OYSTER CASES
Line buttered paper cases, or china individual cups, with a layer of fish quenelle forcemeat (page [298]), or with the fish preparation given in receipt for fish pudding (page [123]); scald some oysters in their own liquor until the gills curl; cut each oyster into four pieces and fill the center of the cup with them; pour over them a tablespoonful of Béchamel sauce, made with oyster-liquor in place of stock; cover the top with forcemeat, brush it over with butter and bake in a moderate oven for fifteen minutes.
Cases of other combinations may be made in the same way; using mashed potato for the lining and any creamed meat for filling; or use hominy or rice with chicken, mushrooms, etc.
LIVER LOAF, OR FALSE PÂTÉ DE FOIE GRAS
Cut a calf’s liver in pieces; pound it in a mortar and press it through a sieve; add to one cupful of liver pulp one quarter cupful of flour panada, one teaspoonful each of butter and salt; one half teaspoonful of pepper; dash each of cayenne and of nutmeg and allspice, and two eggs. Mix well together and pass it again through the sieve. Put the mixture into a well-buttered pint mold; place it in a pan of hot water in the oven for forty-five minutes or more. An ice-cream brick-mold makes a loaf of convenient shape. It may be served hot with a brown sauce; but is better cold with salad, or used like pâté de foie gras. A loaf of any game may be made in the same way. The loaf may be made very ornamental by decorating it with pieces of truffle, ham, and white of hard-boiled eggs cut into diamond shapes and fitted together to look like blocks. To arrange this decoration use two molds of the same size; butter one of them and apply carefully the decoration; line the other with thin slices of larding pork and cook the liver or game mixture in it; when it is cold remove the pork, and this will leave it small enough to fit into the decorated mold. Fill the space between them with aspic jelly and let it become well set before unmolding the form.
CHICKEN LIVERS
Cut the gall carefully off the livers; dry them with a cloth and cut them in two or more pieces. Place them in a frying-pan with a tablespoonful of butter, and sauté until cooked, or about five minutes. Turn them often, so they will not burn, and dredge them with a little flour; add one cupful of Espagnole, or of brown sauce, and one half cupful of Madeira; season with salt and pepper and let simmer slowly for ten minutes. If the color is not dark enough, add a few drops of caramel or of kitchen bouquet; serve with croûtons around the dish, or in a croustade, or in fontage cups.
STUFFED MUSHROOMS
Take off the stalks from one pound of fresh mushrooms, peel the cups, using a silver knife, and drop them into cold water to keep them white (if exposed to the air they discolor). If they have to stand for some time put a little lemon-juice in the water; scrape the stalks, chop them and put them into a saucepan with one tablespoonful of butter and one half onion sliced; cook slowly for ten minutes, then add one tablespoonful of flour and cook that five minutes; add one cupful of stock and one half cupful of bread crumbs; season with salt, pepper, and a dash of cayenne. Fill the cups of the mushrooms with this mixture; sprinkle with crumbs and place them on circles of toasted bread one quarter of an inch thick and the size of the mushroom. Bake in moderate oven for fifteen minutes.