_With Bread._--Put in a tureen about a pound of the soft part of bread,
and cover with broth; when it has absorbed the broth, place it in a
stewpan, set it on a slow fire, and leave till it becomes a thick paste;
stir now and then, then mix well with it three yolks of eggs, and it is
ready for use.
_With Cabbage._--Throw into boiling water a little salt and a
middling-sized cabbage; boil it half an hour, take it from the kettle
with a skimmer, throw it in cold water, and drain it, pressing it a
little in the drainer to force the water out; cut off the stump, and
chop the cabbage fine. Have in a stewpan on the fire, three or four
ounces of fresh butter; put the cabbage in when the butter is half
melted, sprinkling on while stirring a teaspoonful of flour; pour on it,
little by little, some broth, stirring the while, and when it has a fine
brownish color, wet with broth enough to boil it; season with salt, a
little grated nutmeg, and four pepper-corns; boil gently till the sauce
is thick enough, take away the pepper-corns, and use.
_With Combs of Chicken._--Soak the combs over night in cold water, and
then clean them well by wiping roughly with a coarse towel, wetted and
salted; wash and drain them; put a dozen of them in a saucepan with two
sweetbreads blanched, cover the whole with broth, and boil till done;
then add salt, pepper, a few drops of lemon-juice, and it is ready for
use.
_With Cauliflowers._--Proceed as for cabbage in every particular, except
that it does not require as long doing.
With _Croutons._--Cut pieces of soft part of stale bread in different
shapes, and fry them on both sides in butter or fat.
For potage, they are cut in dice, but for decorating dishes, they are
cut either round, square, oblong, or of a heart, star-like, half moon,
butterfly, or flower shape, and about one-quarter of an inch thick. Take
them off with a skimmer, and turn into a colander to drain.
[Illustration]
The cut _d_ is used for potage, and _a_, _b_, _c_, etc., are used to
decorate.
_Duxelle._--Make a _fines-herbes_ sauce, and when ready to be used, add
half a gill of gravy, and give one boil; add also two or three yolks of
eggs, simmer one minute, and use warm.
Mushrooms, whole or in slices, may be added at the same time the yolks
of eggs are added.
_With Eggs._--Mash and mix well together six hard-boiled yolks of eggs
with three yolks not cooked, salt and pepper. Put the mixture in parts
on the paste-board, which must be previously dusted with flour; roll
each part and give it the shape of a small egg (a pigeon's egg or a
little larger). When the whole is thus prepared, drop in boiling water,
boil till cooked, and use to decorate meat or fish.
_Financiere._--A garniture _financiere_ is the same as a garniture with
combs of chicken, to which are added some mushrooms and truffles, both
cut in slices.
It is generally served with a roast chicken.
_With Livers._--Geese livers are the best, being the fattest. Drop two
geese livers in boiling water and a little salt, boil three minutes and
drain. Put in a saucepan one gill of broth, same of white wine, Sauterne
or Catawba, a tablespoonful of gravy, six pepper-corns, two or three
stalks of parsley, salt, and the livers; set on the fire and boil gently
for about twenty-five minutes. Take off the livers, boil a few minutes
longer to thicken the sauce, turn it over the livers through a strainer,
and it is ready.
The same may be done with the livers of poultry or any other kind of
birds; the seasonings are the same, and the proportion is according to
the size or to the number of livers.
Besides being used as garnishing, it may be served as a breakfast dish.
_Macedoine._--Blanch a dozen of Brussels cabbages. Blanch also half a
dozen asparagus cut in pieces about an inch long. Put four ounces of
butter in a saucepan on the fire, and when melted put it into a gill of
carrots, same of turnips, both cut with a vegetable spoon, also a dozen
small onions; stir now and then till the whole is about half done, when
add a little over a pint of broth and the Brussels cabbages; boil about
ten minutes. Then add again the blanched asparagus, half a dozen
mushrooms, broth just enough to cover the whole, simmer till every thing
is done, salt and pepper to taste, a pinch of sugar and it is ready for
use.
Water may be used instead of broth, but is inferior.
A _macedoine_ may be served with any meat--roasted, baked, or broiled.
_With Mushrooms._--Chop fine half a pint of fresh mushrooms and two
tablespoonfuls of parsley. Set a saucepan on the fire with two ounces of
fat grated salt pork in it, as much butter, and as soon as the butter is
melted put the mushrooms and parsley in; season with salt, pepper, a
little grated nutmeg, and a quarter of a pint of white wine; let boil
gently till reduced to a jelly, and use.
When done, three or four yolks of eggs may be mixed with it.
_With Onions._--Put a dozen onions in a crockery saucepan and half cover
them with broth. Cover the pan as well as possible, simmer till cooked,
then add a teaspoonful of sugar, salt, simmer again for about ten
minutes, basting now and then, and serve warm with beef, mutton, or
venison.
_Quenelles._--Chop fine one pound of fresh veal, half lean and half
fat--the fat nearest the kidney is the best; then pound it well and mash
it through a sieve. Mix two yolks of eggs with it, and season to taste
with salt, pepper, nutmeg grated, and powdered cinnamon. Spread flour on
the paste-board, put a teaspoonful of meat here and there; roll gently
each part into small balls, using as little flour as possible. They may
also be rolled of an olive shape. Throw the balls into boiling broth or
boiling water at the first boiling, boil five minutes and drain. As soon
as cold they are ready for use.
_Boulettes_, _fricadelles_, _godiveau_, and _quenelles_ are one and the
same thing.
Whole eggs may be used instead of the yolks only, add also a few
bread-crumbs. To the seasonings above some parsley chopped fine may be
added.
Make _quenelles_ with any kind of meat--butcher's meat, poultry, and
game, also with fish well boned.
To the lean meat add the same weight of fat veal, as above directed, or,
in its stead, beef suet.
Truffles or mushrooms, or both, may be added to the mixture, either of
meat or of fish.
_Quenelles_ are used for garnitures, etc. They may be fried instead of
boiled.
_Salpicon._--Cut in dice an equal quantity of each, and to weigh
altogether about one pound and a half, calf sweetbreads, livers, or
flesh of fowls, and ham--three kinds in all; also two mushrooms and two
truffles; all must be nearly cooked in water beforehand. Put them in a
stewpan, season with salt, pepper, a bay-leaf, a clove of garlic, an
onion, a sprig of parsley, and one of thyme; cover with half a pint of
broth, and as much of white wine; set on a slow fire; it must not boil,
but simmer gently; stir now and then till the whole is well cooked; take
out the bay-leaf, onion, garlic, parsley, and thyme. In case the sauce
should not be thick enough, add a little fecula, stir, and leave awhile
longer on the fire, and it is ready for use.
_With Truffles._--Slice the truffles and put them in a saucepan with a
pinch of sugar, broth and claret wine enough to cover them, half of
each, simmer for about twenty minutes, add a little potato starch, boil
gently till it begins to thicken, and use.
_Lobster Butter._--Put the flesh of the two large claws of a boiled
lobster with a little of the inside, about a tablespoonful, in a mortar
and pound well. Add about the same volume of good butter and pound again
till the whole is well mixed. It is then mashed through a fine sieve,
and is ready for use. When the lobster has coral, it is pounded with the
rest, and gives a fine color to the butter.
If the lobster has no coral, a piece of the reddest part of the shell is
pounded with the rest, when the butter is to be colored.
This butter may be used instead of ordinary butter for fish-sauces, or
for making a _maitre d'hotel_ for boiled fish, or for garnishing the
same.
To clarify it, just put the butter into a bowl when made, put the bowl
in a boiling _bain-marie_ for about half an hour, take off and
immediately turn it through a cloth into a bowl half full of cold water.
The cloth must be rather twisted, to cause the butter to run through.
When it is in the bowl, stir it till rather hard; work it in a ball, and
wipe it dry.
Thus clarified it is finer than when used merely mixed.
The same butter may be made, and in the same way, with _craw-fish_,
_prawns_, and _shrimps_.
_Horse-radish Butter._--Grate some horse-radish and mix it well with
about the same volume of butter, mash through a sieve, and it is ready
for use.
_Tarragon_ and _garlic_ butter are made as the above.
If the butter be found too strong, use more butter and less of garlic,
etc.
_Ravigote Butter_ (called also _Beurre de Montpellier_).--Blanch the
following spices: parsley, tarragon, chives, chervil--parsley and
chervil in equal proportion and about half as much of the two others,
about two handfuls altogether--drain dry and put them in a mortar with
two anchovies boned, one shallot chopped and bruised in a coarse towel,
half a dozen capers, a rather small piece of pickled cucumber, four
ounces of butter, two hard-boiled yolks of eggs, and the juice of half a
lemon. Pound the whole well together, then add a tablespoonful of
essence of spinach, mix well, mash through a sieve, and use.
This butter is excellent to decorate and to eat with cold fish. It is
sometimes used with cold birds.
_Hazel-nut Butter._--Pound some hazel-nuts or filberts and then mix
throughly with good butter, mash through a sieve, and use as ordinary
butter. The proportion according to taste. It is easily prepared, and is
delicious.
Do the same with _pea-nuts_, or any other nut.
_Melted Butter._--Put butter in a crockery vessel and place it above a
pan of water or some other liquid, heated but not boiling, so that the
butter will melt slowly and gradually. Sometimes the butter may be
wanted soft only, or what is called melted soft, or thoroughly melted.
It is easy to obtain those different states above with heated liquor,
and the butter, though melted, is more firm than when melted on the
fire.
_Scented Butter._--Whenever a certain flavor is desired with butter, put
a piece of firm and good butter in a bowl with a few drops of essence,
knead well, and then mash through a sieve.