This section is from the book "The Cook's Own Book, And Housekeeper's Register", by N. K. M Lee. See also: Larousse Gastronomique.
Wash, peel, and boil them till tender in water with a little salt; serve them with melted butter poured over them. Or, They may be stewed in a pint of milk thickened with a bit of butter rolled in flour, and seasoned with salt and peppei,and served with the sauce.
Peel off half an inch of the stringy outside. Full-grown turnips will take about an hour and a half gentle boiling; if you slice them, which most people do, they will be done sooner; try them with a fork; when tender, take them up, and lay them on a sieve till the water is thoroughly drained from them. Send them up whole; do not slice them.
Wash, pare, and throw them into cold water; put them on in boiling water with a little salt, and boil them from two hours to two and a half, drain them in a cullender, put them into a saucepan, and mixing in a bit of butter, with a beater mash them very smoothly, add half a pint of milk, mix it well with the turnips, and make them quite hot before serving. If they are to be served plain, dish them as soon as the water is drained off.
Are the shoots which grow out (in the spring) of the old turnip roots. Put them into cold water an hour before they are to be dressed; the more water they are boiled in, the better they will look; if boiled in a small quantity of water they will taste bitter: when the water boils, put in a small handful of salt, and then your vegetables; if fresh and young, they will be done in about twenty minutes; drain them on the back of a sieve.
 
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