—On a floured board roll half a pound of feuilletage paste ([No. 1076]) into an oval shape, and a quarter of an inch thick. Lay it upside down on an oval dish ten inches long by six wide, and with a knife cut away the superfluous paste. Remove the dish, and place the oval paste in a baking-dish; then roll out the pieces which were cut away, and with a small fancy paste-cutter (No. 1) cut it all up. With a small hair pastry-brush dipped in beaten egg, wet the edges of the oval, and arrange the pieces all around, crown-shaped. Bake this croustade in a moderate oven thirty minutes. Have ready six ounces of boiled rice ([No. 1172]). Peel and core six medium-sized fine apples. Put them into a saucepan with two ounces of powdered sugar, a gill of cold water, and half a saltspoonful of salt. Put on the lid, and let cook on a slow fire for twenty minutes. Arrange half the rice on the croustade, dress the apples over, and fill up the cavities with the rest of the rice. Add to the juice of the apples in the pan two ounces of apricot marmalade ([No. 1335]). Mix well for two minutes and pour it over the whole. Then set it in a slow oven for fifteen minutes. Remove, and beat up two eggs as for a méringue ([No. 1247]), mixing in two ounces of powdered sugar. Put this into a pastry-bag ([No. 1079]), and decorate the surface of the croustade artistically with it, sprinkling a little sugar over. Return it to the oven for five minutes, to get a good color. Pass a knife gently under the croustade, and dexterously slide it from the baking-pan onto a hot dessert-dish, and serve.
1177. Rice with Milk.
—Cleanse well a quarter of a pound of fine Italian rice. Place it in a saucepan with half a pint of water, adding half a pinch of salt, the zest of half a lemon, and one bay-leaf. Cook slowly for twenty-five minutes. Then put in three tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar and a pint of hot milk; finish cooking on a slow fire for ten minutes, and serve in a hot, deep dish.
1178. Rice à la Turque.
—Wash well a quarter of a pound of rice, and blanch for ten minutes in boiling water. Put it into a saucepan, with a pint of milk, and let cook firmly; adding three tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar, and a lump of sugar onto which has been rubbed the peel of half a small lemon; also half an ounce of good butter, one ounce of cleaned currants ([No. 1080]), and a saltspoonful of salt. After twenty minutes, remove from the fire and thoroughly stir in the yolks of four eggs. Place this in a croustade, as for [1176], and put it in a slow oven for fifteen minutes. Remove, sprinkle with a little sugar, pass a hot shovel or salamander over the top; glaze it well, and serve at once.
1179. Rice à l’Indienne.
—Prepare the rice as for the above ([No. 1178]), adding the third of a glassful of rum and a small infusion of diluted powdered saffron, to give it a good color. Serve glazed, as for the preceding ([No. 1178]).
1180. Rice à la Française.
—Wash well, and blanch in boiling water for ten minutes, one-quarter of a pound of Italian rice. Boil in a saucepan with an ounce of butter, adding three tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar, a pint of milk, two bitter almond macaroons ([No. 1209]), half a teaspoonful of orange-flower water, half an ounce of candied orange-peel cut into shreds, about twelve candied cherries cut into halves, and twelve large, seeded, Muscatel raisins ([No. 1081]); also a quarter of an ounce of thin slices of candied angelica. Finish as for rice à la Turque ([No. 1178]), and serve with a sauce thickened with a gill of Alicante or Val-de-peras wine, or sherry, kirsch, or rum.