from
insects. Pick and wash nicely, and stew it in water for about ten
minutes; drain and chop, season with pepper and salt, add a little
butter, and return it to the stewpan until well heated. Add a little
vinegar previously to serving; put around it sippets of toast or fried
bread. The above, made thin, as a substitute for parsley and butter,
will be found an excellent sauce for a boiled fowl. There should be
considerably more of the cress than of the parsley, as the flavour is
much milder.

[A GOOD SUGGESTION IS OFTEN INVALUABLE.]

1127. Stewed Mushrooms.

Cut off the ends of the stalks, and pare neatly some middle-sized or
button mushrooms, and put them into a basin of water with the juice of
a lemon as they are done. When all are prepared, take them from the
water with the hands to avoid the sediment, and put them into a
stewpan with a little fresh butter, white pepper, salt, and a little
lemon juice; cover the pan close, and let them stew gently for twenty
minutes or half an hour; then thicken the butter with a spoonful of
flour, and add gradually sufficient cream, or cream and milk, to make
the same about the thickness of good cream. Season the sauce to
palate, adding a little pounded mace or grated nutmeg. Let the whole
stew gently until the mushrooms are tender. Remove every particle of
butter which may be floating on the top before serving.

1128. Indications of Wholesome Mushrooms.

Whenever a fungus is pleasant, in flavour and odour, it may be
considered wholesome; if, on the contrary, it have an offensive smell,
a bitter, astringent, or styptic taste, or even if it leave an
unpleasant flavour in the mouth, it should not be considered fit for
food. The colour, figure, and texture of these vegetables do not
afford any characters on which we can safely rely; yet it may be
remarked that in colour the pure yellow, gold colour, bluish pale,
dark or lustre brown, wine red, or the violet, belong to many that are
eatable; whilst the pale or sulphur yellow, bright or blood-red, and
the greenish belong to few but the poisonous. The safe kinds have most
frequently a compact, brittle texture; the flesh is white; they grow
more readily in open places, such as dry pastures and waste lands,
than in places humid or shaded by wood. In general, those should be
suspected which grow in caverns and subterranean passages