Vegetable dishes

Cucumbers and squash (concombres et courges) from Erken (1914): peeled, seeded, salted and blanched, then boiled up in white sauce or glazed. A garnish.

Sugar snap peas (aspargeserter) from Erken's Big Cookbook (1914): washed, boiled in salted water, served at once on a warm platter with asparagus butter.

Asparagus gratin from Erken (1914): cooked asparagus with grated cheese, nut-brown butter and rusk crumbs, quickly gratinéed under the broiler.

Asparagus pudding from Erken (1914): a thick milk sauce with 6 eggs and cooked asparagus, baked in a water bath for 1.5 hours, served with melted butter.

Eggplant quartered, marinated 1 hour in salt, pepper and oil, breaded in egg and rusk crumbs, fried in butter and served in tomato sauce.

Aubergines aux œufs pochés from Erken (1914): tender eggplant halves filled with ham and tomato purée, warmed in the oven, topped with a poached egg.

Eggplant cooked like asparagus: peeled eggplant is quartered, the cores removed, cooked tender in salted water and served on a warm napkin with drawn butter.

Erken's eggplant soufflé from 1914: hollowed eggplant halves filled with béchamel, Parmesan and whipped egg whites, baked about 20 min and served at once.

Aubergines à la tyrolienne from Erken (1914): eggplant slices browned in oil, cooked with tomato and butter, seasoned and topped with grated cheese.

Erken's basic recipe for boiled cauliflower (chou-fleur): soaked in vinegar water, boiled 30 minutes, served with melted butter and parsley or hollandaise.

Cauliflower with grated cheese (Erken 1914): boiled cauliflower gratinéed with sharp cheese and melted butter. Erken suggests cheese rinds over Parmesan.

Cauliflower with tomato sauce (Erken 1914): cauliflower boiled tender, topped with a slightly thick tomato sauce and parsley. A light middle course.

Cauliflower patties (Erken 1914): boiled cauliflower mixed with grated white bread, potato and butter, shaped into small patties, breaded and fried.

Cauliflower ring from Erken (1914): a thick butter batter with 5 eggs and boiled cauliflower, cooked in a ring mold in a water bath for 1 hour or baked.

Erken's basic endive recipe: endive drawn 15 minutes in lemon juice, salt, butter and water, then stewed, puréed or made into a soufflé like spinach.

Pea purée (purée de petits pois) from Erken (1914): peas boiled with lettuce and parsley, sieved to a purée and stirred with butter and reduced stock.

Peas (petits pois) from Erken (1914): green peas boiled in little salted water, shaken dry and stirred with plenty of butter, parsley and a pinch of sugar.

Stuffed cucumbers I (concombres farcis) from Erken (1914): cucumbers filled with meat farce and steamed tender in the oven. Served with brown sauce.

Stuffed cucumbers II (concombres farcis) from Erken (1914): cucumber pieces parboiled, hollowed into cups, filled with raw chicken farce, baked 10 minutes.

A short Erken recipe: bell peppers are peeled, cleaned of stem and seeds and filled halfway with half-cooked pilaf rice, then baked to finish.

Stuffed artichoke bottoms from Erken (1914): boiled bottoms filled with mushrooms, onion and parsley, gratinéed with rusk crumbs, with Madeira sauce.

Erken's stuffed eggplants from 1914: boiled, hollowed halves filled with onion and chopped mutton, baked about 30 min, garnished with tomato and parsley.

Stuffed tomatoes I from Erken (1914): tomatoes filled with mushrooms sautéed in butter, topped with grated cheese and baked. Served with roast meat.

Erken's stuffed tomatoes II from 1914: hollowed tomatoes filled with ground meat, mushroom and chives, steamed 15–20 minutes with lemon juice over.

A festive vegetable dish from Erken (1914): cauliflower, beans, carrots, peas and asparagus boiled separately, with parsley butter and asparagus butter.

Whole roasted onions after Erken: 1 kg onions blanched 10 minutes and fried under a lid in half-browned butter with sugar until brown and tender.

Erken's battered Jerusalem artichokes from 1914: boiled artichokes dipped in a batter of wheat flour, eggs, milk and vegetable fat and deep-fried.

Cabbage with butter (choux au beurre) from Erken (1914): cabbage boiled with an onion, pressed dry, finely chopped and fried 10–15 minutes in butter.

Rutabaga like sauerkraut after Erken: shredded rutabaga boiled tender and heated in a thickening of butter, flour and meat stock, with vinegar and caraway.

Mashed rutabaga after Erken: boiled rutabaga mashed and folded into a white sauce of butter, flour and milk. A variation uses half potatoes and meat stock.

Cardoons à l'anglaise from Erken (1914): cardoon stalks rubbed with lemon, blanched and boiled tender in salted water, served with white sauce.

Cardoons with marrow sauce from Erken (1914): cardoons boiled in veal broth, sauced with red wine, beef marrow and lemon, with puff-pastry vol-au-vents.

Boiled cardoons from Erken's Big Cookbook (1914): cardoons boiled plain and served with white sauce, hollandaise, mousseline sauce or gravy.

Boiled asparagus from Erken (1914): 1.5 kg of asparagus peeled, bundled and boiled in salted water, served with asparagus butter or maltaise sauce.

Boiled artichokes (artichauts au naturel) from Erken 1914: rubbed with lemon, soaked in vinegar water, boiled tender. Served warm with butter.

Boiled corn on the cob from Erken (1914): fresh cobs boiled half an hour in salted water, served hot in a napkin with creamed butter, salt and pepper.

Boiled corn from Erken (1914): kernels from boiled cobs folded into a white sauce of butter, flour and milk. A variation adds peeled tomatoes.

Roasted corn from Erken (1914): whole corn cobs roasted on a rack in a hot oven until golden and plump, then served on a warm napkin.

Corn soufflé from Erken (1914): corn purée with butter, cream and egg yolks, whipped whites folded in, baked about 1 hour and served with creamed butter.

Chard from Erken (1914): the leaves are blanched, finely chopped and stewed like spinach in a milk sauce. Erken recommends it as a hardy garden plant.

Chard stalks from Erken (1914): the stalks are cut into 8 cm pieces, boiled tender in salted water and served piping hot with melted asparagus butter.

Creamed turnips from Erken (1914): turnips boiled tender and warmed in a white sauce of butter, flour, turnip water and milk with parsley and sugar.

Creamed nettles from Erken (1914): fresh spring nettle leaves scalded, chopped and creamed like spinach in butter and flour, with lemon juice or vinegar.

Above-ground kohlrabi from Erken: cut into coarse strips, boiled tender and served with asparagus butter, maître d'hôtel butter or brown sauce.

Purslane (pourpier) can be prepared either raw as a salad or boiled and treated like spinach.

Erken's simple recipe for boiled leeks in bundles, served on a warm platter with parsley and melted asparagus butter.

Leek omelet from Erken (1914): boiled leeks in a baking dish with a sauce of milk, cream, egg yolks and whipped white, baked about 30 minutes.

Erken's beetroot steaks from 1914: beets boiled whole, sliced, briefly steeped in vinegar, dredged in flour and fried in butter with browned onion on top.

Erken 1914: boiled beets are sliced, fried in butter, and served piping hot with a small knob of maître d'hôtel butter (parsley butter) on each slice.

Celery ragout from Erken (1914): celery simmered tender in veal stock and served in a sauce of butter, flour, milk and cream, garnished with mushrooms.

Scorzonera (black salsify) from Erken (1914): scraped roots kept pale in vinegar water, boiled tender and warmed in a white butter, flour and cream sauce.

Spinach with mushrooms from Erken (1914): finished creamed spinach mixed with mushrooms sautéed in butter, served as a small course or with roast meat.

Spinach and anchovies from Erken (1914): a quick breakfast dish of grated bread in butter with spinach and anchovies, garnished with hard-boiled egg.

Spinach for roast from Erken (1914): an oven-baked spinach cake of flour, eggs, milk and fried spinach, cut into squares as a side for roast meat.

Celery à l'espagnole from Erken (1914): celery simmered in bouillon with onion and bay leaf, covered in a brown sauce of sherry, lemon, mushrooms and ham.

Boiled celery after Erken (1914): stalks tied in bundles and boiled about 1 hour, served hot with nutmeg and asparagus butter or white sauce.

Braised celery from Erken's Big Cookbook (1914): blanched celery stalks braised in bouillon with pork, carrot and onion, served with brown sauce.

Aubergines frites: thin slices of peeled eggplant dredged in flour and fried until brown in hot oil, served at once.

Fried celeriac (beignets de céleri) from Erken's Big Cookbook (1914, p. 376): boiled celeriac slices, breaded and fried in butter or deep-fried in batter.

Erken's sea kale (havkål): boiled in salted water with lemon juice or in milk, served hot with asparagus butter blended with cress, or in brown sauce.

Stewed endive from Erken (1914): blanched, chopped endive stewed in a thickening of butter, flour and meat stock with lemon juice until tender.

Creamed cabbage (choux à la crème) from Erken (1914): cabbage boiled tender and folded into a white sauce of butter, flour, stock and cream.

Black radishes (raves noires) from Erken (1914): peeled, thinly sliced and salted as an appetizer. Hollowed and filled with sugar, they yield a remedy.

Erken's sorrel purée (1914): meadow sorrel cooked in lightly salted water, sieved and stirred hot with butter, cream or pan juices and a little flour.

Fried tomatoes from Erken (1914): peeled tomatoes fried in browned butter and sprinkled with parsley. Served with fried meat and fish dishes.

A simple tomato gratin from Erken (1914): peeled tomatoes simmered in a cocotte with onion, parsley and butter, topped with grated bread.