Two ounces of butter, 1¹⁄₂ gills water, ¹⁄₂ lb. dry, sifted flour, 2 eggs, 2 yolks, seasoning, grated Parmesan, sea-kale, celery, or cauliflower, white sauce.
Method.—Put the water into a stewpan with the butter; as soon as it boils draw the pan to the side of the stove and add the flour, by degrees, stirring quickly all the time with a wooden spoon, and when it is all worked in, a perfectly smooth paste should result. Continue the stirring for a few minutes until the paste is sufficiently dry to leave the sides of the pan, then remove it from the stove and let it cool a little, but it must not get cold; add the eggs, beating one into the paste before putting in the second, then add two more yolks in the same way and season well with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. The paste should now be sufficiently stiff to roll into little balls on a floured board, allowing a heaped teaspoonful for each. When it has all been used, drop a few at a time into a pan of deep fat, which is just under boiling point, taking care to remove them directly they are a golden colour; the temperature must be slightly reduced each time before more little balls are put in, but the pan may be moved to a hotter part of the stove after they have been in a minute or two. Drain the little balls on paper, sprinkle some grated Parmesan over them and serve them with braised sea-kale, or it may be plainly boiled and masked with white sauce; celery or cauliflower would be equally suitable if sea-kale is not available.
BATTER CASSOLETTES
One pint young, shelled peas, mint, ¹⁄₄ pint thick white sauce, ¹⁄₄ lb. flour, 1¹⁄₂ tablespoonfuls salad oil, 2 eggs.
Method.—Put the flour into a basin, make a hollow in the middle and pour in the oil mixed with a quarter of a pint of tepid water, and work in the flour by degrees until it is perfectly smooth, then add one egg at a time, beating each separately into the batter; cover the basin with a cloth and leave for an hour or two. Cook the peas until tender in boiling water, to which salt, two lumps of sugar, and a few leaves of mint have been added. When done, drain them and cover with a thick white sauce, which should be delicately flavoured with chopped mint, and keep hot. Brush some plain dariole moulds over with hot fat, line them with the batter, and plunge them at once into a pan containing some deep, boiling fat; directly the batter is a golden brown, take out the moulds, and with a pointed knife carefully detach the little batter cases from the moulds; brush them over quickly with warm butter, sprinkle with some chopped parsley and fill them with the peas.
BEANS (FRENCH) WITH EGG FRITTERS
One pound French beans (preferably the stringless variety), 2 ozs. butter, 1 tablespoonful minced parsley, a few leaves of tarragon (minced), ¹⁄₂ teaspoonful finely-minced shallot, 1 tablespoonful lemon-juice, salt, pepper, nutmeg, castor sugar, eggs, frying batter.
Method.—Boil the French beans, leaving them whole; if neither stringless nor sufficiently young for the strings not to be noticeable, remove the latter and cut the beans into large diamond-shaped pieces. Directly they are tender drain them thoroughly, finishing them on a soft cloth, and put them into a hot dish; have rather more than one and a half ounces of the butter hot in a saucepan, with a tablespoonful of parsley, the shallot, tarragon, lemon-juice, and seasoning; pour the mixture over the beans and serve them accompanied by egg fritters made thus: Butter as many china egg-poachers as are required and scatter over them a little chopped parsley, salt, and pepper, then carefully break an egg into each and poach them until firm in a sauté (or other suitable) pan, containing sufficient boiling water to rather more than half cover the china cases. When the eggs are ready, put them aside to get cold, then turn them from the cases, dip them into a thick batter, and fry in deep, boiling fat until the fritters are a golden colour; dish them neatly and garnish with watercress.
BROAD BEANS AND BAKED EGGS
Beans, white sauce, eggs, butter, finely-chopped parsley, minced onion, chopped tarragon, seasoning, croutons.