 
when ready to serve dip each in frying batter, and fry in hot fat to 
a golden brown. Take up, drain, sprinkle with salt, dish up, garnish 
with parsley, and serve with tomato sauce, separately. 
Cucumber with Tomato.- — Peel thinly 1 large or 2 medium-sized 
cucumbers, cut them into 1 in. thick slices or cubes, and with a small 
pastry cutter cut out the centre portion of each. Place them in a 
pie-dish, and marinade them with oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Mix 
a jar of potted meat with a little cream or fresh butter. Fill the 
cavities of the cucumber shapes with this. Dish up on a folded 
napkin, put a slice of ripe tomato on top of each, and garnish with a 
hard-boiled yolk of egg, rubbed through a sieve and placed in the 
centre of the tomato. Garnish the dish with sprigs of fresh parsley 
and serve. 
Stuffed Cucumber a la Reine.— One good-sized cucumber, 3 oz. 
cooked chicken or veal, 6 small mushrooms, 1 oz. cooked ham, J gill 
white sauce, \ gill of aspic, and \ gill fresh cream. 
Cut the cucumber into 1 in. thick slices, peel thinly, and stamp out 
the inside by means of a pastry cutter. Blanch the pieces in salted 
water and drain on a cloth. Pound the meat, mushrooms, and ham 
together in a mortar, when fine rub through a sieve. Put the puree 
in a stew-pan, season with pepper, a little salt, and a pinch of grated 
nutmeg, warm up the sauce and aspic together, stir over ice till it 
begins to set, then add the cream previously whipped. Stamp out 
some rounds of brown bread a little larger than the cucumber shapes, 
spread over with some of the above prepared puree, place a round 
of cucumber on each and fill up the centre of each with the puree 
(pile up high). Decorate tastefully with some creamed butter and 
lobster butter, dish up, garnish with sprigs of fresh parsley, and 
serve. 
