Meat Rissoles.
For rissoles, cold beef, chicken, veal, tongue, or lamb may be used, separately or mixed. The meat should not be chopped, but cut into quite small dice. It is well to add to it a slight flavoring of chopped pork, and a little finely chopped parsley. As the meat can be prepared in different ways, the addition of a superfluous mushroom or two, cut into dice, would not be amiss.
Put a small piece of butter, size of a pigeon’s egg, into a saucepan, and when it begins to boil add a heaping tea-spoonful of flour; stir for a minute to cook the flour, then add three or four table-spoonfuls of boiling water, or, what is much better, stock, gravy, or brown or white sauce if you happen to have it; when well mixed, add about two cupfuls of the meat dice, heat well, and just before taking from the fire stir in an egg.
The scraps of puff-paste are generally preferred, yet any kind of pie-paste may be used for rissoles. Roll the paste quite thin (one-sixth of an inch); wet it about three inches from the edge, and place upon it little balls (a generous tea-spoonful in each one) of the prepared meat, at distances of four inches apart; now lap over the edge of the paste, quite covering the balls of meat; press the side of the hand between each one, and, with the edge of a tumbler or muffin-ring, press the paste close to the meat; with a biscuit-cutter (scolloped one prettier) cut out each enveloped ball of meat into half circles. Now cut off the rough edges of the remaining paste, and proceed to make other rows of the rissoles in the same manner. With a brush wet all the tops with the yolk of an egg. Bake the rissoles in a hot oven, and serve them hot on a folded napkin. If they get cold, they may be reheated just before serving.
Beef or any Cold-meat Sausages.
Chop cold cooked beef very fine; add a fifth as much pork, also chopped fine; pepper, salt, a little sage, or any herbs preferred, lemon-juice, and a few sprinkles of flour; mix all together with an egg, or eggs; form into little balls, fry in butter or lard in a sauté pan. These sausages are good for breakfast served around a centre of apple-sauce. Or,
For Rice and Meat Cakes,
make as in last receipt, adding a very little butter. Stir in a quarter or half of its quantity of boiled rice; or, on another occasion, bread-crumbs may be substituted for rice.
Beef Croquettes.
