The Fireless Cook Book / A Manual of the Construction and Use of Appliances for Cooking by Retained Heat, with 250 Recipes

by Margaret Johnes Mitchell

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup milk
• ¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt
• Few grains of white pepper

Melt the butter over moderate heat, add the flour, and blend the two thoroughly. Heat the milk over hot water, add it, one-third at a time, to the butter and flour, stirring constantly and allowing the mixture to become perfectly smooth and glossy before adding more milk. Season it and allow it to come to the boiling point. If it is not to be served immediately, cover it and slip it into the cooker to keep hot.

Sauce for Vegetables

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• ¹⁄₂ cup of vegetable stock
• ¹⁄₂ cup milk
• ¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt
• Few grains of white pepper

Make the sauce in the same manner as [white sauce], blending the milk and water in which the vegetables were cooked, which is called vegetable stock.

Brown Sauce

• 2 tablespoons butter or clarified fat
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup [brown stock]
• ¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt
• ¹⁄₁₆ teaspoon pepper

Brown the butter slightly, add the flour and stir constantly until the flour is a rich brown. Add the seasoning and stock, one-third at a time, stirring it until smooth. If butter is not used, add the flour as soon as the fat is melted, as other fats will acquire a strong flavour if allowed to brown before the flour is added. Mutton or lamb fat, or that from smoked or salted meats, is not suitable for brown sauce.

Drawn Butter Sauce

• ¹⁄₄ cup butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup boiling water
• ¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt
• ¹⁄₁₆ teaspoon white pepper