MENU XXXIII

[September.)

An^ille k la tortue froide.

Lapin braisS k la Borg'li^se.

Cr^me k rAntoinette.

Timbales k la Turque.

I. Skin, and fillet an eel of about a pound in weight, subdividing the fillets into two-inch lengths. Put the skin and bone, with twopenny- worth of white fish-cuttings, to make a ^o^'j^oj pint and a half of good fish broth, using tartare. weak meat or chicken broth for the moistening, three ounces each of onion, carrot, and turnip, and seasoning with sweet herbs, parsley, salt, and mignonette pepper. Skim the scum off carefully, boil up once, and after simmering three- quarters of an hour strain off the broth. Let it get cold, and skim the surface well ; now put it into a clean stewpan with a claret-glassful of chabhs, bring to the boil, and put the fillets into it ; after two minutes draw back and simmer slowly till they are tender, then take them out and lay them on a dish under a weight. Proceed now to reduce to three gills, and then clarify the broth, adding to it half a teaspoonful of Liebig's extract, half an ounce of soaked gelatine, and the whites, slightly whisked, of two eggs. Stir round continually over a fast fire.

no FIFTY LUNCHES.

working with the whisk, until signs of boiling show themselves, then let the liquid barely simmer for ten minutes, after which it can be strained through a tamis. Pour it back and strain again. Now place a plain pint and a half charlotte-mould in a basin with ice round it, pour in about the eighth of an inch of the liquid to set a pattern, which should be arranged at the bottom of the mould — olives, gherkins, and hard- boiled eggs can be used for this purpose.. When set, begin to pack the mould by degreed, setting layer after layer of eel fillets with sliced hard-boiled egg here and there and little squares of anchovy cut from six fillets. When packed and set, let the mould remain in ice till required when serve surrounded with well- selected lettuce leaves and watercress, very cold tartare sauce accompanying, made like the sauce given for the crab No. i, Menu xxxii., but with a garnish added to it of minced chives, chervil, tar- ragon, and gherkin, a teaspoonful of each, except the tarragon, of which half a teaspoonful will be enough.

2. Truss a rabbit as for boiling after stuffing it with this stuffing : — Take the liver, heart, and kidneys of the rabbit, cut them up, and fry them (Jaire revenir) in an ounce of butter over a low fire with a table- spoonful each of minced Portugal onion b^^'^'d ~ / ^^^ carrot, and a quarter of a pound of Borghese. minced mushroonls. After five minutes' frying moisten with a sherry-glass of chablis or sauterne, and add half an ounce of glaze. Continue to cook slowly, and as soon as the meat is soft let it get cold, and then empty the contents of

HARE OR RABBIT STUFFING. iii

the sfl«/e-pan into a mortar, pounding and passing the whole through a wire sieve. The puree thus obtained, seasoned with salt and pepper, should be stirred into a bowl with the p"rf'"' usual three ounces of bread crumb, minced stuffing. or powdered herbs, zest of lemon, two ounces of butter, and two eggs. Before packing the rabbit with this, Une the inside with thin strips of cooked streaky bacon. Line the bottom of a stew- pan with an ounce of butter, and two ounces of uncooked bacon cut into dice ; set the pan on the fire, and melt the butter, lay the rabbit over it, and fry for about seven minutes, turning it to ensure even colouring, then take it out and put it on a dish while you put an ounce and a half of flour into the butter, stir for three minutes, and then moisten with five gills of broth ; bring to the boil, skim, and pass through a strainer. Rinse out the pan, put in the rabbit, moisten with the sauce, putting in with it a musUn bag containing a dessert-spoonful of herbs, four ounces of sliced onion, four of carrots, and two of celery. Simmer slowly now for three-quarters of an hour, then add twelve ounces of young turnips cut into neat shapes ; continue the simmering till the turnips are done, then lift the rabbit and place it on a hot dish, arrange the pieces of turnip neatly all round it, skimming and pouring the sauce over it through a strainer ; curls of bacon crisped in the oven may be laid at intervals round the turnip garnish.

3. Custardise two and a half gills of cold parboiled milk sweetened with two ounces of sugar, with four

112 FIFTY LUNCHES.

yolks of eggs, adding during the process half an ounce of soaked gelatine and lemon flavouring ; when

well mixed and smooth pass through a Cream a clean hair sieve into a bowl, whip, and

add a gill of whipped cream. Have a pint and a half mould on ice, arrange a pattern of preserved cherries, which have been marinaded in maraschino, at the bottom of it, set this, and continue setting layers of cherries with the cream till the mould is filled. Keep on ice till required, turn out, and then pour over it a gill and a half of syrup flavoured with a liqueur-glass of maraschino, and the juice of half a lemon, tinted pink with cochineal.

4. Line nine buttered darioles with cold parboiled spaghetti, arranging it with a trussing needle in a coil round the bottom, and in rings round fh"/"' A^/""^ the sides. Chop up rather finely four Titrque. ounccs of lobster, dilute this with a gill of savoury custard with which a tea- spoonful of curry powder and a tablespoonful of cream have been mixed ; fill the little moulds with this, and steam gently till set, turn them out, and serve with a sauce made as follows : — Melt half an ounce of butter in a stewpan, stir in a teaspoonful of minced shallot ; fiy till coloured, add a teaspoonful of curry powder and a large one of rice flour, fry five minutes more, and then moisten with a gill and a half of milk, put in salt and a teaspoonful of grated green ginger ; boil up, strain, add a dessert-spoonful of cream and the juice of half a lemon. The tim- bales and sauce will be very nice cold if preferred in that way.