Lima Beans, Hollandaise

This dish may be prepared with fresh, canned or dried Lima beans, also kidney and other beans may be prepared in the same manner. Dried beans may be soaked over night in cold water, or, without soaking, may be set to cook on the back of the range where the water will not reach the boiling point for an hour or two. Dried beans should simmer four hours or longer. Fresh beans will cook in less than one hour. Salt should be added when the beans are about half cooked. Use half a teaspoonful to a pint of beans. When tender beat two tablespoonfuls of butter to a cream, beat in the yolk of one egg, one tablespoonful of fine-chopped parsley, one-fourth a teaspoonful of black pepper and two teaspoonfuls of lemon juice; pour the liquid from the beans into the mixture, mix thoroughly, then pour over the beans, shake the dish a little while the egg is "setting," then serve at once. There should be but little liquid - less than a cup - in the beans when they are cooked. Additional salt may be needed.

Baked Beans, Spanish Fashion

Let a pint of dried beans (California, pea, yellow-eyed, flageolet or Lima beans) stand covered with cold water over night; rub the beans between the hands and rinse in cold water. Again cover with cold water and let heat slowly to the boiling point, then let simmer until nearly tender, adding at the last a teaspoonful of soda. Drain and rinse with cold water. Turn a layer of the beans into a baking dish, sprinkle with sweet red peppers, chopped fine, and a little salt, add also a slice or two of bacon cut in tiny squares; continue the layers until the beans are used. Have ready cooked tomatoes, pressed through a sieve to exclude seeds; add these to the beans until they are well covered. Bake in a hot oven about two hours.

Red Kidney Beans, Mexican Style

Let a cup of dark, maroon colored kidney beans soak over night in plenty of cold water. Set to cook in fresh water and let simmer several hours or until nearly tender, letting the water, at the last, evaporate till but a few spoonfuls are left. Chop fine a green or red pepper or let a pepper simmer in a little water until tender, then scrape the pulp from the thin outer skin. To the chopped pepper or the pepper pulp add the pulp scraped from an onion and two tablespoonfuls of chopped parsley; let these cook in two tablespoonfuls of melted butter until softened and yellowed; add half a teaspoonful of salt, one cup of tomato puree, and, when boiling, stir in the beans. Let cook until the tomato is evaporated and the beans are soft throughout. Finish with two more tablespoonfuls of butter, in little bits. Surround with triangles of bread, buttered and browned in the oven. If desired garnish with a hard-cooked egg, cut in eighths, lengthwise.