ROUND THE TABLE

and truffles, prepared as in tlie above recipes, a few minced shallots, some parsley, and pepper and salt to taste. Fry secundum artem and serve hot.

Asparagus heads or young peas can be introduced into an omelet as they are introduced into scrambled eggs, or they may be dressed with a plain white sauce, and served round or inside the omelet, and so you will have

12. Omelette aux Pointes d’Asperges, and

13. Omelette au Pois.

By using kidneys on the same principle another form of omelet will be produced. The proceeding is this : Parboil some sheep’s kidneys — a process, by the way, which should always precede the dressing of that article of diet in any form whatsoever. Cut them up in mode- rate-sized pieces, and toss them in a saucepan with a little butter. Add some pepper and salt to taste, some minced parsley, and, if you like, some minced truffles and mush- rooms. Then incorporate in a saucepan a small quantity of flour with a piece of butter, add equal parts of white wine and stock in proportionate quantity to that of the kidneys, which you transfer into this second saucepan and toss on the fire until done, when you add to them a squeeze of lemon. Being served alone, kidneys so pre- pared constitute the well-known dish Rognons au Yen de Champagne. You may use champagne if you choose, but this is by no means necessary. If a proper quantity of this ragout of kidneys be served round an omelet, or some of it be inserted in the fold thereof you will have what is called an (14) Omelette aux Bognons.

Numerous other vareties of omelets may be produced by introducing into a plain omelet mixture pieces of anchovy, sardines, herrings, or preserved fish of various kinds, all being of course carefully cleaned, and — in the case of some — cooked by broiling or otherwise.

Omelets can also be compounded with prawns, shrimps or oysters, all of which should be parboiled and then dressed wdth a little white sauce, and the ragout thus prepared should be served either within or round the omelet. The following is my formula for preparing oysters either for the above purpose, or to put into small bread croustades :

Parboil a quantity of oysters in their own liquor, remove the beards, cut each oyster into four or six pieces. Melt a piece of butter in a saucepan, add to it a pinch of flour, the liquor of the oysters, a little cream, salt, pepper, nutmeg, the least bit of cayenne, and some finely minced parsley. Put in the oysters and toss them in this sauce just long enough to make them quite hot. Stir into them (off the fire) the yolk of an egg beaten up with the juice of half a lemon and strained. With the remains of fish — of salmon or trout especially, from the previous day’s dinner — a very neat omelet can be produced in the fashion following :

Beat up three fresh eggs with a quantity equal to an egg in bulk of the flesh of boiled salmon shredded fine with a fork, a pinch of minced parsley, pepper, salt, and half a dozen bits of butter the size of a pea. Cooked according to art this mixture will produce a noble omelet.

To conclude this matter of omelets I will give a modified formula of the celebrated Omelette au Thon, which graced the table of Brillat-Savarin’s cure. I say modified, because fresh tunny fish, which is occa- sionally procurable in Paris, is not, I believe, to be had in London.

Get some tunny fish preserved in oil, and mince half a slice of it very finely; do the same to a couple of fresh soft roes of carp previously parboiled ; rub a frying-pan with a piece of shallot; put into