Luncheons: A Cook's Picture Book

by Mary Ronald

SAUCES

WHITE SAUCE

Put a tablespoonful of butter in a saucepan; when it bubbles add a tablespoonful of flour and cook them together for a few minutes, but do not let them brown. Remove from the fire and add a cupful of milk, very slowly so as to keep it smooth; stir all the time. Add a half teaspoonful of salt and a saltspoonful of pepper. Return it to the fire and cook until it is thickened to a creamy consistency. The sauce is richer if half stock and half milk are used. It is also improved for some uses by adding the yolks of one or two eggs. If yolks are used they are stirred in after the sauce is taken from the fire, as it is still hot enough to cook the egg sufficiently. (See Sauces, “Century Cook Book,” pages 275-277.)

BROWN SAUCE

This is made in the same way and with the same proportions as the white sauce, but the butter with a few drops of onion juice in it is browned before the flour is added. The flour is also allowed to brown. It is then diluted with stock instead of milk.

SUPREME SAUCE

For Chicken Breasts, Sweetbreads, Croquettes, etc.

Put a tablespoonful of butter in a saucepan; when it is hot add a tablespoonful of flour and let it cook a few minutes without coloring, then add slowly a cupful of chicken or veal stock, half a teaspoonful of salt, and a dash of paprika; stir until it thickens, then remove it from the fire, and after a few minutes add slowly a mixture of quarter of a cupful of cream and the yolks of three eggs. Return it to the fire for a minute to cook the eggs. Just before serving add a tablespoonful of lemon juice.

TOMATO PURÉE

Put a canful of tomatoes in a saucepan with half an onion sliced, a bay-leaf, a sprig of parsley, three cloves, one half teaspoonful of salt, and a saltspoonful of pepper. Cook uncovered until reduced one half, then strain it through a purée sieve. Return it to the fire and add, a little at a time, a tablespoonful of butter.

HOLLANDAISE SAUCE

For Fish, Vegetables, and Meats

Put in a saucepan the yolks of four eggs, one half cupful of butter, one half teaspoonful of salt, a dash of paprika, and one half cupful of cold water or stock. Mix them together. Place the saucepan in a pan of hot water and stir the mixture over the fire until it has thickened to the consistency of cream. When ready to serve remove it from the fire, and after it has cooled a little add very slowly the juice of half a lemon.

NO. 48. MAÎTRE D’HÔTEL BUTTER.

MAÎTRE D’HÔTEL BUTTER

Whip, with a fork, a quarter of a cupful of butter until it is very light, add a tablespoonful of parsley chopped very fine, one half teaspoonful each of salt and pepper, and lastly add slowly a tablespoonful of lemon juice. Smooth it over and set it in the ice-box to harden. Dip a teaspoon in hot water, wipe it quickly, and then draw it lightly over the hardened butter, taking up a thin layer which will curl over as the spoon is drawn along. Turn it off the spoon in egg-shaped pieces. Heat the spoon again and repeat the operation, laying the pieces in a pile as they are made. Place them in the ice-box to harden.

Serve with any broiled meats or fish.

GLAZE

Glaze is a clear soup stock boiled down to the consistency of thick cream. It is applied with a brush to the surface of meats to give them a smooth and shining surface. It is used also for adding richness to sauces. A very little glaze often improves a sauce and does not thin it as stock would do. The prepared extract of beef which comes in small jars can be used as a glaze.

TO MAKE GLAZE

Put in a soup pot bits of fat cut from meat and let them try out enough to moisten the bottom of the pot; or use a tablespoonful of butter for this purpose. Add four pounds of lean beef cut into pieces and let them brown, turning them a few times, then add a half cupful of hot water and let the whole cook until the juices are reduced to a glaze in the bottom of the pot. This is to give color to the stock. Add six quarts of cold water and the knuckle of veal, and let the mixture simmer for six hours. If the water is allowed to boil the lime will be extracted from the bone and the stock will be clouded. After three hours’ simmering add the soup vegetables, consisting of two stalks of celery, one onion, a few sprigs of parsley, a piece of carrot, three cloves, a bay-leaf, a saltspoonful each of thyme and marjoram, fifteen peppercorns, and a tablespoonful of salt. After six hours’ simmering strain the stock through a cloth laid on a colander, and let it cool. You have now a soup stock. The next day remove the grease, turn the stock into a saucepan carefully so that no sediment goes in, and let it boil, uncovered, until reduced to a thin paste. The stock is now glaze. Be careful toward the end of the cooking that the stock does not burn. Turn the glaze into a small jar and put a little melted butter over the top to exclude the air. When ready to use it heat a little of the glaze to soften it and apply it with a brush.