Scalloped Chicken.
Cold roast or boiled chicken—chiefly the white meat.
1 cup gravy.
1 table-spoonful butter, and 1 egg, well beaten.
1 cup of fine bread-crumbs.
Pepper and salt.
Rid the chicken of gristle and skin, and cut—not chop—into pieces less than half an inch long. Have ready the gravy, or some rich drawn butter, in a saucepan on the fire. Thicken it well, and stir in the chicken, boil up once, take it off, and add the beaten egg. Cover the bottom of a buttered dish with fine bread-crumbs, pour in the mixture, and put another thick layer of crumbs on top, sticking bits of butter all over it. Bake to a delicate brown in a quick oven.
Or—
Instead of the gravy make a white sauce, as follows:
1 cup cream or rich milk.
2 table-spoonfuls butter and 1 beaten egg.
1 table-spoonful corn-starch, wet in cold milk.
Pepper, salt and parsley.
Heat the cream to a boil, stir in the corn-starch until it thickens; then the butter, seasoning and egg. Take at once from the fire, add the minced chicken, and proceed as already directed.
Turkey may be used instead of chicken; also veal.
Scalloped Beef (Very good).
Some minced beef or lean mutton.
1 young onion, minced.
½ cup gravy.
Some mashed potato.
1 table-spoonful of butter to a cup of potato.
1 table-spoonful of cream to the same.
Pepper and salt.
Catsup, if mutton be used; made mustard for beef.
1 beaten egg for each cupful of potato.
Mash the potato while hot, beating very light with the butter and cream—lastly, the egg. Too much attention cannot be paid to this part of the work. Fill a buttered baking-dish, or scallop shells with the minced meat, seasoned with onion, pepper, salt and mustard or catsup, moisten with gravy, and cover with the mashed potato at least half an inch thick if your dish be large. Smooth this over and bake to a light brown. Just before you draw them from the oven glaze by putting a bit of butter on the top of each scallop.