(A cheap White Sauce.)
A good béchamel may be made entirely without meat, when economy is an object, or when no gravy is at hand. Put into a stewpan, or a well-tinned and thick saucepan, with from two to three ounces of butter, a carrot, and a couple of small onions, cut in slices, with a handful of nicely-cleaned mushroom buttons, when these last can be easily procured; and when they have stewed slowly for half an hour, or until the butter is nearly dried up, stir in two tablespoonsful of flour, and pour in a pint of new milk, a little at a time, shaking the stewpan well round, that the sauce may be smooth. Boil the béchamel gently for half an hour; add a little salt, and cayenne; strain, and reduce it, if not quite thick, or pour it boiling to the yolks of two fresh eggs.
ANOTHER COMMON BÉCHAMEL.
Cut half a pound of veal, and a slice of lean ham or smoked beef, into small dice, and stew them in butter, with vegetables, as directed in the foregoing receipt: stir in the same proportion of flour, then add the milk, and let the sauce boil very gently for an hour. It should not be allowed to thicken too much before it is strained.
Obs.—Common béchamel, with the addition of a spoonful of made-mustard, is an excellent sauce for boiled mutton.
RICH MELTED BUTTER.
This is more particularly required in general for lobster sauce, when it is to be served with turbot or brill, and for good oyster sauce. Salmon is itself so rich, that less butter is needed for it than for sauce which is to accompany a drier fish. Mix to a very smooth batter a dessertspoonful of flour, a half-saltspoonful of salt, and half a pint of cold water: put these into a delicately clean saucepan, with from four to six ounces of well-flavoured butter, cut into small bits, and shake the sauce strongly round, almost without cessation, until the ingredients are perfectly blended, and it is on the point of boiling; let it simmer for two or three minutes, and it will be ready for use. The best French cooks recommend its not being allowed to boil, as they say it tastes less of flour if served when it is just at the point of simmering.
Cold water, 1/2 pint; salt, 1/2 spoonful; flour, 1 dessertspoonful: 3 to 4 minutes. Butter, 4 to 6 oz.
MELTED BUTTER.
(A good common Receipt.)