and pass them twice through a nut-mill or fine mincer; boil the onion
for six minutes, drain it and mince it; melt one ounce of butter in
a small omelet pan, put in the onion and nuts and fry very gently
until the onion is a golden colour. While this is being done, cook
the breadcrumb in the milk with the remaining half ounce of butter;
as soon as it is reduced to a paste, take it from the stove, beat it
well, and add the chopped parsley, then pound the onion and nuts in
a mortar for a few minutes; add the bread paste, and as soon as the
mixture is very light and white in appearance, put in the yolk; season
with salt, pepper, a little mace, and a squeeze of lemon juice, and
complete the pounding. Pass the mixture through a fine wire sieve into
a basin, then turn it on to a floured board, roll it into the shape of
a long sausage, and divide it into seven equal portions; butter seven
little quenelle moulds and put in the mixture, smooth the top with a
knife which has been dipped into hot water and poach the quenelles in
the white sauce, which should be boiling, for fifteen minutes. Arrange
some carefully-prepared mashed potato on a hot silver dish, so that it
forms an even surround with rather a deep hollow in the middle. Unmould
the quenelles, put them in the middle of the potato, and pour the sauce
over them, and garnish with little kite-shaped sippets of fried bread.
RICE FRITTERS WITH BROAD BEANS
Four ounces rice, vegetable stock (white), seasoning, batter for
frying, broad beans, maître d’hôtel sauce, 2 eggs, 1 tablespoonful
grated cheese, 1 oz. onion, 1¹⁄₂ ozs. butter.
_Method._--Put the rice into cold salted water, and when it reaches
boiling point keep it boiling steadily for six minutes, then drain it
and put it into a saucepan containing sufficient boiling vegetable
stock to cover it and cook until it is very tender. Fry the onion in
one ounce of butter until it is just cooked, but do not let it become
brown, add the rice to it, season with salt, pepper, a dust of curry
powder, and the grated cheese, then add half an ounce of butter and a
well-beaten egg, and spread out on a dish to get cold. Take a small
quantity of the rice at a time and form it into little flat cakes
rather larger than a five shilling piece; dip these into a thick batter
and fry them in plenty of boiling oil or vegetable fat; arrange the
fritters in a circle on a hot dish and fill the middle with some very
young broad beans covered with a sauce made as follows: Make half
a pint of thick white sauce; add a tablespoonful of finely-chopped
parsley, a dessertspoonful of lemon-juice, a little cayenne pepper, and
half an ounce of fresh butter in small pieces, and it will be ready for
use.
ROASTED POTATOES WITH MUSHROOMS
Six medium-sized potatoes (of uniform shape), vegetable butter, 3 ozs.
minced mushrooms, 1 slice onion (scalded and minced), 1 oz. dairy
butter, 2 ozs. finely-sieved Hovis breadcrumbs, 1 teaspoonful chopped
parsley, 1 egg, seasoning, thick brown sauce, parsley for garnishing.
_Method._--Trim the potatoes, after peeling them, so that they are
round and as nearly the same size as possible (the trimmings can be
used for soup), and cut a piece from one end so that they will stand
upright; put them into a baking tin containing some hot vegetable
butter and bake in a well-heated oven until they are nicely browned,
basting them frequently. When done remove the centre of the inside
with an apple corer or small tubular-shaped cutter and fill the cavity
with mushrooms, prepared as below. Replace the potatoes in the oven for
about ten minutes, and serve them surrounded by some thick brown sauce
flavoured with a few drops of Maggi’s essence, and a little piece of
parsley on the top of each. For the stuffing, fry the mushrooms and
onion in the butter for ten minutes, stirring gently all the time, then
add the breadcrumbs and the chopped parsley, season with salt, pepper,
and a little mace or nutmeg, and stir over the fire for six minutes
more; remove the pan at the end of the time and moisten the mixture
with sufficient beaten egg to bring it to a fairly stiff paste and use
as directed.
ROMAN PIE
Half a pound puff paste, 2 ozs. cooked macaroni (the large, straight
kind), ¹⁄₂ pint salsify (cooked, and cut into small pieces), six
champignons, ¹⁄₄ pint cooked Japanese artichokes, 1 gill thick white
sauce, parsley, lemon, 1 teaspoonful onion (scalded and minced),
grated Parmesan, brown sauce.
_Method._--Line a buttered mould with the paste rolled out to a
moderate thickness, and fill it with alternate layers of the macaroni,
cut into small pieces, salsify, and artichokes, and over each layer
scatter a few slices of champignons, a little grated cheese, a few
drops of lemon-juice, and season with salt, freshly ground black
pepper, and nutmeg. When the mould is full, pour in as much sauce,
mixed with some of the liquor in which the champignons were preserved,
as is required, then cover in with a round of paste and bake in a
moderately quick oven for from three-quarters to one hour; turn out
carefully on to a hot dish and surround with brown sauce.
SALSIFY OMELET
Four ounces salsify, colourless vegetable stock, small quantity
very thick white sauce, 3 eggs, 1³⁄₄ ozs. butter, seasoning, fried
breadcrumbs.
_Method._--Prepare the salsify (freshly cut) in the usual way and
cook it until tender in the stock, then drain thoroughly, cut it into
pieces of about an inch in length, and put into a saucepan containing a
quarter of an ounce of butter seasoned with salt, pepper, cayenne, and
lemon-juice; cover it with the white sauce and keep it hot by the side
of the stove until the omelet is made. To prepare the latter, break the
eggs, which should be new laid, into a basin, season with salt, pepper,
and nutmeg, and whisk them well, then add half an ounce of butter
cut into tiny pieces. Melt one ounce of butter in an omelet pan of
suitable size and, directly it is hot, pour in the eggs; draw the pan
to the hottest part of the stove (the fire should be clear and brisk)
and stir the mixture with a fork until it begins to set; then loosen
it round the sides and thrust the fork through it in two or three
places to prevent the omelet sticking and to allow the unset portion
to come into contact with the hot pan; when it is almost set enough,
spread the salsify over one half of the omelet and fold the other half
over and carefully turn it on to a hot dish, surround it with fried
breadcrumbs (prepared in the same way as for game), and serve at once.
The appearance of the omelet will be improved if the uppermost side is
brushed over with warm butter and sprinkled with parsley.
SALSIFY PATTIES
Salsify (also named vegetable oyster), white sauce, cream,
lemon-juice, seasoning, puff-paste pattie-cases, white stock, butter.
_Method._--Scrape the salsify thoroughly, wash it, and cook it until
tender in colourless vegetable stock; drain well and cut it into pieces
of about two inches in length, pour over them a small quantity of warm
butter which has been seasoned with lemon-juice, black pepper, and
salt, and leave until the butter is cold. Make a small quantity of
nicely-flavoured thick white sauce and mix it with an equal quantity
of boiling cream (if practicable); season with salt, black pepper,
nutmeg, and cayenne, and add a squeeze of lemon-juice, then put the
pieces of salsify into the sauce and heat them gradually. Have ready
the requisite number of pattie cases; fill them with the salsify, put
them into the oven for a few moments, and serve as soon as they are
thoroughly hot.
SAVOURY MACARONI
Three ounces of Swiss egg macaroni, rather more than 1 pint brown
vegetable stock, grated cheese, ¹⁄₂ oz. flour, 1 oz. butter, 1
tablespoonful tomato catsup, seasoning.
_Method._--Put the macaroni into boiling salted water for ten minutes,
then drain it, put it into a stewpan, cover with the brown stock, which
should be boiling, and cook steadily until it is done. Then drain it
and pile it up on a hot dish; let the stock in which it was cooked boil
up and thicken it by stirring in the butter, which should be worked
up smoothly with the flour; add the tomato catsup and strain over the
macaroni; scatter a little dry, grated cheese over the top and surround
by some carefully cooked Brussels sprouts, which have been finished
with some warm, seasoned butter and a squeeze of lemon-juice.
SAVOURY MINCE WITH SPINACH
Three ounces finely-ground Brazil nuts (taking care they are fresh), 4
ozs. cooked rice, 1¹⁄₂ ozs. onion (scalded and chopped), 1 teaspoonful
minced parsley, a little lemon-thyme if the flavour is liked, 1 pint
good brown sauce flavoured with a few drops of Maggi’s essence, 2 ozs.
butter, seasoning, spinach, sippets.
_Method._--Fry the nuts with the onion and butter for eight minutes,
taking care they do not become brown, then add the rice and herbs and
moisten with three-quarters of a pint of the sauce; cover with a
greased paper and put the mince into the oven for half an hour; if the
rice absorbs too much sauce, so as to leave the mince dry, add some of
the remaining sauce and a few drops of browning if it is not a nice
rich colour, and serve in the middle of a surround of spinach garnished
with fried sippets of bread. Cabbage can be substituted for spinach if
preferred, and if prepared in the same way will answer the purpose very
well.
SAVOURY PASTIES
Two ounces breadcrumbs, 1 gill cream, 2 or 3 tablespoonfuls thick
brown sauce, 3 ozs. finely-ground pine kernels (previously blanched),
¹⁄₂ oz. chopped onion, 1 teaspoonful parsley, 1¹⁄₂ ozs. butter,
lemon-juice, seasoning, 6 ozs. short paste.
_Method._--Fry the onion and nuts together in one ounce of butter for
six or eight minutes, then pour the cream, which should be boiling,
over the bread and beat it to a paste, add the remainder of the butter
and the fried nuts, parsley, a few drops of lemon-juice, salt, pepper,
and nutmeg, and moisten with a few tablespoonfuls of thick brown sauce.
Roll out the paste to about the eighth of an inch in thickness and cut
it into rounds of about the size of a claret glass; spread half the
rounds with the mince and cover it with the remainder of the pieces of
paste; wet the edges and pinch them together, brush over the top of the
pasties with beaten egg, and bake them in a quick oven.
SAVOURY ROLL
Six ounces of finely-ground pine kernels (blanched), 4 ozs. butter,
3 ozs. onion (scalded and chopped), 1 tablespoonful parsley, 6 ozs.
breadcrumb, ¹⁄₂ gill thick white sauce, 2 eggs, 2 minced mushrooms,
seasoning, some thick brown sauce flavoured with sherry.
_Method._--Fry the nuts and onion together in two ounces of butter
until the onion begins to change colour, then turn the mixture into
a mortar and pound to a smooth consistency. Make the white sauce hot
and pour it on the breadcrumbs; add one and a half ounces of warm
butter and beat it to a paste, then put in the fried nuts, parsley,
and mushrooms and season with salt, pepper, a little powdered mace,
and moisten it with the eggs, adding first one and then the other,
and pound very thoroughly for five minutes. Turn the mixture on to a
floured board and form it into a smooth, compact roll; brush it over
with the remaining half ounce of butter (warmed) and place it on a
well-buttered baking tin and cook in the oven until nicely browned.
Serve the roll surrounded by the brown sauce and accompanied by a dish
of potatoes in sauce. The same mixture can be wrapped in buttered
muslin (like a galantine), cooked in boiling vegetable stock, and
served with mushroom sauce, or it can be stewed in a casserole with a
thick brown sauce. The potatoes should be prepared in the following
manner: Peel four or five potatoes, cut them into moderately thin
slices, and wrap them in a floured cloth for a short time before
they are cooked. Melt two ounces of palmine, or dairy butter, in
a stewpan and stir in one ounce of flour by degrees; then add a
pint of colourless vegetable stock, and when the sauce has boiled
and thickened, season it, add a teaspoonful of lemon-juice and a
teaspoonful of shallot vinegar, and then put in the sliced potatoes.
Cover the pan closely, and let them cook gently until they are tender,
then put the potatoes (not the sauce) into a hot vegetable dish and
place it in the oven for a few minutes. Beat the yolk of an egg with
a tablespoonful of cream and stir into the sauce, which should be
boiling, scatter in a large teaspoonful of chopped parsley, and pour at
once over the potatoes.
SCALLOPED CURRY
Almost any kind of cooked vegetables cut into neat pieces (including
potatoes), 2 or 3 tablespoonfuls cooked white haricot beans, curry
sauce (_see_ page 104), boiled rice, butter, breadcrumbs.
_Method._--Let the vegetables simmer gently in a small quantity of
butter (seasoning them with salt, pepper, and a dust of sugar) for
fifteen minutes, then pour the curry sauce over them and let them
cook in a moderate oven for half an hour. Fill some buttered china
scallop shells with the curry; cover the top with rice, place some
small pieces of butter on it, and scatter with finely-sieved dried
breadcrumbs, and bake in a quick oven for about a quarter of an hour.
SCOTCH EGGS
Three hard-boiled eggs, nut mixture as for Rissolettes (page 77), 1
raw egg, breadcrumbs, mashed potato, French beans, Dutch sauce (_see_
page 104).
_Method._--Take the shells from the eggs and dust them lightly with
flour, then cover them evenly with the nut mixture, brush them over
with beaten egg, and cover them thickly with finely sifted breadcrumbs.
Have ready a pan of deep, boiling fat; fry the eggs in it until they
are nicely browned and drain them on taking them from the fat; cut each
through the middle with a sharp knife, arrange the pieces on a border
of mashed potato, and fill the middle of the dish with some carefully
boiled French beans (or any other suitable vegetable) masked with Dutch
sauce.
SPAGHETTI A L’ITALIENNE
Three ounces of spaghetti, 2 ozs. butter, 3 ozs. grated Parmesan
cheese, tomato conserve, croutons, seasoning.
_Method._--Cook the spaghetti in plenty of boiling salted water until
it is tender, then drain it well and put it into a saucepan containing
one ounce of warm butter; season it with salt, freshly-ground black
pepper, and a little cayenne, and stir over the fire for a few minutes,
then add sufficient tomato conserve to moisten the spaghetti, and
the remaining ounce of butter divided into small pieces; when it is
thoroughly hot scatter in the cheese, turning the spaghetti lightly and
quickly with a fork while doing so, and directly the cheese “spins”
into long threads, turn it on to a hot dish and serve at once garnished
with little croutons of fried bread.
STUFFED POTATOES
Six medium-sized potatoes, some quenelle forcemeat (_see_ page 79), 1
truffle (coarsely minced), 3 olives (also minced), 1 oz. butter, small
quantity cream (or milk), seasoning.
_Method._--Wash the potatoes thoroughly and bake them, without removing
the skins, until they are well cooked. Cut a small piece from the top
of each, remove the inside, taking care not to break the skin, and pass
it through a potato presser into a basin; add the butter, a little
cream or milk, and season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and beat the
potato with a wooden spoon until it is very light and quite white. Then
carefully replace some of it in the skins, pressing it back against
the sides with the handle of a small spoon, thus leaving the middle
hollow; prepare a forcemeat according to the recipe given for Quenelles
à la Reine, and after passing it through the sieve add the truffle
and olives and use it for filling the centre of the potatoes. Add
sufficient carmine to the potato left over to colour it a pretty clear
red, fill a forcer (with a small rose pipe) with it and make a rose on
the top of each potato sufficiently large to cover the hole; put the
potatoes into a hot oven for fifteen minutes, and serve them garnished
with watercress and accompanied by a watercress, tomato, and celery
salad.
STUFFED VEGETABLE MARROW
A small marrow, 3 ozs. freshly-sieved breadcrumbs, 3 tablespoonfuls
cream, 1 tablespoonful minced parsley, ¹⁄₄ teaspoonful mixed herbs (if
the flavour is not disliked), 1 saltspoonful grated lemon-peel, 1 oz.
onion (scalded and minced), 1¹⁄₂ ozs. butter, 3 ozs. finely ground
pine kernels (Cashu, or Brazil nuts) (blanched), 1 tablespoonful
grated Parmesan cheese, 1 egg, ¹⁄₂ pint thick tomato or white sauce,
seasoning.
_Method._--Peel the marrow and cook it until tender in boiling salted
water (it must not be over done), then cut a piece from one end,
carefully remove all the seeds and stringy inside portion, and drain it
well on a cloth. Fry the onion and nuts in the butter until the onion
begins to change colour, but do not let it brown; mix the bread to a
paste in a basin with the cream, which should be boiling, and season
with salt, pepper, and a little mixed spice; add the egg (not beaten),
the onion, nuts and cheese, beat the mixture well, and then stuff the
marrow with it. Place it on a china gratin dish which has been well
buttered, sprinkle the marrow with freshly-ground white pepper (which
gives a subtle flavour), pour a quarter of a pint of tomato sauce
(or white sauce may be substituted) over it, and cover it with dried
breadcrumbs; put a few pieces of butter on the top and bake in a quick
oven for about twenty minutes. Heat the remainder of the sauce and pour
it round the marrow.
TOMATO OMELET WITH VEGETABLE SALAD
Four eggs, 2 ozs. butter, 2 tablespoonfuls tomato purée (or tomato
conserve), seasoning.
_Method._--Break the eggs into a basin and beat them well, season them
with salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and add rather less than half an ounce
of butter broken into small pieces. Melt the remainder of the butter
in an omelet pan over a very clear, quick fire, and when it is quite
hot (care must be taken that it does not burn) pour in the eggs. Raise
the mixture all over the surface by thrusting a fork into it, which
will allow the soft portion on the top to run through to the hot pan,
then loosen the omelet round the edge as it sets, and keep shaking the
pan to prevent it from “catching,” and just before it is sufficiently
set, spread the tomato pulp (which should be heated with a little
butter) over half, then fold the other half over, and deftly turn the
omelet on to a hot dish; serve at once with a salad prepared in the
following manner: Slice equal quantities of new potatoes (which have
been cooked and allowed to get cold), tomatoes (peeled), and cucumber
(also peeled), and arrange neatly in a salad bowl, then cover with
chopped celery (which has been kept in water to preserve the crispness)
and fill the middle of the bowl with young green peas (cooked) or a
carefully drained cauliflower which has been divided into small pieces;
cover the centre vegetable with a thick mayonnaise sauce and sprinkle
some chopped parsley over it.
TOMATO PATTIES
Four tomatoes, 2 ozs. minced mushrooms, ¹⁄₂ oz. onion (scalded and
minced), 2 ozs. breadcrumbs, 1³⁄₄ ozs. butter, ¹⁄₂ gill cream (or
milk), 1 teaspoonful chopped parsley, seasoning, 8 pattie-cases.
_Method._--Scald the tomatoes and remove the skin, and with a sharp
knife cut them in half, take out all the seeds, and put them on a
cloth to drain. Fry the mushrooms and onion in one ounce of butter
for eight minutes; moisten the bread with the cream, which should be
hot, and half an ounce of warm butter, then add the parsley and fried
mushrooms and season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Fill the halves of
the tomatoes with the mixture, put a little piece of butter on each,
and cook them on a buttered tin in a quick oven until they are just
soft, but they must not lose their shape. The pattie cases must be made
a suitable size and shape for holding the halves of the tomatoes, and
they should be hot when the tomatoes are done; place one piece in each
case and serve at once. If preferred the cases can be made of potato
paste (for recipe see page 71).
TOMATO SHAPE WITH PEAS
One pound ripe tomatoes, ¹⁄₂ teaspoonful minced onion, 1 oz.
butter, ¹⁄₂ teaspoonful tarragon vinegar, ¹⁄₂ pint aspic jelly, 1
tablespoonful white wine, ¹⁄₄ pint stiffly whipped cream, carmine,
seasoning, ¹⁄₂ pint cooked peas, ¹⁄₂ gill thick mayonnaise sauce.
_Method._--Put the tomatoes into a stewpan with the butter and tarragon
vinegar; season with celery salt, cayenne, a dust of castor sugar, and
a little curry powder, and let them cook gently until they are quite
soft. Then pour off the liquid (which can be used with advantage to
flavour soup or sauce) and pass the fruit through a sieve into a basin;
add one gill of the aspic jelly (which should be liquid), the white
wine, a few drops of carmine, and, when it is just cold, the cream;
whisk the mixture for a few moments then put it into a border-mould,
which has been previously lined with aspic jelly, and leave it in a
cool place until set. Dress the cooked peas with the mayonnaise sauce
and, after turning out the tomato shape, fill the hollow in the middle
with the peas, and garnish with watercress or parsley.
TOMATOES STUFFED WITH MACARONI
Six medium-sized tomatoes, 2 ozs. macaroni, 1¹⁄₂ ozs. butter, 1 oz.
flour, quarter pint cream (or milk), 1 oz. grated cheese, seasoning,
breadcrumbs, vegetable stock.
_Method._--Cut a small piece from the tomatoes, carefully remove all
the seeds, and leave them on a sieve to drain for some time before
they have to be filled. Break the macaroni into small pieces and cook
it in boiling vegetable stock until it is quite tender, then drain
it well. Melt one ounce of butter and mix the flour with it until a
smooth paste is formed, then add the cream and stir quickly until the
sauce is quite thick; remove the pan from the stove and add the cheese,
seasoning, and macaroni, and fill the tomatoes with it; cover the top
with breadcrumbs, put a little piece of butter on each, and bake in a
fairly quick oven until the tomatoes are cooked, but they should not
be allowed to lose their shape. Serve them round a mound of potatoes
prepared thus: Select some rather close potatoes (the floury kind would
not be suitable), and after peeling them cut them into thin slices and
leave them in cold water for about a quarter of an hour, then dry them
on a soft cloth. Butter a china soufflé mould (or a basin will do) and
put in a layer of the potatoes; sprinkle a little salt, pepper, and
nutmeg (not too much of the latter) over them, and put a few little
pieces of butter on the top; then add the remainder of the potatoes
in the same way, layer by layer, and when the mould is full tie a
buttered paper over it, place an enamelled plate on the top of the
paper, and stand the mould in a pan of hot water in a moderately quick
oven for fully an hour. Half an hour before the potatoes are done pour
a small quantity (a quarter of a pint to a pint mould) of milk over
them, then replace the paper, and let them finish cooking. When ready,
turn the potatoes out of the mould (they will be a compact mass) and
sprinkle some chopped parsley over the top.
TOMATO SOUFFLÉ
One pound tomatoes, 3 ozs. butter, 1¹⁄₂ ozs. potato flour, 1 oz. onion
(scalded and minced), 3 eggs, rather less than ¹⁄₂ pint milk, Parmesan
or Gruyère cheese (grated), seasoning, ¹⁄₂ pint celery sauce.
_Method._--Slice the tomatoes and cook them with the onion in one ounce
of butter until they are tender, then pass them through a sieve. Melt
two ounces of butter and stir in the flour, and when smoothly mixed,
moisten gradually with the milk, stirring quickly until a very thick
sauce is made; turn the latter into a basin, and add the yolks of the
eggs, season with salt, pepper, a very little mixed spice, and a large
tablespoonful of grated cheese, then stir in half a pint of the tomato
pulp (straining off any excess of juice), and lastly the whites of the
eggs whisked to a very stiff froth. Put the mixture into a buttered
soufflé mould (or basin) without quite filling it; tie a buttered paper
over the top and steam steadily (but not rapidly) for from half an
hour to forty minutes, when the soufflé should feel firm. Turn it out
carefully, surround it with celery sauce, and serve with fried potatoes
prepared as follows: Peel some potatoes, cut them into quarters (select
the firm, not floury kind), and parboil them in hot salted water, then
drain them and turn them on to a floured cloth to dry. Heat plenty
of fat in a sauté pan, and when it reaches boiling point put in the
potatoes and let them cook until they are a golden brown; drain them
from the fat, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and some chopped parsley, and
they will be ready to serve.
VEGETABLE CREAM WITH AIGRETTES