never be too much sauce, however good, to any dish, and that the
consistency is most important: it must be thick enough to mask a spoon,
yet run from it freely. Nothing can be worse than a dab of white mush
being served as sauce, unless it be a quantity of thin, milky soup
floating on every plate. This is where the happy medium must be struck.
It is perfectly easy to give exact proportions to produce certain
degrees of thickness, and this has been done in the chapters on sauces;
but where these sauces are used as a medium in which to cook, for
instance, sweetbreads, a certain amount of liquid must be added to
prevent burning. Now it is impossible to say how fast this added liquid
will diminish if the simmering is as slow as it should be, it may lose
hardly at all, in which case the articles stewed must be taken out, and
a few minutes' hard boiling given to evaporate the liquid and bring the
sauce back to the proper point.
_Sweetbreads in Cases._--Prepare two sweetbreads as directed in the
foregoing recipes. Put them in a stewpan with a thin slice of fat boiled
ham, half a carrot, half a turnip, and a small onion, all cut small, and
laid as a bed under the sweetbreads; put in a gill of broth, a bouquet
of herbs, and half a saltspoonful of salt, with a pinch of pepper. Let
them stew, closely covered, one hour, turning them after the first
half-hour. When done, take them up and drain them. When cold, cover with
thick d'Uxelles sauce; sprinkle thickly with very fine bread crumbs.
Make two rough paper cases, butter each liberally, and very carefully
lay each sweetbread in one, crumbed side uppermost. Put them in a quick
oven till pale brown. Have ready proper sweetbread cases, slip them
neatly into them, and serve.
These are excellent cold, in which event they should not be shifted from
the rough case until ready to serve.
FOOTNOTES:
[101-*] For recipe, see No. V.
XII.
ON THE MANNER OF PREPARING CROQUETTES, CUTLETS, KROMESKIES, RISSOLES,
AND CIGARETTES.
Although these ever-popular dishes are all or may all be prepared from
one mixture, there is a difference in the manner of using it which I
will here explain.
_Croquettes_ are made from a soft creamy mixture chilled on ice till
firm enough to mould, then simply dipped into egg and crumbs and fried
in very hot fat.
_Cutlets_ are the same (of course fancy cutlets are meant, not the
French chops, so called), only they are shaped to imitate a real cutlet,
with a little bone inserted; or, in the case of lobster cutlets, a small
claw is used to simulate the chop bone. Many only stick a sprig of
parsley where the bone should be, to keep up the fiction.
_Kromeskies_ are rolls of the same mixture enveloped in very thin
slices (hardly thicker than paper) of fat larding pork; a small
toothpick holds the pork in place. The rolls are then egged, crumbed,
and fried.
_Rissoles_ are the same thing, only rather easier to prepare, being
rolled in very thin pastry instead of pork.
_Cigarettes_, the newest variation of the favorite entree, and most
dainty of them all in appearance, are thin rolls of croquette mixture
(or, better still, quenelle meat) not thicker than a small cigar. These
are rolled in pastry, thoroughly deadened, pinched very securely, and
fried a very pale brown.
As the manner of making the mixture is about the same for all kinds of
meats, fish, or game, varying only in flavor--a little wine, a little
onion, or sweet herbs taking the place of the mushrooms in some cases--I
will give exact directions for making sweetbread cutlets; chicken, game,
or fish may be substituted for the sweetbreads, naming them accordingly.
The ham may always be omitted where the flavor is objected to. For
those who like it, it adds very much to sweetbreads, but would be out of
place with game, which should depend on its own individual flavor.
_Cutlets of Sweetbreads._--Soak a pair of sweetbreads in salt and water
for an hour--longer if there is much blood about them; then cook them
half an hour in stock. Drain them and let them get cold. Trim off all
superfluous fat and gristle; chop them with one ounce of lean boiled ham
to each pair of large sweetbreads, and half a can of mushrooms, a small
teaspoonful of salt, the sixth of one of pepper. Put an ounce of flour
in a small thick saucepan with an ounce of butter; stir them together
over the fire until they bubble; then add a half-pint of liquid
consisting of a gill of stiff jellied stock and a gill of thick cream;
stir till they boil and form a smooth sauce; mix the sweetbread mixture
with the sauce.
The mixture should be a soft, creamy mass, not in any way so stiff as
sausage-meat, or so as to remain in a heap without spreading; when
poured on a plate, it should be of a consistency that will _slowly_
settle, yet there must not be any liquid whatever. On this question of
consistency depends the quality of the croquettes, cutlets, etc., made
from it. If too stiff, they will be dry and only a superior sort of hash
ball. What you have to aim at is a croquette or cutlet that will ooze
out of the thin shell of egg and crumb when pressed with a fork. Success
in attaining this can always be secured by taking care to moisten the
minced meat with a sauce made of _very stiff jelly_ in the proportion of
half a pint of liquid (the melted jelly and cream) and one ounce each of
flour and butter. This will mix a pint of sweetbread and mushrooms, or
rather less of dry meat, such as the breast of chicken, veal, etc.
I dwell on this point because this class of entrees is always popular,
and if the consistency is once well understood, success is certain to
follow.
When the mixture is poured into shallow dishes or plates, a piece of
buttered paper should be laid over them, and then they should be placed
on ice until quite firm. When ready, cut small pieces of the mixture,
make them into shapes as nearly resembling a French chop as you can,
using a very little cracker meal should they stick to your hands. Have
before you a large dish of cracker meal and the yolks of two eggs beaten
with two small tablespoonfuls of water, cover each cutlet thoroughly
with egg, then with meal, gently patting them to make the meal adhere;
insert anything you please to represent the bone (turkey ribs may be
boiled white and kept for this purpose). Cutlets require to be dropped
into very hot fat, and taken up within two minutes. Consult directions
for frying in former chapter.
Sweetbread croquettes are simply made into cork or pear shapes, never
large, instead of cutlets. When the white meat of chicken replaces half
the sweetbread, they are called Cutlets, or Croquettes, a la Reine.
Make no attempt to mould croquettes or cutlets until the mixture is firm
enough to cut; then handle very quickly, make into proper forms, finish
them either as cutlets or what you wish, and let them remain in a cold
place for an hour or two before cooking; this last direction may not be
always possible, and to an expert is not necessary, but when time can be
given the amateur should always plan to do it.
But though in experienced hands it is possible (though not so easy) to
make croquettes and fry them as soon as breaded, do not be led to
believe that you can dispense with putting the mixture on the ice the
first time. I remember a young lady who was very proud of her croquettes
telling me she never found it necessary to chill the mixture; she could
secure perfect shape without. I asked to see the process, and decided in
my own mind that she must go widely from the directions, and have her
material as stiff as hash; but I found she solved the difficulty in a
different way: she simply worked in quantities of cracker meal, using it
like flour. Of course the croquettes were spoiled, although it was true
they kept their shape, and I do not think the young lady realized at all
that she was changing and impoverishing the preparation altogether.
_Braised Sweetbreads._--Take a pair of sweetbreads, lay in salt and
water for an hour, then blanch. Press slightly between two dishes; when
cold, remove all skin, fat, and gristle; cut up very fine a small
carrot, a turnip, and an onion; put them in a stewpan with the
sweetbreads, pour over them a pint of stock, lay a piece of buttered
paper over them, and braise carefully for half an hour. Take them out of
the stewpan, put them in a small meat-pan, boil the liquor rapidly a
couple of minutes, then baste the sweetbreads with it several times; put
them in a quick oven to brown; serve on slices of fried bread, pour half
a pint of Spanish sauce round, and garnish with mushrooms.
_Tartlettes of Chicken._--Cut six ounces of the breast of a cooked
chicken into very small pieces, chop up one truffle, twelve mushrooms,
and two ounces of lean boiled ham; stir them into a gill of white sauce.
Butter thickly nine dariole moulds, line them neatly with quenelle
meat,[114-*] of which you will require half a pound, fill the centre
carefully with the mixed chicken, cover the top carefully with quenelle
meat, and steam for twenty minutes; dish on a circle of spinach, pour
bechamel sauce over and round, fill the centre of the dish with peas or
mixed vegetables.
_Chicken a la Hollandaise._--Take out the breast-bone of a large _young_
fowl, and fill the space with the following force-meat: half a pint of
fine bread-crumbs, an ounce and a half of butter, a small boiled onion
chopped, and a dozen oysters cut into small pieces; a saltspoonful of
salt, a pinch of pepper; bind together with an egg, sew up the fowl,
and truss for roasting. Make a nice batter, as for fine fritters, and
when the fowl has been in the oven half an hour, pour part of the batter
over it; when dry and beginning to brown, pour more, until it is thickly
coated and a nice brown; baste often; cut up the chicken, and serve with
Allemande sauce and lemon.
FOOTNOTES:
[114-*] See directions in No. IV.
XIII.
PATTIES.
The directions for making one kind will serve for patties generally. In
cities the cases are very easily bought, but where they have to be made
at home, only one who is already an expert in making puff-paste should
attempt them.
Patties when served as an entree should be quite small, or half of them
will certainly be left on the plates.
Roll puff-paste a quarter of an inch thick for each patty, cut three
circles from it, moisten the surface of two very slightly with water,
place one on the other, then with a sharp penknife cut a circle nearly
through the third round, leaving a margin of one third of an inch; lay
this round carefully on the other two; brush the top with white of egg
(be sure not to touch the sides), and bake in a very quick oven. Patties
must be watched, and turned if they show signs of rising unevenly. When
they are a fine yellow-brown take them out, and leave five minutes for
them to cool slightly, then with a penknife or a boning-knife carefully
remove the top formed by the smaller circle you marked, and which (if
the paste was very light and the oven in good condition) will probably
have risen out of the centre. Be careful in handling these covers, for
while warm they are very brittle. With a coffee-spoon remove the
half-cooked dough from the centre of the patty, taking care, however, to
leave sufficient thickness of inner crust to prevent the sauce from
oozing through.
The filling for patties can be made before it is needed; but when that
is done, it must be made quite hot before it is put into the cases, as,
if it were put in cold, the pastry would burn before the inside became
warm.
_Dresden Patty Cases._--These make a very pretty kind of patty when
puff-paste is not to be had, and even when it is are a desirable
variety. They are made from fine light baker's bread. Cut slices an inch
and a half thick, then with a biscuit cutter about two inches in
diameter cut circles from these slices, and with another cutter, a size
smaller, press half-way through each. You will now have pieces of bread
the size and shape of patties. Beat four eggs; mix with a pint of milk
and a saltspoonful of salt; pour this into a shallow pan, and stand the
bread patties in it. The amount of milk and eggs must of course depend
on the number of patties; the proportion named is enough for six small
ones. The patties must remain steeping until they are thoroughly soaked;
they must be carefully turned upside down when the lower part is
sufficiently steeped. The time required will depend on the quality of
the bread, but one hour will generally suffice. The bread must be
thoroughly penetrated by the custard, be almost as moist as mush, yet
be in no danger (with careful handling) of breaking. When sufficiently
steeped, take each one on a cake turner and lay it on a drainer. (They
may be prepared some hours before they are needed for cooking.) When
quite drained, baste each one carefully with beaten egg till every part
is coated, then smother it in cracker meal. Gently pat it to make it
adhere, then slip the patty on to a dish till you are ready to fry. Do
not attempt to move the patties with the hand or a spoon, but with a
flat skimmer or cake turner.
When prepared as directed, make three pounds of lard _very hot_ in a
deep frying-kettle,[119-*] place three of the patties on a fine wire
frying-basket, and fry brown. The fat should be excessively hot, as the
patties, being full of cold custard, will not burn, and will rapidly
cool it. They should be a delicate brown in six or seven minutes. Let
the fat come back to the original intense heat before putting in the
other patties. When they are fried, remove the centre you marked with
the smaller cutter with a sharp thin knife and small teaspoon, leaving
the sides about half an inch thick. They are now ready to fill. If the
patties are just right, the inside you remove should be of a
custard-like texture, _not_ like sopped bread: indeed, in eating them,
the bread should not be easily detected. These patties are very
delicious filled with any of the usual fillings, or, for dessert, with
stiff preserve. They have no covers, consequently the filling should be
piled high without allowing the sauce to run over, and garnished with
parsley or water-cress.
_Sweetbread Patties._--Soak two very white sweetbreads in salt and water
one hour; parboil for twenty minutes; then let them cool; remove the
skin, fat, and gristle; cut them into half-inch dice, and lay them aside
while you prepare the following sauce: Put a gill of strong white stock
into a small saucepan with a gill of mushroom liquor (and a dozen small
mushrooms cut in four if approved) to boil. In another saucepan cook an
ounce of flour and one of butter together, stirring till they bubble;
pour the two gills of stock quickly to it, and stir till smooth. Season
with half a teaspoonful of salt and very little pepper; lay in the
sweetbreads, and let them stew twenty minutes. Strain them off from the
sauce, which boil down (stirring constantly to prevent burning) till
very thick; then add a gill of thick fresh cream. The sauce should now
be thick enough to mask the spoon _very heavily_; pour it over the
sweetbreads, and stir together. This is now ready for filling the
patties. If mushrooms are not liked they may be omitted, the liquor
replaced by a gill of stock and a teaspoonful of white wine.
_Oyster Patties._--Take a dozen and a half Blue Points, scald them in
their own liquor, but do not leave them a moment after they reach the
boiling-point; strain the liquor from them; cut each oyster in four. Put
a tablespoonful of flour and one of butter into a small saucepan over
the fire, stir them together until they bubble; then pour to them half a
pint of the strained liquor of the oysters, or part liquor and part
stock. Stir continually, and let the sauce boil very thick; then lay in
the oysters, and simmer half a minute. The amount of seasoning required
will depend on the saltness of the oysters, but a saltspoonful of salt
will probably not be too much, a little pepper, and a teaspoonful of
essence of anchovies--just enough to make the sauce a delicate
salmon-color. For the last thing, stir in one small teaspoonful of lemon
juice. The consistency of the sauce for all patties should be that of
very thick double cream. When it is not thick enough, it can always be
reduced by boiling down, taking care not to boil the meat or oysters,
etc., in it.
_Chicken Patties._--Take the breast of a boiled chicken, cut it into
dice; use half a pint of the liquor in which it was boiled to make the
sauce. Put this broth in a small saucepan with a teaspoonful of lean
boiled ham chopped a little (take care there is not a particle of the
outside of the ham, or it may impart a smoky flavor); let the ham simmer
in the broth while you melt together a tablespoonful of flour and one of
butter; when they bubble, and the broth has been boiled down to about
one half, _strain_ the latter into a half-pint measure, fill up with
cream, and stir this quickly to the flour and butter. When the sauce is
thick and smooth, put in the chicken; keep the mixture at boiling-point
five minutes, then set the saucepan in another of boiling water, and
stir in the beaten yolks of two eggs; only just let them thicken; then
remove from the fire, and use for filling the patty cases. A teaspoonful
of sherry is often added to the sauce. If this filling is not used while
hot, it must be reheated in a double boiler and watched, or the eggs
will curdle; or the filling may be prepared and the eggs added after it
is reheated.
_Bouchees_ of any kind are simply patties made very small indeed--for
this reason the filling is always _chopped_ instead of being cut into
dice.
The essence of anchovy mentioned is a most useful sauce for fish, and
can be bought at any large grocery.
FOOTNOTES:
[119-*] See full directions for frying in No. X.
XIV.
ENTREES.
In an earlier chapter I gave directions for quenelles as an adjunct to
soups and for garnishing. Used in this way, they are only a revival of
an old French fashion, coarsely imitated in the benighted days of
Anglo-Saxon cookery by the English "force-meat balls." Lately, however,
not only are quenelles a great feature in high-class cookery as
additions to made dishes, but they are a most fashionable and delicious
entree, and replace with great advantage the too-frequent croquette.
To prepare quenelle meat for entrees.
_Mode No. 1._--To make quenelle meat, a mortar is indispensable, as it
must be pounded to a pulp that will go through a sieve, and I have known
a persevering woman grate the breast of chicken on a large grater, but
this is very slow work. Take the white meat from a large, young,
uncooked chicken, and remove all skin, fat, and sinew. Melt together
over the fire a scant tablespoonful of butter and one of flour; when
they are thick and smooth, stir in a gill of boiling water quickly. This
should now be a thick paste; put it away to cool. Take half as much
butter as you have of chicken, and half the quantity of paste
(technically called panada) that you have of butter. Put the paste into
a mortar; pound it well; add the butter; pound again till smooth; add
the chicken, cut up very small, and pound until the whole forms a smooth
pulp. Add one whole egg and the yolks of three, the third of a
saltspoonful of white pepper (salt must depend on whether the butter
seasons sufficiently). Work all well together, stir in half a gill of
thick cream, and pass the whole through a wire sieve. Put the whole on
ice to get firm. The quenelles should be about the size of a small egg
flattened; shape with two tablespoons dipped in flour. Have ready a
frying-pan with boiling water in which is a saltspoonful of salt, lay
each quenelle carefully in, and poach for ten minutes. The water must
boil very gently. Drain on a sieve; serve with mushroom or tomato sauce.
Have a little dried parsley and grated tongue or ham, and scatter
alternately on each quenelle.
_Mode No. 2._--One pound of lean veal cutlet; pound it thoroughly in a
mortar; then rub it through a sieve, or it may be forced (_after_ it is
pounded) through a vegetable strainer. Steep a pound of bread crumb in
tepid water; wring it in a cloth to get rid of the moisture; put it in a
stewpan with a tablespoonful of butter and a pinch of salt. Stir it over
the fire until it ceases to stick to the pan and forms a smooth paste.
Place it between two plates to cool. This is called bread panada. Put
into a mortar twelve ounces of the prepared veal, six ounces of fresh
butter, and eight ounces of the panada. Pound all well together; mix in
gradually one whole egg, two tablespoonfuls of thick cream, and the
yolks of four more eggs, a scant teaspoonful of salt, and a
quarter-saltspoonful of pepper. When this is all pounded into a smooth,
compact mass, put it into a bowl and place it on ice until required for
use. Mould and poach as described in last recipe.
Great care is required in cooking quenelles, as if they are overdone
they become tough; ten minutes is enough for those the size of a small
egg. Before moulding the whole, poach a small one, break it open, and
ascertain if it is smooth, light, yet firm. They should melt in the
mouth. If they are at all tough, add a little more cream to the mixture,
unless the toughness comes from over-boiling, which you must guard
against. Very elaborate quenelles are made with a core of dark meat,
made by chopping up ham, tongue, or truffles very fine, and inserting
it in the centre while forming the quenelles. Always serve quenelles
with tomato, mushroom, or rich Spanish sauce. Dish in a circle, and fill
the centre with spinach, green peas, or a macedoine of mixed vegetables.
The mode of preparing all quenelles is by one of the two methods just
given, but they may be made of any kind of game, or the backs of hares
or rabbits. Quenelles of salmon, lobster, or other fish must of course
be served with appropriate fish sauce.
_Timbale of Chicken a la Champenois._--Chop a small slice of lean boiled
ham, weighing about two ounces, put into a saucepan with four chopped
mushrooms, four truffles, and an ounce of butter; stir in a moderate
dessertspoonful of corn-starch and half a pint of stock and a gill of
sherry; let this slowly simmer until reduced to one half. Skim off the
fat, then stir in the finely chopped breast of a large chicken or of two
small ones, six small pickled gherkins, a sprig of parsley, and six
anchovies which have been soaked in milk. Make all hot over a slow fire,
but do not let them boil. Line a mould with light puff-paste, pour the
mixture into it, and bake one hour; turn out and serve very hot. Garnish
with fried parsley.
_Scallops of Chicken a la Perigord._--This dish may conveniently be made
when the white meat of chicken is required for other purposes.
Bone the legs of two large chickens; take half a pound of veal, a
quarter of a pound of fat salt pork; pound both in a mortar, then pass
through a sieve; add to this two tablespoonfuls of minced tongue, six
truffles, and half a dozen button mushrooms, the yolks of two eggs, a
saltspoonful of salt, and a _very little_ cayenne. Mix well. Stuff the
legs of the fowls with this. Sewing them up neatly, wrap each up in
buttered paper; put them in a stewpan with two ounces of butter and a
carrot, turnip, and small onion cut up; add three quarters of a pint of
brown stock. Put the stewpan in the oven, baste well, and cook gently
one hour. When cooked, have ready a mound of spinach. Take a _very
sharp_ knife, cut the legs in slices so as to make circles like slices
of sausage; strain off the gravy. Cook together a dessertspoonful of
butter and flour; when they bubble, pour the strained gravy to it, with
a gill of sherry and a little salt and pepper; stir till smooth; boil
till as thick as cream. Dress the scallops of chicken in a circle round
the spinach, pour the sauce round all, and insert bits of truffle and of
tongue between the scallops.
_Chicken Souffle._--Pound three ounces of the white meat of cooked
chicken as fine as possible; mix with it half a pint of cream and three
well beaten eggs, a few button mushrooms finely chopped, a saltspoonful
of salt, a sixth of one of pepper, a dust of cayenne, and a speck of
powdered mace. Pour the mixture in a well-buttered mould, tie a cloth
over it, and steam it half an hour. It must stand quite upright in the
steamer. Turn out on a hot dish, and pour any rich brown sauce preferred
around it. This souffle may be made of sweetbreads, or half and half. If
individual souffles are preferred, butter as many dariole moulds as the
mixture will fill; lay at the bottom of each something by way of
garnish--a little star or disk of tongue or ham for some, of truffle for
others, of green gherkin for others--so that when turned out the top of
the souffles will show spots of color. Half fill the moulds, and steam
twenty minutes.