QUENELLES À LA REINE
Two ounces of crumb from a milk loaf, 1¹⁄₂ ozs. butter, 1 oz. peeled onion, 1 large teaspoonful chopped parsley, 4 ozs. pine kernels, 1¹⁄₂ gills milk, yolk of 1 raw egg, 1 pint thick white sauce, seasoning, sippets.
Method.—Wash the pine kernels two or three times in boiling water and pass them twice through a nut-mill or fine mincer; boil the onion for six minutes, drain it and mince it; melt one ounce of butter in a small omelet pan, put in the onion and nuts and fry very gently until the onion is a golden colour. While this is being done, cook the breadcrumb in the milk with the remaining half ounce of butter; as soon as it is reduced to a paste, take it from the stove, beat it well, and add the chopped parsley, then pound the onion and nuts in a mortar for a few minutes; add the bread paste, and as soon as the mixture is very light and white in appearance, put in the yolk; season with salt, pepper, a little mace, and a squeeze of lemon juice, and complete the pounding. Pass the mixture through a fine wire sieve into a basin, then turn it on to a floured board, roll it into the shape of a long sausage, and divide it into seven equal portions; butter seven little quenelle moulds and put in the mixture, smooth the top with a knife which has been dipped into hot water and poach the quenelles in the white sauce, which should be boiling, for fifteen minutes. Arrange some carefully-prepared mashed potato on a hot silver dish, so that it forms an even surround with rather a deep hollow in the middle. Unmould the quenelles, put them in the middle of the potato, and pour the sauce over them, and garnish with little kite-shaped sippets of fried bread.
RICE FRITTERS WITH BROAD BEANS
Four ounces rice, vegetable stock (white), seasoning, batter for frying, broad beans, maître d’hôtel sauce, 2 eggs, 1 tablespoonful grated cheese, 1 oz. onion, 1¹⁄₂ ozs. butter.
Method.—Put the rice into cold salted water, and when it reaches boiling point keep it boiling steadily for six minutes, then drain it and put it into a saucepan containing sufficient boiling vegetable stock to cover it and cook until it is very tender. Fry the onion in one ounce of butter until it is just cooked, but do not let it become brown, add the rice to it, season with salt, pepper, a dust of curry powder, and the grated cheese, then add half an ounce of butter and a well-beaten egg, and spread out on a dish to get cold. Take a small quantity of the rice at a time and form it into little flat cakes rather larger than a five shilling piece; dip these into a thick batter and fry them in plenty of boiling oil or vegetable fat; arrange the fritters in a circle on a hot dish and fill the middle with some very young broad beans covered with a sauce made as follows: Make half a pint of thick white sauce; add a tablespoonful of finely-chopped parsley, a dessertspoonful of lemon-juice, a little cayenne pepper, and half an ounce of fresh butter in small pieces, and it will be ready for use.
ROASTED POTATOES WITH MUSHROOMS
Six medium-sized potatoes (of uniform shape), vegetable butter, 3 ozs. minced mushrooms, 1 slice onion (scalded and minced), 1 oz. dairy butter, 2 ozs. finely-sieved Hovis breadcrumbs, 1 teaspoonful chopped parsley, 1 egg, seasoning, thick brown sauce, parsley for garnishing.
Method.—Trim the potatoes, after peeling them, so that they are round and as nearly the same size as possible (the trimmings can be used for soup), and cut a piece from one end so that they will stand upright; put them into a baking tin containing some hot vegetable butter and bake in a well-heated oven until they are nicely browned, basting them frequently. When done remove the centre of the inside with an apple corer or small tubular-shaped cutter and fill the cavity with mushrooms, prepared as below. Replace the potatoes in the oven for about ten minutes, and serve them surrounded by some thick brown sauce flavoured with a few drops of Maggi’s essence, and a little piece of parsley on the top of each. For the stuffing, fry the mushrooms and onion in the butter for ten minutes, stirring gently all the time, then add the breadcrumbs and the chopped parsley, season with salt, pepper, and a little mace or nutmeg, and stir over the fire for six minutes more; remove the pan at the end of the time and moisten the mixture with sufficient beaten egg to bring it to a fairly stiff paste and use as directed.