Thoroughly wash six large, fresh mushrooms. Cut off the stalks, chop up very fine half a sound, peeled shallot, as well as the mushroom stalks, place in a pan with a tablespoonful of good butter and two drops of lemon juice. Season with half a pinch of salt and half a saltspoonful of pepper. Cook five minutes, without browning, then add the mushroom-tops, with half a glassful of Madeira wine; reduce for two minutes; add now half a gill of demi-glace ([No. 185]); let cook for five minutes longer.
Dress the tomatoes on a hot serving-dish, place one head of mushroom on top of each tomato, upside down, pour a little of the sauce over the six mushrooms, and the rest on the dish around the tomatoes; arrange a thin slice of truffle on top of each head of mushroom, and send to the table.
HOW TO CARVE.
The art of cookery and carving is an old one. During the Roman Empire it was taught by professors in the schools, and had at that time attained a high standard. France leads all nations in the art of cooking and carving, although the United States is not far behind in this respect.
Good cooking and carving go hand in hand. It is no trifle to prepare and cook a good dinner; but it is an easy matter to spoil the effect, if not the entire dinner, by negligent carving.
The first and most important factor is a strong and very sharp knife.
Chickens.
—Lay the roasted chicken (of three to four pounds) on its side. Stick your fork into the leg and lift it up, meanwhile holding down firmly the rest of the chicken. Then cut through the joint on the back; pressing the joint between the leg and second joint, cut through. Stick your fork into the wing so as not to interfere with the knife; cut through the joint and loosen the meat surrounding it; pull down with the fork and press firmly on the carcass with the knife. If done carefully, you can pull all the meat from the breast with the wing. Then cut each breast, crosswise, in half. Turn around, and proceed as in the first operation.