As this is one of the best sauces ever made for boiled fish, asparagus,
or cauliflower, I will give two receipts. The first is Dubois’; the
second is from the Cooking-school in New York. None should call
themselves cooks unless they know how to make the _sauce Hollandaise_,
and simple enough it is.
1st. “Pour four table-spoonfuls of good vinegar into a small stew-pan,
and add some pepper-corns and salt; let the liquid boil until it is
reduced to half; let it cool; then add to it the well-beaten yolks of
four or five eggs, also four ounces (size of an egg) of good butter,
more salt, if necessary, and a very little nutmeg. Set the stew-pan on a
very slow fire, and stir the liquid until it is about as thick as cream;
immediately remove it. Now put this stew-pan or cup into another pan
containing a little warm water kept at the side of the fire. Work the
sauce briskly with a spoon, or with a little whisk, so as to get it
frothy, but adding little bits of butter, in all about three ounces”
(_I_ would say the size of half an egg). “When the sauce has become
light and smooth, it is ready for use.”
2d. “Put a piece of butter the size of a pigeon’s egg into a saucepan,
and when it bubbles stir in with an egg-whisk an even table-spoonful of
flour; let it continue to bubble until the flour is thoroughly cooked,
when stir in half a pint of boiling water, or, better, of veal stock;
when it boils, take it from the fire, and stir into it gradually the
beaten yolks of four eggs; return the sauce to the fire for a minute, to
set the eggs, without allowing it to boil; again remove the sauce, stir
in the juice of half a small lemon, and fresh butter the size of a
walnut, cut into small pieces, to facilitate its melting, and stir all
well with the whisk.”
MUSHROOMS, FOR GARNISH (_Gouffé_).
Separate the button part from the stalk; then peel them with a sharp
knife, cutting off merely the skin. Put them into a stew-pan with a
table-spoonful of lemon-juice and two table-spoonfuls of water. Toss
them well, to impregnate them with the liquid. The object of the
lemon-juice is to keep them white. Then put them on a sharp fire in
boiling water, with some butter added. When they are boiled tender they
are ready for use, _i. e._, for garnishing and for sauces.
MUSHROOM SAUCE (_to serve with Beefsteaks, Fillets of Beef, etc._).
Having prepared the mushrooms by cutting off the stalks, and if they are
large, by cutting them in halves or quarters, throw them into a little
boiling water, or, what is much better, stock. Do not use more than is
necessary to cover them. This must be seasoned with salt, pepper, and a
little butter. Boil the mushrooms until they are tender, then thicken
the gravy slightly with a _roux_ of butter and flour. Add a few drops of
lemon-juice. It is now ready to pour over the meat.
MUSHROOM WHITE SAUCE (_to serve with Boiled Fowls or with Cutlets_).
Prepare the mushrooms as for garnishing; boil them tender in rich white
stock, made of veal or chicken; thicken with a _roux_ of butter and
flour, and add one or two table-spoonfuls of cream.
MUSHROOM SAUCE (_made with Canned Mushrooms_).
Put a piece of butter the size of a walnut into a small stew-pan or tin
basin, and when it bubbles add a tea-spoonful (not heaping) of flour;
when well cooked, stir in a cupful of stock (reduced and strong), and
half a tea-cupful of the mushroom-juice from the can; let it simmer for
a minute or two; then, after straining it, add half or three quarters of
a can of mushrooms, pepper, salt, and a few drops of lemon-juice. When
thoroughly hot it is ready to pour over the meat.