SEMOLINA SOUP

_Ingredients._—5 oz. of semolina, 2 quarts of boiling stock. _Mode._—Drop the semolina into the boiling stock, and keep stirring, to prevent its burning. Simmer gently for half an hour, and serve. _Time._—½ an hour. _Average cost_, 10_d._ per quart, or 4_d._ _Sufficient_ for 8 persons. _Seasonable_ all the year.

SEPTEMBER—BILLS OF FARE.

Dinner for 18 Persons.

_First Course._

Julienne Soup, removed by Brill & Shrimp Sauce.

Red Mullet & Italian Sauce. Vase of Fried Eels. Flowers.

Giblet Soup, removed by Salmon and Lobster Sauce.

_Entrées._

Lamb Cutlets and French Beans.

Fillets of Chicken Vase of Oysters au Gratin. and Truffles. Flowers.

Sweetbreads and Tomato Sauce.

_Second Course._

Saddle of Mutton.

Veal-and-Ham Pie.

Chickens à la Béchamel. Vase of Braised Goose. Flowers.

Broiled Ham, garnished with Cauliflowers.

Fillet of Veal.

_Third Course._

Partridges, Custards. removed by Apple Tart. Plum-pudding.

Compôte of Greengages.

Noyeau Jelly. Vase of Lemon Cream. Flowers.

Pastry Sandwiches.

Plum Tart. Grouse & Bread Sauce, Custards. removed by Nesselrode Pudding.

Dessert and Ices.

Dinner for 12 persons.

_First Course._—Mock-turtle soup; soup à la Jardinière; salmon and lobster sauce; fried whitings; stewed eels. _Entrées._—Veal cutlets; scalloped oysters; curried fowl; grilled mushrooms. _Second Course._—Haunch of mutton; boiled calf’s head à la Béchamel; braised ham; roast fowls aux Cressons. _Third Course._—Leveret; grouse; cabinet pudding, iced pudding; compôte of plums; damson tart; cream; fruit jelly; prawns; lobster salad. Dessert and ices.

Dinner for 8 persons.

_First Course._—Flemish soup; turbot, garnished with fried smelts; red mullet and Italian sauce. _Entrées._—Tendrons de veau and truffles; lamb cutlets and sauce piquante. _Second Course._—Loin of veal à la Béchamel; roast haunch of venison; braised ham; grouse pie; vegetables. _Third Course._—Roast hare; plum tart; whipped cream; punch jelly; compôte of damsons; marrow pudding; dessert.

Dinner for 6 persons.

_First Course._—Game soup; crimped skate; slices of salmon à la genévése. _Entrées._—-Fricasseed sweetbreads; savoury rissoles. _Second Course._—Sirloin of beef and horseradish sauce; boiled leg of mutton and caper sauce; vegetables. _Third Course._—Roast partridges; charlotte Russe; apricots and rice; fruit jelly; cabinet pudding; dessert.

* * * * *

_First Course._—Thick gravy soup; fillets of turbot à la crême; stewed eels. _Entrées._—Vol-au-vent of lobster; salmi of grouse. _Second Course._—Haunch of venison; rump of beef à la Jardinière; hare, boned and larded, with mushrooms. _Third Course._—Roast grouse; apricot blancmange; compôte of peaches; plum-tart; custards; plum-pudding; dessert.

SEPTEMBER, Plain Family Dinners for.

_Sunday._—1. Julienne soup. 2. Roast ribs of beef, Yorkshire pudding, horseradish sauce, French beans, and potatoes. 3. Greengage pudding, vanilla cream.

_Monday._—1. Crimped skate and crab sauce. 2. Cold beef and salad, small veal-and-ham pie. 3. Vegetable marrow and white sauce.

_Tuesday._—1. Fried soles, melted butter. 2. Bowled fowls, parsley-and-butter; bacon-cheek, garnished with French beans; beef rissoles, made from remains of cold beef. 3. Plum tart and cream.

_Wednesday._—1. Boiled round of beef, carrots, turnips, and suet dumplings; marrow on toast. 2. Baked damsons and rice.

_Thursday._—1. Vegetable soup, made from liquor that beef was boiled in. 2. Lamb cutlets and cucumbers, cold beef and salad. 3. Apple pudding.

_Friday._—1. Baked soles. 2. Bubble-and-squeak, made from cold beef; veal cutlets and rolled bacon. 3. Damson tart.

_Saturday._—1. Irish stew, rump-steaks and oyster-sauce. 2. Somersetshire dumplings.

* * * * *

_Sunday._—1. Fried filleted soles and anchovy sauce. 2. Roast leg of mutton, brown onion sauce, French beans, and potatoes; half calf’s head, tongue, and brains. 3. Plum-tart; custards, in glasses.

_Monday._—1. Vegetable-marrow soup. 2. Calf’s head à la maître d’hôtel, from remains of cold head; boiled brisket of beef and vegetables. 3. Stewed fruit and baked rice pudding.

_Tuesday._—1. Roast fowls and water-cresses; boiled bacon, garnished with tufts of cauliflower; hashed mutton, from remains of mutton of Sunday. 2. Baked plum-pudding.

_Wednesday._—1. Boiled knuckle of veal and rice, turnips, potatoes; small ham, garnished with French beans. 2. Baked apple pudding.

_Thursday._—1. Brill and shrimp sauce. 2. Roast hare, gravy, and red-currant jelly; mutton cutlets and mashed potatoes. 3. Scalloped oysters, instead of pudding.

_Friday._—1. Small roast loin of mutton; the remains of hare, jugged; vegetable marrow and potatoes. 2. Damson pudding.

_Saturday._—1. Rump-steaks, broiled, and oyster-sauce, mashed potatoes; veal-and-ham pie,—the ham may be cut from that boiled on Wednesday, if not all eaten cold for breakfast. 2. Lemon pudding.

SEPTEMBER, Things in Season.

_Fish._—Brill, carp, cod, eels, flounders, lobsters, mullet, oysters, plaice, prawns, skate, soles, turbot, whiting, whitebait.

_Meat._—Beef, lamb, mutton, pork, veal.

_Poultry._—Chickens, ducks, fowls, geese, larks, pigeons, pullets, rabbits, teal, turkeys.

_Game._—Black-cock, buck venison, grouse, hares, partridges, pheasants.

_Vegetables._—Artichokes, asparagus, beans, cabbage sprouts, carrots, celery, lettuces, mushrooms, onions, pease, potatoes, salads, sea-kale, sprouts, tomatoes, turnips, vegetable marrows,—various herbs.

_Fruit._—Bullaces, damsons, figs, filberts, grapes, melons, morella cherries, mulberries, nectarines, peaches, pears, plums, quinces, walnuts.

SHAD, to Dress.

_Ingredients._—1 shad, oil, pepper, and salt. _Mode._—Scale, empty and wash the fish carefully, and make two or three incisions across the back. Season it with pepper and salt, and let it remain in oil for ½ hour. Broil it on both sides over a clear fire, and serve with caper sauce. This fish is much esteemed by the French, and by them is considered excellent. _Time._—Nearly 1 hour. _Average cost._—Seldom bought. _Seasonable_ from April to June.

SHEEP’S BRAINS, en Matelote (an Entrée).

_Ingredients._—6 sheep’s brains, vinegar, salt, a few slices of bacon, 1 small onion, 2 cloves, a small bunch of parsley, sufficient stock or weak broth to cover the brains, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice, matelote sauce. _Mode._—Detach the brains from the head without breaking them, and put them into a pan of warm water; remove the skin, and let them remain for two hours. Have ready a saucepan of boiling water, add a little vinegar and salt, and put in the brains. When they are quite firm, take them out and put them into very cold water. Place 2 or 3 slices of bacon in a stewpan, put in the brains, the onion stuck with 2 cloves, the parsley, and a good seasoning of pepper and salt; cover with stock, or weak broth, and boil them gently for about 25 minutes. Have ready some croûtons; arrange these in the dish alternately with the brains, and cover with a matelote sauce, to which has been added the above proportion of lemon-juice. _Time._—25 minutes. _Average cost_, 1_s._ 6_d._ _Sufficient_ for 6 persons. _Seasonable_ at any time.

SHEEP’S FEET or TROTTERS (Soyer’s Recipe).

_Ingredients._—12 feet, ¼ lb. of beef or mutton suet, 2 onions, 1 carrot, 2 bay-leaves, 2 sprigs of thyme, 1 oz. of salt, ¼ oz. of pepper, 2 tablespoonfuls of flour, 2½ quarts of water, ¼ lb. of fresh butter, 1 teaspoonful of salt, 1 teaspoonful of flour, ¼ teaspoonful of pepper, a little grated nutmeg, the juice of 1 lemon, 1 gill of milk, the yolks of 2 eggs. _Mode._—Have the feet cleaned, and the long bone extracted from them. Put the suet into a stewpan, with the onions and carrot sliced, the bay-leaves, thyme, salt, and pepper, and let these simmer for 5 minutes. Add 2 tablespoonfuls of flour and the water, and keep stirring till it boils; then put in the feet. Let these simmer for 3 hours, or until perfectly tender, and take them and lay them on a sieve. Mix together, on a plate, with the back of a spoon, butter, salt, flour (1 teaspoonful), pepper, nutmeg, and lemon-juice as above, and put the feet, with a gill of milk, into a stewpan. When very hot, add the butter, &c., and stir continually till melted. Now mix the yolks of 2 eggs with 5 tablespoonfuls of milk; stir this to the other ingredients, keep moving the pan over the fire continually for a minute or two, but do not allow it to boil after the eggs are added. Serve in a very hot dish, and garnish with croûtons, or sippets of toasted bread. _Time._—3 hours. _Average cost_, 1_s._ 6_d._ _Sufficient_ for 4 persons. _Seasonable_ at any time.

SHEEP’S HEAD.

_Ingredients._—1 sheep’s head, sufficient water to cover it, 3 carrots, 3 turnips, 2 or 3 parsnips, 3 onions, a small bunch of parsley, 1 teaspoonful of pepper, 3 teaspoonfuls of salt, ¼ lb. of Scotch oatmeal. _Mode._—Clean the head well, and let it soak in warm water for 2 hours, to get rid of the blood; put it into a saucepan, with sufficient cold water to cover it, and when it boils, add the vegetables, peeled and sliced, and the remaining ingredients; before adding the oatmeal, mix it to a smooth batter with a little of the liquor. Keep stirring till it boils up; then shut the saucepan closely, and let it stew gently for 1½ or 2 hours. It may be thickened with rice or barley, but oatmeal is preferable. _Time._—1½ to 2 hours. _Average cost_, 8_d._ each. _Sufficient_ for 3 persons. _Seasonable_ at any time.

SHORTBREAD, Scotch.

_Ingredients._—2 lbs. of flour, 1 lb. of butter, ¼ lb. of pounded loaf sugar, ½ oz. of caraway seeds, 1 oz. of sweet almonds, a few strips of candied orange-peel. _Mode._—Beat the butter to a cream, gradually dredge in the flour, and add the sugar, caraway seeds, and sweet almonds, which should be blanched and cut into small pieces. Work the paste until it is quite smooth, and divide it into six pieces. Put each cake on a separate piece of paper, roll the paste out square to the thickness of about an inch, and pinch it upon all sides. Prick it well, and ornament with one or two strips of candied orange-peel. Put the cakes into a good oven, and bake them from 25 to 30 minutes. _Time._—25 to 30 minutes. _Average cost_, for this quantity, 2_s._ _Sufficient_ to make 6 cakes. _Seasonable_ at any time.

_Note._—Where the flavour of the caraway seeds is disliked, omit them, and add rather a larger proportion of candied peel.

SHRIMP SAUCE, for Various Kinds of Fish.

_Ingredients._—1/3 pint of melted butter, ¼ pint of picked shrimps, cayenne to taste. _Mode._—Make the melted butter very smoothly, shell the shrimps (sufficient to make ¼ pint when picked), and put them into the butter; season with cayenne, and let the sauce just simmer, but do not allow it to boil. When liked, a teaspoonful of anchovy sauce may be added. _Time._—1 minute to simmer. _Average cost_, 6_d._ _Sufficient_ for 3 or 4 persons.

SHRIMPS OR PRAWNS, to Boil.

_Ingredients._—¼ lb. salt to each gallon of water. _Mode._—Prawns should be very red, and have no spawn under the tail; much depends on their freshness and the way in which they are cooked. Throw them into boiling water, salted as above, and keep them boiling for about 7 or 8 minutes. Shrimps should be done in the same way; but less time must be allowed. It may easily be known when they are done by their changing colour. Care should be taken that they are not over-boiled, as they then become tasteless and indigestible. _Time._—Prawns, about 8 minutes; shrimps, about 5 minutes. _Average cost_, prawns, 2_s._ per lb.; shrimps, 6_d._ per pint. _Seasonable_ all the year.

SHRIMPS OR PRAWNS, Buttered.

_Ingredients._—1 pint of picked prawns or shrimps, ¾ pint of stock, thickening of butter and flour; salt, cayenne, and nutmeg to taste. _Mode._—Pick the prawns or shrimps, and put them in a stewpan with the stock; add a thickening of butter and flour; season, and simmer gently for 3 minutes. Serve on a dish garnished with fried bread or toasted sippets. Cream sauce may be substituted for the gravy. _Time._—3 minutes. _Average cost_ for this quantity, 1_s._ 4_d._

SHRIMPS, Potted.

_Ingredients._—1 pint of shelled shrimps, ¼ lb. of fresh butter, 1 blade of pounded mace, cayenne to taste; when liked, a little nutmeg. _Mode._—Have ready a pint of picked shrimps, and put them, with the other ingredients, into a stewpan; let them heat gradually in the butter, but do not let it boil. Pour into small pots, and when cold, cover with melted butter, and carefully exclude the air. _Time._—¼ hour to soak in the butter. _Average cost_ for this quantity, 1_s._ 3_d._

SKATE, to choose.

This fish should be chosen for its firmness, breadth, and thickness, and should have a creamy appearance. When crimped, it should not be kept longer than a day or two, as all kinds of crimped fish soon become sour. Thornback is often substituted for skate, but is very inferior in quality to the true skate.

SKATE, Boiled.

_Ingredients._—¼ lb. of salt to each gallon of water. _Mode._—Cleanse and skin the skate, lay it in a fish-kettle, with sufficient water to cover it, salted in the above proportion. Let it simmer very gently till done; then dish it on a hot napkin, and serve with shrimp, lobster, or caper sauce. _Time._—According to size, from ½ to 1 hour. _Average cost_, 4_d._ per lb. _Seasonable_ from August to April.

SKATE, Crimped.

_Ingredients._—½ lb. of salt to each gallon of water. _Mode._—Clean, skin, and cut the fish into slices, which roll and tie round with string. Have ready some water highly salted, put in the fish, and boil till it is done. Drain well, remove the string, dish on a hot napkin, and serve with the same sauces as above. Skate should never be eaten out of season, as it is liable to produce diarrhœa and other diseases. It may be dished without a napkin, and the sauce poured over. _Time._—About 20 minutes. _Average cost_, 4_d._ per lb. _Seasonable_ from August to April.

SKATE, With Caper Sauce (à la Française).

_Ingredients._—2 or 3 slices of skate, ½ pint of vinegar, 2 oz. of salt, ½ teaspoonful of pepper, 1 sliced onion, a small bunch of parsley, 2 bay-leaves, 2 or 3 sprigs of thyme, sufficient water to cover the fish. _Mode._—Put in a fish-kettle all the above ingredients, and simmer the skate in them till tender. When it is done, skin it neatly, and pour over it some of the liquor in which it has been boiling. Drain it, put it on a hot dish, pour over it caper sauce, and send some of the latter to table in a tureen. _Time._—½ hour. _Average cost_, 4_d._ per lb. _Seasonable_ from August to April.

_Note._—Skate may also be served with onion sauce, or parsley and butter.

SKATE, Small, Fried.

_Ingredients._—Skate, sufficient vinegar to cover them, salt and pepper to taste, 1 sliced onion, a small bunch of parsley, the juice of ½ lemon, hot dripping. _Mode._—Cleanse the skate, lay them in a dish, with sufficient vinegar to cover them; add the salt, pepper, onion, parsley, and lemon-juice, and let the fish remain in this pickle for ½ hour. Then drain them well, flour them, and fry of a nice brown, in hot dripping. They may be served either with or without sauce. Skate is not good if dressed too fresh, unless it is crimped; it should, therefore, be kept for a day, but not long enough to produce a disagreeable smell. _Time._—10 minutes. _Average cost_, 4_d._ per lb. _Seasonable_ from August to April.

When good, this fish is of a fine silvery appearance, and when alive, their backs are of a dark brown shade, which, after death, fades to a light fawn. They ought to have a refreshing fragrance, resembling that of a cucumber.

SMELTS, to Bake.

_Ingredients._—12 smelts, bread-crumbs, ¼ lb. of fresh butter, 2 blades of pounded mace; salt and cayenne to taste. _Mode._—Wash, and dry the fish thoroughly in a cloth, and arrange them nicely in a flat baking-dish. Cover them with fine bread-crumbs, and place little pieces of butter all over them. Season and bake for 15 minutes. Just before serving, add a squeeze of lemon-juice, and garnish with fried parsley and cut lemon. _Time._—¼ hour. _Average cost_, 2_s._ per dozen. _Seasonable_ from October to May. _Sufficient_ for 6 persons.

SMELTS, to Fry.

_Ingredients._—Egg and bread-crumbs, a little flour; boiling lard. _Mode._—Smelts should be very fresh, and not washed more than is necessary to clean them. Dry them in a cloth, lightly flour, dip them in egg, and sprinkle over with very fine bread-crumbs, and put them into boiling lard. Fry of a nice pale brown, and be careful not to take off the light roughness of the crumbs, or their beauty will be spoiled. Dry them before the fire on a drainer, and serve with plain melted butter. This fish is often used as a garnishing. _Time._—5 minutes. _Average cost_, 2_s._ per dozen. _Seasonable_ from October to May.

SNIPES, to Dress.

_Ingredients._—Snipes, butter, flour, toast. _Mode._—These, like woodcocks, should be dressed without being drawn. Pluck, and wipe them outside, and truss them with the head under the wing, having previously skinned that and the neck. Twist the legs at the first joint, press the feet upon the thighs, and pass a skewer through these and the body. Place four on a skewer, tie them on to the jack or spit, and roast before a clear fire for about ¼ hour. Put some pieces of buttered toast into the dripping-pan to catch the trails; flour and froth the birds nicely, dish the pieces of toast with the snipes on them, and pour round, but not over them, a little good brown gravy. They should be sent to table very hot and expeditiously, or they will not be worth eating. _Time._—About ¼ hour. _Average cost_, 1_s._ 6_d._ to 2_s._ the brace. _Sufficient._—4 for a dish. _Seasonable_ from November to February.

_Note._—Ortolans are trussed and dressed in the same manner.

SNIPES, to Carve.

One of these small but delicious birds may be given, whole, to a gentleman; but, in helping a lady, it will be better to cut them quite through the centre, from 1 to 2, completely dividing them into equal and like portions, and put only one half on the plate.