MENU III

(January ^

(Eufs brouill^s aux queues de crevettea.

Cdtelettes de mouton en chevreuU.

Compote de marrons au kirsch.

Olives farcies k la Boyale.

I. Half a pint of shrimps nicely picked will be enough -for this. The buttered eggs require great

care, being but rarely properly done, by Buttered English cooks. The preparation must be IfwimL! creamy, not over-cooked in solid lumps as

it so often is. The quantity of butter should be accurately weighed ; it should be of the best quality, and put in as by and by directed. Then, be it observed, the dish must not be kept waiting ; it should be served as quickly as a souffle. If cooked over a fast fire it will be lumpy — perhaps leathery ; if too much butter is used it will be greasy. The process must be conducted patiently, if the true con- sistency and smoothness are to be arrived at, in the following manner : — Break five large or six small eggs into a bowl with a saltspoonful of salt and a dust of pepper ; mix them well. Weigh three ounces of butter ; divide this into two equal portions, cutting one of them up into small pieces and putting the other into a stewpan over a low fire. Melt the latter and then pour in the egg mixture, whisk it without

COOKED MARINADE. 13

stopping till signs of thickening show themselves ; then take a wooden spoon, add the small pieces of butter one by one, and stir the contents of the sauce- pan about unceasingly until the mixture is evenly and lightly set. Now pass in the shrimps with a table- spoonful of cream ; stir together and serve in a legumiere or fireproof china dish, with sippets of nicely fried bread arranged round it.

2. Out of the best end of a neck of mutton trim

seven nice cutlets, flatten with a cutlet bat, and lard

with bacon in the manner explained for

the hare cutlets in Menu i. Then lav Mutton cut- ,, . ,, ,. , , lets roebuck

them m an earthenware dish, and covev fashion.

them with a cooked marinade, cold, made as follows : — Mince up finely three ounces of onion, three of carrot, half one of celery, one of parsley, and one of mixed herbs, or a tablespoonful of the dried ; butter a stewpan with an ^„arinadc. ounce and a half of butter or clarified beef dripping, melt it, and then lay over it the minced vegetables and herbs ; fry till coloured, and then moisten with two gills of warm water and two of vinegar (Maille's French) ; bring to the boil, keep that up for two minutes, add a gill of claret, half an ounce of salt and a quarter of pepper, strain, and keep it in a basin till cold, then take off the fat, and use. This should be done, of course, the day before, and the cutlets should remain in the marinade all night. When to be cooked, drain them from the liquid, wipe them with a di-y cloth, lay them in a deep- sided saiUe-pan, on a bed of vegetables as given for

14 FIFTY LUNCHES.

No. 2, Menu ii., just cover with boiling broth made from the mutton trimmings, and continue to cook them very gently till tender. Now take them out, trim them, brush them over with melted glaze, and keep them in the mouth of the oven. Take two gills of the broth in which they were cooked, add half its quantity of the marinade, stir this into a roux made with half an ounce of butter and half an ounce of flour, which should be ready in another stewpan, bring to the boil, skim carefully, strain, add a dessert-spoonful of chopped olives, and serve in a sauce-boat. Dress a circle of turned olives round the cutlets, which should be arranged in a line on a flat silver dish, and serve. French beans go well with these cutlets, and poinmes de terre sautSes.

3. Choose thirty nice chestnuts, take off their

brown skins, put them into warm water

Compote of over the fire for a minute or two, and when

cltcstittits

with kirsch. getting hot take them out and peel off their

red skins ; make a pint of weak syrup with

a pint of water, ten ounces of sugar, and the zest of

a lemon ; arrange the chestnuts on the surface of a

roomy saute-pan, pour in the syrup in quantity just

enough to cover, and simmer gently for twenty

minutes, then drain them, and arrange them in a

glass compote-dish ; strain the syrup into a clean pan,

add a sherry-glass of kirsch with the juice of half

a lemon, and boil it down till it slightly coats the

spoon ; cool, pour it over the chestnuts, and set the

dish in a cold place. Whipped cream, if liked, may

be laid on the surface to finish with. Care should.be

STUFFED OLIVES A LA ROYALE. 15

taken to keep the chestnuts whole ; slow cooking will assist this.

4. First make a custard a la Roy ale : — In a small bowl beat up three fresh eggs, add a gill of milk, two tablespoonfuls of cream and one of grated Parmesan with seasoning ; pour stuffed the mixture into buttered dariole-moulAs, Royale. steam gently till set, let them get cold, hollow out with a scoop a space in the centre of each, slip in an olive farcie, covering the opening with a little wad of the custard scooped out; turn out the moulds, arrange them in a circle, garnish with any nice small salading, and serve. Before using the olives farcies wipe them carefully to get rid of the oil in which they are preserved.

MENU . IV.

(January.)

Orlys de merluche.

Faisan au riz tomato.

Eclairs au caf6.

Cremes de fromage.

I. The first thing to be done in this case is to make the batter, for it must rest at least two hours before being used. Put three and a half ounces haddocl- '~'^ Vienna flour into a bowl, rnake a hollow in its centre, and break into it the yolks only of two eggs, add two tablespoonfuls of salad oil, and a saltspoonful of salt ; mix well, and then stir in by degrees enough lukewarm water to bring the batter to the consistency of thick cream, coating the spoon when lifted from it with a smooth film the eighth of an inch thick. Set the bowl aside now, covered with a cloth, in the ordinai-y warmish temperature of the kitchen. Db not put it into a cold larder. When to be used stir into it the white of one of the eggs whipped to a froth.

Prepare the fish next, having procured a nice haddock. First take off the flesh on both sides of the fish, and put the two fillets thus procured upon a wooden slab ; with a sharp knife divide these into smaller fillets about two inches long, half an inch thick, and an inch wide. Lay these out upon a joint

PHEASANT WITH RICE. 17

dish, sprinkle them with lemon-juice or good French vinegar, and dust them over with salt and pepper and powdered herbs. Next, with all the bones, head, and trimmings make two gills of broth for the sauce (No. I, Menu ii.), a sherry-glass of chablis or sauterne being used if possible in the decoction. Strain this when ready, thicken it, add a gill of tomato puree or a tablespoonful of conserve ; boil up, skim, reduce till of a nice consistency and pass through the hair sieve, finishing with a tablespoonful of cream. Serve this in a sauce-boat. As for the fillets, lift them from the marinade, lay them on a clean floured cloth, dry them thoroughly, finish the batter with the white of egg as already described, dip the fillets into the batter, and pass them one by one into a deep bath of boiling fat. As soon as a nice golden colour, take them out, lay them on a wire drainer over folded paper in front of the fire, and when drained and dry, sprinkle with salt, lay them on a hot napkin on a hot dish, and serve, the sauce accompanying.

.2. For this the pheasant must be ti-ussed for boil- ing, and it is worth noting that the process is appUcable to birds which are too old for roasting. Set a roomy stewpan on the with tomato- fire, large enough, that is to say, to hold flavoured the pheasant easily. Pour in enough cold " stock, or milk, or milk and water in half and half proportions to eventually cover the bird when it is put in. Bring the liquid to the boil, then plunge in the pheasant, keeping up the high temperature for five minutes, then add four ounces of onion, two of

i8 FIFTY LUNCHES.

carrot, one of celery, one of parsley, and a bouquet garni, with half an ounce of salt and a dozen pepper- corns. This addition will stop the boiling, after which ease the heat under the vessel to gentle simmering, and on no account permit this to be exceeded. The tenderness of the pheasant will entirely depend upon the slowness of the cooking. An hour and a half should effect this. Then strain off the broth, wrap the bird in a hot cloth and put it back into the hot empty pan, closely covered, to keep hot, while you turn a pint of the boilings to a sauce, thickening with an ounce of butter and one of flour, bringing it to the boil, and passing it through a hair sieve.

Boil separately, during the last half hour of sim- mering the pheasant, eight ounces of the best

Patna rice (see No. 2, Menu i.), and after Tomato- returning it to the pan as therein directed rlce°"'' stir in two ounces of fresh butter, and

half a pint of hot tomato puree; mix with a two-pronged fork, and finally shake in two ounces of grated Parmesan cheese. Now take a hot joint- dish, place the pheasant in the centre of it, mask it with as much of the sauce as is necessary, sending the remainder in a boat, and arrange the rice all round it. If liked, the bird can be cut up, the pieces being laid neatly on the dish, the masking poured over them, and the circle of rice round the whole.

3. Put two gills of water into a casserole or stew- pan over a low fire with a pinch of salt, half an

ECLAIRS WITH COFFEE. 19

ounce of sugar, and four ounces of butter ; as soon as the last is melted take the pan from the fire, and stir in by degrees eight ounces of flour. Mix well to get rid of lumps, replace the ^'^'""'^ "'^'^ pan on the fire, keeping it low, and work the paste vigorously until it leaves the side of the stewpan. Take it off the fire, let it get half cold, and then add three eggs one by one, working them well into the paste, and the zest of an orange or lemon. Now put the paste into a forcing-bag -v^rith a rather wide plain pipe, and squeeze it out in four and a half inch lengths upon a buttered baking-tin lined with buttered paper, glaze over with beaten egg and push the tin into a moderate oven ; watch them, and when nicely risen, take out the tin, pass the blade of a knife under the eclairs to detach them, lay them on a wire dirainer, and put them into the oven, now warm, with the door ajar to dry. Let them get cold, then open them gently on the sides, and squeeze in cream enough to fill their cavities, brush over all with thin apricot glaze, and mask the surfaces with cofEee icing made in this way : — Put a gill of syrup into a bowl, mix with half a gill of very strong coffee, then stir in by degrees glazing sugar sufficient to bring it to the consistency of thick mayonnaise. Use as directed. In laying on the glaze be careful to keep it smooth ; the blade of a palette-knife dipped in hot water will enable the cook to effect this.

4. Make half a pint of custard with three whole eggs, stir in half an ounce of soaked gelatine ; when

20 FIFTY LUNCHES.

dissolved, cool, and whip, adding two ounces of grated Parmesan and a gill of whipped cream with

one tablespoonful of chopped ham and Little cheese one of chopped cooked macaroni. Fill Milanaise. little darioles with the mixture, set them

on ice or in a cold place ; turn out when firm, and serve prettily dished with broken aspic and picked leaves of endive as garnish. Mayonnaise sauce may accompany.