Mushrooms (Champignons)
Cookery includes under this head only the white Parisian mushroom and the meadow mushroom, which is the kind so commonly used in England.
The other kinds are always identified by special and proper terms.
[2072—CHAMPIGNONS A LA CRÈME]
Proceed as described under No. [2069].
[2073—CHAMPIGNONS SAUTÉS[!-- TN: acute invisible --]
After having washed the mushrooms, dried, and [ciseled] them, and seasoned them with salt and pepper, toss them with butter in a frying-pan over a fierce fire. Sprinkle them with chopped parsley at the last moment, and dish them in a timbale.
[2074—CHAMPIGNONS GRILLÉS[!-- TN: acute invisible --]
Take some large Parisian or meadow mushrooms. Carefully peel them; season them; smear them with oil, by means of a brush, and grill them gently.
Set them on a round dish, and garnish their midst with well-softened, Maître-d’Hôtel butter.
[2075—CHAMPIGNONS FARCIS]
Select some fine, medium-sized mushrooms; suppress their stalks; wash them, and dry them well. Set them on a dish; season them; sprinkle them with a few drops of oil; put them in the oven for five minutes, and garnish their midst with Duxelles (No. [224]) shaped like a dome, and thickened or not with bread-crumbs.
Sprinkle the surface with fine raspings and a few drops of oil or melted butter, and set the [gratin] to form in a somewhat fierce oven.
[2076—FLAN GRILLÉ[!-- TN: acute invisible --] AUX CHAMPIGNONS]
Line a buttered flawn-mould with good lining paste (No. [2358]).
Garnish it with very fresh and barely opened English mushrooms, tossed in butter with a little chopped onion, cohered with cream, and cooled.
Moisten the edges of the flawn-mould, and deck it with criss-cross strips of short paste, as for a latticed apple-flawn.
[Gild] the lattice work; bake the flawn in a very hot oven, and serve it the moment it is withdrawn.
[635]
][2077—TARTELETTES GRILLÉES[!-- TN: acute invisible --] AUX CHAMPIGNONS]
These tartlets constitute an excellent and beautiful garnish, more particularly for Tournedos and Noisettes. Proceed exactly as for No. [2076], but use tartlet moulds the size of which is determined by the dimensions of the piece or preparation which they are to accompany.
[2078—TURNED AND GROOVED MUSHROOMS FOR GARNISHING]
Take some very fresh mushrooms; wash and drain them quickly.
Suppress their stalks flush with their heads; turn or groove the latter with the point of a small knife, and throw them, one by one, into a boiling liquor prepared as follows:—
For two lbs. of mushrooms, put one-sixth pint of water, one-third oz. of salt, two oz. of butter, and the juice of one and one-half lemons, in a saucepan. Boil; add the mushrooms, and cook for five minutes. Transfer to a bowl immediately, and cover with a piece of buttered paper.
[2079—PURÉE DE CHAMPIGNONS]
Clean, wash, and dry two lbs. of mushrooms. Quickly peel them, and rub them through a sieve. Put this purée of raw mushrooms into a sautépan with two-thirds pint of reduced Béchamel sauce, and one-sixth pint of cream. Season with salt, white pepper, and nutmeg; reduce over an open fire for a few minutes, and finish, away from the fire, with three oz. of best butter.
[2080—MORELS (Morilles)]
The Spring mushroom or Morel is the one most preferred by connoisseurs. There are two kinds of morels—the pale and the brown kind—both excellent, though some prefer the former to the latter, and vice versâ.
In spite of what connoisseurs may say regarding the error of washing morels, I advocate the operation, and urge the reader to effect it carefully, and without omitting to open out the alveolate parts, so as to wash away any sand particles that may be lodged therein.
The Cooking of Morels.—If they be small, leave them whole; if large, halve or quarter them. After having properly drained them, put them in a saucepan with two oz. of butter, the juice of a lemon, and a pinch of salt and another of pepper per lb. of morels. Boil, and then stew for ten or twelve minutes. Never forget that the vegetable juices produced by the morels should be reduced and added to their accompanying sauce.
[636]
][2081—MORILLES A LA CRÈME]
Proceed as for [Cèpes] and Mushrooms with Cream.
[2082—MORILLES FARCIES]
Select some large morels, and wash them well.
Suppress their stems; chop them up, and prepare them like a Duxelles (No. [223]).
Add to this Duxelles half of its bulk of very smooth sausage-meat.
Open the morels on one side; fill them with the prepared forcemeat, and set them on a buttered dish, opened side nethermost.
Sprinkle with fine raspings, and use plenty of melted butter; cook for twenty minutes in a moderate oven, and serve the dish as it stands.
[2083—MORILLES A LA POULETTE]
Cook them as described under No. [2080], and add them to a Poulette sauce (No. [101]), together with their cooking-liquor reduced.
Dish in a timbale, and sprinkle with a pinch of chopped parsley.
[2084—MORILLES SAUTÉES[!-- TN: acute invisible --]
After having thoroughly washed the morels, dry them well in a towel, and halve or quarter them according to their size.
Season them with salt and pepper, and [sauté] them with butter in an omelet-pan, over a sufficiently fierce fire, to avoid the exudation of their vegetable moisture. Dish them in a timbale; squeeze a few drops of lemon juice over them, and sprinkle them with chopped parsley.
[2085—TOURTE DE MORILLES]
Cook the morels as explained under No. [2080], and drain them well.
Reduce their cooking-liquor by a quarter, and add to it two tablespoonfuls of very thick cream and one oz. of butter per lb. of morels.
Heat this sauce without boiling it, toss the morels in it, and set them in a tourte crust, or merely in the centre of a crown of puff-paste, lying on a dish.
Morels prepared in this way may also be served in a Vol-au-vent crust (No. [2390]).
[2086—MOUSSERONS, ORONGES, GIROLES]
These varieties of esculent fungi are not much liked in England.
[637]
]The best way to prepare them is to toss them quickly in butter.
[2087—BRIONNE (Chow-chow)]
This excellent vegetable, which has only become known quite recently, is beginning to be appreciated by connoisseurs. It is in season from the end of October to the end of March—that is to say, at a time when cucumbers and vegetable marrows are over. It greatly resembles these last-named vegetables, and is prepared like them, while the recipes given for cardoons may also be applied to it.
[2088—CHICORY, ENDIVE AND BELGIAN CHICORY (Chicorée Frisée, Escarole, Endive)]
Three kinds of chicory are used for cooking, viz:—
1. Curled chicory, improperly termed “Endive” in England.
2. Flemish chicory, which is genuine endive in its primitive state, i.e., grown in the open air. It greatly resembles [Escarole].
3. Brussels chicory, or the Belgian kind; obtained from cultivating the root of Flemish chicory in the dark.
This last kind is quite different from the first two, both with regard to its quality and its culinary treatment, and it will be dealt with later under the name of “Endive.”
[2089—CHICORÉE A LA CRÈME[!-- TN: original reads "CRÉME" --]
Parboil the chicory for ten minutes in plenty of boiling water. Cool it; press the water out of it, and chop it up.
Cohere it with four and one-half oz. of pale roux per two lbs. of chicory; moisten with one quart of consommé; season with salt and a pinch of powdered sugar, and braise in the oven, under cover, for one and one-half hours.
Upon withdrawing it from the oven, transfer it to another saucepan; add three-fifths pint of cream and two oz. of butter, and dish in a timbale.
[2090—PAIN DE CHICORÉE]
Braise the chicory as described above.
Upon withdrawing it from the oven, mix with it (per lb.) five stiffly-beaten eggs; put it into an even, buttered mould, and set to poach in a [bain-marie].
Before unmoulding the “loaf,” let it rest awhile, that the middle may settle. Turn out just before serving, and cover with a cream sauce.
[2091—PURÉE DE CHICORÉE]
Braise the chicory, and rub it through a sieve. Mix it with one-third of its bulk of smooth mashed potatoes with cream; heat; add butter away from the fire, and dish in a timbale.
[638]
][2092—SOUFFLÉ DE CHICORÉE[!-- TN: acute invisible --]
Braise about one-half lb. of chicory, keeping it somewhat stiff, and rub it through a sieve. Add to it the yolks of three eggs, also two oz. of grated Parmesan and the whites of three eggs, beaten to a stiff froth.
Dish in a buttered timbale; sprinkle with grated Parmesan, and cook after the manner of an ordinary [soufflé].
N.B.—This [soufflé] of chicory may also be cooked in small cases, and it makes an excellent garnish for large pieces of veal or ham.
[2093—CHICORÉE A LA FLAMANDE]
Cut the chicory into two-inch lengths; parboil it; cool it, and then proceed for the rest of the operation as described under No. [2089]—the only difference being that it is not chopped.
[2094—ENDIVES OR BRUSSELS CHICORY]
Whatever be the purpose for which they are intended, endives should always be cooked preparatively as follows:—
After having washed and cleaned them, put them in a well-tinned saucepan containing (per three lbs. of endives) a liquor prepared from the juice of a lemon, a pinch of salt, one oz. of butter, and one-fifth pint of water. Cover the saucepan; boil quickly, and complete the cooking on the side of the fire for from thirty to thirty-five minutes.
Endives may thus be served plain, and constitute a very favourite vegetable or garnish. They may accompany all Relevés of butcher’s meat.
Some cardoon recipes may also be applied to them, more particularly à la Mornay, à la Crème, and à la Milanaise—all of which suit them admirably.
[2095—CABBAGES (Choux)]
From the culinary standpoint, cabbages may be divided into seven classes, as follows:—
1. White cabbages: used almost solely in the preparation of sauerkraut.
2. Red cabbages: used as a vegetable, as a hors-d’œuvre, or as a condiment.
3. Round-headed or Savoy cabbages: specially suited to braising and the English method of cooking.
4. Scotch kale and spring cabbages: always prepared in the English fashion.
5. Cauliflowers and broccoli: the flower of these is most [639] ]commonly used, but the leaves are cooked in the English way when they are tender.
6. Brussels sprouts.
7. Kohlrabi: the roots of these may be dished as turnips, and the leaves cooked in the English way, provided they be young and tender.
[2096—WHITE CABBAGES (Choux Blancs)]
In an extreme case, these cabbages may be braised like the green Savoys, but they are usually too firm, and they are therefore only used in the preparation of sauerkraut.
[2097—SAUERKRAUT (Choucroûte)]
If the sauerkraut be somewhat old, set it to soak in cold water for a few hours. It is best, however, to avoid this measure, if possible, and to use only fresh sauerkraut.
When about to cook it, drain it, if it has been soaked, and press all the water out of it. Then pull it to pieces in such a way as to leave no massed leaves; season it with salt and pepper, and put it into a braising-pan lined with slices of bacon. Add, for ten lbs. of sauerkraut, three quartered carrots, three medium-sized onions, each stuck with a clove, a large faggot, three oz. of juniper berries and one-half oz. of peppercorns contained in a canvas bag, six oz. of goose dripping or lard, and one lb. of [blanched] breast of bacon, the latter to be withdrawn after one hour’s cooking.
Moisten, just enough to cover, with white consommé; cover with slices of bacon; boil, and then cook in the oven for five hours with lid on.
To serve Sauerkraut.—Withdraw the vegetables, the faggot, and the juniper berries, and set the sauerkraut in a timbale, after having well drained it.
Surround it with thin slices of ham, rectangles of bacon, and some poached Frankfort or Strasburg sausages.