MENU VI

(^February.)

Morue sal^e k la bonne feniine.

C6telettes de mouton k la Louise.

Charlotte pralin^e.

CrouBtadea a la Boh^mienne.

I. Salt cod can often be procured from the fish- monger very partially salted, and only requiring a short period of soaking. Ordinary salt cod should be steeped in tepid water for ^^^^ '^"^ « six hours, and in cold for six hours, the femme'f water in each case being changed four times. To dress after soaking, put the fish into cold water, and bring to the boil, simmer immediately for five minutes and it will be done. To serve (say two pounds) boil, drain, and mash two pounds of potatoes, moistening with two ounces of butter and a gill of the cod-boilings ; get the puree smooth and creamy by passing it through a wire sieve, finish with a tablespoonful of cream and two of grated Parmesan. This should not be nearly as stiff as mashed potatoes in the English way. With it make a bed upon a very hot dish, lay the cod upon it, and mask the whole with hard-boiled egg sauce, the moistening of which should be the fish-boilings. The dish is im- proved if one-third of the liquid used for cooking the cod be milk.

26 FIFTY LUNCHES.

2. Choose a nice neck of mutton, divide it into the neatest cutlets you can, trim them, give them a dust of pepper and salt, and place them en altUkwlth marinade during the night. For the garnish spinach you want one ounce of blanched onion, a fa'LoiUsc pound of spinach that has been picked, - " washed well, blanched for five minutes in boiling salted water, and drained of all moisture, one small cabbage lettuce, also blanched and drained, and two tablespoonfuls of butter. Take a quart stewpan, melt the butter at the bottom of it over a low fire ; put into it the onion very finely shredded, fry this gently till it turns a pale yellow, and then add half an ounce of flour, the whole of the spinach and the lettuce also finely cut up. Stir the vegetables about in the melted butter till 'they begin to change colour, and then moisten with a quarter of a pint of good broth ; stir this well, and put in a teaspoon- ful of powdered white sugar, three saltspoonfuls of salt, and a good dusting of black pepper. Add another gill of broth and let the vegetables simmer for about fifteen minutes, stirring them to prevent their catching at the bottom of the pan, till they assume the consistency of a thick puree, when they should be passed thi-ough a wire sieve. Add a tablespoonful of cream and they will be ready to accompany your cutlets. These should be drained from their mari- nade, wiped dry, dipped in melted butter, and grilled over a bright clear fire. Prepare a neat border of pounded rice", fill it with the puree burning hot, and arrange the cutlets round the outside of the circle, with bunches of watercress for garnish.

CHARLOTTE WITH BURNT ALMONDS. 27

3. Choose a round plain charlotte-mould, five inches in diameter. Buy one and a half dozen savoy biscuits. Make half a pound of Genoise paste, out of which (half an inch thick) cut a round C/tdr/oWc a little larger than the circumference of almonds. the mould. Make a glace royale (or cook's paste) with white of egg and icing sugar, and cut the savoys neatly so that their edges may be straight and clean. One of the rounded ends may be left to form a scalloped edge round the top. Ar- range these one by one round the inside of the mould rounded ends uppermost, sticking them together by brushing their edges with the sticking-paste. When the circle has thus been completed put the mould in the oven (a very moderate one), so that the case you have made may set firmly, and when this has been done turn it out. Next make five ounces of pra- line with three ounces of powdered sugar and two of blanched and chopped almonds ; i.e., melt the sugar over a low fire in a small saucepan, let it turn a nice brown colour, then slip in the almonds, stir well for a minute or two, stopping before the sugar turns too dark a tint, and then pour out the whole at once on to a cold slab. It will harden immediately. When cold, pound this in a mortar, sifting the fine powder and keeping some of the rougher pieces to use when finishing the case. This should be done as follows : Set the case upon the genoise slab, fixing the two together with the glace royale, and tie round the case, about an inch and a half below the top of it, a band of pink or pale-blue satin libbon, finishing it with a bow. Lastly, fill the hollow of the case with whipped

28 FIFTY LUNCHES.

cream, flavoured with the powdered praline, the rougher pieces being sprinkled over the top of it. For a little mould of this size half a pint of cream will suffice. Keep it very cold before whipping, and pass in the powdered praline at the same time.

4. For these you will require six open short paste

cases, which may be baked in oval or round patty-

, , pans. The paste should be made in this

Cvou^tctdGS

with salad way : — Put three ounces of flour upon a alaBohe- pastry-board, make a little well in the centre of it, into that put an ounce and a half of butter and the yolk of one egg ; mix, adding an ounce and a half of grated Parmesan cheese and half a gill of water to complete the paste. Roll this out as thin as possible, butter the patty-pans, line them with it, prick the hollows and fill them with raw rice, bake a pale brown ; cool, empty the cases thus made, and when cold turn them out of the pans. To finish, fill each case with an anchovy salad made in this manner : — Allow two fillets of anchovy for each case, remove the oil from these, and cut them into quarter-inch pieces. Take for each a tablespoonful and a half of finely cut and cooked macedoine of vege- tables (the French preserved is very good). See that this is dry, then sprinkle with tarragon vinegar, mix in the anchovy pieces, finish with just enough mayonnaise sauce to moisten nicely, and arrange the salad in a little pyramid in each case. Broken aspic may be arranged in the dish with the croustades.