PURÉES.
[56]. Purée of Sorrel. Proceed as for clear sorrel soup ([Art. 12]), except with the addition of four yolks of eggs, mixed in a little water, just before serving the soup and when it has entirely ceased boiling. Serve with it some square pieces of bread fried in butter.
[57]. Cream of Sorrel. Boil one quart of sorrel, drain it, put it in cold water, and press it through a sieve. Put it in a saucepan with not quite a quart of consommé (stock), and the same of cream; salt, pepper, and an ounce of butter. Boil for a few moments, and then remove the saucepan to the back of the range. When it has ceased boiling, take the yolks of four eggs, which mix in a little water; add to your soup, and serve.
[58]. Purée of Green Peas. Take a quart of green peas and put them in a saucepan with boiling water, adding some parsley and a little salt. Boil rapidly, until the peas are thoroughly done, then drain them and remove the parsley. Pound them, and press them through a sieve, and return them to the fire, in a saucepan, with a pint and a half of consommé and the same of cream. When boiling, add an ounce of butter, a little salt, a pinch of sugar, and serve with small squares of bread fried in butter.
[59]. Purée of Peas à la Princesse. Boil a chicken in a little more than three pints of consommé (stock, [Art. 1]). If an ordinary chicken, it will take forty minutes; if an old one, two hours. After it is done, let it become cold, and cut it in pieces to serve in your soup. Make the purée of peas like the preceding; add to it the consommé in which the chicken was cooked, and serve with small squares of bread fried in butter.
[60]. Split-Pea Soup. Take a pint of split peas, which, having washed well, place in a saucepan with an onion, a clove, half an ounce of ham, and two quarts of cold water. Boil until the peas are very soft, press them through a sieve, put them again on the fire, with the addition of an ounce of butter, three pints of consommé (stock, [Art. 1]), and serve with some small pieces of bread fried in butter.
[61]. Purée of Lentils. Take a quart of lentils, wash them well, and put them in a saucepan with a slice of lean ham, the carcass of a partridge, a carrot, an onion, a few branches of parsley, a few pieces of celery, and add three pints of consommé (stock). Boil until the lentils are thoroughly cooked, drain, remove the ham, partridge, and parsley, press through a sieve, place on the fire again, adding one ounce of butter, boil for a moment, and serve with small squares of bread fried in butter.
[62]. Purée of White Beans. Take one pint of white beans, which wash well, and boil thoroughly in three pints of consommé (stock, [Art. 1]). When the beans are done, press them through a sieve, put them again on the fire, adding one ounce of butter, a pinch of sugar, boil for a moment, and serve with small squares of bread fried in butter. This soup can be varied by adding a plateful of string-beans boiled separately with a little salt and a very little soda, after which put in cold water for a moment, and then cut in diamonds. Chop a teaspoonful of parsley, and serve with the string-beans in your soup.
[63]. Purée of Asparagus. Take a bunch of asparagus, separate the heads from the stalks, wash them, and then boil them with a little salt and a very little soda, after which put them in cold water for a moment. Put into a saucepan one ounce of butter, two ounces of flour, a little salt, a pinch of sugar, and add the heads of asparagus, a pint and a half of cream, the same of consommé (stock, [Art. 1]). Stir all together until boiling, strain, put back on the fire for a few moments, and, adding an ounce of butter, serve.
[64]. Purée of Rice. Take half a pound of rice, which wash well in several waters, boil for a few moments, then put in cold water, drain, and place in a saucepan with one quart of consommé (stock), and boil for about an hour. Press through a sieve, and put back on the fire until it begins to boil, then add one pint of cream and an ounce of butter; serve.
[65]. Rice Soup à la Crécy. Take two very red carrots, a turnip, and an onion, which cut in slices, and a clove. Boil these in not quite a quart of consommé (stock, [Art. 1]) for about an hour. Press through a sieve. Then boil four ounces of rice, after which drain and put it in cold water for a moment; drain again, and boil for three quarters of an hour in nearly a quart of consommé. Add the purée of vegetables, and, when beginning to boil up again, add one ounce of butter, and serve.
[66]. Purée of Barley. Take half a pound of barley, which boil for about five minutes, then put in cold water. Drain, and add it to three pints of consommé (stock, [Art. 1]), boil about two hours, press through a sieve and put back on the fire until it begins to boil, adding one ounce of butter and two tablespoonfuls of green peas, previously boiled; serve.
[67]. Purée of Celery. Take a bunch of celery, and wash it well; cut it in pieces and place it in a saucepan with water, a little salt, and boil thoroughly, drain, and put it in cold water. In another saucepan put an ounce of butter (which melt), one ounce of flour, salt, pepper, and a very little nutmeg; mix all together, adding the celery, not quite a quart of consommé (stock), and the same of cream. Put it on the fire, taking care to stir until it boils, press through a sieve and again put it on the fire for a moment; serve.
[68]. Purée Soubise à la Princesse. Blanch six onions in boiling water, with a little salt, until they become soft. Drain and dry them in a napkin. Then put them in a saucepan with an ounce of butter, on a very gentle fire, so that they may only color slightly; add two ounces of flour, a little salt, pepper, and a very little nutmeg; moisten with a pint and a half of consommé (stock, [Art. 1]), and the same of cream. When beginning to boil, press through a sieve, heat again on the fire, adding half an ounce of butter, and serve.
[69]. Purée of Potatoes à la Jackson. Bake in the oven half a dozen potatoes. Take out the inside, which put in a saucepan with an ounce of butter. Mix thoroughly together with a spoon, and season with a little salt, pepper, a pinch of sugar, and a very little nutmeg. Moisten with a pint and a half of consommé (stock), press through a sieve, put back on the fire, and as soon as beginning to boil add a pint and a half of cream; heat without boiling, then add four yolks of eggs well mixed in a little water, and serve.
[70]. Purée of Jerusalem Artichokes. Clean a dozen Jerusalem artichokes, cut them in pieces, and put them in a saucepan with a little butter, salt, and a pinch of sugar. As soon as they begin to color slightly, add a pint and a half of consommé (stock, [Art. 1]), boil a little longer, and press through a sieve. Put back on the fire until beginning to boil, add an ounce of butter, a pint and a half of cream, and when very hot, without boiling, add the yolks of four eggs, which you have previously mixed well in a little water. You may serve with small squares of bread fried in butter if desired.
[71]. Purée of Fowl à la Reine. Clean a chicken, and put it in a saucepan with a quart of consommé (stock, [Art. 1]), a carrot, an onion, and a clove. Simmer very gently for three hours; take out the fowl, cut off the white meat, and pound very fine. Remove the grease carefully from your soup in which the fowl has been cooked, then add the pounded chicken, and put through a sieve. Heat it up again on the fire, add a pint and a half of cream, taking care that it does not boil, add very little nutmeg, pepper, salt, a very little sugar, an ounce of butter, and the yolks of four eggs, well mixed in a little water. Serve.
[72]. Purée of Partridge. Remove the shells of two dozen French chestnuts, which boil five minutes, remove the skins, and put the chestnuts in a saucepan with a little salt and water, and boil for about five minutes. Cut off all the meat from a cold partridge, which pound in a mortar, together with the chestnuts, and then press through a sieve. Boil the bones of your partridge for about half an hour in three pints of consommé (stock, [Art. 1]), adding a wineglass of sherry, strain, and add it to your chestnuts and partridge. Put in a saucepan two tablespoonfuls of flour, with an ounce of butter, a little pepper, and salt. Mix all well together, and add them to your purée, which should be very hot. When economy is no object, you may add two partridges instead of one, which will give a better flavor to your purée, to which, if you find too thick, you may add a little more consommé.
[73]. Purée of Rabbit. Remove the fillets from an uncooked rabbit, and place them in a saucepan on a moderate fire, with half an ounce of butter, and simmer very gently. In another saucepan put the remainder of the rabbit with an onion, a clove, and a little nutmeg, and three pints of consommé (stock, [Art. 1]). Simmer gently three quarters of an hour, remove the meat from the thighs and shoulders, pound it together with two ounces of rice well boiled, moisten with the consommé in which your rabbit was cooked, and put through a sieve. Cut your fillets of rabbit, which you cooked in butter, into small pieces, and serve in your soup.
[74]. Tomato Soup. Cut a carrot and an onion in slices, add a slice of raw ham and a clove, and put into a saucepan with half an ounce of butter. As soon as your vegetables begin to color slightly, mix well with them an ounce of flour, add a quart of tomatoes, and boil for thirty minutes. Strain, then season with salt and pepper, put again on the fire, add a pint of consommé (stock), and boil for five minutes, and add an ounce of butter. Remove the grease from your soup, and serve with small squares of bread fried in butter.
[75]. Purée of Vegetables aux Croûtons. Clean and cut in slices a medium-sized carrot, a turnip, an onion, a leek, some pieces of celery, and add two cloves. Boil them for a few moments, and afterward put them into cold water for a moment. Then place your vegetables in a saucepan, with four ounces of dried peas, moisten with three pints consommé (or stock, [Art. 1]), boil for two hours, season with a little pepper, salt, and a pinch of sugar. Press through a sieve, put again on the fire with an ounce of butter, and serve in your soup, with small squares of bread fried in butter.
[76]. Rice Soup au Lait d'Amandes. Wash in cold water four ounces of rice, which boil for ten minutes, afterward put it in cold water, drain, then place it in a saucepan with three pints of milk, and boil very gently for forty-five minutes. Take four ounces of bitter-almonds with one of sweet, blanch them and pound them well, adding by degrees, as you pound, a glass of cold milk. Put through a sieve, add a pinch of salt and about a coffee-spoonful of sugar, and then with the rice and milk boil for a moment, and serve.
[77]. Bisque of Crawfish. Wash four dozen crawfish and put them in sufficient water to cover them, cut a carrot, an onion, and three cloves of garlic in slices, add two cloves, a few branches of parsley, a little salt, and a tablespoonful of vinegar, and boil for fifteen minutes. Drain them, and then pound them to a paste. Melt one ounce of butter in a saucepan, add two ounces of flour, which mix well with the butter. Then add the paste of crawfish, not quite a quart of cream, the same of consommé (stock), three quarters of a cupful of tomatoes, salt and pepper, and a little cayenne. Boil, and stir with a spoon, press through a sieve, and put back on the fire, with one ounce of butter; as soon as it boils up again, serve.
[78]. Bisque of Lobster. Take half a pound of boiled lobster from which you have removed the shell, and proceed as for the foregoing, adding half instead of three quarters of a cupful of tomatoes.
[79]. Bisque of Clams. Boil fifty clams in their juice for about five minutes, drain them, chop them fine, then pound them. Put in a saucepan on the fire four ounces of butter, with two ounces of flour, add your clams with their juice, two pinches of salt, one of pepper, one of cayenne, and two and a half pints of milk, stir constantly, and, just before beginning to boil, remove from the fire, strain, heat again over the fire, and serve.
Bisque of oysters is prepared in the same manner.
CHAPTER II.
SAUCES.
[80]. Spanish Sauce. Melt two ounces of butter in a saucepan, to which add two ounces of flour, and put on a gentle fire, stirring until colored a nice brown; then mix with the flour and butter a pint of consommé (stock, [Art. 1]), an ounce and a half of lean raw ham, a carrot, an onion, a piece of celery, two cloves, a pinch of salt and pepper, and stir until beginning to boil. Remove the saucepan to the back of the range, so as to simmer gently for an hour; skim off the grease carefully and strain.
[81]. Sauce Allemande. Melt two ounces of butter and mix thoroughly with it two ounces of flour on a gentle fire. Add immediately a pint of consommé (stock, [Art. 1]), a little salt and pepper, and stir until boiling. After boiling fifteen minutes, remove from the fire and skim the grease off carefully. When your sauce has ceased boiling, add the yolks of three eggs, well mixed in a little water, and stirred in quickly with an egg-beater, so as to make your sauce light.
[82]. Sauce Veloutée. Put in a saucepan two pounds of veal, the thighs of a chicken, two carrots, two onions, a few branches of parsley, inclosing two cloves, two bay-leaves, a clove of garlic; tie all together, adding a little salt and pepper, and one quart of consommé (stock, [Art. 1]). When beginning to boil, skim constantly, so as to clear the sauce well. Remove the saucepan to the back of the range and simmer gently two hours. Melt two ounces of butter in a saucepan on the fire, with which mix thoroughly an ounce of flour. When beginning to color slightly, add a pint of the liquid in which your meats were boiled, strain half a wineglass of the juice of canned mushrooms, add it to your sauce, which boil forty-five minutes; strain, and serve.
[83]. Béchamel Sauce. Melt an ounce of butter in a saucepan, add an ounce of flour, and mix well together. Then add an onion cut in slices, half an ounce of lean raw ham, and a little salt and pepper. When beginning to color slightly, moisten with a pint of milk, stir well until boiling, after which boil ten minutes longer; strain, and serve.
[84]. White Sauce, or Butter-Sauce. Put in a saucepan on the fire an ounce of butter, which melt, and add to it one tablespoonful of flour, a little salt, white pepper, a little nutmeg, and mix all well together, adding a glass of water; stir until boiling, add an ounce of butter and the juice of a lemon; strain, and serve.
[85]. Sauce Hollandaise. Put two ounces of butter in a saucepan, with a little salt, nutmeg, a glass and a quarter of water, and mix all together on the fire. Put into another saucepan two tablespoonfuls of vinegar, which reduce one half; add it to your other ingredients, with a tablespoonful of Béchamel sauce ([Art. 83]), and an ounce of butter, mixing all well together. Take the yolks of four eggs, which mix in a little water, and, removing your sauce from the fire, when it has ceased boiling, add the eggs, the juice of a lemon, strain, and serve.
[86]. Sauce Piquante. Chop four shallots very fine, put them in a saucepan with four tablespoonfuls of sweet-oil. When beginning to color slightly, add half a pint of Spanish sauce ([Art. 80]), boil slowly for a few minutes, then add two ounces of pickles, and serve.
[87]. Bread-Sauce. Chop an onion very fine, put it in a saucepan, with four ounces of bread-crumbs, which you have put through a sieve, add a little salt, pepper, and a glass of milk. Boil ten minutes, add a glass of cream, and serve.
[88]. Sauce Béarnaise. Chop up three shallots and put them in a saucepan with a pinch of chervil, a branch of tarragon, a green onion, and two tablespoonfuls of vinegar. Reduce one half, and let cool; then add four ounces of butter, eight yolks of eggs, a sherry-glass of water, salt, pepper, and a very little nutmeg. Put your saucepan again on a gentle fire, stir well until the sauce thickens; strain, and serve.
[89]. Parisian Sauce. Put into a saucepan half an ounce of chopped truffles, a wineglass of sherry, some branches of parsley, inclosing a clove, a little thyme, a bay-leaf, and tie all together. Reduce one half on the fire, put through a sieve, add half a pint of Allemande sauce ([Art. 81]); heat again on the fire, and serve.
[90]. Tomato Sauce. Put in a saucepan an ounce of raw ham, a carrot, an onion, very little thyme, a bay-leaf, two cloves, a clove of garlic, and half an ounce of butter. Simmer for ten minutes, add an ounce of flour well mixed in half a pint of tomatoes and a glass of consommé (stock, [Art. 1]). Boil for half an hour, season with a little salt, pepper, a very little nutmeg, strain, and serve.
[91]. Sauce Périgueux. Chop an ounce of truffles, put them in a saucepan on the fire, with a glass of sherry and a glass of white wine. Reduce one half, then add half a pint of Spanish sauce ([Art. 80] ), boil five minutes, and serve.
[92]. Sauce Robert. Cut an onion in small pieces, and put it in a saucepan with half an ounce of butter. When it begins to color, drain off the butter, and moisten with half a glass of consommé (stock, [Art. 1]). Boil gently for thirty minutes, add half a pint of Spanish sauce ([Art. 80]), a wineglass of sherry, and a tablespoonful of English mustard mixed in a little water.
[93]. Italian Sauce. Peel and chop two shallots, which, with a little butter, put in a saucepan on the fire. When beginning to color slightly, moisten with half a pint of Spanish sauce ([Art. 80]) and a wineglass of sherry. Boil for twenty minutes. Chop half an ounce of lean, cooked ham, half a dozen mushrooms chopped fine, and a little chopped parsley. After skimming the grease from your sauce, add these ingredients, boil five minutes, and serve.
[94]. Sauce Soubise. Peel and chop three onions, which put in a saucepan on the fire with an ounce of butter. Simmer very gently, so as not to color too much, and, after three quarters of an hour, add a tablespoonful of flour, salt, pepper, a little nutmeg, and mix all together. Moisten with a gill of consommé (stock, [Art. 1]), the same of cream, boil for five minutes, strain, heat again on the fire, and serve.
[95]. Sauce Poivrade. Put into a saucepan a chopped onion, three branches of thyme, three bay-leaves, a clove of garlic, three cloves, six pepper-corns, half an ounce of raw ham cut in small pieces, four tablespoonfuls of vinegar, a little pepper, a very little cayenne; reduce until almost dry, moisten with a claret-glass of red wine and half a pint of Spanish sauce ([Art. 80]), boil fifteen minutes, strain, and serve.
[96]. Sauce Hachée. Peel and chop an onion, a pickle, a shallot, a tablespoonful of capers, and moisten with two tablespoonfuls of vinegar. Put them in a saucepan on the fire, reduce one half, add half a pint of Spanish sauce ([Art. 80]), a little cayenne pepper, a pinch of parsley chopped fine, half an ounce of capers, and two tablespoonfuls of wine-vinegar, boil five minutes, and serve.
[97]. Hunter Sauce. Put the remains of a roast partridge in a saucepan with half an ounce of raw ham, a carrot, an onion, a clove of garlic, a little thyme, three bay-leaves, and three cloves. Moisten with a glass of white wine, reduce one half, add half a pint of Spanish sauce ([Art. 80]), boil half an hour, strain, and serve.
[98]. Sauce Colbert. Put an ounce of glaze ([Art. 179]) in a saucepan on the fire with a tablespoonful of consommé (stock, [Art. 1]). Mix well together, and add half a pint of consommé (stock, [Art. 1] ), half an ounce of butter in small pieces, and by degrees, stirring all the time. When all well mixed together, strain, add the juice of a lemon, a tablespoonful of chopped parsley, and serve.
[99]. Sauce Suprême. Cut up the remains of two roast chickens, which put into a saucepan with a pint of consommé (stock, [Art. 1]), some branches of parsley, inclosing a clove, a clove of garlic, two bay-leaves, salt, and white pepper, a very little thyme, and tie all together. Boil one hour, and strain. Put two ounces of butter in another saucepan, a tablespoonful of flour, a teaspoonful of corn-starch, mix thoroughly together, and add the liquid in which the remains of the chicken were broiled. Stir with a spoon until boiling, reduce one quarter, pour in two wineglasses of cream and one wineglass of sherry. Boil fifteen minutes longer, add the juice of a lemon, strain, and serve.
[100]. Sauce Venétienne. Put two tablespoonfuls of vinegar in a saucepan on the fire, with some parsley, a little tarragon, two cloves, a very little thyme, half an ounce of raw ham chopped up. Reduce one half, and add half a pint sauce veloutée ([Art. 82]). Boil five minutes and strain. Chop fine a tablespoonful of chervil, the same of tarragon, boil them in hot water five minutes, dry with a napkin, and add to your sauce just before serving.
[101]. Sauce Bordelaise. Peel two cloves of garlic, and put them in a saucepan, with a pinch of chervil, a few tarragon-leaves, two bay-leaves, a lemon, from which you have removed the peel and the seeds, two cloves, two tablespoonfuls of oil, and two claret-glasses of white wine. Reduce one half on a very gentle fire, add half a pint of Spanish sauce ([Art. 80]), boil half an hour, carefully remove all grease, and pour in another glass of white wine. Boil ten minutes, add the juice of a lemon, strain, put back your sauce on the fire, cut a dozen mushrooms in very small pieces, add them to your sauce, and serve.
[102]. Another way of making Sauce Bordelaise. Peel and chop very fine four cloves of garlic, which put into a saucepan with three tablespoonfuls of oil. When beginning to color lightly, add a tablespoonful of chopped parsley. This sauce should never be made until ready to serve on the instant.
[103]. Sauce à la Poulette. Put in a saucepan three sherry-glasses of water, three ounces of butter, the juice of half a lemon, and a pinch of salt and white pepper. As soon as beginning to boil, take off the fire, and, when boiling ceases, add the yolks of four eggs which you have previously mixed well, in about a sherry-glass of water. Stir constantly so that the sauce does not break, strain it, and add to it a little parsley chopped fine.
[104]. Sauce Fleurette. Proceed as for the foregoing, except, instead of the parsley, add only the ends of some chervil-leaves, not chopped.
[105]. Sauce à la Marinière. Cut a small eel and a pike in small pieces, put them in a saucepan, with an onion, a carrot, three branches of parsley, half a dozen mushrooms, a little thyme, two bay-leaves, and a pinch of allspice; moisten with half a bottle of red wine, and boil forty minutes. Add half a pint of Spanish sauce ([Art. 80]), and simmer at the back of the range for half an hour. Take out your pieces of fish and strain the liquid in which they were boiled. Peel twenty small white onions, which put in a saucepan with half an ounce of butter. When they begin to color slightly, add to them a very little of the sauce until they are cooked, then add to them the whole of the sauce, and serve.
[106]. Lobster Sauce. Take a boiled lobster, separate it in two, remove the coral, which wash well in cold water; lay it on a table, with half an ounce of butter, mix well together with the blade of a knife, and press through a sieve. Pound to a paste quarter of a pound of the meat of the lobster. Put half a pint of white sauce ([Art. 84]) in a saucepan, and, when boiling, add the above ingredients, which stir well, so as to mix thoroughly; strain, and serve. As there is not always coral in every lobster, it is well to preserve it in a little vinegar, and put it by until needed.
[107]. Shrimp Sauce. Take half a pint of white sauce ([Art. 84]), which should be boiling; add a little lobster-coral and butter, as described in lobster sauce ([Art. 106]), or half a tablespoonful of anchovy sauce. Remove the shells from four dozen shrimps, and serve in your sauce.
[108]. Sauce Génevoise. Cut a medium-sized pike in pieces, which put in a saucepan with half an ounce of raw ham cut in small pieces, two cloves, two bay-leaves, a clove of garlic, a little thyme, a pinch of salt and pepper, a few mushrooms chopped up, and two claret-glasses of red wine. Reduce one half, add half a pint of Spanish sauce ([Art. 80]), boil thirty minutes; then add a wineglass of madeira (or sherry); strain, and stir thoroughly into your sauce a teaspoonful of anchovy sauce.
[109]. Sauce Remoulade (cold). Put in a bowl two yolks of eggs, a tablespoonful of mustard, salt, and pepper. Mix well with the foregoing two tablespoonfuls of vinegar, and then, stirring constantly, eight tablespoonfuls of oil; and, lastly, another tablespoonful of vinegar; then chop a shallot, some chervil, some tarragon-leaves, and mix them with your sauce.
[110]. Sauce Remoulade (hot). Peel and chop very fine six shallots and a clove of garlic; put them into a saucepan with five tablespoonfuls of vinegar, and reduce on the fire one half. Pound the yolks of four hard-boiled eggs, which mix well with a teaspoonful of anchovy sauce; add to them half a pint of sauce Allemande ([Art. 81]) and a quarter of a tablespoonful of sweet-oil, and then the shallots, garlic, and vinegar; heat without boiling, and add a pinch of tarragon, the same of chervil and of parsley all chopped fine, a little salt and pepper, and, just before serving, two tablespoonfuls of vinegar.
[111]. Sauce Ravigote (hot). Put into a saucepan half a pint of consommé (stock, [Art. 1]), half a teaspoonful of vinegar, a very little green garlic, and the same of tarragon-leaves and chervil. Boil ten minutes, drain your herbs, press all moisture from them with a cloth, and then chop them very fine. Put on a table half an ounce of flour, and the same of butter, which mix well together and add them to your consommé and vinegar, which you have put back on the fire; stir well with a spoon until boiling, then skim the sauce, add your chopped herbs, and serve.
[112]. Sauce Ravigote (cold). Take half a pint of sauce Mayonnaise ([Art. 113]), to which add a little chervil, parsley, tarragon, all mashed and chopped fine, and mix well with your Mayonnaise; also a tablespoonful of mustard, and a tablespoonful of capers.
[113]. Sauce Mayonnaise. Put the yolks of two eggs in a bowl with salt, pepper, the juice of a lemon, and half a teaspoonful of dry mustard. Stir with a wooden spoon, and add by degrees, in very small quantities, and stirring continuously, a tablespoonful of vinegar; then, a few drops at a time, some good oil, stirring rapidly all the time, until your sauce thickens, and half a pint of oil has been absorbed.
[114]. Sauce Tartare. Proceed as for the foregoing, except that, instead of half a teaspoonful of mustard, add three. Chop a pickle and a tablespoonful of capers, which dry in a napkin. Also chop a green onion, some chervil, a few tarragon-leaves, and mix with your sauce.
CHAPTER III.
FISH.
[115]. Boiled Striped Bass à la Venétienne. Clean a striped bass of about four pounds. Cut off the fins with a scissors. Then wash your fish well, put it in a fish-kettle with four ounces of salt, and enough water to cover the fish. Simmer gently, and when beginning to boil remove it to the back of the range, to simmer for half an hour. Then serve with a sauce Venétienne ([Art. 100]).
[116]. Boiled Red Snapper with Butter Sauce. Proceed as for the foregoing, and serve with a white sauce ([Art. 84]).
[117]. Boiled Salmon, Madeira Sauce. Boil four pounds of salmon as in [Art. 115], adding half a bottle of white wine, then serve with Spanish sauce ([Art. 80]), adding a glass of madeira or sherry. Salmon may also be served with the following sauces: Italian sauce ([Art. 93]), sauce Hollandaise ([Art. 85]), sauce Génevoise ([Art. 108]), or cold with sauce Tartare ([Art. 114]), sauce ravigote ([Art. 112]), or sauce remoulade ([Art. 109]).
[118]. Halibut, Lobster Sauce. Boil four pounds of halibut, and serve with a lobster sauce ([Art. 106]).
[119]. Boiled Codfish, Oyster Sauce. Boil a codfish. Stew two dozen oysters, which drain, and add to a white sauce ([Art. 84]). Boiled codfish may also be served with caper sauce, sauce Hollandaise ([Art. 85]), and other white sauces.
[120]. Sheep's Head, Shrimp Sauce. Boil a sheep's head, and serve with a shrimp sauce ([Art. 107] ).
[121]. Salmon-Trout, Sauce Hollandaise. Boil a salmon-trout, and serve with sauce Hollandaise ([Art. 85]).
[122]. Pickerel, Anchovy Sauce. Clean a pickerel of four pounds and put it in a fish-kettle with enough water to cover it; add four ounces of salt, a carrot cut in slices, an onion, six branches of thyme, six cloves, six pepper-corns, some parsley-roots, and a tablespoonful of vinegar. When beginning to boil remove the fish-kettle to the back of the range for about half an hour. Take half a pint of Spanish sauce ([Art. 80]), into which mix two teaspoonfuls of anchovy sauce, and, when boiling, serve with your fish.
[123]. Black Bass, Burgundy Sauce. Clean a black bass of four pounds, put it in the fish-kettle to boil, adding half a bottle of claret. Then let it simmer for half an hour at the back of the range. Take half a pint of Spanish sauce ([Art. 80]), put it in a saucepan with two wineglasses of red wine, reduce one quarter, and serve with your fish.
[124]. Baked Blue-Fish, Tomato Sauce. Clean a blue-fish of four pounds and place it in a buttered pan. Cover the fish with tomato sauce ([Art. 90]), on top of which put some bread-crumbs and a few little pieces of butter. Place in the oven for about forty minutes, or until you see that the flesh is detached from the backbone, and serve with tomato sauce around it.
[125]. Baked Fillet of Sole (or Flounder). Cut a flounder of four pounds into fillets, that is, in pieces of about five inches long and four in width, tapering to a point at each end. Each piece should be not quite an inch thick. Put them in a buttered pan, cover with sauce Allemande ([Art. 81]), on top of which sprinkle some bread-crumbs and a few small pieces of butter. Put into the oven until well browned. Place half a pint of sauce Allemande in a saucepan, with the addition of a wineglass of sherry, boil ten minutes, pour it around your fish, and serve.
[126]. Weak-Fish, Italian Sauce. Cut a weak-fish of four pounds in fillets, as described in the foregoing, and place them in a saucepan with a little melted butter, salt, pepper, a little nutmeg, and two tablespoonfuls of madeira (or sherry). Simmer gently for twenty minutes, arrange your fish neatly on a dish, one piece overlapping the other, and serve with an Italian sauce ([Art. 93]).
[127]. Chicken Halibut aux Fines Herbes. Chop a little parsley, six mushrooms, and a shallot; add to them a little salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and place all together in a saucepan on the fire for five minutes, with half a pint of white wine. Then put these ingredients on a dish, and place on top of them four pounds of chicken halibut. Send to a moderate oven for about thirty minutes, taking care from time to time to pour with a spoon some of the liquid in the dish over your fish. Put half a pint of Spanish sauce ([Art. 80]) in another saucepan on the fire, reduce your sauce for about seven or eight minutes, adding the juice of a lemon, and serve it around your fish.
[128]. Eels à la Tartare. Broil your eels on a gridiron. When the skin detaches itself on one side, turn them on the other. When done, with a napkin take off all the skin, cut the eels in pieces three inches long, remove the insides, and put the eels in a saucepan with a little salt, pepper, six cloves, six pepper-corns, two parsley-roots, a little thyme, four bay-leaves, and two tablespoonfuls of vinegar. Add enough water to cover your eels, and, after boiling fifteen minutes, take them off the fire, let them cool in the liquid in which they were cooked, and then wipe them dry with a cloth. Break in a bowl two eggs, which mix thoroughly with half an ounce of melted butter; pour this over your fish, and sprinkle lightly with bread-crumbs. Broil them on a very gentle fire. When they are a nice brown, serve them with a sauce Tartare ([Art. 114]).
[129]. King-Fish, Sherry Sauce. Clean four medium-sized king-fish, split them in two, and broil them on a gentle fire. Put half a pint of Spanish sauce ([Art. 80]) in a saucepan, add a wineglass of sherry, boil fifteen minutes, pour it around your fish, and serve.
[130]. Fillet of Shad, with Purée of Sorrel. After cleaning your shad, cut it in equal pieces, leaving the skin underneath. Put them on a plate, and sprinkle a little salt on them, add the juice of a lemon, and a few branches of parsley. A few moments before they are required to be served put them in a saucepan on a gentle fire for fifteen minutes, with a glass of white wine and an ounce of butter. Pick and clean a quart of sorrel, which blanch in boiling water, drain, and press it through a sieve. Put an ounce of butter in a saucepan with half an ounce of flour, a little salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and, when beginning to color slightly, add your purée of sorrel and half a glass of cream. Simmer gently ten minutes, when add the yolks of two eggs which you have mixed in a little milk. Boil five minutes longer, pour over your fish, and serve.
[131]. Broiled Shad à la Maître d'Hôtel. Clean a shad, without removing the skin, split it in two, and put the roes on a buttered pan, which send to the oven until brown. Then broil the shad, and when done put it on a dish together with the roes. Melt an ounce of butter, in which put a little salt and pepper, a little chopped parsley, and the juice of a lemon. Mix well together, pour over your shad, and serve. Porgies, mackerel, and other broiling fish, may be served in the same manner.
[132]. Long Island Brook-Trout. Clean and wash a trout of about four pounds, and put it in a fish-kettle with four ounces of salt. When beginning to boil remove your fish-kettle to the back of the range for twenty-five minutes. Blanch four roes of shad in a little boiling water and a little salt, drain, and cut them in small pieces, as also a dozen mushrooms. Add these, with the juice of a lemon, to a pint of sauce Allemande ([Art. 81]), and boil ten minutes. Serve the fish garnished with sprigs of parsley, and the sauce in a separate dish.
[133]. Trout à la Génevoise. Clean four little trout, cut off the gills, and put your fish in an earthen pot for four hours, with a little thyme, four bay-leaves, two shallots cut in pieces, five branches of parsley, a little pepper and salt, and the juice of two lemons, after which drain, and place them in a saucepan on the fire, with a chopped onion, a clove of garlic, and a little nutmeg. Add enough red wine to cover your fish, and boil gently for twenty minutes. Take half a pint of Spanish sauce ([Art. 80]), boil for about an hour with one half of the liquid in which the foregoing ingredients were boiled. Chop four mushrooms and truffles, a little parsley, and add to your sauce. Put your fish on a dish, garnish with parsley, and serve with your sauce on a separate dish.
[134]. Scallops of Trout. Prepare as the foregoing a medium-sized trout, which cut in round pieces, or in the shape of an egg, and about three inches in length, and put into a saucepan in which you have previously melted two ounces of butter; add a little salt, white pepper, the juice of a lemon; and when they are done on one side, turn them on the other; mash some potatoes, and with them form a border on a plate, which may go to the oven. Moisten your potatoes lightly with some melted butter, and send them to the oven to brown. When done, arrange your scallops of fish in the middle of the potatoes, and pour over all a sauce béchamel ([Art. 83]).
[135]. Halibut, Sauce Suprême. Take four pounds of halibut, which cut in square pieces; soak them for an hour in four wineglasses of madeira (or sherry); turn them over from time to time, first on one side and then on the other. Just before serving, put them into a saucepan, in which you have melted two ounces of butter; add a little salt and pepper, put them on the fire for a few moments, and then send to the oven for twenty minutes. Arrange your fish on a dish, and pour over them a sauce suprême ([Art. 99]).
[136]. Scallops of White-Fish à la Provençale. Cut a white-fish of four pounds into round pieces, or in the shape of an egg, and about three inches in length; put them in a dish with a clove of garlic, a little thyme, three bay-leaves, two roots of parsley, an onion cut in thin slices, salt and pepper, and moisten them with a sherry-glass of oil: then peel three white onions, which cut in slices, blanch them in boiling water, with a little salt; drain them and put them in a frying-pan on the fire, with a wineglass of oil, which heat thoroughly, and, when beginning to color slightly, drain off the oil, and moisten with half a bottle of white wine. Then drain your fish, which put in the saucepan with your onions. Simmer gently for thirty minutes, drain, and in the liquor in which your fish was cooked put a tablespoonful of tomato sauce, reduce gently about one third, pour over your fish, and serve.
[137]. Eels en Matelote. Clean an eel, a pike, and a perch; cut them in slices; place them in a saucepan with a clove of garlic, two bay-leaves, two branches of thyme, three cloves, a little basil, and a few branches of parsley; add enough red wine to cover your fish. Put them on a very gentle fire, and, when beginning to boil, add a wineglass of brandy. Shake gently, so as not to break your fish, and, after boiling fifteen minutes, drain off your fish, and keep them hot. Put on a table half an ounce of flour and an ounce of butter; mix well together with the blade of a knife, and add to the liquid in which your fish was boiled. Peel and press through a sieve twenty small white onions, which put in a frying-pan, with a little butter, on a very gentle fire; add them, with a dozen mushrooms, to your fish, which heat up again. Take the ingredients in which your fish was first cooked, and place them in a dish, your fish on top. Garnish with some boiled crawfish, and some pieces of bread cut in triangles, and fried in butter.
[138]. Red Snapper à la Chambord. Take a red snapper, about four pounds in weight. Remove the scales, and on one side of the fish cut a square in the skin, which take out, and in the flesh insert two dozen pieces of truffles, cut in squares, and pointed at one end. Over this tie a thin piece of larding pork. Put your fish in a fish-kettle, surround it with a sliced carrot and onion, three cloves of garlic, six bay-leaves, six cloves, six branches of thyme, four parsley-roots, and cover the fish with half a bottle of white wine and a quart of consommé (stock, [Art. 1]); put it on the fire until boiling, and then send it to a gentle oven to cook slowly for an hour, basting it often with its own liquor, on the side studded with truffles. Take half a pint of Spanish sauce ([Art. 80]), to which add two wineglasses of the liquid in which your fish was cooked, put your sauce on the fire to boil, skim off the grease, and strain; then put it back again on the fire for a few moments, adding a dozen mushrooms, a dozen quenelles ([Art. 11]), as many truffles cut in quarters, a dozen crawfish, and the same of chicken's kidneys which you have previously blanched in hot water, with a little salt, for ten minutes. Lay your fish on a dish, pour your sauce around it, and serve.
[139]. Ray, with Caper Sauce. Cook your fish as the foregoing, with the exception of the truffles, and serve with it a white sauce ([Art. 84]), to which add some capers.
[140]. Ray, au Beurre Noir. Cut in moderate-sized pieces four pounds of ray-fish, which put in a saucepan with an onion cut in slices, three parsley-roots, four cloves, six pepper-corns, half an ounce of salt, and four tablespoonfuls of vinegar. When beginning to boil, put your saucepan at the back of the range for thirty minutes, so as not to boil. Then take off the skin from both sides of your fish, which put in the saucepan with your other ingredients to keep hot. Put in a frying-pan four ounces of butter, and, when colored black, fry a dozen sprigs of parsley for a moment, remove them, and add to your butter two tablespoonfuls of vinegar. Strain your fish, which arrange on a dish, garnish with the fried parsley, pour the black butter over the fish, and serve.
[141]. Fried Smelts. Clean about two dozen smelts, cut off the gills, wash them well in cold water, and dry them thoroughly. Put a pinch of salt and pepper in a little milk, into which dip your smelts, and then roll them in flour. Put in a frying-pan about a pound and a half of lard, in which, when very hot, fry your smelts a light brown. Also fry some parsley, which place around your fish, and serve with a sauce Tartare ([Art. 112]).
[142]. Farcied Smelts. Prepare your smelts as the foregoing. Split them in two, taking care to make the opening in the under part of the fish, and, beginning at the tail, make the incision the length of the fish, without disturbing the head. Then take some chicken farce ([Art. 11]), and add to it half a dozen very finely chopped mushrooms, and a very little chopped parsley. Lay this on one side of your smelts, and cover with the other half. Place them in a buttered pan, cover each one with a very little melted butter, sprinkle some bread-crumbs lightly over them, and send them to the oven for about fifteen minutes. Take half a pint of Spanish sauce ([Art. 80]), add a sherry-glass of white wine, boil for fifteen minutes, add a little chopped parsley to your sauce, which pour over your fish, and serve.
[143]. Oysters à la Poulette. Take fifty oysters, which blanch in boiling water, then drain them, preserving part of the liquid in which they were boiled. Take half a pint of béchamel sauce ([Art. 83] ), add a little of the liquid in which your oysters were boiled, a little salt and pepper, a little chopped parsley, and, when your sauce has ceased boiling, the yolks of three eggs well mixed in a little water. Serve your oysters hot in the sauce.
[144]. Farcied Oysters à l'Africaine. Take twenty very large oysters, which blanch and then drain. Also take some chicken farce ([Art. 11]), chopping three truffles very fine, and mix with your farce, with which cover your oysters on both sides, and dip in bread-crumbs. Then beat up four eggs, the yolks and whites together, with a little salt, pepper, and very little nutmeg added, and spread over your oysters, which dip again into bread-crumbs. Put the oysters in a buttered pan, and send to the oven for about fifteen minutes, a very little melted butter on each oyster. Take half a pint of Spanish sauce ([Art. 80]), add to it a glass of sherry, and, after boiling twenty minutes, chop up two truffles, put them in your sauce, and serve with your oysters.
[145]. Fried Oysters. Take fifty large oysters, dip them in beaten eggs, in which you have put a little salt and pepper; then roll them in bread-crumbs, and, if your oysters should not be very large, dip them again in beaten eggs, and again roll them in bread-crumbs. Fry them in very hot lard, drain off the grease, and serve very hot. Garnish with slices of lemon.
[146]. Broiled Oysters. Take fifty large oysters, which drain and dip in four beaten eggs, to which you have added a little salt and pepper. Roll them in bread-crumbs, dip them again in eggs, and again roll them in bread-crumbs. Put a few drops of melted butter on each, broil them on a gridiron a light brown, and serve very hot.
[147]. Cromesqui of Oysters. Boil fifty oysters for about five minutes, drain them, and chop them fine. Put in a saucepan on the fire an ounce of butter, the same of flour, a pinch of salt, the same of pepper and nutmeg, and mix all well together. Add the juice of your oysters, and half a glass of milk, and stir with a wooden spoon until just before beginning to boil, then remove it from the fire; add two yolks of eggs mixed in about a tablespoonful of water, and then your oysters. Put this mixture on ice until cold, form it into balls about the size of a small egg, and wrap up each one in a very thin piece of pork. Break three eggs in a bowl, add six ounces of flour, and a little water, so as to make a smooth and very soft paste, but sufficiently solid to adhere to your cromesqui. Then mix a teaspoonful of soda with your paste, with which cover each one, and fry in very hot lard. When a bright yellow, drain, and serve hot.
[148]. Oysters on Toast. Put fifty oysters in a frying-pan with their liquor, toss them on the fire for about ten minutes, and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Put the oysters on eight pieces of toast, the juice poured over them. Serve very hot.
[149]. Oysters a la Mosely. Take fifty oysters, the third of which put in a deep dish with a little pepper, salt, a little melted butter, and cover with bread-crumbs. Then put half of the remaining oysters on top. Proceed as above, add a third layer, pour in enough sherry to reach the top of your oysters, cover with bread-crumbs, and a little melted butter, and send to a moderate oven until colored a light brown. Serve very hot.
[150]. Oysters au Gratin. Take three dozen rather small oysters, blanch them, and drain them. Make a rather thick béchamel sauce ([Art. 83]), to which add two yolks of eggs well mixed in a little water. When beginning to boil, add your oysters, a little salt, pepper, and a little nutmeg. Mix all well together, and then put them, with your sauce, in the shells. Cover them lightly with bread-crumbs, and a few drops of melted butter on top. Send them to the oven, and serve when nicely browned.
[151]. Lobster au Naturel. Put in a saucepan two sliced onions, a few green onions, some parsley, four cloves, four branches of thyme, one of sage, a pinch of mace, a little piece of green pepper, two ounces of salt, and enough water to cover them. Boil them for twenty minutes, and then allow them to cool, after which add four medium-sized lobsters, boil for half an hour; take them off the fire, and let them become cold in their liquor. Then drain them, split them in two, break their claws, and serve them garnished with parsley.
[152]. Lobster à la Havraise. Take three small live lobsters, cut off the claws, break them, and separate your lobsters in two, cutting each lobster in eight pieces. Put into a frying-pan three very finely chopped shallots, with a tablespoonful of oil. When beginning to color lightly, add your pieces of lobster, and, after cooking fifteen minutes, add half a pint of Spanish sauce ([Art. 80]), a glass of sherry, about ten mushrooms, a little chopped parsley, a little salt, pepper, and a very little nutmeg. Mix well together, boil five minutes longer, and serve.
[153]. Croquettes of Lobster. Chop fine the meat of two boiled lobsters and add half a pint of béchamel sauce ([Art. 83]), to which you have added the yolks of two eggs well mixed in a little water. Then add two tablespoonfuls of tomato sauce, a little pepper, salt, and a very little nutmeg, and put on the ice until perfectly cold—this is of the utmost importance. When thoroughly cold, form them into croquettes and roll them in bread-crumbs; beat three eggs (the yolks and whites together), into which dip your croquettes and roll them again in bread-crumbs. Put about two pounds of lard in a frying-pan, and, when very hot, fry your croquettes, which, when a light brown, drain, and serve.
[154]. Broiled Lobster. Take four chicken lobsters (uncooked and perfectly fresh), separate them in two, lengthwise, put a little melted butter upon them, salt, pepper, and some bread-crumbs. Broil them on a gentle fire, and, just before serving, sprinkle over them some chopped parsley. You may serve with them, if desired, a sauce Tartare ([Art. 112]) or a sauce remoulade ([Art. 109]).
[155]. Deviled Lobster. Prepare the mixture as described in [Art. 153] for lobster croquettes, and mix with it a teaspoonful of mustard. Clean the shells of your lobsters, fill them with the above mixture, which cover lightly with mustard, on top of which sprinkle some bread-crumbs and a very little melted butter. Put them in the oven, and, when colored a light brown, serve.
[156]. Lobster à la Bordelaise. Take the meat of three boiled lobsters, which cut in medium-sized pieces, and put them in a saucepan on the fire for about five minutes, with half a pint of sauce Bordelaise ([Art. 101]), and serve.
[157]. Crawfish à la Bordelaise. Boil four dozen crawfish as directed in [Art. 77], drain, and put them in a saucepan on the fire for about five minutes, with half a pint of sauce Bordelaise ([Art. 101]), and serve.
[158]. Farcied Lobster. Prepare the mixture as for lobster croquettes ([Art. 153]), adding a little chopped parsley, and with it fill the shells of two or three lobsters which you have previously washed. Sprinkle some bread-crumbs on top, and a very small quantity of melted butter. Send to the oven, and, when colored a light brown, serve.
[159]. Lobster à l'Indienne. Take two boiled lobsters, divide them in two, and remove the meat from the shells and claws. Wash half a pound of rice, boil it five minutes in boiling water, then put it in cold water for a moment. Drain, and place it in a saucepan with three pints of water, and boil forty minutes. Take half a pint of sauce Veloutée ([Art. 82]), add your lobsters, place your saucepan at the side of the range so as not to boil, and mix with your sauce a teaspoonful of curry. Drain off your rice, form it in a border on a dish, and place your lobster and sauce in the center.
[160]. Fried Frogs' Legs. Put three dozen frogs' legs in an earthen jar, with salt, thyme, six bay-leaves, three branches of parsley, an onion cut in thin slices, the juice of a lemon, and three or four tablespoonfuls of oil; turn them over on one side, then on the other, several times during an hour; then drain them, dip them in milk, in which you have put a little salt and pepper, roll them in flour, and fry them a light brown, in very hot lard. Serve them with some fried parsley.
[161]. Frogs' Legs à la Poulette. Put three dozen frogs' legs in a saucepan, with an ounce of butter, a claret-glass of white wine, and half a cupful of consommé (stock, [Art. 1]), an onion sliced thin, a little thyme, bay-leaf, parsley, a pinch of salt, pepper, and a very little nutmeg. Boil for ten minutes, and then drain. Put a tablespoonful of flour in a saucepan, with an ounce of butter, and mix well together. Strain the liquid in which your frogs' legs were cooked, add to it two yolks of eggs well mixed in about a tablespoonful of water, a tablespoonful of chopped parsley; boil three or four minutes, and serve.
[162]. Frogs' Legs à la Marinière. Put three dozen frogs' legs in a saucepan, with a dozen chopped mushrooms, four shallots also chopped, and two ounces of butter, and toss them on the fire for five or six minutes; then add a tablespoonful of flour, a little salt, pepper, a nutmeg, and moisten with a claret-glass of white wine and a glass of consommé ([Art. 1]); boil ten minutes. Mix the yolks of four eggs with two tablespoonfuls of cream, remove your frogs' legs from the fire, and, when boiling has ceased, add your eggs, stirring continually until thoroughly mixed, and serve.
[163]. Frogs' Legs à la Maître d'Hôtel. Boil in water two dozen frogs' legs for about twelve minutes, with a pinch of salt, pepper, and the juice of a lemon. Drain them, and pour over them some melted butter to which you have added the juice of a lemon and a tablespoonful of chopped parsley; serve very hot.
[164]. Soft-Shell Crabs. Take eight soft-shell crabs, remove the gills and the sand. Wash them, then dry them with a cloth, dip them in a little milk, and roll them in flour. Put plenty of lard in a frying-pan, in which, when very hot, fry your crabs. Five minutes will suffice. Serve with them some fried parsley. You may also dip the crabs in beaten eggs, and sprinkle with bread-crumbs before frying.
[165]. Farcied Crabs. Remove the meat from four dozen boiled hard-shelled crabs and chop up fine. Put in a saucepan an onion cut in pieces, and an ounce of butter. When beginning to color slightly, add a dozen chopped mushrooms, a tablespoonful of chopped parsley, and four ounces of bread-crumbs, which you have previously soaked in consommé, and then pressed almost dry; a pinch of salt and pepper, a little cayenne, and half a gill of tomato sauce ([Art. 90]). Mix all well together on the fire, and cook for five minutes. Wash your shells and fill them with the foregoing, cover them with bread-crumbs, and a very little melted butter on top; send to the oven and color a light brown.
[166]. Deviled Crabs. Proceed as for the foregoing, putting a tablespoonful of mustard in the above mixture, and a layer of mustard on top of each crab before covering with bread-crumbs.
[167]. Clam Fritters. Take fifteen clams, which chop very fine, and put in a bowl with two ounces of flour, two eggs, a pinch of salt and pepper, and a tablespoonful of parsley, which chop fine. Mix all thoroughly together. Put some lard in a frying-pan, into which, when very hot, throw a tablespoonful of your mixture at a time, until you have used the entire quantity; fry on both sides, and serve.
[168]. Oyster Fritters. Prepare as the foregoing.
[169]. Fish-Balls. Wash and peel six potatoes, boil them in a pint of water, with salt, drain them, mash them thoroughly; add an ounce of butter, a pinch of salt and pepper, and an egg; mix all well together, adding six ounces of boiled codfish from which you have removed the bones; mix your fish well with your other ingredients, form into balls about the size of a very small apple, roll them lightly and evenly in flour; fry them on both sides in about half their height of very hot lard, drain off the grease, and serve them very hot.
[170]. Codfish au Gratin. Take two pounds of boiled codfish, from which you have removed the bones, put in a dish with half a pint of béchamel sauce ([Art. 83]), in which you have mixed four ounces of American cheese. Sprinkle it on top with bread-crumbs and a little melted butter, and send to the oven until colored a bright yellow. Serve. You may, instead of the cheese, mix some chopped mushrooms with your fish. Other boiled fish may be prepared in the same manner.
[171]. Snails à la Provençale. Take four ounces of wood-ashes, which put in a cloth, and tie securely. Then place in a saucepan with about a quart of water, and boil fifteen minutes. Wash well four dozen snails, and put them in your saucepan, and boil them about fifteen minutes. Then take one out, and try with a larding-needle if you can remove it easily from its shell, and, if so, drain the snails, and take them out of their shells. Put into a saucepan on the fire a tablespoonful of oil, half a dozen mushrooms chopped very fine, some parsley, a clove of garlic, three shallots, all chopped fine, salt, a little red pepper, and a very little nutmeg. Add a tablespoonful of flour, and moisten with three sherry-glasses of white wine, and, as soon as your sauce begins to boil, add your snails, and boil gently for thirty minutes. Your sauce must be thick. Mix the yolks of three eggs in a tablespoonful of milk, and add to your sauce when it has ceased boiling. Put a snail in each shell, and enough sauce to fill each one. Sprinkle bread-crumbs on top, send to the oven for about ten minutes, and serve.
[172]. Clams on Toast. Take fifty clams and roast them very slightly, after which take them out of their shells, chop them fine, and, with all their juice, which you have carefully preserved, put them into a saucepan with a little butter, and stew for a few moments. Just before serving, season them with a little red pepper and a very little Tobasco pepper. First serve to each person a piece of toast, and then the clams to be poured over the toast.
[173]. Soft Clams steamed. Put some boiling water in a saucepan, in the bottom of which lay a brick. Put fifty soft clams in a pan, or in some utensil which may be placed inside your saucepan, and on top of the brick, so that the water shall not touch the clams. Boil quickly about five minutes, covering the saucepan with a lid. Then, if your clams are done, serve them in their shells, with a sauce separately, composed of a little chopped shallot, a little melted butter, salt, pepper, and a little vinegar or the juice of a lemon.
[174]. Clams au Gratin. Prepare exactly as for oysters au gratin ([Art. 150]).
[175]. Mussels à la Marinière. Take fifty mussels in their shells, remove the black, stringy species of moss attached to them, put them in a covered saucepan on the fire, with about a quarter of a glass of water; toss them for three or four minutes in the saucepan, or until the shells are opened, then drain them, remove one shell of each, leaving the mussel in the other half, and serve them in the following sauce: Chop fine two shallots, which put in a saucepan on the fire, with a tablespoonful of vinegar, reduce one half, and add a teaspoonful of chervil and tarragon chopped fine; boil for a moment, then add half a pint of sauce Allemande ([Art. 81]), and a sherry-glass of sherry.
[176]. Stewed Terrapin à la Lucie. Drop three live terrapins into boiling water, and, if large, boil them three hours, or, if moderate sized, two hours and a half. Then pick them, throwing away all of the intestines, heart, head, and most of the feet; also be very particular to cut out the gall, which will be found in the middle of the liver, and throw it away. Scrape out all the fat and meat sticking to the shells, and put into a saucepan with half a pound of very good butter, a good deal of salt, and cayenne pepper. Simmer over a slow fire for about two hours. Wine may be added, according to taste, after the terrapin is served.
[177]. Stewed Terrapin à la Maryland. Pick and clean, as the foregoing, two terrapins weighing about six to seven pounds. Boil them in some water with a little salt for about twenty minutes. Drain them, cut them in moderate-sized pieces, and put them in a saucepan with enough cream to cover them, a pinch of salt, pepper, nutmeg, and three wineglasses of sherry. Simmer gently for three quarters of an hour. Mix four yolks of eggs with two tablespoonfuls of cream, add them to your terrapins, and serve very hot.
[178]. Stewed Terrapin (another manner). Prepare your terrapins as the foregoing, add to them half a pint of brandy, touch it with a lighted match, let it burn, and serve.
[179]. Glaze. Put two quarts of consommé ([Art. 1] ) in a saucepan on the fire. Reduce it by very gentle boiling until it becomes the color of chocolate. Put it in a bowl on the ice, and keep it until needed.