1017. Risotto à la Milanaise.
—Chop rather fine one good-sized, very sound, peeled onion. Melt two ounces of very good butter in a saucepan on a very brisk fire; add the onions, brown them for six or seven minutes, or until they have obtained a good golden color; then add ten ounces of well-picked Italian rice (a heaped cupful), with two good-sized chopped truffles; stir well with the spatula without ceasing for one and a half minutes, then add one quart of boiling and strained white broth ([No. 99]), lightly stir once only, and cook for fourteen minutes. Add six fine chopped mushrooms, and little by little, at intervals, another quart of boiling white broth—stirring almost constantly with the wooden spatula while cooking, very rapidly, for ten minutes more. Season with a heavy half-teaspoonful of salt, a light saltspoonful of white pepper, adding one and a half ounces of grated Swiss cheese, and a heaped teaspoonful of Spanish branch saffron, diluted in two tablespoonfuls of hot white broth, and strained. Cook for three or four minutes longer, stirring continually meanwhile; then pour it into a hot soup-tureen, and send to the table with a little grated Swiss cheese, separate. A little beef-marrow can be added to advantage, by making a small cavity in the centre, while yet in the pan, one minute before the time to serve, and plunging into it one tablespoonful of marrow.
1018. Oyster-plant Sauté au Beurre.
—Scrape nicely a large bunch of fine oyster-plant; plunge it into cold water containing two tablespoonfuls of vinegar, so as to prevent it from turning black. Take it from the water, drain, and cut it into two-inch-long pieces. Place them in a saucepan, with two tablespoonfuls of vinegar and two tablespoonfuls of flour; mix well; cover with plenty of cold water and a handful of salt; put the lid on, and let them boil slowly for forty minutes. Then drain, and return them to a sautoire, with an ounce and a half of the best butter procurable; season with half a pinch of pepper, the juice of half a lemon, and a teaspoonful of chopped parsley. Heat well for five minutes, tossing occasionally; then place them in a hot, deep dish, and serve.
1019. Oyster-plant à la Poulette.
—Scrape nicely a good-sized bunch of fine, fresh oyster-plant; plunge it at once into acidulated water, and when well washed, drain, and cut it into two-inch pieces. Place them in a saucepan, and boil them in plenty of water, adding two pinches of salt, two tablespoonfuls of vinegar, and the same quantity of diluted flour. After forty minutes, or as soon as they bend to the finger, they are done. Lift them out, drain them well, and serve with a pint of hot poulette sauce ([No. 598]) poured over them.
1020. Oyster-plant Sauté à la Crême.
—To be cooked the same as for [No. 1019]; but after draining them, place them in a sautoire with a gill of béchamel sauce ([No. 154]) and a gill of sweet cream. Season with half a pinch of salt, a quarter of a pinch of pepper, and the third of a pinch of nutmeg. Let all heat well together for five minutes, stirring lightly with a wooden spoon, and serve in a hot, deep dish.
1021. Fried Oyster-plant.
—Cook a good bunch of oyster-plant as for [No. 1019], and, when done, put it in a dish, and season with half a pinch each of salt and pepper, and a tablespoonful of vinegar. Dip it well in a good fritter batter ([No. 1190]), and fry it in very hot fat for five minutes, separating the pieces with a spoon. Lift them up with a skimmer, drain on a cloth, sprinkle a very little salt over them, and serve on a folded napkin, decorating with a little fried parsley.