Farinaceous Products

2280—GNOCHI AU GRATIN

Prepare a “pâte à choux” after recipe No. 2374, from the following ingredients:—one pint of milk, a pinch of salt, and a little nutmeg, four oz. of butter, two-thirds lb. of flour, and six eggs. When the paste is ready, combine with it four oz. of grated Parmesan. Divide this paste into portions the size of walnuts; drop them into boiling, salted water, and poach them.

As soon as the gnochi rise to the surface of the water, and seem resilient to the touch, drain them on a piece of linen.

Coat the bottom of a _gratin_-dish with Mornay sauce; set the gnochi upon the latter; cover them with the same sauce; sprinkle with grated cheese and melted butter, and set the _gratin_ to form in a moderate oven for from fifteen to twenty minutes.

2281—GNOCHI A LA ROMAINE

Scatter two-thirds lb. of semolina over a quart of boiling milk. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and cook gently for twenty minutes. Take the utensil off the fire; thicken the semolina with the yolks of two eggs, and spread it on a moistened tray, in a layer one-half in. thick.

When it is quite cold stamp it out with a round cutter, two in. in diameter. Set the gnochi in shallow, buttered timbales; sprinkle with grated Gruyère and Parmesan, and with a little melted butter, and set the _gratin_ to form.

2282—GNOCHI DE POMMES DE TERRE

Cook two lbs. of potatoes in the English way. Drain them as soon as they are cooked, and work the purée, while it is very hot, with one and one-half oz. of butter, two small eggs, two egg-yolks, one-third lb. of flour, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Divide up this preparation into portions the size of walnuts; roll them into balls; press upon them lightly with a fork to give them a criss-cross pattern, and poach them in boiling water.

Drain them on a piece of linen; dish them in layers, sprinkling some grated cheese between each layer; sprinkle some grated cheese over the top surface; bedew liberally with melted butter, and set the _gratin_ to form in a hot oven.

2283—NOQUES AU PARMESAN

Put into a previously-heated basin one-half lb. of _manied_ butter, and work the latter with salt, pepper, and nutmeg; adding to it, little by little, two eggs and two well-beaten egg-yolks, five oz. of flour, and the white of an egg, also beaten to a stiff froth.

Divide up the preparation into portions the size of hazel-nuts; drop these portions into a sautépan of boiling, salted water, and let them poach.

Drain the noques on a piece of linen; dish them in a timbale; sprinkle them copiously with grated cheese and with nut-brown butter.

2284—MACARONI

Under this head are included all tubular pastes from Spaghetti, the size of which is not larger than thick vermicelli, to canneloni, the bore of which is one-half in. in diameter.

All these pastes are cooked in boiling water, salted to the extent of one-third oz. per quart. Macaroni, like other pastes of a similar nature, should not be cooled.

The most one can do, if the cooking has to be stopped at a given moment, is to pour a little cold water into the saucepan and then to take it off the fire.

2285—MACARONI A L’ITALIENNE

Cook the macaroni in boiling water; completely drain it; put it into a sautépan, and toss it over the fire to dry.

Season it with salt, pepper and nutmeg; cohere it with five oz. of grated Gruyère and Parmesan, in equal quantities, and two oz. of butter, cut into small pieces, per lb. of macaroni. _Sauté_ the whole well to ensure the leason, and dish in a timbale.

2286—MACARONI AU GRATIN

Prepare the macaroni after No. 2285, adding to it a little Béchamel sauce; and set it on a buttered _gratin_-dish, besprinkled with grated cheese. Sprinkle the surface of the preparation with grated cheese and raspings, mixed, and with melted butter, and set the _gratin_ to form in a fierce oven.

2287—MACARONI AU JUS

Parboil the macaroni in salted water, keeping it somewhat firm: drain it, cut it into short lengths, and simmer it in beef braising-liquor, until the macaroni has almost entirely absorbed the latter.

Dish in a timbale, and sprinkle with a few tablespoonfuls of the same liquor.

2288—MACARONI A LA NANTUA

Having cooked, drained and dried the macaroni, cohere it with crayfish cream, and mix therewith twenty-four crayfishes’ tails per lb. of macaroni.

Dish in a timbale, and cover the macaroni with a _julienne_ of very black truffles.

2289—MACARONI A LA NAPOLITAINE

Prepare a beef estouffade with red wine and tomatoes; cook it for from ten to twelve hours, that it may be reduced to a purée.

Rub this estouffade through a sieve and put it aside.

Parboil some thick macaroni, keeping it somewhat firm; drain it; cut it into short lengths, and cohere it with butter.

Sprinkle the bottom of a timbale with grated cheese; cover with a layer of estouffade purée; spread a layer of macaroni upon the latter, and proceed in the same order until the timbale is full. Serve the preparation as it stands.

2290—MACARONI AUX TRUFFES BLANCHES

Prepare the macaroni as directed under No. 2285, and add to it six oz. of white Piedmont truffles (cut into thin shavings), per lb. of macaroni.

Leave the preparation covered for five minutes and dish in a timbale.

2291—NOODLES (Nouilles)

These are generally bought ready-made. If one wish to prepare them oneself, the constituents of the paste are:—one lb. of flour, one-half oz. of salt, three whole eggs, and five egg-yolks. Moisten as for an ordinary paste, roll it out twice on a board, and leave it to stand for one or two hours before cutting it up.

All macaroni recipes may be applied to noodles.

For “Nouilles à l’Alsacienne,” it is usual, when the preparation is ready in the timbale, to distribute over it a few raw noodles _sautéd_ in butter and kept very crisp.

Kache is not a vegetable; but since this preparation has appeared either as a constituent or an accompaniment of certain Russian dishes which occur in this work, I am obliged to refer to it.

2292—KACHE DE SEMOULE POUR COULIBIAC

Take some coarse, yellow semolina, and scatter it over three times its bulk of boiling consommé. Cook it gently for twenty-five minutes; drain it on a sieve; spread it on a tray, and place it in a moderate oven to dry. This done, rub it lightly through a coarse sieve with the view of separating the grains, and put it aside in the dry until wanted.

2293—KACHE DE SARRASIN POUR POTAGES

Moisten one lb. of _concassed_ buckwheat with enough tepid water to make a stiff paste; add the necessary salt, and put this paste in a large Charlotte-mould. Bake in a hot oven for two hours. Then remove the thick crust which has formed upon the preparation, and transfer what remains, by means of a spoon, to a basin. Mix therewith two oz. of butter while it is still hot.

Kache prepared in this way may be served in a special timbale. But it is more often spread in a thin layer on a buttered tray, and left to cool.

It is then cut into roundels one in. in diameter, and these are rolled in flour and coloured on both sides in very hot, clarified butter.

2294—POLENTA

In a quart of boiling water containing one-half oz. of salt, immerse two-thirds lb. of maize flour, stirring the while with a spoon, that the two may mix. Cook for twenty-five minutes; add two oz. of butter and two and one-half oz. of grated Parmesan. If the Polenta be prepared for a vegetable or a garnish, it is spread in a thin layer on a moistened tray. When cold, it is cut into roundels or lozenges, which are first browned in butter, dished, and then sprinkled with grated cheese and nut-brown butter.

2295—SOUFFLÉ PIÉMONTAIS

Boil one pint of milk with one-fifth oz. of salt; sprinkle on it two oz. of maize flour; mix well; cover, and cook in a mild oven for twenty-five minutes.

Then transfer the paste to another saucepan; work it with one and one-half oz. of butter and as much grated Parmesan; mix therewith one egg, two egg-yolks, and the whites of three eggs beaten to a stiff froth.

Dish in a buttered timbale; sprinkle with grated cheese, and cook like an ordinary _soufflé_.

2295a—SOUFFLÉ AU PARMESAN

Mix one lb. of flour and two and one-half pints of milk in a saucepan. Add a little salt, pepper and nutmeg, and set the preparation to boil, stirring it constantly the while.

As soon as the boil is reached, take the saucepan off the fire, and add one lb. of grated Parmesan, three oz. of butter, and ten egg-yolks. Rub the whole through tammy and then combine with it the whites of ten eggs whisked to a stiff froth.

Mould in a silver timbale, lined with a band of buttered paper, and bake in the oven for from twenty to twenty-five minutes.

2296—RAVIOLI

Whatever be their garnish, _ravioli_ are always prepared in the same way. The stuffings given below represent the most usual forms of garnish.

STUFFING A

Mix one-half lb. of finely-chopped, cooked chicken-meat; five oz. of cooked and crushed brains; three oz. of pressed white cheese; three oz. of chopped, pressed and _blanched_ spinach; three oz. of parboiled green borage; a pinch of green sweet basil; five oz. of grated Parmesan; two eggs; two egg-yolks; salt, pepper and nutmeg.

STUFFING B

Mix two-thirds lb. of well-cooked, cold and finely-chopped daube of beef; two-thirds lb. of parboiled, pressed, and chopped spinach; one oz. of chopped shallots; five oz. of a purée of cooked brain; two whole eggs, salt, pepper and nutmeg.

STUFFING C

Toss one-half lb. of chickens’ livers in butter; add to it two chopped shallots, a pinch of parsley, and a little crushed garlic. Finely pound the livers, and add successively one-half lb. of parboiled, cooled and fresh spinach; two anchovy fillets; three oz. of butter; three eggs, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and a pinch of sweet basil. Rub the whole through a sieve.

2297—THE PREPARATION OF RAVIOLI

They may be made in various shapes as follows:—

(1) Roll a piece of noodle paste to a thin layer and stamp it out with a grooved cutter, two and one-half in. in diameter. Moisten the edges of each roundel of paste; garnish the centre of each with a ball of one of the above stuffings, the size of a hazel-nut, and fold in slipper-form.

(2) Roll the paste into a rectangle of four-in. sides; garnish with stuffing, leaving a gap between the portions of the latter; moisten the edges of the paste, and close up by drawing these together. Finally stamp out with a grooved, crescent-shaped fancy-cutter.

(3) Prepare a square layer of paste; garnish it with lines consisting of portions of paste; leave a space of two in. between the lines. Moisten; cover with a second layer of paste, of the same dimensions as the first, and divide up, by means of the roulette, into squares of two-in. sides. Whatever be the shape of the _ravioli_, plunge them into a saucepan of slightly salted boiling water; poach them for from eight to ten minutes, and drain them.

Set them on a buttered _gratin_-dish, sprinkled with grated cheese; sprinkle them with good beef gravy; then again with grated cheese, and set the _gratin_ to form. Or, dish the _ravioli_ in layers, sprinkling each layer with grated cheese and gravy. Complete with some grated cheese, and set the _gratin_ to form in the usual way.

N.B.—The _ravioli_ may also be served, merely sprinkled with grated cheese and nut-brown butter.

CHAPTER XIX

2298—REMARKS UPON SAVOURIES

I have already expressed my opinion in regard to Savouries. I consider their use opposed to gastronomical principles, and that they have no _raison d’être_ on a good menu. But, not wishing to seem didactic, I shall give, hereafter, a few savoury recipes, selected from among those which are gastronomically the best, and which custom has sanctified.

I resolved to make these recipes appear after the Vegetables and before the Ices, because I deem that Dessert alone is admissible after the Entremets and Ices.

There is much in common between Hors-d’œuvres and Savouries. Many of the former, the recipes for which I have given, may appear as Savouries, once their seasoning has been intensified. Among the latter class may be quoted the various Tartlets (No. 387, &c.); the Barquettes (No. 314); Frivolities (No. 350); Éclairs à la Karoly (No. 344); Allumettes aux Anchois (No. 300); City Toasts (No. 320), &c.

2299—ALLUMETTES

Prepare a ribbon of puff-paste three inches wide by one-fifth inch thick, leaving the length to come as it will. Spread on it some very reduced Béchamel sauce, combined with two tablespoonfuls of grated Gruyère cheese per one-half pint, and season with cayenne. Sprinkle the surface with grated Parmesan; press the latter into the sauce by means of the flat of a knife; cut into rectangles one inch wide; set these on a slightly-moistened tray, and bake them in a moderate oven for twelve minutes.

2300—BEIGNETS SOUFFLÉS WITH CHEESE

Prepare some ordinary “pâte à choux” without sugar (No. 2375), and combine it, per lb., with five oz. of a _Brunoise_ of Gruyère.

Divide up this paste into portions the size of hazel-nut, and fry them in fat like other Beignets _soufflés_.

2301—BEURRECKS A LA TURQUE

Reduce the required amount of Béchamel sauce to a thick consistence; mix it with an equal quantity of Gruyère dice; season with cayenne, and spread the preparation on a dish to cool.

Then divide it up into portions the size of fine walnuts; shape these like cigars, wrap each portion in a very thin layer of noodle paste; treat them _à l’anglaise_, and fry them at the last moment in very hot fat.

2302—CHOUX AU FROMAGE

By means of a piping-bag, form some “choux,” a little larger than the Saint-Honoré ones, from ordinary paste (see No. 2375). _Gild_ them with beaten eggs; bake them in a moderate oven, and keep them dry. When cold, cut them at the top; garnish them with “_Fondue au fromage_” seasoned with cayenne, and complete with some Chantilly cream, combined with grated Parmesan; this should be laid on by means of a piping-bag, as in the case of “choux à la crème.”

2303—CAMEMBERT FRIT

Clear the cheese of its crust, and cut it into elongated lozenges. Sprinkle the latter with cayenne, treat them twice _à l’anglaise_, and fry them at the last moment in hot fat.

2304—CANAPES OR TOAST

These are nothing more than pieces of toast, _i.e._, slices of bread, trimmed according to fancy, grilled, buttered, and garnished in some way.

As the garnishes for toast are innumerable, I shall quote only a few typical examples.

_Canapés Garnished with Scrambled Eggs._—Set the scrambled eggs in domes upon the Canapés; sprinkle with grated Parmesan, and set to glaze quickly.

_Or_ arrange the scrambled eggs as above, and cover them with a lattice of anchovy fillets.

_Canapés de Haddock._—Cook the haddock; rub it through a sieve; add a little butter and Béchamel sauce to the resulting purée, and set the latter in domes on the toast.

_For Variety._—Sprinkle the purée with grated Parmesan, and set to glaze.

_Or_ garnish the purée with oysters poached in a little Worcestershire sauce.

_Or again_: cover the purée with a lattice of anchovy fillets.

_Canapés with Kippers or Bloaters._—Grill them and make a purée from them like the haddock.

_Canapés with Halved or Filleted Anchovies._—In the case of fillets, set them to form a grill upon the toast; if the anchovies be halved, lay them lengthwise on the toast.

_Canapés with Sardines in Oil._—Clear the fish of their skins and bones, and set the fillets on the canapés.

_Canapés with Grilled Sprats._—Proceed as for sardines.

_Canapés of Salmon._—Toast may be garnished with thin slices of smoked or fresh salmon, or with the latter prepared in a purée like the haddock.

_Various Canapés._—Once the pieces of toast or canapés are grilled and buttered, they may be garnished with chopped smoked tongue or ham, cohered with a little butter and mustard, with grilled slices of mushrooms or tomatoes, &c.

A few of the preparations have names, while others are only distinguished by the nature of their garnish.

2305—CANAPES A LA CADOGAN

Take oval and slightly hollowed pieces of toast, fried in butter and garnished with spinach prepared with butter. Lay two oysters on the spinach of each piece of toast; cover with Mornay sauce, and glaze quickly.

2306—CANAPES DES GOURMETS

Prepare some very thin pieces of toast; fry them in butter, and garnish them with a cheese _fondue_. Pair them off, and sandwich a piece of grilled bacon between each pair.

2307—CANAPES IVANHOE

Take some round, buttered pieces of toast, garnished with haddock purée, and set a very small, grilled mushroom on the purée of each piece of toast.

2308—CANAPES A L’ÉCOSSAISE

Take some round, buttered pieces of toast, garnished with haddock purée, and glazed.

N.B.—I see no use in extending this list any further; the above directions should suffice to show the variety to which these preparations lend themselves.

2309—CARCASSE DE VOLAILLE (Chicken Carcasses)

Take in preference the carcasses of fowls cooked without colouration.

After having trimmed them, coat them with mustard and cayenne, and grill them.

2310—CHAMPIGNONS SOUS CLOCHE

Trim the mushrooms; season them with salt and pepper, and garnish the hollow of each with a piece of Maître-d’hôtel butter, the size of a hazel-nut, and one-half coffeespoonful of cream.

Set a mushroom on each piece of toast, which should be two inches in diameter and fried in butter. Dish them on an egg-tray, and cover them with a special, small, glass bell, four inches in diameter and two inches high, the rim of which must rest on the bottom of a dish, the diameter of which should be such as to fit the bell.

Put the dishes on the side of the stove, and cook in moderate heat for about twenty-five minutes.

2311—CONDÉS AU FROMAGE

Prepare a ribbon from puff-paste trimmings, as in the case of No. 2299.

Spread thereon a thick layer of very reduced Béchamel sauce, flavoured with cayenne, and combined, when cold, with very small dice of Gruyère and Parmesan. Cut up and cook as for No. 2299.

2312—CRÈME FRITE AU FROMAGE

Mix together four oz. of flour, two and one-half oz. of rice cream, three eggs, and two egg-yolks. Dilute with one pint of milk; season with salt, cayenne, and nutmeg; boil, and cook for five minutes over an open fire, stirring incessantly the while.

Add four oz. of grated Gruyère; spread this preparation on a buttered tray; leave it to cool, and then cut it into elongated lozenges. Roll the latter in beaten egg and bread-crumbs mixed with grated cheese, and fry them at the last moment. Dish them on a napkin.

2313—CROQUETTES DE CAMEMBERT

Dilute two oz. of flour and two oz. of rice cream with one-third pint of milk.

Add one lb. of cleaned camembert, cut into dice, five oz. of butter, salt, cayenne, and nutmeg.

Cook the preparation, stirring it the while; cool it; spread it on a tray; mould it to the shape of small quoits; treat these twice _à l’anglaise_, and fry them.

2314—DELICES DE FOIE GRAS

Take some fresh, well-seasoned foie gras, studded with truffles, and covered with slices of bacon, and poach it in a basin with good aspic jelly flavoured with dry champagne or Rhine wine. Leave to cool for twenty-four hours; clear the jelly of grease, first by means of a spoon, and then with boiling water.

Serve the preparation as it stands, very cold, and accompany it with grilled, crisp, and very hot slices of bread-crumb.

2315—DIABLOTINS

These are very small, poached Gnochi, sprinkled with grated cheese, flavoured with a very little cayenne, and set for their _gratin_ to form at the last moment.

2316—FONDANTS AU CHESTER

Moisten one-half lb. of flour, an equal quantity of butter and grated cheese, a pinch of salt, and a very little cayenne, with a few tablespoonfuls of water.

Cut the paste into small galettes, two inches in diameter; _gild_ them with beaten eggs; streak them with a fork, and bake them in a moderate oven.

When cold, pair the _galettes_ off, and stick them together with a tablespoonful of fondant cream, prepared thus:—

Mix six egg-yolks with two-thirds pint of cream; season with salt and cayenne; leave to set on moderate fire, like an English custard, and, when the preparation is almost cold, finish it with five oz. of best butter and as much grated cheese.

2317—ANGES A CHEVAL

Wrap some fine oysters, each in a thin slice of bacon. Impale them on a skewer; season and grill them, and dish them on small pieces of toast.

Sprinkle with bread-crumbs and cayenne when about to serve.

2318—BROCHETTES D’HUÎTRES LUCIFER

Poach some fine native oysters in their own liquor; clear them of their beards; dry them, and dip them in thin mustard. Impale them, six at a time, on skewers, and treat them _à l’anglaise_.

Fry them at the last moment, and dish them on a napkin.

2319—OMELETTE A L’ÉCOSSAISE

Take some fresh herring milts; salt them; sprinkle them with cayenne and chopped chives, parsley, and chervil; wrap each in a thin slice of smoked salmon, and poach them gently in butter.

Set them aslant in the centre of an “omelette aux fines herbes”; cover them well with the latter, and roll it up.

2320—OMELETTE AUX FINES HERBES

See No. 502.

2321—GRILLED BONES

Take the trimmed bones of a roast sirloin, and let there be still some meat upon them. Sprinkle them with cayenne; coat them with mustard, and grill them.

2322—PAILLETTES AU PARMESAN

Prepare some puff-paste with two-thirds lb. of butter; roll it out ten times, dusting it and the table well the while with grated Parmesan and a little cayenne, that the paste may absorb as much as possible of these. Then roll it into square layers of four-inch sides and one-eighth inch thick; cut these up into ribbons one-eighth inch wide; set them on buttered trays; bake them in a very hot oven, and serve them on a napkin.

2323—PANNEQUETS A LA MOSCOVITE

Take some ordinary, unsugared Pannequets; cut them into rectangles three inches long by one and one-half inches wide. Coat them with caviare, flavoured with cayenne; roll them into cigarettes, and serve them on crystal hors-d’œuvre dishes.

2324—PUDDING DE FROMAGE AU PAIN

Set some thin slices of stale, buttered and cheese-sprinkled bread in a pie-dish. Having three-parts filled the dish with it, cover the slices with a preparation consisting of the yolks of four eggs mixed with one-quarter pint of broth—which quantities are suited to a pint dish.

Sprinkle copiously with grated cheese; bake in the oven, and glaze at the last moment.

2325—SARDINES A LA DIABLE

Take fresh sardines, if possible. Skin and bone them; coat them with mustard and cayenne; treat them _à l’anglaise_; fry them at the last moment, and dish them on small fried _croûtons_, the shape of sardines.

N.B.—Fresh anchovies and smelts may be prepared in the same way.

2326—SCOTCH WOODCOCK

Toast some large slices of bread, one-third inch thick, and cover them with a very thick English butter sauce, combined with plenty of capers and anchovy purée.

Sprinkle with grated Parmesan; glaze quickly at the salamander; speedily cut up into small rectangles, and serve very hot.

2327—TARTELETTES AGNÈS

Line some grooved tartlet moulds with good paste, and garnish them with a preparation of Quiche with cheese, flavoured with cayenne. Cook them at the last moment, and, on taking them out of the oven, set a roundel of poached marrow rolled in pale melted meat glaze and chopped parsley on each tartlet.

2328—TARTELETTES A L’ÉCOSSAISE

Take some tartlet crusts, baked without colouration, and garnish them at the last moment with a haddock purée, cohered with Béchamel sauce.

2329—TARTELETTES DE HADDOCK

Garnish some colourlessly-baked tartlet crusts with a _salpicon_ of poached haddock, mixed with curry sauce. Sprinkle the surface of each with fine raspings, and dish them on a napkin.

2330—TARTELETTES A LA FLORENTINE

Garnish some colourlessly-baked tartlet crusts with Soufflé with Parmesan, combined with grated truffles and crayfishes’ tails cut into dice, and strongly seasoned with mignonette.

Bake in the oven for about three minutes.

2331—TARTELETTES MARQUISE

Line some tartlets with good paste; garnish their bottom and sides with a thread of gnochis preparation, laid by means of a piping-bag fitted with an even pipe, the orifice of which should be equal in diameter to macaroni.

Fill up the tartlets with Mornay sauce flavoured with cayenne; sprinkle with grated cheese, and bake in a fierce oven.

2332—TARTELETTES A LA RAGLAN

Garnish the bottom of some colourlessly-baked tartlets with a smoked herring-milt purée. Cover the latter with haddock _soufflé_, shaped like a hive by means of a piping-bag fitted with a small, grooved pipe. Place in the oven for six minutes, and serve instantly.

2333—TARTELETTES A LA TOSCA

Garnish some tartlet crusts with crayfishes’ tails, prepared “à l’Américaine.” Cover with Soufflé with Parmesan, and place in the oven for three minutes.

2334—TARTELETTES A LA VENDOME

Line some tartlet moulds with good paste; prick the bottom of each, and garnish them with the following preparation.

For twelve tartlets:—One and one-half oz. of chopped shallots, heated in butter; three oz. of _sautéd_ and finely chopped _cèpes_; one and one-half oz. of raw marrow in dice; one small hard-boiled and chopped egg; one oz. of bread-crumbs, salt, cayenne, a few drops of lemon juice, and three tablespoonfuls of melted meat glaze. Set a large slice of marrow on each tartlet, and cook at the last moment.

2335—WELSH RABBIT

This may be prepared in two ways, but always on square or rectangular pieces of buttered toast, one-third inch thick.

1. The simplest way is to cover the pieces of toast with a thick layer of grated Gloucester or Chester cheese, to sprinkle them with cayenne, and then to place them in the oven for the cheese to melt and thereby glaze their surfaces.

2. The original method consists in melting the dice or slices of cheese in a few tablespoonfuls of pale ale and a little English mustard.

As soon as the cheese has melted, it is poured over the pieces of buttered toast, quickly smoothed with the flat of a knife, and sprinkled with cayenne. The pieces may be cut up if required.

2336—SANDWICHES

Sandwiches are prepared in two ways, according to their purposes.

They generally consist of two slices of buttered bread, with mustard spread upon them, covering a slice of ham or tongue, &c. Sandwiches are usually rectangular, and they should measure about three inches by one and one-half inches. The kind served at ball buffets are much smaller, and therefore it is best to cut the sandwiched product (whatever this be) into dice, and to mix it with an equal weight of butter containing mustard.

When sandwiches have to be kept, they should be placed under a slight weight to prevent the bread from drying. Sandwiches may also be made from thick, toasted slices of bread, cut laterally into two, and then garnished according to fancy.

_Names of common Sandwiches._

Ham Sandwich. Tongue Sandwich. Beef Sandwich. Pressed-beef Sandwich. Veal Sandwich. Chicken Sandwich. Foie-Gras Sandwich. Hard-boiled Egg Sandwich. Caviare Sandwich. Tomato Sandwich. Cucumber Sandwich. Watercress Sandwich. Mustard-and-cress Sandwich.

2337—BOOKMAKER SANDWICHES

In his book, “La Cuisine Anglaise,” Mr. Suzanne gives the following kind of sandwich, which deserves attention:—

This kind of sandwich, which is liked by racing people, is a most substantial affair, and it will be seen from the following recipe that a sandwich of the nature prescribed might, in an emergency, answer the purpose of a meal.

Take an English tin-loaf, and cut off its two end crusts, leaving on them about one-third inch of crumb. Butter these crusts. Meanwhile grill a thick steak, well seasoned with salt and pepper. When it is cooked, cool it; sprinkle it with grated horse-radish and mustard, and lay it between the two crusts. String the whole together as for a galantine, and wrap it in several sheets of blotting-paper. Then place the parcel under a letter-press, the screw of which should be gradually tightened, and leave the sandwich thus for one-half hour.

At the end of this time the insides of the slices of bread have, owing to the pressure, become saturated with meat juice, which is prevented from escaping by the covering of crust.

Remove the blotting-paper, and pack the sandwich in a box or in several sheets of white paper.

CHAPTER XX