Smelts, Broiled.—Clean thoroughly six medium-sized smelts; split them down the back; rub a little oil over them; place them on a double broiler, and broil. When done, serve with sauce tartare (which see).
Smelts, Fried.—Thoroughly clean the smelts, leaving the heads on; dip them in beaten egg; roll them in fine cracker dust, and fry in very hot fat; garnish with parsley and lemons, quartered, and send to table with sauce tartare (which see).
Squabs are very nice broiled, but are at their best served as follows;—Select a pair of plump birds; clean them, cut off the legs, and remove the heads without breaking or tearing the neck skin; insert the forefinger in it, and separate the skin over the breast from the flesh; fill this with a nicely-seasoned bread stuffing, and fasten the loose end of the neck to the back. Place a thin wide slice of bacon over the breast, and fasten the ends with wooden toothpicks; put them in a pan; dredge with a little flour, and bake to a delicate brown; serve with fresh green peas.
Spring chicken may be treated in the same way.
Steak, Tenderloin; Sauce Bearnaise.—Cut a thick steak off the large end of a beef tenderloin; flatten it out a little; rub olive-oil or butter over it, and broil over a charcoal fire; place it on a hot dish, add a little pepper and salt, and serve with sauce Bearnaise.
Sauce Bearnaise.—Reduce a gallon of strong, clear soup to a quart by constant boiling. Beat up the yolks of four eggs; pour them into a buttered saucepan, and add gradually—whisking all the time—the reduced soup, a tablespoonful of strong garlic vinegar (or, if preferred, plain vinegar, and the expressed juice of garlic or shallots), pepper, salt, and a little lemon juice. Stir with a wooden spoon.
Care must be exercised not to add the soup while hot to the eggs, or it will curdle, and yet do not add it cold.
Steak, Sirloin; Sauce Bordelaise.—Select a steak cut from the best part of the sirloin; trim it neatly; rub a little oil over it, and broil over a charcoal fire; serve with the following sauce:
Sauce Bordelaise is easiest made as follows: Chop up one medium onion, or, better still, two shallots; fry them in butter until brown; add a pint of strong clear soup or beef gravy, half a pint of claret or white wine, salt, pepper, and a teaspoonful of chopped parsley; simmer, and if not quite thick enough add a little browned flour.
Tomato Sauce.—Open a can of Baldwin tomatoes, which contain but little liquid; simmer them gently for three quarters of an hour; season with salt, cayenne, a clove of garlic, bruised, and very little mace. Press them through a fine sieve; put the pulp in a clean, hot stewpan, with a little butter; stir to prevent burning, and, when quite thick, serve.