FRICASSEE OF EGGS
Two pounds of spinach, 4 hard-boiled eggs, 1 raw yolk, ³⁄₄ pint thick white sauce, 1 tablespoonful tomato sauce, 1 tablespoonful cream, ¹⁄₂ oz. butter, seasoning, sippets.
Method.—Cook the spinach, drain it and pass it through a sieve, and re-heat it with half a gill of white sauce; season it with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and a pinch of castor sugar, add half an ounce of butter and turn it on to a hot dish. Mould it into a mound and make a hollow in the centre, fill this with the fricassee, and garnish the spinach with little sippets of fried bread. Make the remainder of the white sauce hot in a stewpan, and as soon as it has boiled draw the pan to the side of the stove and stir in the yolk of egg, which has been previously beaten with the cream, then add the tomato sauce, and place the stewpan in a larger pan of hot water on the stove and put in the hard-boiled eggs, cut into slices. As soon as they are hot, the fricassee will be ready.
GREEN PEA CUTLETS
One pint of young, shelled peas, some mint, 2 small onions, 2¹⁄₂ ozs. butter, 1 oz. flour, ¹⁄₄ pint milk, 1 whole egg, 1 raw yolk, breadcrumbs, 4 ozs. rice, 1 small saltspoonful powdered saffron, 1¹⁄₂ ozs. grated cheese, 1 pint colourless vegetable stock, seasoning, thick brown sauce.
Method.—Put the peas into a saucepan of boiling water, to which a piece of mint, some salt, sugar, and a pinch of soda have been added, and let them cook steadily until they are done. Boil one onion in salted water until it is tender, then drain it well and rub it through a sieve. Melt one ounce of the butter in a sauté pan and stir in the flour; moisten by degrees with the milk, stirring quickly until the sauce is perfectly smooth and very thick, then add the yolk of egg and sieved onion; season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg, add about a quarter of a teaspoonful of chopped mint, and lastly the peas (which should be well drained), and spread the mixture on a dish to get cold. Take a small portion at a time and form into the shape of a little cutlet on a floured board; insert a piece of macaroni at the end to represent the bone, and when the mixture has all been used, brush them over with beaten egg and cover with finely-sifted breadcrumbs. When the latter have had time to dry, fry the cutlets in boiling oil, and serve round a support of rice prepared as follows, and send to the table with a boat of thick brown sauce flavoured with Madeira. Put the rice into a saucepan of cold, salted water, bring it gradually to boiling point, and let it boil rapidly for six minutes, then rinse it in a colander under the cold water tap, and drain it well. Mince the remaining onion and put it into a stewpan containing one ounce of butter, and let it simmer gently until it begins to get soft, but it must not acquire any colour, then add the rice, saffron, and stock; when the latter has boiled, draw the pan to the side of the stove where the rice can simmer steadily until it is quite soft; season it well, add the cheese, which should be dry and mild, and half an ounce of butter divided into tiny pieces, and use as directed; the saffron can of course be omitted if the flavour is disliked, and some chopped parsley substituted for it.
MACARONI PIE
Three ounces of large, straight macaroni, 1 small onion stuck with 2 cloves, 1 stick celery, 4 artichokes, 1 thick slice of turnip, ¹⁄₂ pint thick tomato sauce, 1 teaspoonful chopped parsley, 1 tablespoonful grated Parmesan cheese, seasoning, potato paste, beaten egg.
Method.—Put the macaroni and vegetables in a saucepan containing some boiling water, season well and cook steadily for an hour, then drain the macaroni and cut it into small pieces; cut up the vegetables with which it was boiled, excepting the onion, and put all into a buttered pie-dish, season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg, sprinkle in the cheese and parsley and pour in the sauce; cover with the potato paste, brush over the top with beaten egg and bake in a quick oven. Two or three hard-boiled eggs, cut into quarters, can be added to the other ingredients if liked; serve the pie with stewed lettuce prepared thus: Wash some freshly-cut, compact lettuces, then tie each with a piece of narrow white tape, and parboil them; drain them and put them into a buttered stewpan, containing a small quantity of onion, which has been scalded and minced; season with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and a dust of sugar; cover the pan and let them simmer for ten minutes, then pour in sufficient nicely-flavoured milk-stock to nearly cover them. Place a greased paper over the lettuces before putting on the lid of the pan, and let them cook in a moderate oven until tender; when done, take out the lettuces, untie them, cut them in half, and keep them hot in a vegetable dish while the sauce is being made. Thicken the stock in which the lettuces were cooked with some potato flour mixed with a small quantity of cream, and when it has thickened, add a squeeze of lemon-juice and a sprinkle of chopped parsley, and pour through a pointed strainer over the lettuce. For the potato paste put half a pound of potatoes (cooked and sieved) into a basin, add six ounces of flour, season with salt and pepper and add a teaspoonful of baking powder, then rub in three ounces of butter and moisten sufficiently with beaten egg and cold milk to form a smooth and fairly stiff paste. Knead it well and roll it out on a floured board to about half an inch in thickness, and cut into the required size and shape for the pie.