RENCHDmriER V Xw 1^ I Cornell University Library The original of tliis bool< is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924000707764 Cornell University Library TX 719.D39 1900 Little French dinners / 3 1924 000 707 764 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS BY EVELYN DE RIVAZ EDITED BY H jFamous abet NEW AMSTERDAM BOOK COMPANY : : : : NEW YORK : : : : 156 FIFTH AVENUE, : : : : MCM CONTENTS • PAGE Menu I r II 8 HI lo IV. 13 V 16 VI. 19 VII 21 VIII 24 IX 26 X 28 XI 30 XII 33 xin 3^ XIV 38 XV. 40 XVI. 42 XVII 45 xvm 47 XIX 50 XX 53 XXI 56 XXII 59 XXIII 62 Menu XXIV 64 XXV 66 XXVI 68 XXVII 70 XXVIII 72 XXIX 75 XXX 77 Savory Toasts ' . 81 On Stale Bread 85 Seasonable Salads 89 Fancy Salads 92 On Cooking Macaroni 9S Hashed Mutton 97 Braised Beef 100 On Gravy 103 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. MENU.— I. Consomm£ R£forme. BOUCH^ES DE RIS d'AGNEAU. Filet de Bceuf a la Napolitaine, Epinards a la CrJime. Pudding A la Gitana. Consomm6 Reforme (Soup with " Rdforme " Garnish). — Put into a saucepan a pound of knuckle of veal, a piece of lean bacon, and, if possible, some fowl bones, with five to six pints of second stock, and salt to taste. Let this boil up, and then, having removed all scum, add the necessary vegetables, and when it has boiled up once more put the saucepan at the side of the stove to simmer for three or four hours. Then strain through a clean napkin, and, if necessary, clarify with the whites and shells of two eggs. In the mean time cut from some cooked breast of chicken and from some cooked ox tongue an equal quantity of Julienne-like strips about one-eighth of an inch wide and two inches in length. Cut some trufHes in similar strips, and put them all in a saucepan with sufficient cold stock to wejl cover them. Bring to the boil, then strain, and place the strips of chicken, &c., at the bottom of the soup tureen ; pour on them as much of the above stock as is wanted for soup, and serve. (For recipe for Consomm^, see p.* 57). Bouch6es de ris d'Agneau (Patties of Lamb's Sweet- breads). — Roll out some puff paste to the thickness of a quarter of an inch. Cut out of it a dozen rounds with a, 6 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. fluted cutter one inch and a quarter in diameter and place them on a baking-sheet. Roll out the remainder of the paste to about half the thickness, and with the same cut- ter stamp out a similar quantity of rounds. Moisten the edges of the circles of paste on the tin with a little water, and on the top of them place carefully the rounds of paste that were rolled out last, but before doing so mark in each of these latter a circle about one-sixth of an inch deep with a plain cutter about half the size of the one pre- viously used. Brush over each bouchde with white of egg and bake them in a brisk oven for about eight min- utes. Then carefully remove the lids with the point of a knife, scoop out the soft paste inside and fill them with lamb's sweetbreads previously prepared as follows : Soak some lamb's sweetbreads for an hour in salt water, then put them into a saucepan on the fire, bring the water to the boil, and let the sweetbreads simmer for about ten minutes, after which lay them in some cold water. When cold trim them neatly, and cut them up into rather small pieces, and put them into a stewpan with enough white stock to cover them well. Let them stew gently for about three-quarters of an hour, then strain off nearly all the stock, and add to it an ounce of butter which has been well mixed with half an ounce of flour. Stir on the fire for about ten minutes, then strain, and add the yolks of one or two eggs, a few button mushrooms, and lastly the pieces of sweetbread. Let the whole simmer for about ten minutes, and finish with a few drops of lemon juice, adding pepper and salt if necessary. Having filled the bouchdes, which should be kept hot in the screen, replace the lids, and serve as hot as possible on a folded napkin. Filet de Boeuf a la Napolitaine (Fillet of Beef with Macaroni). — Take a fillet of beef, trim it neatly, and lay it in a pie dish with an onion cut in slices, two bay leaves, a sprig of parsley, whole pepper and salt, and pour plenty of olive oil over it. Let the fillet lie in this marinade for at least six hours, turning it over occasion- ally. Then roast it at a brisk fire, let it be rather under- done, and serve surrounded with macaroni cooked as fol- lows: Put into a saucepan three parts of a small bottle of French tomato conserve, an ounce and a half of butter, LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 7 two or three spoonfuls of good gravy, and pepper and salt to taste. Bring to the boil, simmer for a few minutes, then add, a little at a time, some round macaroni, Zita, which has been previously boiled in salted water for twenty-five minutes and thoroughly drained. Toss all gently together and mix in at the last three tablespoonfuls of grated Parmesan cheese. Epinards a la Crdme (Spinach with Cream).— Pick and wash three pounds of spinach and put it in a large saucepan, rather more than half fullof boiling water, with a little salt. At the end of twelve minutes, take the saucepan off the fire and put the spinach into cold water. Then take it up a handful at a time, and, having squeezed out all the water from it, pass it through a hair sieve. When this is done, put the spinach into a clean saucepan with two ounces of butter, and pepper and salt to taste, and let it cook slowly, stirring it occasionally for about a quarter of an hour. Lastly, add two or three table- spoonfuls of cream, mix well and serve piled up in the centre of the dish and surrounded with fried crofltons of bread. Pudding & la Gitana (Gitana Pudding). — Spread some sponge finger (Lady fingers) with some apricot jam, which has been slightly warmed and passed through a sieve. About six ounces will be sufficient. Put four single layers of these biscuits in a round china souffle dish, about seven inches in diameter and two to three inches deep, and pour on them a hot custard made with the yolks of five eggs, a pint of milk, a few drops of va- nilla essence and sugar to taste. Leave the biscuits to soak in the custard for two or three hours, then put the dish in the oven, and when the whole is thoroughly warmed through, cover the surface entirely with the whites of the eggs whisked to a stiff froth, heaping it up as high as possible. Put the dish back in the oven till the sur- face is a golden brown, then serve immediately. LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. MENU.— II. POTAGE PURfiE DE COURGES. Tranches de Saumon, Sauce Piquante. COtelettes de Mouton a la Gel^e. b^casses a la c^lestin. Omelette au Parmesan. Potage Purfe de Courges (Vegetable Marrow Soup). — Cut into four pieces a moderate-sized vegetable marrow, remove the seeds and peel the pieces. Boil them in about a quart of ordinary white stock well freed from fat, till they are thoroughly done, and then pass the marrow through a fine hair sieve. Melt one ounce of fresh butter in a saucepan, and thoroughly mix with it on the fire half a tablespoonful of flour, add gradually the vegetable mar- row pulp with the stock in which it was boiled, season with white pepper, salt, and a grate of nutmeg, and keep stirring the soup on the fire for quite ten minutes ; at the last, stir in a little cream. Let the soup boil up, and serve with small dice of fried bread. Tranches de Saumon, Sauce Piquante (Salmon with Sharp Sauce). — Take two slices of salmon not quite an inch in thickness and lay them in a marinade composed of oil, salt, lemon juice and herbs, for an hour or so. Then place the slices of salmon on the gridiron, which should be previously well oiled, and broil them carefully over a moderate, but very clear, fire. Serve with the fol- lowing sauce in a boat : — Peel and chop up very finely some shallots; of these, take a tablespoonful and a half and put them in a saucepan with salt, pepper, a little grated nutmeg, one ounce of butter, and two tablespoon- fuls or more of French vinegar. Stir over the fire till the vinegar is reduced, which will be shown by the butter becoming clear. Then mix in about half an ounce of flour, stir well and add gradually three-quarters of a pint of fish stock; let the sauce boil slowly for half an hour. LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS, 9 skimming it occasionally. Then strain, add a small quan- tity of chopped pickled gherkins with pepper and salt if necessary, and a few drops of coloring. Bring to the boil and it is ready. Cotelettes de Mouton i la Gel§e (Mutton Cutlets in Jelly). — Take some mutton cutlets and braise them, un- trimmed, on a bed of carrots, turnips, onions, and the usual flavoring. When done, take them out and put them under a weight between two plates to get cold, then neatly trim the cutlets and dip them in warm savory jelly, well flavored with tarragon vinegar. When the jelly has set, repeat the operation a second time if necessary. Serve round a heap of watercress and hand at the same time a Potato Salad prepared as follows: — Take some Bermuda potatoes, boil them and skin them, and when they are half cold, cut them into slices and heap them up in the centre of a salad bowl, previously rubbed with shallot or garlic. Then mix together in a basin three tablespoon- fuls of good salad oil, one of tarragon vinegar, one of good white stock, a little grated onion, black pepper, and salt to taste; pour the mixture over the potatoes, toss them well for five minutes and sprinkle on the surface some chopped tarragon. Put the salad away in a cool place for at least two hours. Becasses ^ la Celestin (Woodcocks k la C^lestin). — Roast a brace of woodcocks ; put the trail that has dropped from them with some gravy into a saucepan, adding pep- per, salt, the juice of half a lemon and a liqueur glass of brandy. Let this sauce reduce on the fire. Meanwhile, mince finely the insides of the birds with a slice of bacon, add pepper, salt, and lemon juice, and put this mince on buttered croutons of bread. Carve the birds neatly, ar- range them on a dish, make the sauce boiling hot, pour it over the birds, and serve as hot as possible with the crofitons round them. Omelette au Parmesan (Cheese Omelet). — Break from four to six eggs in a basin, add salt and pepper to taste, a tablespoonful of milk and two or three heaped table- spoonfuls of grated Parmesan cheese. Beat the mixture lO LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. for a minute, put a small piece of butter in the omelet pan and when very hot pour in the eggs. As the mixture begins to set, lift it up with a small slice to let the un- cooked liquid part run in its place and keep the omelet as much as possible towards the centre of the pan {i.e., do not let it spread out too thin, especially when using rather a large pan) ; the omelet will only take a minute or two to cook and the underneath part should be a golden brown and the surface very soft and slightly liquid. Directly it is sufficiently set slip the omelet from the pan into a warm dish, letting it roll over as you do so, so that it will assume its ordinary folded shape. Serve immedi- ately. MENU.— III. POTAGE GeRMINY. Merlans au Vin Blanc. LoNGE d'Agneau a la Berthier. CEuFS Farcis aux Anchoix. Beignets a la Danoise. Potage Germiny (Sorrel Soup). — The day before the soup is wanted, prepare the following stock : Put into a sauce- pan two pounds of knuckle of veal, a small piece of lean bacon, if possible some fowl bones, salt to taste, and four to five pints of cold water. Let this boil up, and then, having carefully removed all scum, add three carrots, two turnips, a leek, an onion, a bouquet garni, two or three cloves, and some whole pepper. Let it all boil up once more, skim again, and put the saucepan at the side of the stove to simmer for about three hours. Then strain, and when cold remove all superfluous fat. The next day cut up into thin Julienne-like strips, four ounces of sorrel and a few lettuce leaves, put them into a stewpan with two ounces of salt butter, and stir them well for about ten minutes, adding also a little white pepper and a grate of nutmeg. Then add a sufficiency of the above stock, bring to the boil, and afterwards let the soup simmer by the side of the stove for half an hour. At the time of serving, LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. II strain into the soup tureen the yolks of two eggs mixed with three tablespoonfuls of cream. Then add the soup gradually, stirring quickly the whole time. Merlans au Vin Blanc (Whiting with White Wine). — Take some fillets of whiting, trim them neatly, season them with pepper and salt, and lay them in a buttered baking-tin. Pour into the tin as much white stock and French white wine (not sherry), in equal parts, as will just cover the fish; add a few mushrooms, a blade of mace, and a couple of shallots cut in half. Cover the tin with a buttered paper and put it in the oven for ten to fifteen minutes. Meanwhile mix up in a saucepan on the. fire for a minute or two a heaped tablespoonful of flour, and an ounce of butter, then stir into it as much of the liquor in which the fillets have been cooked as will make enough sauce; stir this for fully five minutes on the fire, and at the last minute mix in, off the fire, the yolks of one or two eggs beaten up with a little cold water. Dish up the fillets, which should be lifted out of the tin with a slice, and pour the sauce over them. Longe d'Agneau a la Berthier (Loin of Lamb k la Berthier). — Choose a nice loin of lamb, remove all un- necessary fat, and roast the joint at a fairly brisk fire, basting it frequently the whole time. Just before it is done, sprinkle it with salt and serve surrounded by the following garnish: Boil a quantity of young artichoke bottoms in salted water, or preserved ones may be used when the fresh are not in season. Prepare ^jardiniere with carrots and turnips cut to the size of peas, haricot beans, or French beans, peas, etc., all separately boiled. Mix these together in a saucepan with a little white sauce previously prepared and with a small quantity of glaze. Fill all the artichoke bottoms with a little heap of this jar- diniere and they are ready. Hand round at the same time potatoes cooked as follows : Petits Choux de Pommes de Terre. — Boil some pota- toes, drain away all water, steam for a few minutes and rub them through a wire sieve into a large basin. Add to them one or two ounces of butter, salt, and pepper to 12 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. taste, and sufficient milk to make them into rather a stiff paste. Having worked them well with a large fork, and when they are quite smooth, take up small portions of the potatoes and fashion them into the shape of balls and lay them on a greased baking sheet; make some much smaller balls and lay them on the top of the larger ones, somewhat in imitation of miniature cottage loaves. When all are done, beat up an egg with a little milk and brush over the potatoes with it. Place the tin at once in a good oven till the potatoes are of a light brown color, then serve immediately. . (Eufs Farcis aux Anchoiz (Eggs Stuffed with Ancho- vies). — Boil some eggs quite hard, remove the shells and cut the eggs in half lengthwise. Take out the yolks and then having as many anchovies as there are eggs bone and skin them and pound them with the yolks in a mor- tar, adding a good-sized piece of butter, a grate of nutmeg, and pepper and salt to taste. Fill each half egg with this mixture, put them in a tin in the oven to get thor- oughly hot and serve on oval pieces of bread fried in butter. Beignets a la Danoise (Danish Fritters).— Take two ounces of butter, one ounce of sugar, quarter of a pound of flour, half a pint of cream and five eggs. Beat the butter to a cream, then add the sugar and the flour very gradually. When all has been added, put in the eggs one by one, beating the mixture thoroughly before adding each egg ; add lastly the cream, stir it very gently and do not beat the mixture any more. Have ready a large pan of boiling fat and drop into it heaped teaspoonfuls of the batter, which will quickly form themselves into the shape of a ball. As each one turns a light golden brown, lift it out carefully and place it on a sieve to drain at the mouth of the oven. When all are ready, serve on a hot dish with plenty of powdered sugar sprinkled over them. LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 13 MENU.— IV. CONSOMMfi AU C£lERI, Sole Farcie au Four Perdreaux aux Champignons. Petits Pois a la Paysanne. GSteau de Noisettes, Sauce Sabayonne. Consommg au Celeri (Celery Soup).— Take the giblets of two chickens, i.e., the feet, neck, gizzard, and liver. Cleanse them all thoroughly, scalding the feet, and put them into a saucepan with three-quarters of a pound of knuckle of veal, a piece of lean bacon, four to five pints of second stock, and salt to taste. Let this come slowly to the boil and then, having removed all scum, add two heads of celery, a carrot, an onion, a turnip, some parsley, three or four cloves, and some whole pepper. Bring to the boil once more, and then let the whole simmer gently for four hours. Strain through a clean napkin, clarify if necessary with the whites and shells of one or two eggs, and remove all fat when cold. The next day cut some celery into small round pieces with a round cutter, and boil them in a little stock with a small piece of butter. When quite tender, strain them on a sieve and place them in a saucepan with as much of the above consomm^ as is wanted for soup. Let the whole boil for five minutes and then serve. Sole Farcie au Four (Sole Stuffed and Baked).— Take a breakfastcupful of breadcrumbs, three ounces of butter, some chopped parsley and tarragon, and half-a-dozen chives chopped up finely (or an onion may be used in- stead). Soak the breadcrumbs in milk and mix them with all the other ingredients; add pepper and salt to taste and lay the stuffing in a well-buttered dish that will stand the fire. On the top of this, place a large lemon sole, weighing from two to three pounds, sprinkle the surface of the fish with fine baked breadcrumbs, and on the top of them put some small pieces of butter and a 14 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. sprinkling of pepper and salt. Put the dish in a moder- ate oven for about half an hour. Take out the fish when it is done, being careful not to break it, and place it on the dish on which it is going to be served. Then split the sole lengthwise with a sharp knife, skilfully remove the bone and put the stuffing in its plage. Serve as hot as possible. Perdreaux aux Champignons (Stewed Partridges with Mushrooms). — Take a punnet and a half of mushrooms — they should be as small as possible — peel them carefully, cut off the stalks and cook them over a slow fire with two ounces of butter and pepper and salt for about ten min- utes, shaking the saucepan frequently. When the mush- rooms are done, put them aside to get cold and stuff three partridges with them. Lay the birds in a stewpan just large enough to hold them with some butter, and when they are browned, take them out for a few minutes, and mix well with the butter two ounces of flour; add, by degrees, half a glass of white wine and three-quarters of a pint of stock. Then put the partridges back and let them cook slowly in this sauce with about a dozen mush- rooms chopped. When they are done, serve with the sauce (well reduced) poured over the partridges and po- tatoes in a vegetable dish, cooked in the following man- ner: — Pommes Lorettes. — Peel half a dozen good sized potatoes, steam them till they are quite dry and floury, then rub them through a wire sieve and return them to the saucepan in which two ounces of butter have been melted. Stir over the fire with a wooden spoon, then add a little cream or milk, and when the potatoes have be- come quite dry, keep on adding more cream, a small quantity at a time. Substitute a large fork for the spoon and beat the potatoes vigorously with it till they are quite light and smooth; a gill of cream or milk will be suffi- cient, but the potatoes must be dry and stiff. On arriving at this point, add pepper, salt, and a grate of nutmeg to taste, and lastly, the yolks of two eggs ; stir well for a minute or two at the side of the fire, then turn the pota- toes out into a basin. In the mean time, whisk the white of a good-sized egg to a stiff froth, take up a small por- tion of the potato mixture (about as much as would go LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. IS to form a croquette), roll it into a ball, dip it into the white of egg and then lightly dust it with flour, taking care that it retains its shape. When all the potato has been treated in this fashibn, place as many of the balls, thus formed, in the frying basket as it will conveniently hold, and plunge it in boiling fat until the potatoes are a light golden brown, then drain them thoroughly, put them at the mouth of the oven on a piece of paper to keep hot, and repeat the operation till all are done. Petits Pois a la Paysanne (Peas \ la Paysanne).^ Take some bottled green peas or fresh ones when pro- curable, put them in a saucepan on the fire with plenty of butter, stirring them frequently. Take one or two thin ■ rashers of streaky bacon, cut these in very small dice, the same size as the peas, and toss them in fresh butter in a small saucepan on the fire. When they are well fried, mix them with the peas and let the two finish cooking together, seasoning according to taste with pepper and salt. Gateau de Noisettes (Nut Cake). — Put into a basin the yolks of six eggs and a quarter of a pound of pow- dered sugar, beat these well together for fifteen minutes, then add, gradually, the following ingredients, all of which must be previously ground ; quarter of a pound of Barcelona nuts, one ounce of almonds, two cloves, and five beans of whole coffee. Beat all thoroughly together for another fifteen minutes ; then whip the whites of the eggs to a very stiff froth and add them to the mixture. Bake in a buttered mould in a moderate oven for about forty minutes. Serve the cake either hot or cold with the following sauce : — ■ Sauce Sabayonne. — Mix thoroughly together in a basin the yolks of five eggs, one whole egg, five ounces of pow- dered sugar, a teaspoonful of potato flour, the juice of two lemons, and three-quarters of a pint of Madeira or Hock. . Strain into a saucepan and beat up with a whisk over the fire, till the mixture thickens and is quite frothy. 1 6 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. MENU.— V. POTAGE Cr^CY a la MoDERNE. Filets de Barbue A la Zavir. Escalopes de Bceuf Rossini, Pommes Anna. tomates a la victoria. Riz A LA Cannelle. Compote d'Abricots. Potage Crecy a la Moderne (Carrot Soup). — Put one ounce and a half of butter in a stewpan and, when melted, add six medium sized carrots cut in slices, with pepper and salt to taste. Fry these for about five minutes, then add two or three small onions sliced, and continue to fry both vegetables for five minutes longer. Then add three pints of water in which a teaspoonf ul of good extract of meat has been dissolved, a small bay leaf, a piece of celery, parsley, thyme, and three medium sized potatoes. Let these all simmer until the carrots are quite soft, then pass the whole through a hair sieve. Stir well together, return to the saucepan, let the whole boil up once more, and then serve with fried crofltons of bread, to be handed on a separate plate. Filets de Barbue a la Zavir (Fillets of Brill with Watercress Sauce). — Cut the flesh from a moderate sized brill into fillets like fillets of soles, as nearly as possible of a size. Trim them neatly and lay them in a buttered tin ; sprinkle them with pepper and salt, put a sheet of ' buttered paper over them and put them aside. Then take a bunch of watercress, remove the stalks, and put the leaves into a saucepan with about a pint of milk, a pinch of salt, and a tiny piece of soda. Let it boil up two or three times, and when the watercress is quite tender, drain and press out all the moisture, chop it up, mix with it one ounce of butter, and pass it through a hair sieve. Afterwards, chop the stalk, pound them in a mortar, pass them also through the sieve, and add the juice to the watercress butter on a plate. Then fry one ounce of butter with the same quantity of flour and add to it, gradu- LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 17 ally, three-quarters of a pint of the milk the watercress was boiled in; let the sauce boil, strain, and mix well with it the watercress butter, etc. ; strain once more into a saucepan and place it at the side of the stove. Put the tin containing the fish into the oven for twelve min- utes, and when done, arrange the fillets in a circle on a dish and pour over them the sauce as hot as possible. The addition of a spoonful of cream at the last moment is a great improvement. Escalopes Se Boeuf Rossini (Collops of Beef with Foie Gras). — Cut a tender fillet of beef into eight neat slices or "escalopes;" beat them lightly with a cutlet bat and trim them in oval pieces about three inches across and three-quarters of an inch thick. Season them with pep- per and salt and cook them in butter in a saut^ pan over a brisk fire for about three minutes and a half on each side. Then brush over each " escalope " with warm glaze and place them on croutons of bread, cut the same size, and previously fried in butter. On the top of each "escalope" now lay a thin slice of foie gras with a slice of truffle in the centre ; arrange them in an entrde dish, mask them lightly with the following sauce, previously prepared, and garnish with the truffle trimmings : — Cut a carrot and an onion in slices, add to them a shallot minced, a rasher of bacon cut in dice, some parsley, a sprig of thyme, some cloves, whole pepper to taste, and fry all till brown in two ounces of butter. Then stir in one ounce of finely sifted flour, and when cooked, add gradually about three-quarters of a pint of good brown stock and a spoonful of French tomato conserve ; let the sauce boil for ten minutes, then strain into another sauce- pan and let it simmer by the side of the fire for half an hour. Add salt if necessary, boil up again and flavor with a dash of Marsala. Hand round at the same time Pommes de Terra Anna. — Plentifully butter a sautd pan or a round baking tin with fresh butter. Pack closely in this a quantity of slices of raw potatoes cut of equal thickness, seasoning with salt and a little pepper after each layer. When the pan is full, put a few pieces of butter on the top, cover the pan and put it into a brisk ' 2 1 8 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. oven. When the potatoes are done, turn them into a dish and serve at once. They should come out like a cake , and be crisp outside and soft within. Tomates a la Victoria (Stuffed Tomatoes).— Cut the tops off and hollow out the insides of some nice round tomatoes. Dress a small quantity of salad, broken up in small pieces, with oil and vinegar in the proportion of three to one, and a seasoning of pepper and salt, and fill each tomato with the salad. Then stone sope olives and fill them with anchovy butter, made by pounding and rubbing through a fine hair sieve an ounce of anchovies mixed with an ounce of butter. Put one olive in the centre of each tomato, sprinkle each with chopped capers and parsley and serve. Riz a la Cannelle (Rice with Cinnamon). — Put six ounces of rice into a tinned copper saucepan containing a pint of boiling water ; let it cook fairly fast over a brisk fire until all the water is absorbed. Then add by de- grees, a little at a time, a pint and a half of milk, and let the rice cook very slowly indeed at the side of the stove for about four hours, or until the rice is quite tender. Add then some powdered sugar to taste, let it cook for ten minutes longer and put it away in a cool place. When half cold add the contents of a small jar of cream, slightly whisked; mix all together and turn the rice into a silver dish; sprinkle the surface all over with powdered cinna- mon and put the dish on ice until wanted. Compote d'Abricots (Compote of Apricots). — Pare some ripe apricots, cut them in half, remove the stones, and put them into a boiling syrup, made with half a pint of water and six ounces of sugar ; add some of the ker- nels blanched and skinned, and lemon juice to taste. Let the apricots simmer in the syrup very gently indeed until they are quite tender, then drain them, arrange them on the dish on which the)' are going to be served, reduce the syrup, pour it over the apricots and place the dish on one side to get quite cold. Canned apricots may be used instead of the fresh ones. LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 1 9 MENU.— VI. POTAGE A LA TarTUFE. Palais de Bceuf a la Sauce Tomate. Faisans Rotis. Salade de C^leri Ravk. BoucH^Es de Vermicelle. Mousse A l'Orange. Potage a la Tartufe (Pur^e of Chicken).— Take the rem- nants of one or two fowls which have been plainly roasted, and after having removed all skin, put the meat in a stewpan with a few vegetables (not cut up) and three or four pints of water. Bring to the boil, add three or four slices of crumb of bread, and leave it to simmer for about four hours. Then remove the vegetables and pass the pieces of fowl and the bread through a hair sieve into a large basin. When all has been passed through, add the rest of the liquor or so much as will make the soup of the desired consistency, with pepper and salt, a grate of nut- meg, and sufficient "spinach greening" to color the soup a pale green. Then cut out some carrots and turnips into the shape of peas, fry them in butter with pepper and salt till they begin to take color, then finish cooking them in a small quantity of stock. Bring the soup to the boil, add a gill of cream, put in the above vegetables and serve at once. N.B. — The quantity of crumb of bread used to thicken this soup will vary according to the amount of flesh there is on the chicken bones. Palais de Bceuf a la Sauce Tomate (Ox-Palates with Tomato Sauce). — Wash a couple of ox-palates in two or three waters the day before they are wanted, put them into a saucepan half full of cold water, let them boil up once or twice, then drain off the water and skin them ; afterwards put them into a clean saucepan with just enough cold water to cover them, add one or two carrots, a turnip, an onion, a little parsley, any other vegetables, etc., near at hand, and pepper and salt to taste, and let them simmer for six hours. Then strain off the liquor 20 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. into a basin, press the palates between two dishes with a weight on the top of them, and let them remain there for twelve hours. When they are wanted, cut them out with a sharp cutter into rounds about two inches and a half in diameter, and prepare the following sauce: — Make a brown roux with one ounce of butter and half an ounce of flour, add a teacupful of the liquor the palates were boiled in, a teaspoonful of good extract of meat and about half a small bottle of French tomato conserve, not for- getting pepper and salt. Let the sauce boil gently for ten or fifteen minutes, add a little coloring if necessary, then strain into another saucepan on to the ox-palates, let the whole simmer for about twenty minutes and then serve with the sauce poured over the palates. Mashed potatoes may accompany if liked. Faisans Rotis (Roast Pheasants).— Take one or two pheasants that have been well hung and trussed for roasting ; tie a piece of fat bacon over the breast of each bird and roast them at a moderate fire for thirty-five to forty minutes, basting them well the whole time. Serve with baked breadcrumbs round the dish, and hand at the same time the following salad : Salade de Celeri Rave (Celeriac Salad). — Peel some roots of celeriac, cut them in slices, throw them into boil- ing salted water, and boil them till quite tender. Then drain them and pour over them a salad dressing com- posed of six tablespoonfuls of salad oil, two of tarragon vinegar, a little English mustard, and pepper and salt to taste. Sprinkle on the surface some finely chopped tar- ragon and put the salad away in a cool place till wanted. Bouchees de Vermicelle (Patties of Vermicelli).— Make some small patties of puff pastry beforehand, and when they are wanted, warm them in the oven and fill them with vermicelli prepared as follows: — Boil two or three ounces of fine vermicelli in plenty of boiling salted water. When cooked — it will take about ten minutes — drain it well and put it in a saucepan in which has been melted an ounce or more of butter. Toss well over the fire, then add a gill of hot cream with pepper and salt to taste, and LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 21 lastly, about an ounce and a half of freshly grated Par- mesan cheese. Let the whole get very hot and it is ready. Mousse a I'Orange. — Beat six eggs and six ounces of powdered sugar well together with a wooden spoon, then add gradually six ounces of finely sifted flour, and lastly, three ounces of butter just liquefied, but not made at all hot. Mix thoroughly, adding at the last a quarter of an ounce of bitter almonds and three-quarters of an ounce of sweet almonds, well pounded, and the grated rind of half an orange. Butter a round cake mould about two or three inches deep, pour in the well-beaten mixture, and bake in a moderate oven. When done, turn the cake out, bottom uppermost, on to a sieve. In the mean time, put into a saucepan two ounces o£ sugar, the juice of two oranges, and enough water to make a quarter of a pint of liquid altogether. Let the whole boil until it is a thick syrup. Then cut the cake in half, transversely, and brush over the inside of each piece with the syrup, and on the top of each half make a layer, rather less than one- eighth of an inch thick, of apricot jam, slightly melted and passed through a hair sieve. Put the cake together again, brush over the outside with the syrup and glaze the whole with liquefied apricot jam, using a flat brush for the purpose. The outside of the cake may, if liked, be ornamented with pieces of candied orange peel. MENU.— VII. POTAGE PrINTANIER. Escalopes de Cabillaud, Sauce Portugaise. C6TELETTES D'AgNEAU AUX PomMES NoUVELLES. Artichauts a l'Huile. CRiME DE. MaRRONS. Potage Pfintanier (Spring Soup). — Take three carrots, two turnips, and two leeks, and after having washed them well, cut them out in small rounds about the size of a one cent piece. Melt two ounces of butter or drip- 22 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. ping in a saucepan, and in this fry the vegetables with a sprinkling of salt, putting in the carrots first, till they are a light golden color. Then put in a clean saucepan the required amount of clear soup, and add to it the pre- pared vegetables, bring to the boil, and let the soup sim- mer till the vegetables are quite done. Half an hour before the soup is served add some lettuce leaves, also cut out in rounds and previously parboiled in salt water. Skim the soup, season, and serve very hot. Escalopes de Cabillaud, Sauce Portugaise (Collops of Cod, Portuguese Sauce). — Take a piece of cod weigh- ing about two pounds, and cut it into fillets or collops about two inches square; lay them in a well-buttered tin, put a piece of butter on each collop, cover the tin with buttered paper, and put it in the oven for about twenty minutes. For the sauce, put two ounces and a half of butter in a saucepan to melt with a gill of hot water, salt and pepper to taste, and a teaspoonful of lemon juice. Beat up the yolks of four eggs in a basin with a fork for about ten minutes. Pour some of the hot water and but- ter, a spoonful at a time, into the basin containing the eggs, stirring well all the while. When half a dozen spoonfuls have been so added, turn out the contents of the basin into the saucepan containing the butter, etc., and never cease stirring on the fire until the sauce thick- ens. Then dish up the fish, remove the skin and pour the sauce over. Cotelettes d'Agneau aux Pommes Nouvelles (Lamb Cutlets with New Potatoes). — Trim the cutlets neatly, and grill them over a clear bright fire, sprinkle them with fine pepper and salt, and dish them in a circle with some new potatoes in the centre cooked as follows, the re- mainder being sent up in a vegetable dish : Take about one pound and a half of new potatoes, cook them in their skins for about fifteen minutes, then peel them, and cook them for about fifteen minutes in two ounces of salt but- ter, toss them well, and before serving sprinkle chopped parsley over. Artichauts a I'Huile (Artichokes with Salad Sauce).— Allow half an artichoke for each person ; trim them neatly, LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 23 cutting off the ends of the leaves and put them in a sauce- pan with plenty of boiling water, salt, a tiny bit of soda, and the juice of a lemon. Keep on the lid of the sauce- pan, and when the artichokes are done (which can be ascertained by the leaves coming apart quite easily), drain them thoroughly (this is most essential), cut them in half, dish them up on a napkin, and serve with the following sauce in a boat: Beat up in a basin for a few minutes, six dessertspoonfuls of salad oil, two of tarragon vinegar, half a small teaspoonful each of salt and French or English mustard and pepper to taste; then add some finely chopped tarragon, and whisk again just before serving. « Creme de Matrons (Chestnut Cream). — Take half a pound of Spanish chestnuts, cut a cross on each, and boil them in plenty of water till the outer and inner skins can easily be removed. Then pound them in a mortar, and pass them through a fine sieve into a basin, adding a few drops of milk to facilitate the process. Next beat up the yolks of three eggs with a gill of cream and a gill of milk, sweeten with two ounces of sugar, add a few drops of essence of vanilla, and strain the mixture into a double saucepan (the outside one being filled with hot water). Stir the custard over the fire with a wooden spoon until it thickens (about fifteen minutes), then add rather less than half an ounce of gelatine, which has been previously soaked in a very little water and dissolved on the fire. Pour this custard gradually on to the chestnut purde in the basin, mixing it all well together with a wooden spoon, and pour it into a fancy pint mould with a hollow in the centre. Leave it in a cold place to set, then turn it out and fill the space in the centre with a gill of cream whisked very stiflfly with a little fine sugar and colored a pale pink. 24 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. MENU.— VIII. POTAGE D'OrGE a l'EcOSSAISE. Filets de Carrelets a la Juive. TOURNEDOS DE BCEUF A LA FlAMANDE. PouLE DE Prairie R6tie. POMMES DE TeRRE EN RuBANS. (EuFS Au Parmesan. Potage d'Orge a I'Ecossaise (Scotch Broth). — Put into a good sized saucepan two pints of cold water with about two pounds of scrag end of a neck of mutton, half a tea- cupful of pearl barley, and some salt. Bring it to the boil, remove all scum, then add a gill of cold water, let it boil up again, continue to skim it, bring it to the boil once more, and then place the saucepan by the side of the fire for the broth to simmer slowly. In about three- quarters of an hour add two carrots, a turnip, a leek, and one very small onion, all cut into dice, a pinch of pepper and a bunch of sweet herbs. Let the soup simmer for another hour and a half, still continuing to remove any fat or scum. When the dish is wanted, remove the meat and bunch of herbs, pour the broth with the vegetables, etc., into the soup tureen, add a little chopped parsley, and serve. Filets de Carrelets a la Juive (Fillets of Flounder, Fried). — Take the fillets of two firm, thick flounders, trim each piece neatly, flour them lightly, dip them in egg beaten up with pepper and salt, cover them on both sides with stale breadcrumbs, and fry them in boiling oil, lard or dripping. When the fillets are of a golden color, place them on a sieve in front of the fire, with a piece of soft paper under them to drain. Serve garnished with fried parsley and cut lemon. Toumedos de Boeuf a la Flamande (Fillets of Beef, Flemish Fashion). — Take a fillet of beef, cut from it as many slices as required, not less than half an inch thick. LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 25 and then trim each slice very neatly to an oval or round shape, making them all as much as |)0ssible of the same size. Season them with pepper and salt, dredge lightly with flour, and fry on both sides in a saut^ pan with plenty of hot butter. Serve them in a circle with the following garnish in the centre : Cut some carrots into any fancy shape, parboil them for a few minutes, drain them, put them into a saucepan with a small piece of butter, and sprinkle them with pepper and salt and a little grated nutmeg. In two or three minutes add half a dozen spoon- fuls of stock or gravy, and let the carrots simmer gently till they are done; add, lastly, the yolks of two eggs beaten up and a sprinkling of chopped parsley. Poule de Prairie R6tie (Roast Prairie Hens).— Lard the breasts of two or more prairie hens and roast them at a moderate fire for about half an hour, basting them fre- quently. Serve with bread sauce and plain gravy in sauce-boats. Pommes de Terre en Rubans (Potato Ribbons). — Take some large potatoes and peel them as smoothly and as evenly as possible; then take each potato and pare it round and round as you would an apple, taking care that each spiral paring (which should be about one-eighth of an inch thick) does not break ; try to make them as long as possible. Keep them covered with a napkin till all are cut, then lay them in the frying basket, and fry them in very hot fat to a light straw color ; sprinkle freely with salt, and serve hot. (Eufs au Parmesan (Eggs with Cheese).— Cut some hard-boiled eggs in slices, and arrange them on a well- buttered dish previously rubbed with a shallot. Then make a white sauce with one ounce of butter, half an ounce of flour, and a gill and a half of milk and water, add a tablespoonful of grated Parmesan cheese with pep- per and salt to taste, and cover the eggs with the sauce. Sprinkle the surface with equal quantities of cheese and stale breadcrumbs, and put the dish in the oven till the surface has acquired a light brown color, then serve it inside another dish. 26 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. MENU.— IX. POTAGE A LA CONDlfi. BlANCHAILLES A LA DiABLE. NOIX DE VeAU A LA PaRMENTIER. Champignons a la Bordelaise. Flan a la Turque. Potage a la Condg (Haricot Bean Soup).— Boil three- quarters of a pint of red haricot beans in two quarts of " second stock," with an onion, two carrots, a leek, a bay leaf, some parsley, whole pepper and salt. Let the whole simmer for about four hours, stirring it occasionally ; then pass all, including the vegetables, through a hair sieve; return the purde to the sauce pan, let it boil up, add more stock to make the soup of the right consistency, and finish with a pat of butter and a spoonful of hot cream. Serve with small dice of bread fried in boiling fat. Blanchailles si la Diable (Devilled Whitebait) .—Throw the whitebait into cold water, take them out, dry them thoroughly in a cloth, and toss them in flour in a clean dry cloth. Then shake the fish in a wire sieve so as to get rid of all the superfluous flour, put some of them in a wire basket, and plunge it into a pan of boiling lard or dripping, which should entirely cover the fish ; keep on shaking the basket. If the fat is at the proper heat, the whitebait should hardly take more than a minute or two to cook; directly they are crisp, lift the basket from the fat, give it a good shaking, and sprinkle on the fish some cayenne pepper and salt, shake again, and then torn the whitebait on to a cloth, and let them stand a short time in front of the fire to dry. Fry the rest of the whitebait in the same manner, and at the time of serving, dish them up in a heap on a hot napkin, and hand round with them thin slices of brown bread and butter, and a lemon cut in half. Noix de Veau a la Parmentier (Veal with New Pota- toes). — Remove the bone from a fillet of veal weighing LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 27 about four pounds, tie it up very tightly, so that there may be no hollow in the centre, and put it in a stewpan with two ounces of butter, which has just been allowed to slightly brown ; add three medium-sized onions cut up in slices, a rasher of bacon cut in dice, and some pepper and salt. Put on the lid of the saucepan and let the veal stew gently for half an hour. At the end of this time turn the veal over, add two carrots cut up, some parsley, thyme, and bay leaf, and replacing the cover, let the whole simmer slowly for an hour, then add two pounds of small new potatoes peeled, and leave it again for another hour, shaking the saucepan occasionally (no water or stock of any kind should be added). At the time of serving, put the piece of veal in the centre of the dish and place the potatoes all round it. Strain the gravy into a saucepan, free it from fat, add a teaspoonful of arrowroot, let it boil up once, and pour it all over and round the veal. Serve as hot as possible. Champignons a la Bordelaise (Mushrooms \ la Borde- laise). — Choose some fine sound mushrooms all as much as possible of the same size, peel them, trim them neatly, and leave them for an hour in a marinade composed of oil, whole pepper, and salt. Then sprinkle them with ground pepper, and grill them on both sides over a clear fire. In the mean time put into a saucepan three table- spoonfuls of oil or melted butter, add a teaspoonful of finely chopped parsley, one or two shallots finely chopped, and the juice of a lemon. Cook on the fire for about seven minutes, then pour over the mushrooms in a very hot dish and serve at once. Flan a la Turque (A Flan of Rhubarb). — Take one pound of forced rhubarb, and having wiped it carefully, cut it in pieces about two inches in length. Boil a pint of water and three-quarters of a pound of sugar together in a large shallow stewpan ; add a teaspoonful of lemon juice and a few drops of cochineal, and then put in as much of the rhubarb as can be laid at the bottom of the saucepan. Let it simmer very gently indeed at the side of the fire, and as the rhubarb becomes sufficiently tender — it must not be done too much — lift each piece out care- 28 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. fully on to a dish ; this should not occupy more than ten minutes, and great care must be taken to keep the pieces whole. Proceed in the same manner with the rest of the rhubarb, and when all has been done, strain some of the syrup into a sugar boiler and cook it rapidly for about six minutes with the thin rind of two lemons cut into very narrow Julienne-like shreds. Then put it on one side. In the mean time have ready some pufE-paste rolled out several times, butter a plain round flan or open tart mould, lay it on a baking-sheet also buttered, and line it with the paste; trim the edges, pinch it all round for ornamentation, line the whole with paper, fill it up with breadcrumbs, and bake till done in a good oven. Then remove the paper, etc., and turn the tart out of the mould. When the tart crust is cold, lay in it the pieces of rhu- barb, arranging them as neatly as possible side by side, pour over them a small quantity of the thick syrup, sprinkle on the surface the strips of lemon peel, and serve. MENU.— X. CONSOMMfi AUX PrOFITEROLLES. Filets de Soles a la V^nitienne. GiGOT DE MOUTON A LA PaRISIENNE. Epinards au Jus. Petit Cornets a la Vanille. Consomme aux ProfiteroUes (Soup with Profiterolles). — Put a gill of water, one ounce of butter, and a pinch of salt into a small saucepan, bring to the boil, then sprinkle in (off the fire) one ounce and a half of flour. Put the saucepan back on the stove and stir the mixture till it is quite dry, then let it stand for a few minutes, and when nearly cool, mix in thoroughly one egg and a few drops of lemon juice. The more the paste is stirred the better it will be; when it is quite smooth, put it into a forcing bag with a small nozzle (or a stiff paper bag shaped like a sugar cone), and while pressing it through have a pair of scissors and cut off pieces about the size of a Barce- LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 29 lona nut, and drop them on a baking sheet slightly but- tered. Bake them in a moderate oven till they are a light golden color. When wanted put some of them in the soup tureen and pour on them as much clear, well-flavored consomme as is wanted for soup. The rest of the profi- terolles will keep quite well in a tin. Filets de Soles a la Venitienne (Fillets of Sole k la V^nitienne). — Butter a long tin and put into it one or two onions cut in slices, a few sprigs of parsley, a bay leaf, two or three cloves, and salt and pepper to taste. Lay the fillets of two lemon soles on all these ingredients with a good sized piece of butter, and add about half a pint of white stock and half a wineglassful of white French wine; cover the tin with a piece of buttered paper, and put it in the oven for ten to fifteen minutes. When the fish is cooked, take out some of the liquor (leaving just sufficient to keep the fillets warm), strain it, and add it to a white roux, made with three-quarters of an ounce of butter and the same quantity of flour. Bring the sauce to the boil, then take it off the fire, add the yolk of an egg, and plenty of blanched parsley and chervil, chopped as finely as possible; the sauce should be quite green. Arrange the fillets of sole on a hot dish, pour the sauce over them and serve at once. Gigot de Mouton a la Parisienne (Leg of Mutton k la Parisienne). — Cook a small leg of mutton in a tin in the oven, putting some salt and a small quantity of water at the bottom of the tin. When half cooked, remove the leg and very carefully skim the gravy of all fat. Return the mutton to the tin, pour the gravy over it, and surround the joint with potatoes cut to the size of chestnuts. Put the tin back in the oven, and let the potatoes cook in the gravy or juice of the meat. Serve as hot as possible. Epinards au Jus (Spinach with Gravy). — Pick and wash three pounds of spinach and put it into a saucepan without any water to cook for about a quarter of an hour. When done, drain it in a colander, squeeze out all the water and pass the spinach through a hair sieve. Return it to an enamelled saucepan in which a good-sized piece 30 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. of butter has been melted. " Work " the spinach with a wooden spoon until it is quite dry, ihtn gradually moisten it with some good gravy, in which a small piece of glaze has been melted, until it is of the desired consistency. Serve piled up on a dish with fried sippets round it. Petits Cornets & la Vanille (Little Cones with Vanilla Cream). — Take the weight of three eggs in powdered sugar, and the weight of two in flour. Beat the eggs and sugar together for five minutes, then sprinkle in the flour, mix thoroughly and spread the paste as thinly as possible on a very large flat baking-tin, previously buttered, and bake in a slow oven for about fifteen minutes. When done, i.e., when the paste is a golden color, cut it out into rounds with a fluted or plain round cutter about four inches in diameter. As each round is cut, roll it up into the shape of a conical bag or sugar loaf and it will be- come almost immediately crisp. For this reason it is better not to take the tin right out of the oven, so as to keep the paste soft while it is being cut up, and the opera- tion must be performed quickly, for the paste as it cools gets crisp most rapidly, and then it cannot be rolled. Sweeten and flavor some cream with vanilla, whip it up very stiflfly, color half of it pink with cochineal, and at the time of serving fill the cornets, some with the pink cream, and some with the white. If the cornets be made some time before they are wanted, they should be kept in a tightly closed tin. MENU.— XL SouPE A l'Allemande. Maquereaux, Sauce aux Groseilles. Noisettes d'Agneau aux Concombres. Pigeons de Bordeaux Rotis. CEuFS a la Neige au Citron. Soupe a l'Allemande (German Soup).— Put a pint and a half of white stock in a large saucepan on the fire, bring to the boil, then add four tablespoonfuls of sago, very LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 31 finely pounded. Stir it occasionally, and after it has boiled for twelve minutes put in four tablespoonfuls of vegetables, previously cooked and cut into thin strips. In the mean time boil in another saucepan three-quarters of a pint of the same stock, and add to it gradually the yolks of three eggs which have been beaten up with half a pint of cream or milk. Stir over a moderate fire till the mix- ture thickens, then strain it immediately into the sauce- pan containing the sago; mix well. Add lastly half an ounce of butter, and serve at once. Maquereaux, Sauce aux Groseilles (Mackerel with Gooseberry Sauce). — Take the fillets from two mackerel, cut them in two, remove the skin, trim the fillets neatly, sprinkle them freely with pepper and salt, and place them side by side to cook in the oven in a well greased tin with a buttered paper over them. When they are done arrange them carefully in a dish, serving them with the following sauce in the centre: Take half a pint of gooseberries not quite ripe, boil them in water, then drain them, pass them through a hair sieve, and mix them with a good sized piece of butter. Warm the whole in a saucepan, adding a pinch of flour, and pepper and salt to taste, with a table- spoonful of good white stock; stir till thoroughly hot and of the right consistency. Noisettes d'Agneau aux Concombres (Fillets of Lamb with Cucumber). — Take the best end of a neck of lamb, remove the bone, trim off any superfluous fat and skin, and cut from it some slices about three-quarters of an inch thick; flatten them with the cutlet bat, trim them neatly and lay them in a dish. Sprinkle each little fillet with pepper and salt, then pour on a few drops of lemon juice and a small quantity of salad oil. Cover all with a layer of chopped onions, and leave the fillets in a cool place for three or four hours. Then wipe each fillet care- fully with a cloth, dip them in egg, then in stale bread crumbs, and in half an hour's time arrange them in the wire frying basket and fry them in boiling fat a golden brown color. Drain them thoroughly in front of the fire on soft paper, and serve them in a circle with the follow- ing garnish in the centre : Peel one or two cucumbers, 32 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. free them from pips, and cut them up into squares. Melt a piece of butter in a saucepan and fry the pieces of cucumber in it for two or three minutes, then add a sprinkling of flour and moisten with about half a tumbler- ful of stock. Let the whole stew very gently for twenty minutes, or till the cucumber is quite tender, taking care that each piece retains its shape. Pigeons de Bordeaux Rotis (Roast Bordeaux Pigeons). — Laird the pigeons — that is to say, tie a very thin slice of fat bacon over the breast of each bird — and roast them for about fifteen minutes, basting them the whole time with butter. When done, remove the string and skewers and serve the pigeons with or without the pieces of bacon and with fried potato chips and a salad composed as fol- lows: Wash two or three heads of French lettuce, dry them thoroughly, cut off the stalk so as to free the leaves, which break into convenient pieces, and cut the hearts into four quarters. Pour over the salad three tablespoonfuls of oil in which has been dissolved some pepper and salt to taste and then add one of tarragon vinegar. " Work " the salad thoroughly, and sprinkle chopped tarragon on the surface. (Eufs a la Neige au Citron (Snow Eggs with Lemon).-— Whisk the whites of five eggs to a very stiff froth; put a quart of milk sweetened to taste in a large shallow stew- pan ; when it boils drop in the white of egg in pieces the size of an egg shaped with a dessertspoon. Take them out and put them on a sieve to drain as they are done. A few seconds will cook them. When all the white of egg has been used, strain the milk and add to it the yolks of seven eggs with the grated rind of five lemons, and more sugar to taste if necessary. Mix well, pour into a double saucepan, and stir on the fire till the custard is sufficiently tliick. When cold pour it into a dish, and lay the " snow eggs " carefully on the top. LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 33 MENU.— XII. Bisque de Crevettes. Queue de Bceuf a la Mode. Canetons axjx Navets. Omelette aux Pointes d'Asperges. St. HoNORi; aux Groseilles. Bisque de Crevettes (Shrimp Soup).— Shell two pints of shrimps, reserve the meat from the tails, and put half of the heads and skins in a saucepan, with three pints of water, a squeeze of a lemon, a wineglassful of Chablis, two onions, a carrot (sliced), a bay leaf, parsley, thyme, etc., pepper and salt, and the bones and trimmings of any white fish. Let the whole boil up, skim it, and let it simmer for an hour and a half. In the mean time take some of the remaining shells of the shrimps and pound them in a mortar with an ounce of butter and pass them through a hair sieve. When the fish stock is ready, strain it on to a white roux in another saucepan, let it boil up, then add the shrimp butter, mix well together, and color the soup with a little carmine if necessary. Lastly, add the picked shrimps, and serve with small croutons of fried bread handed round on a plate. Queue de BcEuf a la Mode (Ox-tail \ la Mode). — Take two small ox-tails, disjoint them, and divide them into convenient sized pieces. Trim them neatly and put them into a stewpan just large enough to hold them with a pint and a quarter of cold water, two carrots, two onions, and a turnip, cut in small dice, two or three cloves, a blade of mace, a sprig of parsley, and pepper and salt. Bring quickly to the boil, then let the whole simmer very slowly indeed for six hours with the lid of the saucepan on ; skim carefully, and when wanted strain off the liquid, add to it two teaspoonfuls of arrowroot and a little coloring, return it to the saucepan, shake well, let the whole get thoroughly hot, and serve at once with mashed potatoes. 3 34 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. Canetons aux Navets (Ducks with Turnips). — Tie a piece of buttered paper over the breast of each duckling and roast at a moderate fire for about thirty-five minutes according to their size. Baste them frequently and re- move the paper five or ten minutes before the birds are done, when they should be sprinkled with salt. Serve with thick gravy in a sauceboat, which may be made from the necks, giblets, and trimmings of the ducks, and ar- range round the dish small heaps of turnips cooked as follows: Peel some turnips, cut them into the shape of olives, blanch them for five minutes, then fry them with some butter and a little powdered sugar till they are a golden color; season them with pepper and salt, moisten them with gravy, and let them stew very gently till quite tender. Omelette aux Pointes d'Asperges (Asparagus Omelet). — Beat up five or six eggs in a basin with a fork, add a tablespoonful of milk, pepper and salt to taste, and some asparagus heads previously boiled. Put about an ounce of butter in an omelet pan, let it get as hot as possible, burning color, then pour in the beaten eggs. As the mix- ture begins to set, lift it up with a small slice to let the uncooked liquid part run in its place, and keep the omelet as much as possible towards the centre of the pan {i.e., do not let it spread out too thin, especially when using a large pan); the omelet will not take much more than a minute to cook; the underneath part next to the pan should be a golden brown, and the surface very soft and slightly liquid. Directly it is sufficiently set, slip the omelet from the pan into a moderately heated dish, let- ting it roll over as you do so, so that it will assume its ordinary folded shape; serve immediately. St. Honors aux Groseilles (St. Honord of Gooseber- ries). — First of all va2i!&& ^ora^ pate a choux as follows: Put into a saucepan half a pint of water, a quarter of a" pound of butter, and two ounces of sugar. Let the mix- ture boil, then add gradually half a pound of finely sifted flour, and when the flour has all been absorbed, and the paste is quite dry, remove the saucepan from the fire and add, one by one, seven or eight eggs, beating the mix- LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 35 tare well the whole time, till a very smooth paste is obtained. Then make some short paste, and roll it out to the thickness of a quarter of an inch, and cut it into a round from six to eight inches in diameter. Place this on a baking-sheet, put the choux paste into a forcing bag, and press out of it a ring about an inch in thickness on to the edge of the round of paste, brush it over with yolk of egg, and place the sheet in a moderate oven. With the remainder of the choux paste make some little balls, egg them over, and bake these on another flat tin. When all has been baked a nice golden color, stick these balls with white of egg quite close together on the top of the roll of choux paste. In the centre place some stewed gooseberries and heap up on the top some whipped cream ; serve cold. MENU.— XIII. PoTAGE Royal a l'Oseille. Saumon a l'Hollandaise. PouLET EN Salmis. PUR^E DE LaITUES. Darioles aux Cerises. Potage Royal a l'Oseille (Sorrel Soup with Custard) . — Whisk very lightly the yolks of three eggs and the white of one; mix them with a gill of milk, add a little salt, strain the mixture and divide it into two equal parts, one of which color a pale pink with a few drops of cochineal. Pour each into some small timbale moulds previously buttered, and place them in a stewpan with sufficient cold water to reach half-way up the moulds. When the water is on the point of boiling, remove the saucepan to the side of the fire, and let the water simmer very gently for about a quarter of an hour; then if the custards are suffi- ciently set, put the saucepan in a cool place, and when the water is cold turn out the custards on to a clean cloth. Cut each little mould of custard into slices, and cut these out again into little fancy shapes, such as hearts, 36 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS, stars, crescents, diamonds, etc. Put these in the soup tureen with some sorrel, which has been boiled in stock, having been previously cut in narrow strips as for ju- lienne ; add some very clear pale consomm^, and serve. Saumon a PHoUandaise (Salmon with Dutch Sauce). —Take a piece of salmon, cut from the middle, place it in the fish kettle, and cover it with cold water, into which throw plenty of salt. Bring the water slowly to the boil, removing any scum, and then let it simmer till the fish is done. Directly the boiling of the salmon is completed, drain it thoroughly, and serve it on a dish on a napkin, with the following sauce in a boat: Take three ounces of butter, and the yolks of two eggs, put them in a double saucepan, and stir them quickly over the fire till the butter is dissolved; then mix in rather less than an ounce of flour, stir well, and add the strained juice of a lemon, half a pint of milk, a little grated nutmeg and pepper and salt to taste. Stir without ceasing till the sauce has thickened to the consistency of custard. Poulets en Salmis (Fricassee of Fowl). — Half roast one or two chickens, carve them very neatly, making four pieces out of the legs, two out of the wings and two out of the breast, thus sixteen pieces if two fowls are used. Remove all skin and outside parts, and put the pieces of chicken aside till wanted. Then put into a saucepan a rasher of bacon cut in dice, a couple of carrots sliced, three minced shallots, a bay leaf, thyme, parsley, whole pepper, salt to taste, and two ounces of clarified dripping. Let these all simmer for about twenty minutes, and when well browned add a tablespoonful of flour, let it cook thoroughly, then moisten with a pint and a quarter of common stock, and, if possible, a liqueur-glassful of Mar- sala, letting the sauce boil up once or twice during the process. Next put in all the trimmings of the chickens with the backs cut up in small pieces, and let the whole simmer for about an hour. Strain into a clean saucepan, and, when cold, put in the pieces of chicken, and warm them up gradually by letting them simmer in the sauce for about three-quarters of an hour. Serve as hot as pos- sible with the sauce, which will have considerably re- LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 17 duced, poured over the chicken. Mashed potatoes may be handed round at the same time. Puree de Laitues (Puree of Lettuces).— Take a dozen lettuces, pick and wash them well, and cook them in boiling salted water for twenty minutes. Then drain them thoroughly, and pass them through a hair sieve. Melt in a clean saucepan two ounces of butter, add an ounce of flour, and stir together for five minutes without letting it get brown. Then add the lettuce purde, and stir over the fire for five or ten minutes. When fairly stiff, moisten with two tablespoonfuls of cream, add pep- per and salt to taste, and serve as hot as possible, gar nished with crodtons of fried bread cut in the shape of diamonds. Darioles aux Cerises (Darioles with Cherries). — Make a syrup with half a pint of water and six ounces of loaf sugar. Stone three-quarters of a pound of cherries and cook them in the boiling syrup for four or five minutes, drain th.em and put them on one side. Meanwhile beat up four ounces of butter to a cream, and add the same quantity of powdered sugar; when smooth incorporate one by one three eggs, beating the mixture vigorously the whole time, then sprinkle in four ounces of flour, add a pinch of baking powder, and pour the paste into small dariole moulds previously buttered, leaving plenty of room for the cakes to rise. Bake them in a moderate oven ; when they are done turn them out on a sieve and leave them to get cold. Then scoop out the middle from each to the depth of an inch and a half, and having trimmed them neatly, brush them all over with some red plum jam that has been dissolved over the fire with a little water and passed through a hair sieve. Color some granulated sugar pink with cochineal, mix it with an equal quantity of white, and roll the cakes in the mixed sugar till they are covered all over with it. Then proceed to fill them with the stoned cherries and ornament the top of each alternately with a teaspoonful of pink and white whipped cream. 38 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. MENU.— XIV. SouPE Paysanne. Eglefins a la Maitre d'H6tel. Selle d'Agneau aux Petits Pois. Spaghetti a la Napolitaine. SouFrL:^ AU Chocolat. Soupe Paysanne (Paysanne Soup). — Cut some carrots and turnips in slices about a quarter of an inch thick, and from these cut out some small roiinds with a cutter about a third of an inch in diameter; trim also some leeks into similar rounds, and fry them all in butter, with pepper and salt, till they begin to take color, beginning with the carrots, then the leeks, and lastly, the turnips. Next take similar quantities of asparagus points (using as much of the green part of the stalks as is tender), and some green peas, and half cook them both in salted water. Put all the vegetables in a saucepan, add as much con- sommd as is wanted, bring to the boil, and then let the soup simmer till all the vegetables are quite tender; add a sprinkling of chervil, and serve. Eglefins a la Maitre d'HStel (Haddocks k la Maitre d'Hotel). — Take some small fresh haddocks, let them be split open by the fish dealer; trim them neatly, cutting off the heads and tails, wipe them dry, and rub them on both sides with a little salt and then with butter. Sprinkle them well with pepper, and having well greased the grid- iron to prevent the fish from sticking, broil the haddocks over a clean fire. When done — they should be nice and brown — butter them again, squeeze the juice of half a lemon over the fish, sprinkle them freely with very finely chopped parsley, and serve as hot as possible. Selle d'Agneau aux Petits Pois (Saddle of Lamb with Peas). — Choose a nice saddle of lamb, trim the joint neatly, cover it over with buttered paper and roast it at a clear, brisk fire. Baste frequently, remove the paper a LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 39 quarter of an hour before the meat is done, and at the last sprinkle with salt.' Serve with the gravy thoroughly freed from fat, and with mint sauce, if liked, and garnish the dish with peas cooked as follows: Boil the peas in plenty of boiling salted water, with an onion and a bunch of mint, as briskly as possible for about twenty minutes. Then drain them thoroughly, return them to a clean sauce- pan, and toss them over the fire with a little butter, pep- per, and salt. Pommes de Terra Saut^es should be handed round at the same time. Boil some potatoes (let them be underdone), cut them in quarters or slices of medium thickness ; melt some butter or clarified dripping in a frying-pan, put in the potatoes, sprinkling them with plenty of pepper and salt and finely chopped parsley, and toss them over rather a brisk fire till they are a golden- brown color. Be careful not to break them during the process. Spaghetti k la Napolitaine (Spaghetti, Neapolitan Fashion). — Boil about half a pound of spaghetti, broken into convenient lengths, in plenty of boiling salted water. Stir every now and then, and when it is done, which it should be in about fifteen minutes, pour a jug of cold water into the saucepan before taking it off the fire, and then strain the spaghetti on a sieve, so that it is perfectly free from all water. Melt an ounce and a half of butter in a clean saucepan, add half a small bottle of French tomato conserve, with pepper and salt to taste, and two or three spoonfuls of good gravy. Let it boil for ten minutes, then remove the saucepan to the side of the fire, and put in the spaghetti a little at a time. Mix thor- oughly, adding two tablespoonfuls of freshly grated Par- mesan cheese and stir it all together as gently as possible. Serve in a silver entree dish, and hand round grated Par- mesan cheese on a plate at the same time. Souffle au Chocolat (Chocolate Souffld). — Take a small tablespoonful of cornstarch, mix it with a gill of milk, and when quite smooth add two ounces of powdered sugar and two ounces of butter. Put the mixture in a saucepan and stir over the fire till it boils. When cold, stir in an ounce of chocolate grated, and the yolks of three eggs. 40 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. Beat well together and when perfectly smooth, mix in the whites of four eggs whisked to a stifE froth. Pour into a well buttered souffld dish and bake for forty minutes. MENU.— XV. POTAGE DUBARRY. Filets de Maqueraux A la Ravigote. C6TELETTES D'AgnEAU AUX EpINARDS. Laperaux a la Soubise. Canapes A la Gordon. Potage Dubarry (Cauliflower Soup). — Parboil a moder- ate-sized cauliflower, then change the water, add salt to taste, and let it boil till quite done. Pass it through a hair sieve, having first drained it of all water in which it was cooked. Dilute the purde thus obtained with some well-flavored consommd, and let it give a boil or two, stirring all the time. When sufficient consomm^ has been added to make the soup of the right consistency, beat up in a small basin the yolks of two eggs with three tablespoonfuls of cream, add to it a couple of ladlefuls of the soup, then take the saucepan containing the soup off the fire, pour in the liaison (i.e., the eggs and cream) and stir well together. Add half an ounce of butter, and pour the soup at once into the tureen. Hand round at the same time small dice of bread fried a golden color. Filets de Maqueraux a la Ravigote (Fillets of Mack, erel k la Ravigote). — Take the fillets from two mackerel cut them in two, remove the skin, trim them neatly' sprinkle thenj freely with pepper and salt, and place them side by side to cook in the oven in a well-buttered tin with a buttered paper over them. When they are done, arrange them neatly in a dish, and pour over them the following sauce, which should be prepared before- hand : Take equal quantities tarragon, chervil, parsley, and chives, blanch them, and, after having pressed out the water, mince them very finely. Then melt one ounce LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 41 and a half of butter in a small saucepan, add a table- spoonful of flour, and, when thoroughly mixed, add by degrees a pint of white stock, stirring the sauce the whole time. Let it boil, then season with pepper and salt, put in the minced herbs, add a small piece of butter, and, lastly, a few drops of tarragon vinegar. Laperaux a la Soubise (Rabbits with Onion Sauce). — Cut up two rabbits into neat pieces, blanch them in boil- ing salted water for ten minutes, then throw away the water, add fresh water with a bunch of sweet herbs, a couple of carrots, cloves, whole pepper and salt to taste, and let the rabbits simmer very gently at the side of the stove for an hour and a half. When done, serve them with the following sauce poured all over them : Put some onions in cold water, let them boil for fiye minutes, then throw away the liquor and boil them again in fresh water. When perfectly tender, drain them thoroughly and squeeze the onions in a cloth to express all the juice. Pass the onions now through a hair sieve; warm up the purde in a saucepan with butter, pepper and salt, and let it reduce over the fire till it is quite stiff. Just before using reduce to the right consistency with a few spoonfuls of cream or milk and cream. C6telettes d'Agneau aux Epioards (Lamb Cutlets with Spinach). — Take a piece of the best end of a neck of lamb, divide it into cutlets. Trim them very neatly, leaving no gristle or fat on the bones, and flatten them with a cutlet bat dipped in cold water. Sprinkle the cutlets with pepper and salt, and grill them on the top of a very clear fire. Turn them when they have cooked for a minute or two on one side, and be careful not to cook them too much. Serve them in a circle with spinach, cooked as follows, in the centre: Pick and well wash about three pounds of spinach, and put it in a saucepan on the fire without any water to cook for fifteen minutes. When done, drain it in a colander, squeeze out every drop of water, and pass the spinach through a hair sieve. Return it then to an enamelled saucepan, in which two ounces of butter have been melted, and season with pep- per and salt to taste. Stir well, and having added a table- 42 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. spoonful or two of good gravy, let the spinach simmer slowly for about twenty minutes, stirring it occasionally with a wooden spoon. Hand round with the cutlets some Fried Potatoes. Peel some good sized ones, and cut them into balls about the size of marbles. Dry them thoroughly in a cloth, put them in a frying basket, and plunge it into good boiling fat. Shake the basket every now and then, and as soon as the potatoes are of a very light brown color, take them out of the fat and put them on a sieve in front of the fire, with a piece of soft paper under them. Sprinkle them well with salt and send to table. Canapes i la Gordon (Canapes of Scrambled Egg). — Have ready some pieces of buttered toast about two inches and a half square, also a few small mushrooms, all of the same size and cooked in a tin in the oven with a little butter. Beat up lightly in a basin six eggs with three tablespoonfuls of tomato catsup and cayenne pep- per, and salt to taste. Pour them into a small saucepan in which an ounce and a half of butter has been melted, and stir over the fire with a small wooden spoon till the mixture is sufficiently set, like ordinary scrambled eggs. Then turn out on to the prepared pieces of toast, place a mushroom in the centre of each, and serve immediately on a very hot dish. MENU— XVI. PoTAGE A LA St. Germain. TuRBOT A LA Mazarine. BcEUF A la Renaissance. Haricots Verts en Salade. Bavaroise au Chocolat. Potage a la St. Germain (Green Pea Soup).— Boil one pint of green peas in three to three and a half pints of second stock, or water, with a piece of ham or bacon, two carrots, an onion, a leek, a bay leaf, some parsley, whole pepper and salt. Let the whole simmer for two or three LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 43 hours, stirring occasionally. Then pass the peas and onions through a hair sieve, and add the strained liquor to the result, or as much of it as will bring the soup to the required consistency. Return it to the saucepan, let it boil up, add to it some whole peas, which have been previously cooked in boiling salted water with a little mint, and serve at once. Turbot a la Mazarine (Turbot k la Mazarine).— Place the turbot in a fish kettle with plenty of cold, salted water and a bunch of parsley. Directly the water approaches boiling point let it simmer gently for about half an hour, the time, of course, depending upon the size of the fish. When it is quite done lift it out of the water and keep it hot while the following sauce is prepared : Put two ounces of butter into a saucepan on the fire, when it has melted mix well into it a large tablespoonful of flour, and add gradually rather more than half a pint of the water in which tlie fish was cooked, and continue to stir till the sauce is quite smooth, adding a little anchovy essence and mushroom catsup. Then add to the sauce off the fire the yolks of three eggs, which have been beaten up with the juice of a lemon. Season with pepper and salt, and color the sauce with lobster butter made by pounding half an ounce of spawn with double the quantity of butter, and passing the mixture through a hair sieve. A little liquid carmine must be used if the sauce is not sufficiently red or if the spawn is not obtainable. Place the turbot on a large dish, mask it with some of the sauce and serve up the rest in a boat. Boeuf a la Renaissance (Braised Fillet of Beef with Vegetables). — Tie up a fillet of beef neatly with string, and put it in a stewpan, the bottom of which has been well buttered, and lined with thin slices of fat bacon, and two onions cut in slices. Let the fillet fry for about twenty minutes, then barely cover it with stock, add a wineglassful of sherry, bring to the boil, and add a small onion stuck with cloves, a turnip, a carrot, a bouquet garni, and whole pepper and salt. After this let the meat sim- mer very gently indeed for one and a half to two hours. For the garnish take equal quantities of peas, French 44 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. beans, artichoke bottoms, and new carrots and turnips; cut the latter with a vegetable cutter to uniform shapes, and cook them each separately in some consommd. Strain off about three-quarters of a pint of the stock from the fillet of beef, and pour it on to a brown roux, made with one ounce of flour and an equal quantity of butter ; stir till it boils, add a small piece of glaze, and then let the sauce boil fast over a fierce fire till sufficiently reduced. Add a little coloring, if necessary, and pepper and salt to taste. Dish up the fillet of beef, glaze it with the sauce, and arrange round it the above vegetables in small heaps. Send up the rest of the sauce in a boat. Haricots Verts en Salade (French Bean Salad). — Trim some French beans, throw them into plenty of fast- boiling unsalted water, add a tiny bit of soda, and let them boil uncovered till done. Then drain them, throw them into a basinful of cold water for ten minutes, drain them again thoroughly, and place them on a dry cloth. Prepare a salad dressing with oil and vinegar in the pro- portions of three to one, a little French mustard, and pepper and salt to taste. Toss the beans in this, arrange them in a salad bowl, add a sprinkling of chopped parsley or chervil, and garnish with quarters of hard boiled eggs. Bavaroise au Chocolat (Chocolate Bavaroise). — Mix together the beaten yolks of two eggs, a pint of milk, and four ounces of chocolate grated. Pour into a saucepan, bring to the boil, and leave it to get cold, stirring it every now and then. When cold add it to the yolks of two eggs which have been beaten for ten minutes with two ounces of sugar. Mix all together, then add the whites of four eggs beaten to a stiff froth, and half an ounce of dis- solved gelatine. Pour into a mould and turn out when set. LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 45 MENU.— XVII. CoNSOMMii; Tricolore. Eglefin a la Diplomate. Veau a la Suzanne. B^CASSINES A LA CrAPAUDINE. TOURTE DE FrANGIPANE. Consomme Tricolore (Tricolored Soup).— Cut some French beans, young carrots, and turnips in the shape of diamonds or lozenges. Boil each vegetable separately in salted water — the beans for about fifteen minutes with a little soda in the water, and the carrots and the turnips for twenty and ten minutes respectively. When they are all cooked, strain them on a sieve, and at the time of serving put them into some very good clear stock, which should be rather pale and of the color of light sherry so as to show up the hues of the vegetables as much as possible. Eglefin, Sauce Diplomate (Haddock, with Diplomate Sauce). — Take a large, fresh haddock and put it into a fish kettle with plenty of boiling water. Let the fish simmer gently at the side of the stove for about a quarter of an hour. The moment it is done, drain it carefully, dish it up on a folded napkin, garnish it with parsley, and serve with the following sauce in a boat. Put one ounce of butter in a saucepan with a few mushroorns finely chopped, let them fry slowly without coloring, then mix in half an ounce of fliour, and when thoroughly amalga- mated, add, by degrees, three or four gills of milk, which has been previously boiled with an onion and a carrot sliced, some parsley, whole pepper and salt, and then strained. Let the sauce come to the boil, and then sim- mer by the side of the fire. Stir it occasionally, and when well reduced, add a quarter of an ounce of anchovy butter made in the usual manner by pounding together equal .quantities (in weight) of anchovies' and butter, and then passing the paste through a hair sieve. Have ready about a dozen and a half picked shrimps cut in halves, 46 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. also two or three gherkins chopped up roughly. Then beat up in a clean saucepan the yolks of two eggs and strain on to them, off the fire, the above sauce, stirring it quickly the whole time; add the chopped gherkins and shrimps, pepper and salt if necessary, and a few drops of lemon juice. Let the sauce get thoroughly hot without boiling, and serve at once. Veau i la Suzanne (Veal \ la Suzanne). —Take a piece of " cushion " of veal, trim it very neatly, and put it in a saucepan with a good sized piece of butter. Con- tinue turning it until it is of a rich golden color all over, then take it out of the saucepan, put it on a dish, and sprinkle it all over with fine salt and a little pepper. Next add a little more butter to the saucepan, and put in a quantity of raw potatoes, cut up into pieces the size and shape of orange quarters. Dust them with salt, put on the cover of the paucepan and shake it frequently until the potatoes have taken color. Then add an onion, finely minced, and when the onion is half cooked add a clove of garlic, minced very finely, and as soon as this assumes a light brown color, put in a tablespoonful of flour; when this has become brown, add four or five ladlefuls of stock or hot water. Stir the whole well, and then put in the piece of meat, with any juice that may have oozed out of it. Lastly, add a bouquet composed of a few sprigs of parsley, one of thyme, one clove, and half a very small red capsicum, all tied together with a piece of thread. Put on the cover of the saucepan, and let the whole simmer for an hour, at the least. Remove the bouquet, and serve the veal surrounded with the potatoes, and the sauce poured over the whole. Becassines a la Crapaudine (Grilled Snipe).— Pick, singe, and draw the requisite number of snipe; let them be thoroughly dry. Split them down the back without dividing them entirely, then flatten them as much as pos- sible with a cutlet-bat, and lay them for a short time in a marinade composed of oil, pepper, salt, parsley, and a bay leaf. Next grill them over a quick fire for about five minutes on each side, and serve them immediately on a very hot dish, surrounded with watercress. Hand LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. A7 in a sauce-boat some clear gravy, well flavored with lemon juice. Potato chips should accompany this dish. Tourte de Frangipane (Tart of Frangipane).— Break into a basin two eggs, add the yolks of two or three more, one heaped tablespoonful of fine flour, the same quantity, or more, according to taste, of powdered sugar, and a very small pinch of salt. Beat the whole together, and when quite smooth, stir in, a little at a time, a pint of cold milk. Strain the mixture into a saucepan ; put this on the fire and stir continuously. When it begins to get warm, mix in one ounce of the best fresh butter, melted on the fire till it assumes a light brown color. Now add to the cus- tard the thin rind of a fresh lemon, or a pod of vanilla or any other flavoring essence that is liked; the custard hav- ing become sufficiently thick, continue the stirring till it is almost cold, then add to it a couple of macaroons finely pounded, and put it on one side. Roll some puff paste into a sheet, a quarter to three-eighths of an inch thick; lay it on a baking sheet, and on it make a layer of the frangipane half to three-quarters of an inch thick, till within one inch of the edge; moisten it all round with water, and cover with another sheet of puff paste of the same thickness as the first. With the help of a flan mold, or circle, cut the tourte to a regular shape, round, or oval, ornament the top with light devices of puff paste, mark some design all round it, glaze over the top with beaten egg, and bake in a moderate oven till well colored: MENU.— xvin. PoTAGE Brunoise aux Pates d'Italie. Filets de Soles, Sauce Mousseline. Grouse en Salmis. Filet de Bceuf a la Palestine. PoiRES EN Surprise. Potage Brunoise aux Pates d'Italie (Brunoise Soup with Italian Paste). — Take two dessertspoonfuls of small Ital- ian paste and put it in a saucepan with plenty of fast 48 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. boiling, salted water. When sufficiently cooked, put the paste on a sieve to drain. In the mean time take equal quantities of carrots, celery, turnips, and onions, cut them all up into the shape of very small cubes, and fry them in butter, with pepper and salt to taste, till they begin to take color, putting in first the carrots, then the celery, next the onions, and lastly the turnips. Then add a suffi- cient quantity of good stock, bring to the boil, and let the whole simmer for about two hours and a half, or till the vegetables are thoroughly tender. Put the Italian paste at the bottom of the soup tureen, pour in the soup and vegetables, made as hot as possible, and serve. Parmesan cheese may be handed round if liked. Filets da Soles, Sauce Mousseline (Fillets of Sole, Mousseline Sauce). — Take the fillets from two or three soles, tie each in a knot, place them in a buttered tin, season them with pepper and salt, put a sheet of buttered paper over them, and cook them in a moderate oven for about ten minutes. When done, drain off the butter, dish all the fillets in a circle and pour over them the fol- lowing sauce : Beat up the yolks of four eggs in a small saucepan, add a gill of double cream, a couple of ounces of butter, and pepper and salt to taste. Put the sauce- pan on a very gentle fire, and never cease stirring till the sauce thickens, adding during the process a few drops of lemon juice. Grouse en Salmis (Salmi of Grouse). — Roast a brace of grouse, let them get cold, then carve in neat joints the wings, the legs, and the breast. Chop up the rest of the birds, and put them and the trimmings into a saucepan ■with a small slice of bacon, a couple of carrots, a shal- lot, one clove, a small sprig of thyme, a few trimmings of mushrooms, and some whole pepper and salt to taste. Add a wineglassful of port wine or brandy, and fill up the saucepan with common stock. Put the saucepan at the side of the fire and let it simmer for a couple of hours; then strain the liquid, let it reduce for twenty minutes, thicken it carefully with a rouxoi flour and but- ter, and put it on one side. Put the joints carved from the birds into a saucepan, pour the sauce (cold) over them, LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 49 and place the saucepan by the side of the fire to slowly simmer until the contents are very hot. Dress them on a dish and pour the sauce over, garnishing with sippets of bread fried in butter. Filet de Boeuf a la Palestine (Fillet of Beef with Jeru- salem Artichokes). — Take a nice fillet of beef, trim it neatly, and lard it on one side, not too finely, with fat bacon. Tie a piece of buttered paper over the larding and roast the fillet at a brisk fire, removing the paper to let the larding take color a few minutes before serving. Serve garnished with Jerusalem artichokes prepared as follows: Wash and peel some fine Jerusalem artichokes, cut from them some balls the size of a large marble, put them into plenty of boiling salted water, and let them cook for two minutes. Then strain them on to a sieve, place them in a clean stewpan with an ounce of butter, pepper and salt, and enough stock to cover them. Put them on the fire to boil, then remove them to the side of the stove to simmer gently, shaking them and turning them occasionally. When the balls of artichokes are quite tender and the stock has reduced to a glaze, they are ready. Hand round also at the same time Fried Potatoes pre- pared in the following manner: Peel some potatoes, cut them into slices a quarter of an inch thick, and divide each slice lengthwise in strips a quarter of an inch wide. Lay all these in a cloth and dry them with it. Have a panful of boiling lard or clarified dripping. Put the potatoes in the frying basket a few at a time, plunge them into the boiling lard, and never cease shaking the basket until the potatoes are cooked and are of a light straw color. Sprinkle them plentifully with very fine salt, and turn them out of the basket on a cloth in front of the fire, to let the fat evaporate from them, and serve. Poires en Surprise (Surprise Pears). — Peel some large cooking pears, cut them in two, making one-half larger than the other, on which the stalk should be left, and cut out the core from every piece, making rather a large hol- low in the centre of each. Put three-quarters of a pound of sugar in a large, shallow stewpan with a pint of water 4 so LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. and about a dessertspoonful of cochineal. Directly the syrup has come to the boil, put in the smaller pieces of pear, with a few cloves and a small piece of cinnamon, and let them simmer very gently till quite tender. Then lift them out, drain them well, and put in the large halves of the pears, and when they are done, remove the sauce- pan from the fire and let the pears get cold in their own liquor. The object of cooking the two halves of the pears separately is because they must be laid flat in the stewpan, not one on the top of the other. In the mean time, take a dozen and a half crystallized cherries, and cut each into eight pieces. Then put into a basin half a tablespoonful of " cream of rice," and add gradually the yolks of three eggs, beaten up with half a pint of milk. Sweeten to taste, and flavor with a little essence of vanilla. Strain this into a double saucepan, and stir it over the fire until the mixture is of the consistency of very thick custard. Then take it off thei fire, add the pieces of cherry, and put it away in a cool place. When cold, fill each of the larger pieces of pear with the cus- tard, and cover them with the smaller pieces, so as to completely hide the contents, and in putting the halves of pears together be careful to pair them correctly. Strain the liquor into a sugar-boiler, reduce it on a quick fire until it is quite thick, then let it get somewhat cool. Arrange the pears on a dish, small side downward, pour over them the syrup, and serve cold. MENU.— XIX. PoTAGE Clermont. BOUDINS DE MeRLANS EN SUPREME. Noisettes de Mouton aux Epinards. Canards Sauvages, Sauce Orange. Choufleur au Gratin. Potage Clermont (White Haricot Bean Soup). — Boil three-quarters of a pint of white haricot beans in three or four pints of second stock with two small onions, a car- LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 51 rot, a bay leaf, some parsley, a pinch of thyme, two or three cloves, some peppercorns, and salt. Let the whole simmer for. about four hours, stirring it occasionally. Then pass all through a hair sieve with the exception of the carrot, herbs, etc. Return the pur^e to a clean sauce- pan, let it boil up, add a small pat of butter, and lastly, a tablespoonful of hot cream. Serve with small dice of bread fried in butter. Boudins de Marians en Supreme (Boudins of Whiting with Supreme Sauce). — Cut the fillets from some whit- ings, put them on one side, then chop up the bones and put them into a saucepan with one or two sliced onions, a small piece of celery, a bunch of sweet herbs, pepper and salt to taste, three or four mushrooms, and a pint of white stock or water. Bring to the boil, let it simmer for an hgur and a half, and then strain. Pound the fillets of whiting in a mortar, pass the paste through a wire sieve, and put it between two plates till wanted. Soak in a little milk four ounces of the crumb of a Vienna loaf; when perfectly soft, put it in a cloth and wring out all the moisture from it. Then put the bread in a saucepan on the fire with a little more milk, and stir it with a wooden spoon until it forms a very dry and toughish paste. It must not be allowed to brown. Mix with this panada, as it is called, while it is still hot, the yolks of two eggs, and put it on one side. When cool, add to it half a pound of the pounded whiting, four ounces of but- ter, a little grated nutmeg, pepper and salt. Beat and pound these all well together with another whole egg. Test the mixture by poaching a small piece of it, and if not firm enough add another egg. Have ready some well buttered dariole molds holding about a gill, and fill them rather more than three-parts full with the mixture. Put a piece of folded paper at the bottom of a large stewpan, pour in a pint of hot water, and in this place the little molds, covered with a piece of buttered paper, to cook gently for about fifteen minutes. In the mean time melt in a saucepan two ounces of butter, amalgamate well with it a tablespoonful of flour, and add gradually the strained stock prepared from the fish trimmings, etc. Stir till it boils, then add a spoonful or more of cream, pepper and 52 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. salt if necessary, and let the sauce reduce till wanted. When the boudins are cooked sufficiently, turn them out very carefully on a clean cloth, dish them up quickly, and pour over and round them the above sauce strained. Noisettes de Mouton aux Epinards (Fillets of Mutton with Spinach). — Take a piece of the best end of a neck of mutton, remove all the bone, trim off any superfluous fat and skin, and then cut from it some slices about three- quarters of an inch thick, and trim them into nicely formed fillets. Sprinkle them with pepper and salt, and fry them in hot butter over a brisk fire; when they are done on both sides, add a small piece of glaze previously dissolved. Turn the fillets over in it, and dish them up in a circle with their own gravy, and with spinach in the centre prepared as follows : Pick and wash about three pounds of spinach, and put it in a saucepan on the fire without any water, to cook for about fifteen minutes. When done, drain it in a colander, squeeze out all the moisture, and pass the spinach through a hair sieve. Re- turn it then to a clean saucepan in which an ounce and a half of butter has been melted, and season with pepper and salt. Stir well, and having added a tablespoonful of good gravy, let the spinach simmer slowly for about twenty minutes, stirring it occasionally with a wooden spoon. When it is of the right consistency, take it off the fire and use at once. Canards Sauvages (Wild Ducks). — Take two wild ducks, and roast them at a fierce fire, more or less under- done according to taste (about a quarter of an hour). Baste them all the time with butter and the juice of a lemon, and serve with the following sauce in a boat: Sauce Orange. — Cut the very thin rind of two oranges ; shred it very finely, like carrots for Julienne soup, then parboil it. Melt one ounce of butter in a saucepan, and amalgamate with it a dessertspoonful of potato flour moistened with a little water. Stir well, and then add the juice of the oranges strained, and some very good clear gravy ; flavor with pepper and salt and the least bit of cayenne ; then add the parboiled strips of rind. Let LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 53 the sauce boil, and then keep it hot in the bain-marie till wanted. A little lemon juice must be added if the oranges are particularly sweet. Choufleur au Gratin (Cauliflower with Cheese). — Trim a good-sized cauliflower, soak it in cold water with a lump of salt, and boil it in plenty of boiling salted water for ten to fifteen minutes. Then remove it, cut a slice off the stalk, take away all the green leaves, and lay it carefully on a flat buttered dish previously rubbed with a shallot, and prepare the following sauce: Melt one ounce and a half of butter in a saucepan, add a heaped dessert- spoonful of finely sifted flour, mix well, and then add gradually rather less than a tumblerful of milk. Stir till the sauce thickens, add pepper and salt to taste, and two or three tablespoonfuls of grated Parmesan cheese. Mix well, and pour the sauce over the cauliflower, covering the sides with the help of a palette-knife. Sprinkle on the top plenty of pale-brown breadcrumbs, and place the cauliflower in a hot oven tiU it is a nice brown color. Serve as it is inside another dish. MENU.— XX. PoTAGE Queue de Bceuf. Cabillaud, Sauce Celadon. Escalopes de Veau a l'Anglaise. Cailles Roties; Salade. GSteau a la Tartarie. Potage Queue de Boeuf (Ox-tail Soup). — Take two small ox-tails, divide them at the joints, cutting the larger por- tions into pieces about an inch in length, and let them all soak for some time in lukewarm water. Put a small piece of butter at the bottom of a stewpan, add the pieces of ox-tail, and when they have commenced to brown, add three pints of boiling water with a teaspoonful and a half of salt. Bring to the boil, skim it carefully, and then add a little cold water at intervals to assist the scum to 54 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. rise. Afterward add three onions, three carrots, one tur- nip, a head of celery (if obtainable), parsley, thyme, a bay leaf, whole pepper, three or four cloves, and a rasher of lean bacon. Let the whole simmer gently for about three hours and a half. The meat from the ox-tails must be perfectly tender, and come off easily from the bones. Then drain the ox-tails on a sieve, trim each piece neatly, and put them in the soup tureen. Strain the soup through a napkin, remove all fat, add more salt and pep- per if necessary, return to the saucepan, bring to the boil, and pour it into the tureen on the pieces of ox-tail. Cabillaud, Sauce Celadon (Cod with Celadon Sauce). — Take a piece of codfish, weighing about three pounds, tie it up with string, and cook it gently in plenty of boil- ing salted water. When done — it will take about twenty minutes— drain it thoroughly, put it on a dish on a folded napkin and garnish with parsley, and serve with the fol- lowing sauce in a boat: Take some parsley, chives, tar- ragon, and two or three leaves of spinach. Pound all these in a mortar, and squeeze the juice through muslin. Then put the yolks of two eggs into a basin, with salt and pepper to taste, and half a teaspoonful of flour of mustard; mix all well together, and add, drop by drop, some good salad oil. When the mixture begins to get very thick, add the oil by' teaspoonfuls, stirring the sauce quickly the whole time, and when the required quantity of sauce has been made, add gradually about a table- spoonful of French vinegar, the quantity varying accord- ing to taste. Then mix in a tablespoonful of thick cream, and lastly, the green juice, adding just enough to give the sauce a light green color. Keep in a cool place until the time of serving. Escalopes de Veau a I'Anglaise (Collops of Veal I. I'Anglaise). — Cut from a piece of fillet of veal a number of slices about half an inch thick; from these cut out the escalopes by means of a round cutter, two inches and a half in diameter, and a sharp knife. Dip them one by one in a beaten-up egg, then pass them in breadcrumbs, with which pepper and salt, together with a little pow- dered thyme and very finely minced parsley, have been LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 55 mixed. Let them rest for five or ten minutes covered up with a cloth, then arrange them in the frying basket and fry them in hot lard till they have taken a light brown color. Dish them in a circle on a bed of spinach alter- nately with slices of streaky bacon cut to the shape of the escalopes and also fried. Garnish the dish with lemon cut in quarters and hand round pommes de terres sautees if desired. Cailles R6ties (Roast Quails). — Tie a thin slice of fat bacon over the breast of each quail, and roast them at a clear fire for fifteen minutes, basting them frequently. Lastly sprinkle freely with salt and serve each quail on a well-buttered crodton of toast. Salade Barbe de Capucin (Lettuce Salad). — Take a head of lettuce and after having carefully picked and broken it into convenient pieces, place them in a salad bowl, previously rubbed with a shallot. Add a dressing of oil and vinegar in the proportion of three to one, mixed with a little English or French mustard, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix the salad well, sprinkle on the surface some finely chopped Tarragon, and send to table at once. Gateau a la Tartaric (Rhubarb Gateau).— Take the weight of three eggs in sugar and flour. Put the sugar in a saucepan, barely cover it with water, and boil it to a syrup. In the mean time break three eggs into a basin, which place inside another half full of boiling water, and begin to whisk the eggs gently, then add the sugar directly it has boiled, and go on whisking till the mix- ture becomes lighter in color and of the consistency of thick cream. Now mix in the flour very lightly, add a few drops of essence of vanilla, and bake in a plain bor- der mold, previously buttered, in a moderate oven. The mold must only be three-parts filled, but if the cake by chance runs over the sides of the mold it must be trimmed evenly after it is turned out. When the sponge cake is quite cold, glaze all the outside with apricot jam, which has been slightly warmed and passed through a sieve. Then blanch some pistachio nuts, chop them up rather 56 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. finely, and take half their quantity of white crystallized sugar. Color half of the sugar a deep pink with cochi- neal, and when thoroughly dry, mix all well together, and sprinkle the Whole over the outside of the sponge cake. Next take a pound or more of forced rhubarb, and after having wiped it, cut it in pieces about two inches long. Boil a pint of water and three-quarters of a pound of sugar to a syrup in a large shallow stewpan. Add a teaspoonful of lemon juice and a few drops of cochineal, and then put in as much of the rhubarb as can be laid at the bottom of the saucepan. Let it simmer very gently indeed at the side of the fire, and as the rhubarb becomes sufficiently tender — it must not be over- done — lift the pieces out carefully on to a dish. They should not take more than ten minutes, and great care must be taken to keep the lengths whole. Proceed in the same manner with the rest of the rhubarb, and when all has been done, leave it to get cold, and place it care- fully, free from all juice or syrup, piled up in the centre of the sponge cake prepared as alDove. Strain the syrup in the saucepan, and boil it till it is somewhat reduced. When cold, pour it round the outside of the giteau just before sending it to table. MENU.— XXI. CoNSOMM^ AU Tapioca. CaBILLAUD a la BfiCHAMEL. POULET SaUT]^ a l'EsTRAGON. Pousses de Navets aux CEufs PocHfis. CRfeME A LA RuSSE. Consomme au Tapioca (Tapioca Soup).— Put some well-flavored consommd into a large saucepan, let it boil up, then add slowly some French tapioca — the fine sort that is used for soups — allowing not more than one tea- spoonful for every guest. Stir constantly, especially at first; let the tapioca boil gently at the side of the stove for a quarter of an hour, and when it is cooked, the soup is ready. LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 57 Consomme (Clear Stock). — Take three pounds and a half of shin of beef and half a pound of knuckle of veal, take the meat off the bones, removing all fat and skin, and cut up the lean part into pieces about one inch and a half square. Put these into a frying pan with one ounce of butter, and fry them over a good fire till they are a dark brown color. Ten minutes after having put the frying pan on the fire add three small onions, cut up in slices, which must be fried with the meat; when it is quite ready, empty into the stockpot the contents of the frying pan, rinsing out the latter two or three times with altogether a quart of boiling •vi2Xex ; add also to the stock pot two more quarts of boiling water, then the bones broken up, and the following vegetables, etc. : Three onions, six carrots, three small turnips, a piece of celery, a leek, a bay leaf, a little parsley, thyme, and marjoram, in due proportions, a small blade of mace, two or three cloves, peppercorns, and salt. Bring the water to the boil, take off any scum, and then add a pint of cold water at intervals to assist the scum to rise. Let the soup come to the boil and then simmer slowly for about eight hours. If all the scum is carefully removed, and the soup is only allowed to simmer, it will not require to be cleared at all. Strain the soup through a cloth that has been wrung out in cold water, and leave it to get cold. The next day, all the fat (of which there should not be much) can easily be removed. No color- ing will be necessary. Cabillaud d la Bechamel (Cod with Bechamel sauce). — Melt one ounce and a half of butter in a saucepan, mix with it one ounce of flour, and then add gradually one pint of milk, which has been previously allowed to sim- mer with an onion and a carrot sliced, a bunch of sweet herbs, two or three cloves, a grate of nutmeg, whole pep- per and salt, and afterward strained. Bring the sauce to the boil, and add two or three tablespoonfuls of cream with pepper and salt to taste; stir well, then put in about two pounds of cod, previously boiled and divided into flakes, being thoroughly freed from skin and bones. Shake all together very gently until the whole is thor- oughly hot, and then turn out into a silver entrde dish 58 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. and garnish with three hard-boiled eggs, cut in quarters lengthwise. Poulet Saute a I'Estragon (Chicken Saut^ with Tar- ragon). — Cut up a good-sized chicken (raw) as neatly and as skilfully as possible. The leg bones should be cut off short, the flesh being first pushed back, the sinews round it having been cut, and. when the bone is chopped off, the flesh should be drawn forward again so as not to leave the leg bone sticking out when the piece of leg is cooked. When the pieces of fowl have all been neatly trimmed, sprinkle them with pepper and salt, and toss them in a saucepan with plenty of butter and a rasher of bacon cut in dice, till they are quite cooked. In the mean time, put some tarragon stalks into a saucepan with a tumblerful of clear gravy or very good stock. When it has boiled for half an hour, dish up the pieces of fowl, pour the gravy over them strained, and sprinkle on the surface some tarragon leaves, previously blanched and roughly chopped. Mashed potatoes may accompany this dish. Pousses de Navets aux (Eufs Poches (Turnip-tops with Poached Eggs). — Pass through a hair sieve a quan- tity of turnip-tops previously boiled in salted water. Melt in a saucepan a couple of ounces of butter, add the turnip-top purde with pepper and salt to taste, and work it on the fire till it is of the desired consistency, adding a few tablespoonfuls of grated Parmesan cheese. Should the turnip-tops get too dry, add a little milk or cream. Make a bed of the pur^e, which should be rather stiff, in a dish, put round it a circle of triangular croutons of bread, placed on end and fried a light golden color. On the bed of turnip-tops lay some eggs, poached in water with a little vinegar in it, and neatly trimmed with & round fluted cutter. Creme a la Russe (Russian Cream). — Put'into a sauce- pan a pint of milk, half a pound of lump sugar, the grated rind of three lemons, and one ounce of gelatine, previously soaked in a little water. Dissolve all these over the fire, then let the mixture cool for a short time LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 59 and stir in the yolks of three eggs, which are not to be beaten, and place it on the fire to curdle. Afterward strain, and when cool, add the juice of three lemons and the whites of the eggs beaten to a stiff froth. Stir all quickly together and pour into a wet mold. Turn out when set MENU.— XXII. Consomm£ Don Carlos. ROUGETS EN PaPILLOTES. COTELETTES DE MOUTON A LA BrUNOISE. Beignets DE Champignons. GAteau DE Saison. Consomm€ Don Carlos (Don Carlos Soup). — ^ Whisk lightly the yolks and whites of two eggs, season with pepper and salt, and add enough water to allow of two small dariole molds (buttered) beipg filled with the mix- ture. Place the molds in a stewpan half filled with cold water, bring to the boil and then let the water simmer gently at the side of the stove till the custard is set. Leave them to get cold, turn them out, cut each mold of custard into slices rather more than one-eighth of an inch thick and cut these out again with a cutter into round lozenges about one-third of an inch in diameter; place them carefully when done into the soup tureen, then cut some carrots into the shape of peas, put them in a sauce- pan on the fire with enough stock to cover them, and let them cook till quite tender. When in season, take also about a dozen and a half asparagus stalks, cook them in boiling salted water, drain them thoroughly and cut up the tender part into pieces about one-third of an inch long. Put all these into the tureen with some picked shrimps, which should be scalded in boiling water and thoroughly drained, and at the time of serving add as much clear stock as may be wanted. Rougets en Papillotes (Red Mullets in Cases). — Make a paper case for each mullet with a sheet of note paper, 6o LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. oil them well and put them in the oven for a few minutes to harden. Then sprinkle the under sides of the mullets with pepper and salt, and lay them in their respective cases with a small piece of butter over and underneath each. Place the papers on a baking tin and put them in the oven to cook for about twenty minutes, if small. When serving, sprinkle them well with a little lemon juice. Cotelettes de Mouton a la Brunoise (Mutton Cutlets with Vegetables). — Take a piece of the best end of a neck of mutton, saw off the chine bone and the upper end of the ribs; trim off all fat and cut the neck into cutlets, leaving a bone to each. Then with a sharp knife, cut away the sinewy skin adhering to each side of the bone, remove every particle of fat and trim the cutlets neatly, leaving a nice round piece o'f lean to each. Place them now side by side in a large stewpan, cover them with some boiling well-flavored stock or gravy, and leave them to simmer gently for an hour and a half with the lid of the stewpan on. For the garnish, take equal quantities of turnips, onions and celery, and double the quantity of carrots, all cut into cubes about a quarter of an inch square. Fry these in butter till they begin to take color, putting in first the carrots, then the celery, then the onions, and lastly the turnips. When all the vegetables are equally fried, drain them on a sieve and put them to finish cooking in some common stock (just enough to cover them) for an hour or till they are quite tender. Twenty minutes before the cutlets are done, drain off nearly all the stock in which they have been cooking, and let it reduce by boiling it very quickly over a clear fire. At the time of serving, dress the cutlets in a circle, heap up the vegetables (drained) in the centre and pour the gravy all over them. Mashed potatoes may accom- pany if liked. Beignets de Champignons (Mushroom Fritters).— Put into a basin two ounces and a half of flour, add to it half a gill of water and a half a tablespoonful each of salad oil and of brandy, with a pinch of salt. Beat well for at least ten minutes till the mixture is perfectly smooth nda LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 6 1 free from all lumps, then stir in the yolk of an egg, beat again for two or three minutes, and in two hours' time mix in very lightly and quickly the white of the egg whisked to a stiff froth. Dip into this batter some mush- rooms, which have been marinaded for an hour in oil with pepper and salt. Haveready a large panful of boil- ing fat, place the frying basket in the fat and drop each fritter into it from the end of a spoon. Take them out directly they turn a golden color, drain them well and serve them sprinkled with fine salt and hand round at the same time some rich brown gravy, flavored with mush- rooms. Giteau de Saison (Gateau de Saison). — Make a sponge cake mixture with three eggs and the weight of two in sugar and flour, bake it in a fancy mold with hollow in the centre (one holding about a pint and a half). The mold must not be filled up to the top, room being left for the sponge cake to rise. Turn it out carefully when done on a wire sieve and leave it to get cold. In the mean time melt in a saucepan ten ounces of sugar and a gill of water, bring it to the boil and then add one pound of red currants and half a pound of raspberries all care- fully picked; boil the whole for ten minutes, then pass through a hair sieve. Put all the pulp or thick part that adheres to the inside of the sieve in the centre of the sponge cake, which should be placed on the dish in which it is going to be served. Pour the juice into a small saucepan and let it boil fast for five minutes or till fairly thick, then strain it and pour it into the dish all over the cake in which a few holes should be made with a skewer. Keep covering the cake with the juice in the dish with the aid of a spoon, and when the cake is well soaked and has a nice red glaze, put it away in the cool. At the time of serving, whisk up very stifHy a gill of cream, sweetened to taste, and pile it up on the top of the fruit pulp in the centre of the cake. 62 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. MENU.— XXIII. PUR^E d'HeRBES. Civet de Lii;vRE. LoNGE d'Agneau aux Pommes Marquises. Haricots Verts au Riz Tomat£. CEuFS A l'Anglaise. Puree d'Herbes (Vegetable Pur^e Soup). — Take two handfuls of spinach, one of sorrel, the heart of a lettuce, the white part of a leek, an onion, and a few sprigs of chervil. Chop all these up finely and put them in a saucepan on the fire with a good sized piece of salt but- ter, and let them cook slowly for fifteen minutes, stirring them continually. Then add half an ounce of flour, stir well and moisten with i. sufficient quantity of second stock. Let the soup boil up once or twice and then add to it, off the fire, the yolks of two eggs, which should be first beaten up with a small quantity of the soup and then mixed with the rest. Serve very hot with crofltons of fried bread. Civet de LiSvre (Jugged Hare). — Cut up a hare into convenient pieces and reserve the blood. Melt a small piece of butter in a stewpan, add a quarter of a pound of bacon cut in small pieces, and a dozen and a half small white onions. Fry them slowly to a golden color. Then take out the onions and pieces of bacon, and in the same saucepan fry the pieces of hare, afterward dredge them with flour, cook for another five minutes, add a pint of stock and two glasses of claret with pepper and salt and a bouquet garni consisting of parsley, a bay leaf, a sprig of thyme, and half a shallot. A piece of celery is also a great improvement. Let the whole stew very gently for a couple of hours. Then add a teaspoonful of claret to the blood of the hare and strain it into the contents of the saucepan; mix all well together, put in the onions and bacon, which were cooked at first, and simmer slowly for twenty minutes longer. At the time of serving re- LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 63 move the bouquet garni and turn all out into a hot dish. Potatoes may accompany this. Longe d'Agneau RStie (Roast Loin of Lamb).— Choose a lean loin of lamb, remove all unnecessary fat and roast the joint at a fairly brisk fire, basting it frequently the whole time. Just before it is done, sprinkle it with salt and serve with its own gravy (thoroughly freed from fat), mint sauce in a boat, and potatoes cooked as follows: Pommes de Terra Marquises (Potato Marquises). — Cut up some potatoes and boil them in salted water. Pass them through a wire sieve, season them with salt and pepper, a grate of nutmeg, some chopped parsley and the least bit of chopped thyme, moisten the whole with a little good gravy and shape into corks. Dip each into an egg well beaten and fry a light brown in three ounces of butter previously melted in a sautd pan. Haricots Verts au Riz Tomate (French Beans with Tomato Rice). — Boil some rice carefully so as to get every grain separate, then toss it in a little butter and moisten with a sufficient quantity of tomato sauce, add- ing the yolks of one or two eggs and Parmesan cheese, according to taste. Make a border of this rice in a dish and pile up in the centre some French beans plainly boiled and tossed in a little butter with pepper and salt. CEufs a I'Anglaise (Stuffed Eggs). — Boil some eggs quite hard. When cold, remove the shells, cut them in halves and take out the yolks. Pass these latter through a sieve and add to them a little butter, some anchovy sauce, a few drops of tarragon vinegar, some chopped tarragon and pepper and salt to taste. Mix all thor- oughly into a paste and fill up the halves of egg with it. Sprinkle a little very finely chopped beet root on the sur- face and keep in the cool till the time of serving. 64 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. MENU.— XXIV. POTAGE PaRISIEN. Anguille en Matelote. Petites Timbales a la Milanaise. Aloyau a la Broche. SouFFL^ AU Citron. Potage Parisien (Parisian Soup). — Boil in stock equal parts of rice and vermicelli. Wlien done, drain and put them into some well-flavored consomme. Then add a dozen sorrel leaves, cut Julienne-fashion, let the soup boil up twice, just to cook the sorrel, and serve. Anguille en Matelote (Matelote of Eels). — Skin and cleanse two good-sized eels and cut them into three inch lengths. Rub a saucepan slightly with garlic, melt in it two ounces of butter, and add a dozen and a half small button onions, peeled and blanched; toss them about till they are of a golden color, then put in the pieces of eel with some parsley, thyme, bay leaf, cloves, whole pepper and salt, and add sufficient stock and claret in equal quantities to well cover the fish. Bring the whole to the boil and cook over a brisk fire for about twenty minutes; when the pieces of eel are quite tender, strain oil nearly all the liquor into a small clean saucepan and finish cook- ing the onions in it, taking care to keep the fish hot in the mean time. Then take out the onions, free the liquor from all fat, and thicken it with some arrowroot; bring to the boil, add the juice of half a lemon, a teaspoonful of mushroom catsup, half an ounce of anchovy butter, some coloring and more pepper and salt if necessary. Add the onions to the sauce with an equal quantity of button mushrooms, which have been previously warmed through in their own liquor. Dish up the pieces of eel, pour the sauce all over them and garnish with the onions and mushrooms. Petites Timbales i la Milanaise (Little Timbales k la Milanaise). — Boil a cupful of rice in salted water — it LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 65 should be rather overboiled than not — strain it well, then stir into it a piece of butter melted the size of an egg, and a good handful or more of grated Parmesan cheese ; lastly, work in one or two eggs. Work the mixture well and fill with it a number of dariole molds well buttered. Put them in the oven for half an hour or till the outside of them has become a rich golden color, which can be ascertained by turning one out. When they are suffi- ciently baked, turn them all out, proceed to remove with the handle of a teaspoon all the inside from each tim- bale, taking care not to injure the outside. Keep the molds warm till they are wanted. Meanwhile take one part of breast of roast fowl, free from skin, one part of foie gras, and one part of tongue; chop these all up coarsely, and put them in a saucepan with a few spoon- fuls of brown sauce, and let the whole get warm over a very slow fire. At the time of serving, having taken out the timbales very carefully from the molds, fill with the mince, and put a button mushroom on the top of each. Aloyau a la Broche (Roast Sirloin of Beef). — Trim the joint neatly, cover it with a buttered paper, and roast it at a clear, brisk fire, basting it frequently. When nearly done, remove the paper, sprinkle the joint well with salt, and place it nearer the fire to let it get a good color. Serve with the gravy thoroughly freed from fat. Hand round also plainly boiled potatoes, any green vege- table that is liked, and horseradish sauce in a boat, pre- pared as follows : Sauce Raifort (Horseradish Sauce). — Grate finely a 'iSmall root of horseradish and well mix with it, off the fire, a gill of cream slightly whisked, a pinch of sugar, a little salt, and a tablespoonful of white wine vinegar. Stir till the sauce is quite smooth, and serve cold. Souffle au Citron (Lemon Soufifld). — Put into a basin four yolks of eggs, and for every yolk allow one ounce of powdered sugar; add the grated rind of a lemon and a half and stir the mixture well with a wooden spoon for twenty minutes till it is quite thick. Then add by de- grees a tablespoonful of lemon juice, and at the last mix 5 66 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. in very lightly and quickly the whites o£ six eggs which have been beaten to a stiff froth. Pour the whole in a pie dish, and bake immediately in a moderate oven for about twenty-five minutes. The surface should be a golden brown color. Put a frill round the pie dish and serve it inside a silver dish as quickly as possible. MENU.— XXV. potage dodds. Filets de Merlans a la Cherbourg. Noisettes de Mouton a la Roumaine. Chou de Mer a la Milanaise. Gateau des TROis-FRfeRES. Potage Dodds (Dodds Soup). — Cut with a vegetable scoop a quantity of carrots into very small balls and boil them in white stock; boil also in white stock and sepa- rately a small quantity of turnips cut in the same way. When the vegetables are done, strain them into a sauce- pan, adding as much well-flavored white stock as is wanted for soup, together with a few spoonfuls of French tomato conserve and some plainly boiled rice in quantity according to taste. Add pepper and salt, bring the soup to the boiling point and serve. Filets de Merlans a la Cherbourg (Fillets of Whiting k la Cherbourg.) — Take a shallow stewpan, butter it well, make a layer of roughly chopped mushrooms, on which lay the fillets of whiting, sprinkled with salt and pepper. Add a few oysters and moisten the whole with some white wine, the juice of a lemon and some of the liquor from the oysters. Put the lid on the stewpan and cook the fil- lets over a brisk fire ; when they are done, take them out carefully and arrange them on an entree dish. Strain the liquor in which they were cooked and let it reduce over a very sharp fire, adding a small piece of butter, then pour it over the fish, which should have been kept warm in the mean time, and serve as hot as possible. LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 67 Noisettes de Mouton i la Roumaine (Fillets of Mut- ton k la Roumaine). — Take a piece of the best en4 of a neck of mutton, take away all the bone, trim off any superfluous fat and skin and then cut it up into fillets from half to three-quarters of an inch in thickness. Trim them neatly, flattening them slightly with a cutlet bat, sprinkle them on both sides with pepper and salt, and fry them in hot butter over a brisk fire. Turn them, and when they are done on both sides, add about one ounce of glaze previously melted ; turn the noisettes over in it and dish them up in a circle alternated with tomatoes prepared as follows : Choose medium-sized tomatoes as round in shape as possible, cut off the tops, remov6 the pips and some of the pulp and put a small piece of bread in the hollow. Place the tomatoes on a buttered tin well rubbed with a shallot, cover them with a buttered paper and cook them in the oven for about twenty minutes; then remove the pieces of bread and fill the tomatoes with some fresh haricot beans (flageolets), which have been first cooked in boiling salted water and then drained thoroughly and tossed in plenty of butter with pepper and salt to taste, and a sprinkling of chopped parsley. Chou de Mer a la Milanaise (Sea-Kale with Cheese). — Carefully wash and brush the sea-kale to remove any sand and grit, cut out any black parts from the roots, and tie up the shoots into small bundles. Cook them in boil- ing salted water for about twenty minutes, drain and keep hot. Have ready mixed on the fire an ounce of butter and a dessertspoonful of flour, moisten with half a tum- blerful of the water in which the sea-kale was cooked, bring to the boil and then mix in two or three table- spoonfuls of grated Parmesan cheese, and add, off the fire, the yolk of an egg. Arrange the sea-kale on a dish, pour the sauce over and serve at once. Gateau des Trois-Freres (" Trois-Frferes " Gateau). — Put six eggs into a basin, add six ounces of powdered sugar and beat them well together for a quarter of an hour. Then mix in gradually three ounces of ground rice, and three ounces of finely sifted flour, and afterward three ounces of fresh butter, just liquefied, but not made 68 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. at all hot. Mix thoroughly, adding at the last half an ounce of bitter almonds, and one ounce of sweet almonds, finely ground. Take a trois-Jreres mold, i.e., a fancy mold with a hollow in the centre, butter it well, fill it with the above paste and bake in a moderate oven. When the cake is done, turn it out, leave it to get cold and then glaze it all over with apricot jam slightly heated and passed through a sieve. Pour over it all a strong syrup made with sugar and water, and brush over the inside of the cake with it also. Before it has time to dry, orna- ment the top with candied cherries and almonds, blanched and cut in halves. Fill the centre with a compote of apricots or any other fruit that may be preferred. MENU.— XXVI. A Maigre Dinner. POTAGE DE POIREAUX AU RlZ. BrANDADE DE MORUE. Omelette au Cresson de Fontaine. C^LERi Rave au Parmesan. Stockholm Pudding. Potage de Poireaux au Riz (Leek and Rice Soup). — Take seven medium-sized leeks and one large carrot ; cut them up in thin slices and fry them in two ounces of dripping till they are a golden brown color. Then have ready in a saucepan about three pints of boiling water, add to it the leeks and carrot with an onion stuck with cloves, a tiny bit of mace, a pinch of thyme, a bay leaf, whole pepper and salt. Let the vegetables boil gently for about two hours and a half, and when they are per- fectly soft, pass the whole through a hair sieve and return to a clean saucepan, adding more salt and pepper to taste if necessary. Have ready four tablespoonfuls of rice, previously boiled in the usual manner and thoroughly drained, add it to the leek soup at the last moment, bring quickly to the boil, and serve with grated Parmesan cheese handed on a separate plate. LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 69 Brandade de Morue (Salt Codfish).— Soak a piece of salt codfish for about twenty-four hours, changing the water several times. Then place it in a stewpan, cover it with, cold water, bring it to the boil, and, having pre- viously removed all scum, let it simmer at the side of the fire for about fifteen minutes. Drain the fish, and when cold, skin it and divide it into flakes. Rub a sauce- pan well with a shallot or garlic, whichever is preferred, add two ounces of butter, and when melted, fry in it a lit- tle grated onion for about five minutes, and then put in the flakes of fish. Toss well so that all the butter is ab- .sorbed, then add by degrees, alternately and in very small quantities, some salad oil and milk (or cream). Keep tossing, shaking and stirring the fish the whole time till it is quite thick and creamy. Add lastly a grate of nutmeg, a little white pepper, and the juice of a lemon. Serve piled up on a dish; sprinkle the surface with finely chopped parsley and surround the whole with fried sip- pets of bread. Omelette au Cresson de Fontaine (Watercress Omelet). ■ — Beat up five or six eggs in a basin with a fork, add a tablespoonful of milk, pepper and salt to taste, and some roughly chopped watercress. Put about one ounce of butter in an omelet pan, let it get as hot as possible with- out burning, then pour in the beaten eggs. As the mix- ture begins to set, lift it up with a small slice to let the uncooked liquid part run in its place, and keep the ome- let as much as possible toward the centre of the pan (i.e., do not let it spread out too thin especially when using rather a large pan) ; the omelet will only take a minute or two to cook and the underneath part should be a golden brown and the surface very soft and slightly liquid. Directly it is sufficiently set, slip the omelet from the pan into a warm dish, letting it roll over as you do so, so that it will assume its ordinary folded shape. Serve at once. Celeri Rave au Parmesan (Celeraic with Cheese). — Peel some roots of celeriac, cook them in plenty of boil- ing salted water, and when tender, drain them thoroughly, cut them in slices and arrange them in layers on a well- 70 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. buttered dish. Then melt in a saucepan one ounce of butter, add a dessertspoonful of flour, and when thor- oughly mixed, pour in gradually three gills of milk, stir till the sauce boils, and then add two tablespoonfuls of grated Parmesan cheese. Pour this sauce all over the celeriac and send to table at once. Stockholm Pudding. — Stew half a pound of French plums in a gill of sherry diluted with an equal quantity of water. When they are quite tender, stone them care- fully. Blanch one ounce and a half of sweet almonds and half an ounce of bitter almonds, and chop them up finely. Put a layer of the plums in a cake mold, about three inches high and five inches in diameter. On the top of the plums sprinkle half of the chopped almonds, and over them put a layer of ratafias (six ounces will be sufficient for the whole pudding). Then repeat the process, adding the rest of the plums, some more al- monds, and another layer of ratafias. Press them well down, and then the jar being about three parts full, pour on the top of all three eggs beaten up with a small jar of Cornish or Devonshire cream and sweetened to taste. Cover the mold with a buttered paper and steam it in boiling water for about forty-five minutes. Turn it out carefully when done, and serve cold with a custard sauce poured all over the pudding. MENU.— XXVII. CONSOMM^ A LA MONTE CaRLO. Filets de Soles a la Cardinal. Noisettes d'Agneau Cendrillon. COURGE AU GraTIN. CrSpes A LA Franqaise. Consomme a la Monte Carlo (Monte Carlo Soup).— Take a truffle, cut it into slices, and with a column cutter cut from each slice as many rounds as can be had the size of a dime. Treat in the same way some Spanish red sweet LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. ;l peppers [pimientos dukes), so as to have equal quantities of both. Put all the rounds into a saucepan with as much consomm^ as may be necessary. Add salt to taste, bring slowly to the boil and serve. Filets de Soles a la Cardinal (Fillets of Sole with Prawns). — Butter a flat tin, lay in it the fillets of sole, sprinkle them with pepper and salt, and pour in enough white wine and fish stock to almost cover them; put a buttered paper on the top and place the tin in the oven for ten to fifteen minutes. Arrange the fillets on a dish with the following sauce poured over them : Pound about twenty prawns in a mortar with some butter, having re- moved the shells of the tails; pass this paste through a hair sieve and dilute it with fish stock to the desired con- sistency. Mix on the fire a small piece of butter with some flour, gradually add the above puree, flavor with a little pepper and nutmeg, and stir the sauce some little time till it is perfectly smooth. If necessary, improve the color of the sauce by pounding some lobster spawn with the prawns. Noisettes d'Agneau Cendrillon (Fillets of Lamb with Cendrillon Garnish). — Take the fillet from a loin of lamb, cut it in slices about three-quarters of an inch thick, trim them all very neatly and cook them in a sautd pan with plenty of butter and a good sprinkling of salt. They should be underdone. Put each slice on an artichoke bottom, previously cooked in stock, mask each with some well-reduced pur^e of onions {Soubise) and add a sprink- ling of grated Parmesan cheese and a little butter melted. Put them in the oven to take color, put a fine slice of .truffle warmed in gravy on each and serve at once. Courge au Gratin (Vegetable Marrow au Gratin). — Boil a good-sized vegetable marrow till rather more than three-parts done, divide it lengthwise, remove the pips, cut each piece in half transversely and lay the marrow on a well-buttered dish, previously rubbed with a shallot. In the mean time melt one ounce and a half of butter or dripping in a saucepan, add a tablespoonful of flour, and when thoroughly mixed, stir in by degrees rather more 72 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. than half a pint of milk. Bring the sauce to the boil, then add pepper and salt to taste, and two tablespoonfuls of grated Parmesan cheese; pour the sauce over the mar- row, sprinkle the surface with a mixture of fine bread- crumbs and grated cheese, and place the dish in a brisk oven till the surface is of a light brown color. Serve the marrow on the same dish, which should be placed inside another one. Crepes a la Francaise (French Pancakes).— Beat two ounces of butter to a cream with two ounces of powdered sugar, then add the same weight in flour and when quite smooth, beat up two eggs in half a pint of milk and add it to the rest, a few drops at a time, stirring vigorously all the time. Butter four or five saucers, fill them with the mixture and bakein rather a slow oven. When done turn them out, place them one on the top of the other with apricot jam spread in between. Sprinkle the surface with powdered sugar, return to the oven for two or three minutes and then serve at once. MENU.— XXVIII. An Economical Dinner. POTAGE A LA PUR^E DE MaRRONS. Filets de Merlans a la MEUNiiRE. Palais de Bceuf a la Robert. Carr6 de" Mouton Roti. Choux de Bruxelles. POMMES DE TerRE. CEuFs Farcis au Gratin. Omelette Souffl^e a la Vanille. Potagea la Puree de Marrons (Chestnut Soup).— Take off the outer skins from a pound and a half of chestnuts and put them into a saucepan with plenty of cold water. When the water boils, drain the chestnuts and remove the LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 73 inner skins. Then put them into a clean saucepan, with a quart of milk and a quart of water, a carrot and an onion cut in slices, a tiny bit of mace, a bay leaf, a sprig of parsley, salt and whole pepper. Let it all boil up and then simmer very slowly for about two hours. Pass the chestnut purde through a hair sieve, return it to the sauce- pan, let it boil up, add more salt if necessary, and serve with small crofitons of bread (fried in boiling fat) handed on a plate. Filets de Marians a la Meuniere (Fillets of Whiting). — Take the fillets of two good-sized whitings, cut each fillet in half, thus making eight pieces. Sprinkle them on both sides with white pepper and salt and lay them side by side in a well-buttered tin, cover them with a buttered paper and place them in a moderate oven to cook for about ten minutes. When cooked, take out the fillets of fish carefully, sprinkle some finely chopped parsley over them and serve at once. A lemon cut in half should be handed at the same time. Palais de Boeuf a la Robert (Ox-Palates).— Wash the palates in two or three waters, and put them into a sauce- pan half full of cold water; let them boil up once or twice, then drain off the water and skin them. Put them into a clean saucepan with just enough cold water to cover them; add one or two carrots, a turnip, an onion, a little parsley, and pepper and salt to taste, and let them simmer for six hours. Then strain off the liquor into a basin, press the palates between two dishes, with a heavy weight on the top of them, and let them remain there for twelve hours. When they are wanted, cut them out with a sharp cutter into rounds about two inches in diameter, and make the following sauce : Chop up one or two onions, dredge them with flour, and fry them in but- ter till they are a nice brown color, add about half a pint of the liquor in which the ox-palates were cooked, sea- son with pepper and salt, and let the sauce boil up two or three times. Then put in the ox-palates, draw the saucepan to the side of the fire, and let them simmer for a short time, and just before serving add to the sauce a teaspoonful of French mustard. 74 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. Carre de Mouton Roti (Roast Neck of Mutton).— Take a piece of the best end of a neck of mutton, weighing about four pounds, trim the joint very neatly, and cut off the scrag end, seeing that the butcher has cut the bones very short and separated the joints and also removed the chine. Proceed to roast the joint, baste it frequently, and, when done, serve with its own gravy, having thor- oughly freed it from fat. Mash the potatoes with a little butter and milk, place them on a tin, shape them with a fork, and brown them in the oven. The Brussels sprouts should be boiled, then thoroughly drained and tossed in a little butter with pepper and salt. (Eufs Farcis au Gratin (Stuffed Eggs au Gratin). — Boil four new laid eggs hard; when cold, remove the shells and cut the eggs in half lengthwise. Take out the yolks, pound them in a mortar, and add to them their weight in butter and half their weight in crumb of bread moistened with a little milk. Pound all well together, and when the ingredients are thoroughly mixed, add some chopped parsley, the tiniest bit of chopped shallot, a little grated nutmeg, pepper and salt, and the raw yolks of two eggs. Fill each half-egg with this mixture, heaping it up as high as possible, and place it on a buttered dish. Sprinkle on the top some grated Parmesan cheese, a dusting of pepper and salt, and then a thin layer of pale brown breadcrumbs. Put the dish in a brisk oven and serve directly the top is sufficiently brown. Omelette Soufflee a la Vanilla (Souffle Omelet). — Put into a basin the yolks of four eggs, and add gradually four ounces of powdered sugar, stirring the whole with a wooden spoon for about twenty minutes till it is quite light and frothy, then add a teaspoonful of essence of vanilla. In another basin put the whites of the four eggs with-two more whites (remaining over from the preceding dish) and a pinch of salt, and whisk them to a very stiff and firm froth. Then mix them lightly and quickly with the yolks, etc., and with a large spoon take up the mix- ture and pile it round a dish that will stand the fire, leav- ing a hollow in the centre; bake in a fairly brisk oven for ten or fifteen minutes, and serve the moment it is done. LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 75 MENU.— XXIX. A Case Dinner. POTAGE A l'IrLANDAISE. TuRBOT A LA Cardinal. Ris DE Veau au Jus. SoUFFLfe DE LaPEREAU. Petits Pois a LA Franqaise. CEuFS a la Cr^me. Petites Cremes au Caf£. All the above dishes are to be served in small china or paper ramequin cases, whichever is preferred and is most convenient. Potage a I'Irlandaise (Soup k I'lrlandaise). — Take the remnants of a plainly boiled or roasted fowl, and after having removed all skin, break it up and put it in a stew- pan with a few vegetables not cut up, and about a pint and a half of water. Let it all boil up, add a slice of crumb of bread, and leave the whole to simmer for three or four hours. Then remove the vegetables, and pass the pieces of bread and the fowl through a hair sieve, add- ing as much of the liquor as will make the soup of the right consistency. Return to a clean saucepan, add pep- per and salt and grated nutmeg to taste; bring to the boil and mix in three tablespoonf uls of hot cream. Color the soup a very pale green with spinach greening, and put in some good-sized French beans previously boiled in salted water, and cut in the shape of small diamonds. Serve immediately in china cases rather larger than the ordi- nary size. Turbot a la Cardinal (Turbot with Cardinal Sauce). — Melt one ounce of butter and mix with it half an ounce of flour, with a little salt and pepper and a grate of nutmeg; stir well over a slow fire for a few minutes, then add gradually a gill and a half of milk in which half an onion and a carrot and a sprig of parsley have been boiled. 16 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. Continue to stir till the sauce is quite smooth and thick, then add half a saltspoonful of anchovy sauce, and color the sauce red with lobster butter made by pounding some lobster spawn with double the quantity of butter and passing both through a hair sieve. Then take thfr re- mains of a cooked turbot, or part of a freshly boiled one divided carefully into flakes and perfectly freed from bones and skin. Add the fish to the sauce on the fire, and let the whole get thoroughly hot, stirring it very gently. Then turn out into small china cases and serve. Ris de Veau au Jus (Stewed Sweetbreads in Cases) . — Trim one or two sweetbreads and soak them for an hour in lukewarm water, then lay them in a saucepan for an hour with salt, lemon, and sufficient cold water to cover them. Bring the water to the boil and let them simmer for about ten minutes, after which lay them in some cold water, and when cool cut them into convenient pieces, and toss them in a sautd pan with plenty of butter till they begin to take color, adding a shallot finely minced. Moisten with some well-flavored brown gravy, cover with a slice of fat bacon, and let the pieces of sweetbread sim- mer till they are quite tender, moisten with more gravy if necessary. ■ Have ready some paper cases, which have been well oiled and dried in the oven for a quarter of an hour, fill them with the pieces of sweetbread, pour a little of the gravy into each, and serve at once. SouflBles de Lapereau (SoufH^s of Rabbit).— Pound the white meat of one or two raw rabbits with a little butter, pepper and salt, one or two mushrooms, the least bit of shallot, and a grate of nutmeg. Pass this paste through a hair sieve, work into it a little white sauce, then as many yolks of eggs as there are ounces of rabbit when passed through the sieve. The mixture should be of the consistency of a pur^e or very thick cream. Lastly, mix in quickly the whites of two eggs whisked to a stiff froth. Fill paper cases with the mixture, bake quickly in a good oven, and serve without delay. Petits Pols a la Francaise (Peas \ la Frangaise).— Cook a pint of shelled peas. When tender, drain them thoroughly and put them back on the fire with not quite a LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 77 gill of the water in which they were boiled, a sprinkling of flour, and an ounce of butter. Simmer for five min- utes, add pepper and salt to taste, and finish by adding the yolk of an egg mixed with a tablespoonful and a half of cream. Serve very hot in china or paper cases. (Eufs a la Creme (Eggs with Cream). — Butter some china cases, break a fresh egg into each, add salt, Par- mesan cheese, then a dessertspoonful of cream, and at the last a little grated nutmeg. Place the cases in a quick oven just long enough to set the eggs, and then serve. Petites Cremes au Cafe (Coffee Custards). — Make a tumblerful of very strong coffee, sweetened to taste. When nearly cold add to it the yolks of six eggs, well beaten, and a gill of double cream. Mix thoroughly, and then strain into china cases, and place them in a large shallow stewpan containing suflScient water to reach half- way up the cases. Let them steam for twenty minutes, when the custard ought to be quite firm. The water should boil when the cases are first put in, but should afterwards be only allowed to simmer slowly at the side of the stove. Put the cases on ice, serve as cold as pos- sible, and hand round sponge fingers. MENU.— XXX. HUITRES A LA RUSSE. POTAGE d'OrGE a la CRfeHE. Eglefin, Sauce Hollandaise. BouCH:fiES DE Vermicelle. Epinards a la Colbert. Petits Choux au Chocolat. Huitres a la Russe (Oysters with Caviare). — Spread some toasted crofltons of bread with caviare, add a few drops of lemon-juice, and place an oyster on the top of each, then add a sprinkling of mignonette pepper and, if liked, a small quantity of cayenne. Serve cold. 78 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. Potage d'Orge a la Creme (Pearl Barley Soup). — Chop an onion finely and toss it in two ounces of butter with- out letting it color, then add three pints and a half of milk, a carrot, a turnip, a piece of celery, a leek, a bunch of sweet herbs, two or three cloves, six whole peppers, and a small quantity of salt. Bring to the boil, then let the whole simmer for about three-quarters of an hour. Put half a pound of pearl barley in a saucepan, add just enough of the above liquid strained to cover the barley, and let it boil very gently, adding more of the milk stock when necessary, till the barley is quite reduced to a pulp. Pass all through a hair sieve, return it to the saucepan, dilute with more of the milk stock to make the purde of the right consistency, bring to the boil, season with white pepper and salt, and add, lastly, two or three spoonfuls of boiling cream. Serve with small croutons of fried bread. Eglefin, Sauce HoUandaise (Boiled Haddock, Hol- landaise Sauce). — Boil a large fresh haddock in plenty of water, a carrot, an onion, whole pepper, salt, and a sprig of parsley; let the fish simmer at the side of the stove for fifteen minutes, and, when done, dish it up on a napkin. For the sauce, in its most homely form, melt two ounces of butter in a saucepan, mix with it a dessertspoonful of flour, and, when cooked, add gradually a teacupful and a half of the boiling water in which the haddock has been cooked, and continue to stir until the sauce boils. Then take it from the fire and strain it on to the yolks of two or three eggs which have been beaten up with the juice of half a lemon, add pepper and salt to taste, and serve at once in a sauce boat. Bouchees de Vermicelle (Vermicelli Patties).— Boil two ounces of vermicelli in plenty of boiling salted water. When cooked — it will take about ten minutes — drain it well and put it into a saucepan in which has been melted an ounce of butter. Mix it well, then add a little hot cream, with pepper and salt to taste, and lastly an ounce of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Have ready some small open patties of puff pastry — they can be made beforehand and just warmed in the oven when wanted — fill them with the vermicelli and serve as hot as possible. LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 79 Epinards a la Colbert (Spinach with Poached Eggs). — Pick and wash three pounds of spinach and cook it with very little water, for about fifteen minutes. When done, drain it into a colander, squeeze out all the water, and pass the spinach through a hair sieve. Return it then to an enameled saucepan in which two ounces of butter have been melted, add a sprinkling of flour with pepper and salt to taste, and a little grated nutmeg, and moisten with a small quantity of milk. Stir over the fire till of the right consistency, then make a bed of the spinach on a hot dish, and arrange on it some poached eggs, which have been carefully trimmed with a fluted round cutter so that they are all of the same size. Petits Choux au Chocolat (Little Chocolate Cakes). — Put a quarter of a pint of hot water into a small saucepan with two ounces of butter and one ounce of sugar. When the water, etc. , boils, add gradually two ounces and a half of finely sifted flour, and stir quickly till the mixture is quite dry and stiff. Take the saucepan off the fire and stir the contents for about" ten minutes, then add two eggs (one at a time), beat the mixture well with a wooden spoon, and leave it to get cold. Butter a baking sheet, lay the paste on it with a teaspoon, or through a forcing bag, in small round balls about the size of a plum, and bake in a moderate oven for about twenty minutes. When cold, make an incision in the side of each, and fill them with whipped cream, slightly sweetened and flavored with vanilla. Before serving, glaze each separately with choc- olate icing made with chocolate. APPENDIX. SAVORY TOASTS. These toasts, or crodtes, as they are called in the French menus, may be used both as savories and as supplemen- tary breakfast dishes. They are very delicious, as a rule economical, and easy to prepare. Roe. — Have ready some pieces of butter toast cut in circles or squares. Cook the soft roes of some fresh her- rings in a saute pan, with a little butter, pepper, and salt. Place them on the pieces of toast, adding a few drops of anchovy vinegar. Dust with coraline pepper, put them in the oven for a minute or two, and serve as hot as pos- sible. Prawn. — Cut some slices of bread half an inch thick into circles or squares, slightly hollow out the centre, and fry the "croutes" a golden brown. When thoroughly drained and cold, put a little cress at the bottom of each, and on the top of this put one or two prawns. Mask them with mayonnaise sauce and sprinkle on the surface a little finely chopped tarragon. Serve cold. Sardine. — Choose sardines that are sold already boned, skin them very carefully and grill them over a clear fire, sprinkling them with a little salt and cayenne and a few drops of lemon-juice. Have ready some finger-shaped pieces of very hot buttered toast, place a sardine on each, and serve immediately. Egg and Anchovy. — Beat up slightly in a basin five or six eggs, add cayenne pepper and salt to taste, and a 6 82 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. tablespoonful of milk. Melt a piece of butter in a small saucepan, pour in the beaten-up egg, and stir over the fire with a wooden spoon, without ceasing,' till the mixture begins to get thick and lumpy. Then pour it on to pieces of buttered toast, about two inches broad and three inches long; lay two strips of filleted anchovies crossways on each piece, and serve immediately, as hot as possible. This dish is further improved by spreading the pieces of toast first with anchovy butter, made by pounding together in a mortar an ounce of butter and half an ounce of an- chovy, and then passing the paste through a hair sieve. Tongue and Egg. — Chop up finely some remnants of tongue with some parsley and a tiny bit of shallot. Fry all together in a saucepan with a little butter, pepper, salt if required, and then add one or two hard-boiled eggs, also finely chopped, and a spoonful or two of gravy or brown sauce. Make the mixture as hot as possible and turn out on to rounds of fried bread, which have been hollowed out slightly in the middle. The whole to be served as hot as possible. Foie Gras. — Make some pieces of toast about a quarter of an inch thick ; be careful that they are not dried up ; cut them in pieces three inches by one and a half inches, spread them with Joie gras, and send to table immedi- ately, for they should be served quite hot. Marrow. — Have ready some square pieces of buttered toast, spread them with a little mustard, and sprinkle on them some pepper and salt and a little lemon-juice. Parboil some beef marrow for a minute in salted water, spread it as quickly as possible on the pieces of prepared toast, and send to table at once. Welsh Rarebit — Grate some cheese into a small sauce- pan and add a small quantity of ale, stir together over the fire, and when melted and quite smooth add a pinch of salt and a little flour of mustard. Pour on to prepared pieces of hot toast and send to table without delay. A poached egg neatly trimmed with a fluted cutter may be served on each croflte if liked. LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 83 Salmon. — Cut some smoked salmon into very thin slices, arrange them on square pieces of buttered toast, sprinkle them with pepper, put them in the oven for a few minutes covered over with a greased paper, and serve hot. Egg and Spinach. — Boil some spinach and, having thoroughly drained it, pass it through a hair sieve, and return it to a clean saucepan with an ounce of butter and pepper and salt to taste. Let it simmer slowly till well reduced, then add a spoonful or two of cream, mix well, and spread lightly to the thickness of a quarter of an inch on square pieces of toast about three inches square. Place on each a poached egg neatly trimmed with a fluted cutter, and serve at once. Kidney. — Take two sheep's kidneys, skin, split them in half, and put them into boiling salted water for a min- ute or two. Then drain and wipe them, chop them up finely, and toss them in a small saucepan with half an ounce of butter, in which a small piece of chopped shallot has been fried, pepper and salt, a little chopped parsley, and half an ounce of glaze. Have ready some fried croiites of bread slightly hollowed out in the centre. Ar- range some chopped kidney in each, and serve directly. Game. — Remove the meat from the bones of some cooked game, pound it in a mortar with half its bulk in butter, and a small quantity of ham, which has been passed through the mincing machine. When perfectly smooth season with nutmeg, cayenne pepper and salt, and warm up the whole in a saucepan with a tiny bit of glaze. Spread the mixture on to triangular pieces of buttered toast, put them in the oven for a minute or two to get quite hot, and then serve. Mushroom. — Have ready some rouiids of butter toast about two inches and a half in diameter; keep them hot in the oven while you fry some mushrooms in a little butter, with pepper and salt. As soon as they are done, lay them on the toast, sprinkle with cayenne, and serve at once, 84 LI J TLB FRENCH DINNERS. Liver. — Take two or three freshly boiled fowl's livers, pound the liver to a paste .with half a teaspoonful of anchovy sauce, a small piece of butter, a teaspoonful of melted glaze, and the yolk of a raw egg. When perfectly smooth, season to taste with cayenne and salt, if required, and spread on to squares of fried or toasted bread. Put them into the oven with the door open to get thoroughly hot, and serve at once. Tomato and Egg. — Choose some tomatoes as much as possible of the same size. Cut them in half, and empty out the pips and watery substance, and bake them in the oven on a buttered tin. In the mean time make some scrambled eggs, as in the recipe for egg and anchovy toast, and directly the tomatoes are done fill them with the egg and serve on lightly fried squares of bread. Devilled. — Take a teaspoonful of mixed pickles finely chopped, a teaspoonful of curry powder, and two ounces of grated Parmesan cheese. Mix well together with a little gravy, adding salt, pepper, and mustard to taste. Cover some well-buttered pieces of toast with the mix- ture, warm in the oxen on a buttered tin for five minutes, and serve immediately. It must be borne in mind that all these toasts must be sent to table as hot as possible. Every detail should be previously prepared, but the actual completion of these little savories should only take place at the last minute. Also, to insure success, greater care than is usually the case must be taken with the making of the toast. The fire must be absolutely clear and free from smoke, and the piece of bread should be held at some little distance from it, being moved about constantly to insure that crispness and light golden color which is essential to well-made toast. Afterwards it can be cut into whatever shape desired and stood up on end till wanted, though the sooner it is used the better it will be. In those re- cipes that direct the bread to be fried, let it be done if possible in butter. Boiling lard may be used for econom- ical purposes, but the result is not so good. ON STALE BREAD. In some families stale bread seems to accumulate in the most alarming proportions. If made into breadcrumbs, perhaps there is no use for them just when you happen to have them, and the bread pudding of the average cook is apt to become a trifle monotonous. There are, how- ever, excellent puddings in which breadcrumbs and pieces of bread may find refuge; in fact, they may be so cun- ningly concealed that their presence will hardly be de- tected. Here are the recipes : Bread Meringue. — Boil half a pound of stale bread in a pint of milk very slowly in an enamelled saucepan. Then beat it well with a fork, add sugar and lemon juice to taste, two ounces of butter, and the yolks of three eggs. Mix thoroughly together, turn into a well-buttered pie- dish (a good-sized one), and bake in the oven till brown. Then spread over it a layer of jam, and pile on the top the whites of three eggs, mixed with a little sugar, and beaten to a stiff froth. Put the dish in the oven, and serve directly the surface is brown. Queen of Puddings. — This is a variation of the above. Soak a pint of breadcrumbs in a pint and a half of milk, with a piece of butter the size of an egg, a quarter of a pound of moist sugar, and the grated rind of a lemon. When thoroughly blended, add the yolks of three eggs well beaten, mix, turn it all out into a fairly large cake tin, and place in a good oven. When well baked cover with a layer of jam, and heap up on the top the whites of three eggs beaten to a stiff froth, with the juice of half a lemon and a teaspoonful of powdered sugar. Bake till lightly colored, then put a frill of paper round the tin, and serve at once. 86 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. Baked Bread Pudding. — Put into a basin a quarter of a pound of bread crumbs, a quarter of a pound of flour, a quarter of a pound of sugar, six ounces of currants and sultanas mixed, a small quantity of chopped peel, if liked, a little mixed spice, and a pinch of salt. Then add six ounces of clarified dripping, and rub it into the rest till thoroughly mixed. Beat up two eggs with three-quarters of a teacupful of milk, and stir all together for five min- utes; add lastly a small teaspoonful of baking-powder; stir thoroughly and turn out the mixture into a well-but- tered Yorkshire pudding tin. Spread evenly and bake in a moderate oven. Turn it out when done, cut it into squares, sprinkle plentifully with powdered sugar, and serve hot. " Pain Perdu," — Cut from the crumb of a stale tin loaf slices half an inch thick, trim these into any fancy shapes that are liked, and soak them in milk sweetened to taste, in which a pod of vanilla has been boiled. Drain them well. Beat up one or more eggs with a pinch of salt, dip the pieces of bread in it, and fry them a golden color in boiling lard. Make a custard with yolks of eggs and the milk in which the pieces of bread were soaked. Arrange these latter on a hot dish, pour the custard all over them, and serve at once. Steamed Bread Pudding — Soak ten ounces of bread in rather more than a pint of milk, and stir it over the fire with a little dripping till thoroughly soft and hot. When half cold mix in the yolks of three eggs, three ounces of sugar, and half an ounce of pounded almonds, mix thor- oughly, and stir in lastly the whites of the three eggs whisked to a stiff froth. Turn into a buttered mould, and steam it in boiling water for about an hour and a quarter. Serve with a fruit sauce. Lemon Meringue Pudding.— Pour a pint of hot milk on to a teacupful of breadcrumbs, then add an ounce of butter beaten to a cream with half a teacupful of powdered sugar and mixed with the yolks of two eggs, the juice of a small lemon, and the grated rind (zest) of half. Mix all well together, and bake in a buttered china souffle LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 87 dish for about half an hour, cr till the pudding is firm and slightly colored. Then draw it to the door of the oven, and cover lightly with a meringue made with the whites of the two eggs whisked with three tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar and a little lemon juice. Bake till a golden color, and serve either hot or cold. An orange may be used instead of a lemon. In all these recipes no mention has been made of crusts of bread. When they accumulate, as they naturally will, put them on a tin in the oven, bake them till well browned, then pound them and pass them through a wire sieve, or they may be sifted when required. Keep a good supply of them in a tin, and they will always be ready when wanted. A stock of white crumbs should also be kept ready sifted for frying purposes. Use pieces of crumb and treat them in the same manner as the crust, but only allowing them to get thoroughly crisp in the oven, not to color in the slightest. Fish fried in crumbs made in this manner will be found far superior than when ordinary breadcrumbs are used. While on this subject, the following recipes will not be found amiss : Fried Breadcrumbs. — Put some fine breadcrumbs made with stale bread on to a flat tin in the oven with a few pieces of butter. Stir the crumbs every now and then, till they have acquired a golden color and have absorbed all the butter. These are used with roast game. Bread Sauce. — Boil an onion stuck with two or three cloves, some whole pepper and salt, according to taste, and a tiny piece of mace in half a pint of milk. When the milk is sufficiently flavored, strain the milk into a basin previously made warm, and add to it sufficient white breadcrumbs, made crisp in the oven, to make the sauce of the right consistency, add half an ounce of but- ter; stir well, turn the sauce into the tureen, and serv«i immediately. 88 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. Bread Sippets. — Cut some slices from a tin loaf, not less than a quarter of an inch in thickness, from these take out some sippets of a triangular shape and fry them in hot butter, turning them very frequently and adding more butter during the process if necessary. A more economical method is to put them in a frying basket and plunge them into a pan of boiling fat. They should be a bright golden color, and before being sent to table they must be well drained in front of the fire on a piece of soft paper. Small square crofltons for thick soups are prepared in the same way. Palled Bread. — Take a freshly baked loaf, remove the crust, pull the crumb with a fork into rough pieces about two inches square. Put them on a flat tin and bake them a golden brown color in a moderate oven. SEASONABLE SALADS. Nothing can really surpass a well-made Lettuce Salad, but to be able to prepare it there are several details which must be well borne in mind. To begin with, it does not matter of what sort of lettuce or endive the salad is composed, but no mixture of any sort is permissible. If you wish for a good salad do not wash the lettuce at all ; in most cases, if the bruised and outside leaves are thrown away, the inner part will be found to be beau- tifully crisp and clean. If, however, the inner leaves are not quite free from mould and grit, wipe each of them carefully with a clean cloth. When, however, it is abso- lutely necessary that the lettuce be washed, on no account let the leaves remain too long in the water, and be sure that they are thoroughly dried. The best method is to drain the leaves thoroughly on a sieve and then to toss them tenderly in a napkin or cloth till the salad is quite dry. The leaves of the lettuce, once cleaned, may now be broken up with the fingers into convenient pieces of about an inch and a half in length and thrown into a good-sized salad bowl, every leaf the least bit tainted or discolored being discarded. With regard to the dressing of the salad be sure to be very sparing with the vinegar. English people always use too much; there is a Spanish proverb which says that four persons are required to make a good salad : " A spendthrift for oil, a miser for vinegar, a counsellor for salt, and a madman to stir it all up." The dressing should always be prepared at the table, as a salad deteri- orates after it has once been mixed. To proceed, hold over the salad a wooden spoon, into which put a good saltspoonful of salt, and a quarter of finely ground white pepper, fill up the spoon with oil, stir well with the fork and sprinkle it all over the salad; add two more spoonfuls of oil, and not quite a whole go LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. spoonful of the best French vinegar. Then " work " the salad, i.e., toss it over and over with the horn or wooden spoon and fork so that each leaf will receive its right modicum of dressing; add lastly some chopped tarragon, and the salad is ready. Hard-boiled eggs cut in slices, chopped chervil or chives, etc., may also be used, but the addition of these is obviously optional. A delicious salad can be made with a particular sort of endive, called in French Barbe de Capucin. Chicory seems to be the corresponding word for it in the English language. It should be carefully picked and broken into convenient pieces, and placed in a salad bowl previously well rubbed with a shallot. The same dressing as for the lettuce salad is used, but with the addition of a little English or French mustard. Mix the salad well, and sprinkle on the surface some finely chopped tarragon. Tomato Salad should always be prepared two or three hours before it is wanted. Choose tomatoes that are not too ripe, and let them be of a good color. Cut them in slices, first removing the hard core, and also the skin if it be objected to, and arrange them in a heap in the salad bowl, which should have been previously rubbed with a shallot. Then put into a basin a small quantity of French mustard, some pepper, and plenty of salt to taste, four tablespoonfuls of salad oil, a tablespoonful of French vinegar, and a teaspoonful of chili vinegar; mix all thoroughly together for two or three minutes, then pour the dressing over the tomatoes and add some finely chopped parsley, and chives if they are liked. A combi- nation of endive and tomatoes cut in sections like an orange makes a very good salad. Watercress and Potato Salad will be found very nice to eat with cold game, poultry, etc. Take some small potatoes, boil them, and then skin them, and when they are half cold arrange them in the centre of a salad bowl, pouring on each layer some salad dressing composed of three tablespoonfuls of oil, one of tarragon vinegar, one of good clear stock, a little grated onion, pepper and salt to taste. Surround the sliced potatoes completely with fresh watercress, neatly trimmed and washed, and pour LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 9 1 the rest of the " dressing " over the whole of the salad, which should be kept in a cool place till wanted. A lit- tle chopped tarragon or parsley sprinkled on the top layer of potato adds greatly to the appearance of the salad. Fresh Haricot Beans (Flageolets) make a delicious salad. They should be a pale green color. Boil them slowly in plenty of boiling salted water till quite tender, then drain them thoroughly, put them in a salad-bowl, well rubbed with a shallot, and pour over them a plain salad dressing made with oil, vinegar, pepper, and salt; sprinkle on the surface some finely chopped parsley, and serve. A salad of Endive and Shrimps will be found rather a novelty: Mix in a small basin a salad sauce composed of oil and French vinegar (three to one), French mustard, pepper, and salt. Shell about a pint of freshly boiled shrimps, and let them lie in the above sauce for about an hour. Take four heads of endive; if necessary, wash' them, discarding the outside leaves; break the endives into convenient pieces, and having dried them thoroughly in a cloth, place them in a salad-bowl, previously rubbed with a shallot or with garlic (if the flavor be approved of). Five minutes before serving, strain the sauce from the shrimps on to the endives, " work " the salad well, then sprinkle in the shrimps, mix the whole well together, and serve at once. FANCY SALADS. Salade a la Chicago. — Cut some new carrots, turnips, and potatoes with a crinkled vegetable scoop into the shape of small olives ; cook them all separately in boiling salted water, and when cold lay them for a couple of hours in a marinade composed of oil and vinegar (in the proportions of three to one), seasoned with pepper and salt. Add some gherkins cut in the same shape, a few capers, three or four anchovies (boned, cleaned, and cut up), and some chicken cut in dice with a sprinkling of chopped tarragon. Rub a dish with a shallot, mix some mayonnaise sauce with the vegetables, etc., and heap them up in a dome shape in the centre of the dish. Or- nament it with beetroot cut in rounds with a fluted cutter the size of a halfpenny, alternated with gherkins sliced about half the size ; surround with quartered hard-boiled eggs. Salade a la Danoise. — Take equal quantities of maca- roni and any sort of flaky fish. Cook the former in boil- ing salted water, and when done put it on one side to drain ; then, having boiled the fish also in salted water, let it get cold, break it up into flakes, which put on a plate, and add a little tarragon vinegar with a sprinkling of pepper and salt. Then beat up a gill and a half of cream, not too stiffly, and mix with it a moderate-sized horseradish grated and a pinch of sugar. Toss the fish and m^acaroni in this with two forks, so that it is all thor- oughly mixed, heap it up in the centre of a dish, sprinkle the surface with chopped tarragon, and surround the dish with sippets of fried bread. Salade Rouge et Nolr — Take one or two lobsters, cut up all the flesh into convenient pieces, reserving the soft part, which mix with a salad dressing composed of two tablespoonfuls of tarragon vinegar to six of oil, with pep- LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 93 per, salt, and mustard to taste. Prepare some lettuces as for an ordinary salad, mix with them the pieces of lob- ster, and then pour over the salad dressing as above. Mix well together. Keep a few of the best pieces of lob- ster to place on the surface. Add lastly the spawn of the lobsters, and make a border of triangular sippets of toast, buttered and spread with caviare. Salade de Chicoree et Tomates.— Mix together in a basin four tablespoonfuls of oil, a tablespoonful and a half of French vinegar, some French mustard, and pep- per and salt to taste. Cut up four medium-sized toma- toes in sections as you would an orange ; then take four endives, wipe them carefully and break up the leaves into convenient pieces. Rub a salad bowl well with a shallot, or, if approved of, a piece of garlic, arrange the pieces of tomato in the centre with the endive all round, which should be previously tossed on a plate with some of the above dressing; pour the rest of it over the tomatoes, and keep in a cool place till the time of serving. Salade a la Regence.— Takeapieceof pickled cucum- ber about three inches in length, cut it in slices, as also some very small new potatoes. Cut in the same way some pickled lamb's tongues cooked, and pour over the whole oil, vinegar, pepper, and salt in the usual propor- tions. In an hour's time arrange the above mixture in a salad bowl upon a foundation of lettuce cut into conven- ient pieces, pour over the dressing, and serve. Salade de Sardines. — Bone and skin some sardines, divide them into fillets, and sprinkle them well with white pepper. Have some watercress ready picked, toss it in a salad dressing made with three parts of oil and one of vinegar, with pepper and salt to taste. Arrange the watercress in the salad bowl with the fillets of sar- dines on the top, interspersed with tufts of scraped horse- radish. Salade de Poisson. — Take the remnants of any cold boiled fish, divide the fish into flakes, at the same time removing every particle of skin, and lay them in a mari- 94 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. nade of oil and vinegar in the usual proportions seasoned with pepper and salt. Dress the fish en courrone, sur- round it with hard-boiled eggs cut in quarters lengthwise, alternated with pieces of beet root, and some filleted an- chovies cut up and arranged according to fancy. In the centre pile up some Tartare sauce made very stiff, and stick its surface all over with gherkins, cut in strips the size of matches. Sprinkle the fish with chopped tarra- gon, and serve. Salade Americaine. — Cut in rounds the size and thick- ness of a 25 cent piece, equal quantities of new potatoes, ox-tongue, carrots, and beet root, all previously cooked. Then add a sour apple, cut in the same shape, and a few anchovies filleted and well washed and cut in dice. Put all these ingredients in a basin, and pour over them a mixture of oil and vinegar (three to one), pepper, salt, mustard, and chopped parsley. Pile up the salad in a bowl and surround with a mixture of mustard and cress. Salade de Choux-Fleurs aux Haricots Verts Trim some French beans, choosing them as much as possible of the same size; do not cut them ; throw them into plenty of fast-boiling salted water with a small piece of soda, and let them boil uncovered till done, when they should be drained and thrown into a basinful of cold water to remain for ten minutes. After this drain them thoroughly from all water. Then take a good-sized cauliflower, which has been soaked in cold salted water, boil it till thoroughly tender, and when cold divide it into sprigs and pile them up in the centre of the salad bowl well rubbed with a shallot. Make a salad dressing with six tablespoonfuls of oil, one of tarragon vinegar, one of French vinegar, pepper and salt to taste, mix thoroughly together, and pour half of it over the cauliflower. Add the remainder to the raw yolk of an egg well beaten, and toss the French beans well in this mixture; arrange them then all round the sprigs of cauliflower, sprinkle some chopped parsley on the latter, and serve. N.B. — In making all salad-dressings it is very essen- tial to use the best olive oil, ON COOKING MACARONI. Before attempting to describe the correct way of cook- ing macaroni, the staple food of a Continental nation, it must be thoroughly borne in mind that macaroni will not admit of being of inferior quality. There are several different kinds of macaroni, which if cooked with care and attention will produce, at a very small cost, many appetizing and most nourishing dishes, which only require to be known to be appreciated. Having secured some good macaroni, the first process is to boil it. Have ready a large saucepan full of boiling water, add a good-sized lump of salt, and then put in the macaroni merely broken into convenient pieces; it must on no account be previ- ously soaked in water. It is almost impossible to givd hard-and-fast rules as to the length of fime it takes to boil macaroni, as not only is it a matter of taste, but ac- cording to the kind and quality of the paste it takes more or less time to cook. It is essential to keep it frequently stirred and to keep the water boiling the whole time. When the macaroni is considered sufficiently tender, which is best ascertained by tasting a piece, remove the saucepan from the fire and pour into it a large jug of cold water. Strain the macaroni then into a colander, and cover it over with a cloth till it is going to be dressed. One of the simplest methods of serving it is as follows: Having boiled half a pound of spaghetti, for example, for fifteen minutes, melt a good-sized piece of butter in a saucepan and toss the macaroni in it, adding a dust of black pepper and plenty of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Serve piled up on a dish as hot as possible. For Macaroni au Gratin, a larger pipe macaroni called Zita can be used ; it will require to be boiled for twenty to thirty minutes. Having tossed it in plenty of butter, with cheese, etc., in the same way as above, heap it up on p. dish that wilj stand the fire^ previously well buttered, 96 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. Sprinkle on the top of the macaroni some grated Parme- san and bread raspings in equal quantities, and place the dish at once in a very brisk oven to brown, or this may be done afterward with a salamander. Macaroni a la Napolitaine will commend itself to the attention of those who are found of tomatoes. In this dish use either Zita or the broad ribbon macaroni called Lazagne. Failing fresh tomatoes for the sauce, take half a small bottle of French conserve de tomates (on no account use an English preparation, as it is sure to have vinegar in it), put it into a large saucepan with one ounce and a half of butter, a gill of good gravy or stock, and pepper and salt to taste. Let this come to the boil and then simmer for about ten to fifteen minutes. Have ready half a pound of macaroni, previously boiled and well drained, and add it to the sauce a few pieces at a time ; toss the whole gently with two spoons, adding plenty of grated Parmesan cheese, and serve in a very hot dish. When plenty of good gravy is at hand, a most nourish- ing dish, known as Macaroni a I'ltalienne, may be made as follows: Soil half a pound of macaroni in the usual manner, but let it be rather underdone ; drain it thor- oughly, and return it to a clean saucepan. Have ready some hot gravy thickened with a little cornstarch, and add it gradually to the macaroni, stirring it gently with a wooden spoon ; let it simmer for ten minutes. Sprinkle in at the last a few spoonfuls of grated Parmesan cheese, and finish with an ounce of butter broken up in little pieces. Serve as hot as possible. Although in Italy these dishes of macaroni are gener- ally served as a separate course, it must not be forgotten that they form a very useful garnish for entries, and especially for joints, such as stewed or braised beef. With all savory dishes in which macaroni plays a part, extra grated Parmesan cheese must always be sent up on a sepa- rate plate to be handed round. It is essential that the cheese should only be grated just before it is wanted, and, like the macaroni, it should be procured where it can be relied upon as being both moderate in price and of the best quality. HASHED MUTTON. It is a curious thing that one always seems to associ- ate hashed mutton with a boarding house; it is generally looked down upon with contempt in our own homes, and most housekeepers fight shy of it simply because neitjier they nor their cooks know how to prepare it properly. The art of making a good hash is a useful gift to pos- sess, especially where a large family is concerned,, for when the cold joint has done duty on one or two occa- sions, and one has not time to go in for elaborate entrides, a dish of hashed mutton or any other meat prepared in the French style will be found preferable to the dish that always goes by that name, and which generally consists of hard lumps of meat swimming in a pale, sickly-look- ing, thin broth, strongly flavored with onions. It is un- inviting, to say the least of it, but now let us hope that with the aid of the following directions we may look for- ward to something better. A great point to be remembered is that on account of cold mutton having rather an insipid taste, a much more highly flavored and tasty sauce is necessary than is gen- erally the case. Begin by frying an onion, finely chopped, in one ounce of butter till a golden brown ; add one ounce of flour, stir well together for five minutes, then add half a pint of stock well flavored with vegetables, two or three cloves, salt if necessary, and four tablespoonfuls of tomato ket- chup; stir a few minutes on the fire, then proceed to fur- ther flavor the sauce by adding a teaspoonful or more, according to taste, of Worcester sauce, and mushroom and walnut ketchups. Let the sauce boil fast over the fire, so as to reduce a little, then add a little coloring, strain the 7 98 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. sauce into a small shallow stewpan, and put it on one side to get cold. In the mean time cut from thai eg of mutton some neat slices not too small, letting them be all as much as pos- sible of the same size, and remove every particle of skin, fat, gristle, or burned portion, as it is this latter which gives the " warmed-up " taste to a dish of this descrip- tion. When the sauce is cold, lay in it the pieces of mut- ton, cover up the saucepan, and in about an hour's time put it at the corner of the stove, warming the meat very, very gradually. If the sauce boils, the meat will sure to be tough. Directly it has got thoroughly hot, it is ready to be dished up, with the sauce poured over it, and it should be surrounded with sippets of bread, not toasted, but fried a golden color. The addition of a little finely chopped parsley is a great improvement. If there is no stock for the sauce, water can be used with a teaspoonful of meat extract, but some vegetable' must be boiled in it to give it the necessary flavor. A nice accompaniment to hashed mutton is macaroni cooked with tomato sauce, and cheese, served round the meat, or a border of mashed potatoes looks very well; but, after all, when the dish is really well made, it is best to serve it in as simple a form as possible, so as to be able to appreciate the goodness of the sauce. When the remains of the leg of mutton do not admit of nice slices being cut from it for a hash, a good substi- tute will be found in a dish of Minced Mutton with Poached Eggs. Remove every particle of fat, skin, and gristle from the pieces of mutton and pass them through the mincing machine, adding a rasher of lean cooked bacon. This done, put the mince into a saucepan in which half a finely chopped shallot has been frying. Moisten with a sufficiency of good gravy, and season with pepper and salt, a little chopped parsley, half a teaspoon- ful of Worcester sauce, and a spoonful each of tomato LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 99 and mushroom ketchups. Let the mince get hot very slowly, and when of the right consistency turn it out on to a hot dish, flatten it slightly, and arrange on it some poached eggs, which have been neatly cut out with a fluted round cutter ; ornament with fried sippets of bread and serve as hot as possible. BRAISED BEEF. AN ECONOMICAL DISH. The reason this dish is so economical is because the liquor in which the meat is cooked makes the most deli- cious clear soup, very strong and beautifully flavored with vegetables. The part of meat that is always used, namely, the silver side, is very low in price, and, moreover, the meat thus cooked is most delicious when hot, and still more so when served cold, being even nicer than pressed beef, as the vegetables, herbs, spices, etc., with which the piece of beef is cooked, impart to it a delicious flavor. See that the saucepan is thoroughly dry and clean, and then line the bottom of it with thin slices of fat bacon, put in an ounce of butter or dripping, three small onions cut in slices, and on the top of all lay the piece of fresh silver side of beef (about five and a half pounds) neatly kept in shape with string. Put on the lid of the sauce- pan, and let it remain right over the fire for about thirty minutes, turning the piece of beef when it has browned on one side; this must be done by lifting it up by the string with a fork, taking care not to prick the meat, which would allow the juice to escape. Then fill up the saucepan almost to the brim with hot water, and add salt, whole pepper, a bayleaf , half a blade of mace, a tiny bit of thyme, two or three sprigs of parsley, a small onion stuck with cloves, four carrots cut in slices, three turnips cut in slices and then cut in half across, and any other vegetables that you may have, such as celery, etc. Add also the small bone which the butcher generally sends with this piece of meat. Bring the water to the boil, re- move any scum that there may be on the surface, cover the saucepan, and put it at such a part of the stove that it will simmer slowly for about three hours and a half. LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. lOl It must be frequently looked at, and at the first approach of any signs of the water boiling, the saucepan must be removed to a still cooler part of the stove. If, as is sometimes the case, it cannot be made to cook slowly enough, on account of the stove having become very hot, the saucepan must be placed on a trivet. This part of the process is most essential, as it is on the slow cooking of the beef that the tenderness of the meat depends. About a quarter of an hour before the time of serving take out some of the liquor with a cup, and strain it into a jug; then melt one ounce of butter or dripping in a saucepan, add one and a half ounces of flour, and stir together over the fire till a bright brown color; then add gradually the liquor in the jug, and make a nice thick sauce ; flavor to taste with pepper and salt, and add some coloring to make it a dark, rich brown. Now take the braised beef out of the saucepan, remove the string, and place it on the dish on which it is going to be served; place a sieve over a large basin, and pour into it the contents of the saucepan, so as to separate the vegetables from the liquor. Pick out all the carrots and turnips, and arrange them round the beef, which should be placed in front of the fire to keep hot. Bring the sauce now to the boil, stir it well, and pour it all over and round the piece of beef, so as to glaze it nicely. Keep some of the thick sauce back, thin it down with some more of the braised beef liquor, bring to the boil, and pour it all over the vegetables round the meat. The garnish of this dish may, of course, be varied ac- cording to taste. Sprigs of cauliflower, French beans, peas, and Brussels sprouts, etc., may be used, and for a dinner party it would look nicer to cut the carrots and turnips into balls or some other fancy shape, and then they could be arranged in alternate heaps. This dish is exceedingly nice cooked with just suffi- cient vegetables (not cut up) to flavor the meat and served with macaroni plainly boiled in water and tossed in but- I02 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. ter, with the sauce poured over it in the same way as for the vegetable garnish. The liquor from the braised beef in the basin will be found to have on it the following day a thin coating of fat. This can be easily removed (it is very good for fry- ing purposes), and the soup, of which there will be about three quarts, is then, with the addition of perhaps a little more salt and pepper, quite ready for use. The amount of water added to the beef in the first in- stance may always be varied, according to the amount of soup desired, but the above quantities will be found on an average to be the most satisfactory from every point of view. ON GRAVY. In speaking of gravy, we will first discuss the gravy that is naturally formed when roasting a joint of meat. More often than not it is a mere mockery. When the joint has been roasted, boiling water, colored with cara- mel, is poured over it, and the result is called gravy. Some people go to the other extreme, and buy pounds of gravy beef, an unnecessary extravagance, when there are always bones, trimmings, and scraps which will an- swer excellently for the purpose, and when these are not to be had a small piece of glaze, which should always be kept in the house, will assist matters. In making gravy avoid two things, viz., grease and flour. In the dripping pan the rich brown juice from which the gravy is made is mixed* with the melted fat, and the great point is to get rid of all this latter, while retaining every particle of the brown sediment. On a cold day, when the dishes and plates get cool quickly, it is not particularly appetizing to see the fat solidifying and floating in cakes on the surface of the gravy. The best and most economical way of serving up gravy is as follows : Having placed the joint on a hot dish in front of the fire, take the dripping pan, and with a care- ful and steady hand pour off the fat into a basin. When the thick gravy begins to run too, check it, and if there be still much fat left on the surface, remove it with a spoon; then add a small quantity of boiling water or stock, with salt to taste, and scrape the tin well with a spoon in order to dissolve every speck of dried gravy on the bottom and sides of the pan. Put the pan on the stove for a minute or two, stir well, and when boiling hot pour the gravy either round the meat in the dish or in a hot tureen. I04 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. Every drop of this gravy left over should be carefully saved. If the joint be served cold, the entire contents of the dripping tin can be poured into a basin, and the next day, when the fat is firm, the gravy will be found at the bottom in a clear brown cake of jelly, which will be ready for use whenever wanted. When the family is large and a good bit of gravy is liked, it must be assisted with a few bones, scraps of cold meat, or trimmings of the joint. Put them all into a saucepan with some cold water, , salt and pepper, and half an onion, bring to the boil, and let them simmer gently for three or four hours. This gravy mixed with that which comes from the meat will make an excellent accompaniment to a roasted joint of beef. For mutton or lamb, a simpler gravy is necessary ; the shank bone stewed gently in water, salted to taste, will furnish an excellent gravy if there be not suflficient when the joint is roasted. It must be remembered, with regard to gravy, that qual- ity comes before quantity, and with a well-roasted joint, after the first slice is cut, the gravy rushes out into the dish, and continues to flow from the meat while it is being carved. We next come to the ordinary gravy for poultry, game, etc. Supposing you have a pair of fowls to roast, care- fully save the feet and throat, then scald the former by pouring boiling water over them and skin them. Put these with the other giblets, carefully cleaned, into a small saucepan, with an onion and a carrot sliced, a sprig of parsley, and about a pint of water, with pepper and salt to taste. Bring to the boil, and then let the whole cook gently till reduced to one-half. After the fowls have been roasted, pour the above gravy strained into the pan, scrape o£E every bit of glaze and let it dissolve, then pour at once through a fine strainer into a sauce-tureen. In making gravy for game, procure a few fresh fowl LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS. 105 giblets from the poulterer to be stewed with the giblets of the game and vegetables, etc. In conclusion, the following gravy will be found an ex- cellent accompaniment to a couple of wild ducks or any game of a similar kind : Boil two gills and a half of stock with the livers and gizzards of the birds for twenty min- utes; then strain through muslin into a clean saucepan, and add the juice of an orange, the juice and zest {i.e., grated rind) of a Spanish orange, a little cayenne pepper and salt. Boil all together for three minutes, then serve. INDEX. Entries— Artichokes Served with Salad Sauce, 22 Lamb Fillets with Cucumber, 31 Mutton Cutlets in Jelly, 9 Ox-Palates— A la Robert, 73 With Tomato Sauce, 19 Ox-Tail 4 la Mode, 33 Rabbit SoufHf Si 76 Spinach au Jus, 29 Sweetbread — Patties, 5 Stewed m Cases, 76 Timbales k la Milanaise, 64 Turnip Tops with Poached Eggs, S8 Pish— Brill, Fillets of, with Watercress Sauce, 16 Caviare, with Oysters, 77 Cod— A la 66chamel, 57 Boiled and Fried Salt Cod, 69 Celadon Sauce, with, 54 Collops of, with Portuguese Sauce, 22 Eels, Matelots of, 64 Flounders, Fillets of, Fried, 24 Haddocks — A la Maltre d'HStel, 38 Boiled- Diplomat Sauce with, 45 Hollandaise Sauce with, 78 Mackerel, Fillets of— A la Ravigote, 40 Gooseberry Sauce with, 31 Oysters, Caviare with, 77 Prawns — Fillets of Sole with, 71 Toast, 81 Red Mullet en Papillotes, 59 Roe Toast, 81 Salad, 93 Salmon — A la Hollandaise, 36 Grilled, and Served with Pi- quant Sauce, 8 Toast, 83 Sardine — Salad, 93 Toast, 81 Shrimps — Endive and Shrimp Salad, 91 Fish — Continued, Shrimps tioup, 33 Sole- Fillets of - A la Cardinal, 71 A la V^nitienne, 29 Mousseline Sauce with, 48 Stuffed and Baked, 13 Turbot- A la Cardinal, 75 A la Mazarine, 43 Whitebait, Devilled, 26 Whiting — Boudins of, with Sauce Su- prime, 51 FiTletsof— A la Cherbourg, 66 Au Vin Blanc, 11 ' Baked, 73 Game— Grouse^ Salmi of, 48 Hare, Jugged, 62 Prairie-Hen, Roasted, as Partridges, Stewed with Mush- rooms, 14 Pheasants, Roasted, 20 Quails, Roasted, 55 Rabbits- Boiled and Served with Sauce Soubise, 41 Souffles of, 76 Snipe, Grilled, 46 Toast, 83 Wild Duck, Roasted, with Or- ange Sauce, 52 Woodcock i la C^lestin, 9 Meat— Beef- Braised, lOO Fillet of— A la Napolitaine, 6 A la Palestine, 49 Braised, with Vegetables, 43 Collops of, with Foie-gras, 17 Flemish Fashion, 24 Marrow Toast, 82 Sirloin of, Roasted, 65 Lamb — Cutlets- New Potatoes, with, 2a Spinach, with, 41 Fillets of— Cendrillon, 71 io8 INDEX. VL^AT— Continued. Lamb, Fillets of — Cucumber^ with, 31 Loin of — A la Berthier, 11 Roasted, 63 Saddle of, with Peas, 38 Mutton- Cutlets— In Jelly, 9 Vegetables with, 60 Hashed, 97 Kidney Toast, 83 Leg of, d, la Parisienne, 20 Minced, with Poached Eggs, 98 Neck of— Fillets of— A la Roumaine, 67 Spinach, with, 52 Roasted, 74 Ox-Palates — A la Robert, 73 Tomato Sauce, with, 19 Ox-tail— A la Mode, 33 Soup, 54 Sweetbread — Patties, ^ Stewed in Cases, 76 Tongue and Egg Toast, 82 Veal— — la Suzanne, 46 CoUops k I'Anglaise, 54 > Fillet of. Served with New Po- tatoes, 22 Poultry— Chicken and Fowls- Fricassee of, 36 Pur^e of, iQ Saute k I'Estragon, 58 Liver Toast, 84 Ducks, Roasted and Served with Turnips, 34 Pigeons, Roasted, 32 Puddings and Sweets— Bread — Baked Pudding, 86 Lemon Meringue Pudding, 86 Meringue, 85 "Pain Perdu," 86 Queen of Puddings, 85 Steamed Pudding, 86 Cherries, Darioles with, 37 Chestnut Cream, 23 Chocolate— Bavaroise, 44 Cakes, Little, 79 Souffl6, 39 Coffee Custards, 77 Compote, Apricot, 18 Cones with Vanilla Cream, 30 Creams — Chestnut, 23 Russian, 58 Vanilla, 30 Frangipane Tart, 47 Fritters, Danish, 12 Puddings and Sweets— C&«^^«. Gateau— De Noisettes, 15 De Saison, 61 Des "Trois-Fr^res," 67 Gitana Pudding, 7 Gooseberries 4 la St. Honor6, 34 Lemon SoufiQ6, 65 • Mousse k TOrange, 21 Pancakes, French, 72 Pears en Surprise, 49 Rhubarb- Gateau a la Tartarie, 55 Flan of, 27 Rice 4 la Cannelle, 18 Russian Cream, 58 Snow Eggs au Citron, 32 Souffle Omelet, 74 Souffles isee that title) Stockholm Pudding, 70 Salads— A la Chicago, 92 A la Danoise, 92 A la R6gence, 23 Am6ricaine, 94 Barbe de Capucin (Endive), 55, 90 Cauliflower and French Bean, 94 Celeriac, 20 Chicory and Tomato, 93 Dressings for. Hints about, 89 Endive and Shrimp, 91 Fish, 93 Flageolet, 91 French Bean, 44 Lettuce, 8g Potato, 9 (with Watercress), go Rouge et Noir, 92 Sardine, 93 Sauce, 22 Shrimp and Endive, ^i Tomato, 90 (with Chicory), 93 Watercress with Potato, 90 Sauces— Bechamel, 57 Bread, 87 Cardinal, 75 Celadon, 57 Diplomate, 45 Gooseberry, 31 Gravies, Hints about, 103 Hollandaise, 36, 78 Mousseline, 48 Orange, 52 Pi quant e, 8 Portuguese, 22 Raifort (Horseradish), 65 Sabayonne, 15 Salad, 22 Soubise (Onion), 41 Supreme, 51 Tomato, 20 Watercress, 16 Savories— Anchovy Stuffing for Eggs, 12 Cauliflower au Gratin, 53 Cheese — Celeriac with, 69 INDEX. 109 Savories— Continued. Cheese — Eggs with, 23 Omelet, 9 Seakale with, 67 Toast, 82 Eggs— A I'Anglaise, 63 A la Cr^me, 77 All Parmesan, 2S Canapes k la Gordon, 42 Stuffed— Au Gratin, 74 With Anchovies, 12 Macaroni— A la Najjolitaine, 95 An Gratin, 95 Cheese, 95 Mushrooms a la Bordelaise, 27 Roe Toasts, 81 Seakale with Cheese, 67 Spaghetti 4 la Napolitaine, 39 Toasts — Devilled, 84 Egg and Anchovy, Si Egg and Spinach, 83 Egg and Tomato, 84 Egg and Tongue, 82 Foie-Gras, 82 Game, 83 Hints on Making, 84 Kidney, 83 Liver, 84 Marrow, 82 Mushroom, 83 Prawn, 81 Roe, 81 Salmon, 83 Sardine, 8i Welsh Rarebit, 82 Vermicelli Patties, 20, 78 Scraps, to use Up— Bread, Various ways, 85-8S Meat, Mutton, 97-99 Souffles— Chocolate, 39 Lemon, 65 Omelet, 74 Rabbit, 76 Soups— A rirlandaise, 75 Aux Profiterolles, 28 Barley, 78 Bean, Haricot, 26, 50 Brunoise with Italian Paste, 47 Cauliflower, 40 Celery, 13 Chestnut, 72 Chicken Pur4e, 19 Clermont, so Creoy 4 laModerne (Carrot), i6 Dodds, 66 Don Carlos, 59 German, 30 Green Pea, 42 Leek and Rice, 68 Monte Carlo, 70 ^OXS'PS— Continued. Ox-tail, 34 Parisien, 64 Paysanne, 38 R^forme, s Scotch Broth, 24 Shrimp, 33 Sorrel, 10 (with Custard), 35 Spring, 21 Stock, clear, 37 Tapioca, 56 Tncolored, 43 Vegetable Marrow, 8 Vegetable Pur6e, 62 Sundries— Bread Crumbs, Fried, 87 " Sippets, 88 Butter, Anchovy, 43 " Lobster, 43 Gravy, 103 Panada, 51 ■ Sponge Cake, 55 Stock, clear, 37 Timbales k la Milanaise, 64 Vegetables— Artichokes- Fillets of Beef with, 49 Served with Salad Sauce, 22 Asparagus Omelet, 34 Beans, French- Cauliflower and French Bean Salad, 94 Salad, 44 Tomato, Rice with, 63 Beans, Haricot- Flageolet Salad, 91 Soup, 26. White, 30 Carrot Soup, 16 Cauliflower — Au Gratin, 53 French Beans and Cauliflower Salad, 94 Celeriac — Cheese with, 69 Salad, 20 Celery Soup, 13 Chestnut Soup, 72 Chicory and Tomato Salad, 93 Cucumber, with Fillets o£ Lamb, 31 Endive- Shrimp and Endive Salad, 91 Salad, 55, 90 Horseradish Sauce, 63 Leeks, Rice and Leek Soup, 68 Lettuces— Pur6e of, 37 Salad of, 89 Mushrooms — A la Bordelaise, 27 Fritters, 60 On Toast, 83 Stewed with Partridges, 14 Peas— A la Frangaise, 76 A la Paysanne, 13 Saddle of Lamb with, 38 Soup A la St. Germain, 42 no INDEX. VKGKTkVLts— Continued. Potatoes— A la Marquise, 63 Anna, 17 Fried, 42 Lamb Cutlets Served with New Potatoes, 22 Lorettes, 14 PetitsChoux (Balls), 11 Ribbons, 25 Salad of, 9 Saut^es, 39 Veal Served with New Pota- toes, 26 Watercress and Potato Salad, 90 Puree of, 62 Sorrel Soup, 10 (with Custard) 35 Spinach— A la Creme, 7 Fillets of Mutton with, 52 Gravy Served with, 29 Vegetables— Co«W«aeif. Spinach — Xamb Cutlets with, 41 Poached Eggs with, 79 Tomatoes — Chicory and Tomato Salad, 93 Egg and Tomato Toast, 84 French Beans with Tomato Rice, 63 Salad, go Sauce, 20 Stuffed k la Victoria, 18 Turnip-tops, Poached lEggs on, 58 Vegetable Marrow — Au Gratin, 71 Soup, 8 Watercress — Omelet, 69 Potato and Watercress Salad, „99 Sauce, 16 Little Handbooks >r Young Wives A Series of little volumes foil of practical hints for inex- perienced housekeepers. Daintily bound in linen, with an attradtive cover. 50 cents each j^aintr WilSfc^z^ for ^icntier 91ncomesi Compiled with great care, and revised by one of the leading cnefs of the day. The recipes are extremely varied, and a great point is made of serving and -garnishing prettily, which is too little thought of by the ordinary cook. ?^ouse|)olti flints Dealing with every kind of advice and recipe for keeping a house in perfeft condition. The recipes are exceedingly simple and praftical, and of use to the youngest housekeeper. iCittle jfrenci) Bmnetfii The use of this little book will enable any "plain cook" to prepare easily recherche little French dinners for six or eight. The recipes have been repeatedly used, and are praftical, inexpensive and as free from trouble as is compatible with the ordinary demands of good cooking. 53latn J^eetile^ott The objeft of this book is to show by examples and simple direftions the best way of executing all the most necessary details of what is usually termed " plain work." It is proftisely illustrated, showing all the various stitches, etc.