Twenty-four Little French Dinners and How to Cook and Serve Them

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Title: Twenty-four Little French Dinners and How to Cook and Serve Them
Author: Moore, Cora
Language: English
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TWENTY-FOUR LITTLE
FRENCH DINNERS
AND
How to Cook and Serve Them

CORA MOORE

NEW YORK
E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY
681 Fifth Avenue

Printed in the United States of America

PREFACE

The Little Dinners of Paris are world-famous. No one can have sojourned
in the fascinating capital in its normal days without having come under
their spell. To Parisien and visitor alike they are accounted among the
uniquely characteristic features of the city's routine life.

Much of the interest that attaches to them is, of course, due to local
atmosphere, to the associations that surround the quaint restaurants,
half hidden in unexpected nooks and by-ways, to the fact that old
Jacques "waits" in his shirtsleeves or that Grosse Marie serves you with
a smile as expansive as her own proportions, or that it is Justin or
François or "Old Monsoor," with his eternal grouch, who glides about the
zinc counter.

But there is also magic in the arrangement of the menus, in the
combinations of food, in the very names of the confections and in the
little Gallic touches that, simple though they are, transform
commonplace dishes into gastronomic delights.

There is inspiration in the art that enters into the production of a
French dinner, in the perfect balance of every item from hors d'œuvre to
café noir, in the ways with seasoning that work miracles with left-overs
and preserve the daily routine of three meals a day from the deadly
monotony of the American régime, in the garnishings that glorify the
most insignificant concoctions into objects of appetising beauty and in
the sauces that elevate indifferent dishes into the realm of creations
and enable a French cook to turn out a dinner fit for capricious young
gods from what an American cook wastes in preparing one.

The very economy of the French is an art, and there is art in their
economy. It is true that their dishes, as we have known them in this
country, are expensive, even extravagant, but that is because they have
been for the most part the creations of high-priced chefs. They who have
made eating an avocation know that it is not necessary to dine
expensively in order to dine well.

C. M.

New York, May, 1919.

CONTENTS

PAGE

Preface v

The Bugbear of American Cookery--Monotony 1

Flavor--Handmaid of Variety 9

True Trails toward Economy 15

The Appeal to the Eye 21

Sauces, Simple and Otherwise 25

Twenty-four Little French Dinners 33
(With Directions for Preparing)

Let Us Eat Fish! 109

TWENTY-FOUR LITTLE
FRENCH DINNERS
AND
How to Cook and Serve Them

THE BUGBEAR OF AMERICAN COOKERY--MONOTONY

It is as strange as it is true that with the supplies that have lately
proved sufficient to feed a world to draw upon the chief trouble with
American cookery is its monotony. The American cook has a wider variety
of foods at his command than any other in the world, yet in the average
home how rarely is it that the palate is surprised with a flavor that
didn't have its turn on the corresponding day last week or tickled with
a sauce that is in itself an inspiration and a delight, not a mere
"gravy," liable to harden into lumps of grease when it cools.

Most of this is simply the result of blindly following tradition.
Daughter has accepted mother's precepts, regarding them even as the law
of the Medes and the Persians, "which altereth not," and if it were not
that increased prices and, lately, at least, "food regulations," have
veritably compelled her toward a more wholesome simplicity, the United
States would probably be what it was called half a generation ago, "a
nation of dyspeptics." And we were a nation of dyspeptics because the
great American mother of the latter end of the Nineteenth Century, in
spite of all her unequaled qualities in every other direction, and in
spite of all the encomiums she received in resounding prose or ecstatic
verse for her prowess in the kitchen, was from the points of view of
health, economy and wisdom the worst cook in the world.

With prices as they are the American housewife cannot afford to use
butter and eggs and flour with the prodigality that was a habit with her
mother, but so limited is the average woman's knowledge of cookery that
these restrictions merely mean more monotony than ever. It is partly to
demonstrate that this state of things is unnecessary and that true food
economy is not at all synonymous with "going without" that this book has
been compiled.

It is upon variety that the French cook confidently relies to make each
dish of each meal not just something to eat because her family must have
food, not merely a sop to the Cerberus-gnawings of hunger, but a delight
to the eye, to the palate, to the stomach--truly a consummation devoutly
to be wished for the American home table, and just as possible to attain
as it is possible to procure from the grocer or the nearest pharmacist
the ingredients by which these wonders are wrought.

But the average American woman doesn't look beyond her own kitchen and
her own traditional row of spice boxes for her flavorings. She has her
"kitchen set," which ordinarily comprises a row of little receptacles
labeled "pepper," "salt," "cloves," "allspice," "ginger," "cinnamon,"
"nutmeg," and possibly one or two other spices or condiments--rarely
more. With these and a bottle each of lemon extract and vanilla, she is
satisfied that she is fully equipped as far as flavoring possibilities
are concerned.

If she has laid in a box of sage and one of mixed dressing with,
perhaps, some paprika and thyme, she views her foresightedness with much
complacency. She is supplied with savories.

Then she goes right on sighing, "Oh, for a new meat, instead of the same
old round of mutton, pork, beef and fish; fish, beef, mutton and pork,"
disclaiming utterly any responsibility for the monotony that is
undermining the family health and temper and, quite possibly, its
morals.

That is where the American housewife makes her primary and most
important mistake. The French, on the other hand, know that there are,
literally, hundreds of ways to vary every dish, however ordinary it may
be in its primary state. That is their secret of success: unfailing
variety coupled with economy.

However, this is not to claim that the American palate would take kindly
to all the French cooks' little delicacies, or that it could be
cultivated to that degree that makes a Frenchman regard a perfectly
balanced meal even as an inspired poem.

Probably Americans, as a class, could never be induced to eat some of
the little birds--the _mauviettes_, the _alouettes_, the sparrows baked
in a pie, that so delight the Frenchman. Also, it is a question whether
snails, even if it were possible to obtain the superior Burgundian, fat
and juicy and cooked even as our own Oscar used to prepare them for
certain Waldorf guests, would ever appeal to the American taste, as even
the common hedgerow sort of snail does to the average Frenchman.

It is not that the French dinners of Monte Carlo are necessarily so
superior to American shore dinners, or that the little dinners of Paris
are so infinitely to be preferred to those, say, of certain places in
New Orleans, or that the coppery-tasting oysters of Havre are to be
compared with those of our own Baltimore. There is no more to be said,
probably, for the woodcock patés of old Montreuil, or the _rillettes_ of
Tours, or the little pots of custard one gets at the foreign Montpelier,
or the _vol-au-vent_, which is the pride and boast of the cities of
Provence, than there is for grandmother's cookies such as have put
Camden, Maine, on the map, or Lady Baltimore cakes, or the chicken pies
one goes to northern New Hampshire to find in their glory, or the
turkeys that, as much as the Green Mountains, make Vermont's fame.

Still, there is no question but that the American palate would benefit
much by being cultivated, not only in the interests of economy, but also
with a view to the increase of gastronomic pleasure, for a taste attuned
to many variations is as an ear sensitive to the nuances of sweet sounds
or an eye trained to perceive delicate tones and tints. It is really a
matter for regret that we, as a people, have not been as willing to
learn from the French the art of cooking and eating as we have been to
acquire from them knowledge of the art of dress. Until we widen our
horizon sufficiently to do this, we have not even begun to develop all
our food resources or to understand the first principles of true food
economy--which is not at all synonymous with "going without."

FLAVOR, HANDMAID OF VARIETY

It is because he has a multitude of seasonings at his command and knows
how to use them that the French cook is enabled not only to send to the
table an infinite variety of dishes, but, at the same time, to practice
economies that were otherwise impossible. The American buys an expensive
cut of meat and, as is right in such a case, treats it as plainly and
simply as possible. The Frenchman buys meat of a much lower quality, but
so embellishes it that when it comes to the table it is superior, or, at
least, equal to that which costs much more.

It may be objected that this is no real economy, because by the time the
French cook has sauced and spiced his cheap cut in order to make it
palatable, the cost is as great, if not greater than it would have been
had he paid more for his meat in the first place. This would be true
enough according to the average American's method of procedure. But it
is to be remembered that the French cook has already in his kitchen the
cooking vinegars, the spices, the dried herbs, the extracts, that in
very small amounts--a dash or a few leaves--are used at a time; also,
that in a great number of cases, gravies and sauces are made from the
by-products of the main dishes--those by-products that in the American
kitchen usually go down the sink-drain or into the garbage pail.

Take a peep into the typical French cupboard. There you will find from
twenty-five to thirty liquid seasonings such as anchovy extract, tobasco
sauce, meat extracts, mushroom catsup, tomato paste, chutney, various
vinegars, Worcestershire and many another flavoring designed to give a
tang and a zest even to the most unpromising dish, if used aright. There
you will find, too, fifty or more dry seasonings, including anise,
basil, saffron, savoury, clove or garlic, cassia buds, bay leaf, ginger
root, pepper-corns, marjoram, mint, thyme, capers and so on.

Herein lie the "secrets" of French cookery which are, in truth, not
secrets at all, but merely the application of common sense to the
cuisine. The French have never allowed their taste to be restricted by
prejudice, so they hail a new flavor with delight rather than
registering an instinctive dislike because it is not familiar. With a
little applied education, Americans can bring the charm of the French
table to their own homes rather than when they are, as they say, tired
of the same old round of "eats," seeking out a nondescript table d'hôte
restaurant and eagerly consuming what is set before them, grateful for a
change.

But don't harden your heart against French cookery merely because you
have sampled it, as you fondly think, at one or another of the
"red-inkeries" of New York or any other city. For the most part the
"French" restaurants of the land are in reality not French at all, but
Italian for the most part, and whatever Gallic flavor the remainder ever
possessed has well-nigh vanished. There may be exceptions but, if there
are, their patrons carefully guard the secret.

But to return to our subject: It is the French cook's knowledge of the
subtleties, the nuances of seasoning that stands him in good stead. The
American woman who has essayed to use some spice or savory unfamiliar to
her and has turned out a dish which her family has declared "tasted like
medicine" is, naturally enough, discouraged from wandering after that
particular strange god again. The truth is that she has overdone the
seasoning. She doesn't want to be parsimonious, which is just what the
French cook is with his flavors, only he, more scientifically, calls it
using good judgment. If he uses garlic in a salad, it doesn't
necessarily follow that the entire household must take on the
atmosphere of an Italian barber shop, for he uses garlic or onion, not
to give their flavor to a dish, but to bring out the flavors of the
vegetables with which they are used.

Vanilla and lemon have an almost universal appeal to the palate, and
knowing this, the American cook, like the generation before her, has
always seasoned her rice puddings, for instance, with one or the other,
just as her apple sauce has invariably been flavored with lemon or
nutmeg, her bread pudding with vanilla, and so all along her restricted
line.

The French cook holds no brief against vanilla, and sometimes he flavors
his rice pudding with it, but he so guides matters that the very sight
or mention of rice pudding does not bring the thought of vanilla to the
mind, for with him it may be flavored with pistache or rose or have a
geranium leaf baked in it, giving a delightful, indescribable flavor. An
ordinary bread pudding becomes veritably a queen of puddings as,
indeed, it is called, merely by having a layer of jam through its center
and a simple icing spread over the top. Ordinary pea soup exhibits
chameleon-like possibilities merely through the addition of a little
celery-root, a dash of curry or the admixture of a few spoonfuls of
minced spinach, and tomato soup has for most an appeal that even this
favorite of soups never had before when just the right amount of thyme
is added while it simmers, along with, perhaps a bayleaf.

In the recipes appended to the little dinners in this book a great many
of the French cooks' materials and methods of procedure are set forth.
But if the ordinarily experimental American housewife has the flavorings
on hand, she will doubtless herself contrive many an alluring dish of
her own. Variety is said to be the spice of life. However that may be,
the spices and their friends, the herbs, certainly make for variety in
that important function of life, the dinner table.

TRUE TRAILS TOWARD ECONOMY

In the first place, no trail toward economy in conducting the cuisine of
a household lies through the delicatessen store or the "fancy" grocery.
It is an unflattering comment on the spirit of thrift of American
housewives that the delicatessen store has settled down to such a
flourishing existence, particularly in Eastern cities. Any woman who
possesses a stove and a kitchen of her own should be ashamed to admit
the laziness that more than a semi-occasional visit to these "delicate
eating" places predicates. There are few things to be had in them that
she shouldn't be able to make better at home and at a cost that is but a
fraction of what she has to pay for the usually inferior, impersonal
messes that come ready-made.

If the housewife has read some of the very excellent instructions that
were printed to help her conduct her household adequately amid the
necessary limitations of wartime, she already knows that there is
absolutely no excuse for ever throwing away a crust or crumb of bread.
As for that, neither is there any excuse for ever disposing of what is
left of the morning cereal except to the advantage of some later made
dish, or of consigning meat scraps or bits of fat or even bones to the
garbage pail. It is not only that, in the interests of economy, she
should use them; it is rather that if she is a good cook she will be
very glad to have them to use.

Stale bread and breadcrumbs are the bases of a score of the most
delicious puddings on the French cook's card; cooked cereal is one of
the best thickenings for soups and gravies, as well as being far more
wholesome than flour for this purpose; meat scraps, trimmings and bones
should go into the stock pot. When a soup made of these is served as the
introductory course at dinner it will be found that the family will be
fully satisfied with much less meat, and it is in the lessening
dependence of Americans on meat that will make for the greatest item in
economy.

A French cook of parts would tear his hair if he could see how fats and
drippings from meats are thrown away in many an American kitchen. They
are poured into the sink till the drain pipes clog and, to complete the
little serial of extravagance, the plumber has to be called. The French
cook knows that this is the finest grease for frying in the world and
that its use would save many a pound of butter. He strains it all
carefully and keeps the different sorts in labelled jars or crocks. He
knows by experience what particular fats give the best flavors to
certain things, and he knows that vegetables, fish, eggs, pancakes and
what not are far better fried in these natural fats. Who that ever ate
an egg fried in bacon drippings will ever want one cooked in butter,
even at a dollar a pound!

One will not find the delicatessen flourishing in France--one will not
find it at all--and the fancy grocery, above mentioned, is another
pitfall for the American housewife. She likes the sight of food done up
in fancy containers, in glass, perhaps, and buys them, not realizing
that she is paying a large price for perfectly unnecessary and totally
unnourishing "pretties." If she is fearful of the handling some loose
food stuffs may be subjected to in the stores, why does she not practice
the most practical economy, go to the fountain-head of supplies in the
city, the large market, and buy in quantity, so far as she can? A few
ounces of bacon, already sliced, and sealed in a glass dish are, indeed,
appetising even in their raw state, while a side of bacon is not, unless
looked upon through the eyes of imagination, yet the latter method of
purchasing this commodity is two or three hundred per cent cheaper, and
when it arrives at the breakfast table it will be found every bit as
appealing to a happy morning appetite.

Any consideration of economy in the cuisine must include the meat
problem. Meat is the most expensive item on the menu and the true
solution of the question is not only to conserve all the uses of it but
to eat much less. That would make not only for economy, but for better
health as well.

It has been estimated that 186 pounds of dressed meat is--or was prior
to the war--the yearly average of consumption for every American; the
Englishman being a good second with his 120 pounds, while the Frenchman
remained perfectly contented and healthy with 79 pounds, the Italian
with 72 pounds, and the Swiss, anything but a nation of invalids,
managed very well on 60 pounds per person.

This is no plea for vegetarianism, though it may be said in passing for
the benefit of those who think that good red blood and hardy muscle are
to be obtained only by absorbing the red blood and muscle of the beasts
of the field, that there is as much, if not more, of this building
power in the beans, the peas, the lentils that we regard too often as
mere secondary foods.

Most of all the American should take advantage of the great stores of
fish which are equally as nourishing as meat and may easily be made as
appetising with simple sauces that French cookery will teach us. Fish
are cheap; at least, many neglected kinds are; they are easy to cook and
they are one of the best foods in the world.

THE APPEAL TO THE EYE

No one, least of all the French cook, calculates to feast the eye at the
expense of the sense of taste, yet it is his experience after long years
that good digestion is much more likely to wait upon the appetite that
has been stirred to a preliminary enthusiasm by the attractive
appearance of a dish. So they serve little fritters of vegetables, dabs
of jelly, slices of hard boiled eggs, pickles, parsley, cress and
nasturtiums with meats, put sprigs of fresh green in their gravies,
decorate desserts with nut-meats, flowers and fruits, and in so doing
add a bit to the gayety of the table, satisfied that the trifling extra
expense, time and energy incurred is more than compensated for in the
pleasure the results afford. A fair trial of this pleasant idiosyncrasy
of the French is convincing that the appearance of a dish has more
bearing on the relish of a meal than we over here have fully realized.

They are particular, however, to be consistent in the use of
garnishings. Flowers and fruits are reserved for sweet dishes, except in
the case of nasturtiums, which they regard as much a vegetable as a
flower and use freely with meats.

A stew or a creamed dish is merely a more or less indifferent something
to eat when it is dished up any old way and set upon the table. But if
it is heaped daintily on a pretty platter, surrounded by a ring of brown
mashed potato, its sides decorated by dainty shapes of toasted bread,
perhaps buttered and sprinkled with minced parsley, it has become
something to awaken the slumbering or indifferent appetite and at
practically no extra expense of time or money.

If the yolks of two hard boiled eggs are minced and mixed with part of
the raw white of one, the paste then formed into balls like marbles and
dropped into boiling water, one has little yellow spheres to lend an
enlivening color note to clear soups. Two or three of these dropped into
each plate just before serving makes a pleasing change from the usual
croutons.

Sprigs of fresh chickory make the daintiest of garnishes for cold meats,
and a few of the tender green stalks will add to the appearance of
practically any salad. As for water-cress and pepper-grass and, of
course, parsley, minced and otherwise, no French chef would think of
preparing a meal without a plentiful supply of them on hand.

It isn't essential that every dish should be turned into an elaborate
work of art, as if it were to be entered at the annual exhibition of the
Société des Chefs de Cuisine, but neither is there any reason, even with
modest means at command, for giving cause for that old slogan of the
great American dinner table: "It tastes better than it looks."

SAUCES, SIMPLE AND OTHERWISE

Brillat-Savarin, who would be remembered as a wit had he not been even
more brilliant as a chef, paid his respects to the English by saying
they were a nation of a hundred religions and only one sauce. Being a
true Frenchman he believed a reversal of the numbers better for the
soul. It is certainly better for the appetite.

To be sure the proper mental sauce for a good dinner is wit, and the
best physical one, hunger, but as we all of us have more or less of an
Epicurean strain in us and do not eat solely to satisfy bodily needs, it
is well that the American cook who essays to bring variety to her board
should have some knowledge of those Gallic creations, the sauces, by
which she is enabled to transform plain dishes into seemingly
pretentious ones, even though she never attain that sauce that Balzac
knew, "in which a mother might unsuspectingly eat her own child."

In the first place every French chef keeps three kinds of what he calls
_roux_ on hand, ready for making meat and fish sauces. These are made by
cooking together eight ounces of butter and nine ounces of flour. That
intended for use with brown meats is stirred together till it becomes a
medium brown in shade; white _roux_ is cooked only sufficiently to
banish the raw taste and not allowed to color, while pale _roux_ is kept
over the fire just long enough to attain a deep cream color. These are
mixed with milk, soup stock, water or gravy as the case may be when a
sauce for fish, meat or vegetables is needed.

For instance, to make _Sauce à la Crème_, for use with white entrées,
take two tablespoonfuls of the white _roux_ in a saucepan with a cup of
milk and a tablespoonful each of finely chopped parsley, shallots and
chives. Boil fifteen minutes, pass through a colander into another
saucepan, add a small lump of butter, more finely chopped parsley and
salt and pepper. Mix well with a wooden spoon and it is ready for the
table.

To make a favorite _Sauce Piquante_, cut two onions into slices, also a
carrot and two shallots and put into a saucepan with a scant
tablespoonful of butter. While heating over a moderate fire, add a sprig
of thyme, a tablespoonful of minced parsley, a bayleaf and two or three
cloves. When the onions are golden brown add a tablespoonful of flour, a
little plain stock and a tablespoonful of vinegar. Boil again, pass
through a sieve and season with salt and pepper.

A simple sauce is that _Maître d'Hôtel_, which is rarely made at home
though so generally liked. Put a lump of butter into a small saucepan
over a moderate fire and add to it chopped parsley and chives, or
parsley alone. Season with salt and pepper and a little lemon juice and
while it is sizzling pour over the hot steak or fish.

_Sauce d'Anchois_, than which there isn't anything better with baked
fish, is also easy to make. Take three or four anchovies and mash them
up well with two tablespoonfuls of butter. Now make about a pint of
brown sauce with brown _roux_ and milk, and stir the anchovy butter into
it. Just before taking from the fire add the juice of half a lemon or
more, according to taste.

_Sauce Bearnaise_ was a favorite of Henry of Navarre, and it is
excellent with steaks, chops and, particularly, roast beef. To make it
beat the yolks of three or four eggs in a saucepan, add a tablespoonful
of butter and a little salt. Stir over a slow fire till the eggs begin
to thicken, then remove and stir in two more tablespoonfuls of butter,
stirring till the butter is dissolved. Season with chopped fine herbs
and parsley and pour in a teaspoonful of French vinegar.

In many parts of France they have a favorite dressing for boiled fish
called _Sauce Ravigote_. To make it mix half a pint of stock in a
saucepan with a small amount of white wine or cider, then chop fine
herbs such as chervil, tarragon, chives and parsley, or whatever other
herbs are in season, to the amount of about three tablespoonfuls, and
mix with the stock, adding salt and pepper. Stew gently for about twenty
minutes, then blend a tablespoonful each of flour and butter, stir into
the sauce and continue to stir till thick. Just before serving squeeze
in the juice of half a lemon.

The word "_Ravigote_" means, literally, "pick me up," and it is applied
to minced tarragon, chervil, chives and parsley, the herbs being kept
separate and served with salad on four little saucers. _Ravigote_
butter, made by kneading butter with the four herbs and adding pepper,
salt and lemon juice, spread between thin slices of bread, makes
delicious sandwiches.

To make the very generally liked _Sauce Blanquette_, which is used to
raise cold meats to the dignity of a fricassée, take about four ounces
of pale _roux_, thin slightly with boiling water added by degrees, then
put in a bunch of sweet herbs, cooked button mushrooms and small onions
and pepper and salt to taste. Put in whatever cold meat you have, cook
till it is well heated and serve.

The following is called _Sauce d'Havre_, and through the use of it it
will be discovered that the taste of curry is an agreeable one in many
another case than in connection with the veal and rice arrangement to
which most American cooks restrict it. Peel and slice four onions and
two apples and place in a stewpan with four ounces of butter, six
peppercorns, a sprig of thyme, two bayleaves and a blade of mace. When
the onions have become slightly brown over the moderate fire, stir in a
mixture of two tablespoonfuls of flour and the same amount of curry
powder, shortly afterward adding six gills of white stock and half a
pint of white sauce. Season with salt and half a teaspoonful of moist
sugar, boil for a quarter of an hour, adding more white stock if
necessary, and stirring constantly. Put through a strainer into another
saucepan, boil up again, skim, and use when required.

Fricasseed chicken takes on a new glory when it is prepared with _Sauce
Lyons_. This is made by stirring gradually three well-beaten eggs into
half a pint of plain white sauce, then placing the mixture in a jar and
standing in boiling water till the sauce thickens. Just prior to pouring
over the chicken add the strained juice of half a lemon.

TWENTY-FOUR LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS

Potage à la Duchesse
Cabillaud à la Bechamel
Pommes de Terre, Genevoise
Salade Celeri
Pouding à la Vanille

=Potage à la Duchesse.=--Butter a baking sheet, cover with four ounces
of chou paste, cook in the oven for six minutes, then cover the paste
with forcemeat in small lumps, a little distance apart. Cut the paste
into twelve equal sized pieces, each piece holding a lump of the
forcemeat, place in a tureen, pour over a quart of piping hot consommé
and serve.

=Cabillaud à la Bechamel.=--Mix an ounce of flour with an ounce and a
half of butter melted in a saucepan, then gradually add a pint of milk
which has been allowed previously to simmer with a minced onion and
carrot in it, also a bunch of sweet herbs, two or three cloves, a
grating of nutmeg and pepper and salt. Bring to a boil, add two or three
tablespoonfuls of cream, strain and put back into the saucepan. Now put
in two or three pounds of cod, previously boiled and flaked, being
thoroughly free from skin and bones. Shake all together very gently and
when all is thoroughly hot, turn out onto a silver dish and garnish with
sliced hard-boiled eggs.

=Pommes de Terre, Genevoise.=--Shred four medium sized boiled potatoes,
season with a little salt and pepper. Butter lightly half a dozen
tartlet moulds, cover the bottoms with grated Parmesan cheese, arrange
in each a layer of potatoes, then another sprinkling of cheese, and so
on till the moulds are filled. Put a little butter on top. Place on a
very hot stove or in a very hot oven for fifteen minutes to half an
hour. Serve on a hot dish in the moulds.

=Salade Celeri.=--Trim two or three heads of celery, cut into short
shreds, wash thoroughly in cold water and drain. Place in a salad bowl,
season with a little salt, a very little pepper and one or two
tablespoonfuls each of oil and vinegar. Add several sprigs of
pepper-grass and serve at once.

=Pouding à la Vanille.=--Place a vanilla bean in a mortar together with
half a pound of sugar and pound well together and sift. Separate the
whites from the yolks of three eggs, beat the yolks well, stir them in
with a pint of cream and mix in with the vanilla sugar. Whisk the whites
of the eggs to a stiff froth and mix lightly in with the other
ingredients. Butter a pudding mould, pour in the mixture and cover with
a sheet of oiled paper. Stand the mould in a saucepan of boiling water
and steam the pudding for half an hour. In the meantime prepare the
following sauce: Pour a breakfast cupful of canned or fresh pineapple
juice into a lined pan with the juice of a lemon. Put this on the fire
till it boils, then pour it over a tablespoonful of arrowroot, stirring
all the time. Return the sauce to the saucepan and stir till it thickens
over the fire. When the pudding is cooked, turn it out onto a hot dish,
strain the sauce over it and serve. Be careful that no water enters the
mould containing the pudding while it is cooking, or it will be
spoiled.

Consommé à la Napolitaine
Cabillaud à la Financière
Pommes de Terre en Rubans
Beignets à la Printemps
Choufleur au Gratin
Bavaroise au Café

=Consommé à la Napolitaine.=--Place in a saucepan with a lump of butter
equal quantities of finely minced carrots, turnips, a head of lettuce
and one of endive with a little chervil. Add a quart of the water in
which the cauliflower in this dinner was cooked, pepper and salt, and
simmer for an hour. Just before serving stir in the beaten yolk of an
egg and half a pint of milk.

=Cabillaud à la Financière.=--Cook a piece of cod weighing three pounds
in salted water for twenty minutes, drain a place on a serving platter
covered with the following sauce: Put two glasses of Madeira wine and a
small piece of meat glaze in a saucepan with a pint of Spanish sauce and
a gill each of essence of mushrooms and truffles. Boil till it coats the
spoon.

=Pommes de Terre en Rubans.=--Take large, smooth, pared potatoes and cut
round and round in spirals about an eighth of an inch thick. Keep
covered with a damp napkin till all are cut, place in a frying basket
and fry in very hot fat till a light straw color. Sprinkle freely with
salt and serve immediately.

=Beignets à la Printemps.=--Make a sauce of two ounces of butter, four
ounces of flour, a tablespoonful of brandy, a pinch of salt, sufficient
water to make a creamy paste. Cook and, removing from the stove, work in
the whites of two eggs beaten to a stiff froth. Cut into pieces any
fruit desired, dip them in the batter and fry in butter to a light
golden brown. Drain well, place in a serving dish, sprinkle well with
powdered sugar and serve. If the fruit is not fully ripe, parboil in
syrup before using.

=Choufleur au Gratin.=--Soak a cauliflower in water with plenty of salt,
then boil in plenty of salted water for fifteen minutes. Remove and take
away all the green leaves, lay it on a flat buttered dish, previously
rubbed with an onion, and pour over it a sauce made as follows: Melt an
ounce and a half of butter in a saucepan, add a dessertspoonful of
flour, mix and add a cup of milk. Stir till it thickens, add pepper and
salt and add two or three tablespoonfuls of grated Parmesan cheese. Mix
well and after pouring over the cauliflower sprinkle all over with
breadcrumbs and place the dish in the oven till nicely browned.

=Bavaroise au Café.=--Mix the beaten yolks of two eggs with a pint of
milk and a cup of very strong black coffee. Bring to a boil in a
saucepan, remove from the fire and allow to get cold, stirring
occasionally. Add the yolks of two more eggs beaten stiff with two
ounces of sugar. Mix well and then add the stiffly beaten whites of the
four eggs along with half an ounce of dissolved gelatin. Pour into a
mould and turn out when set.

III

Filet de Sole à la Provençal
Poulet Sauté à l'Estragon
Artichauts à la Barigoule
Petit Petac
Soufflé Georgette

=Filets des Soles à la Provençal.=--Sprinkle the filets with pepper and
salt and a little allspice and fry in salad oil with a finely chopped
onion and a little chopped parsley. Serve with a slice of lemon on each
filet.

=Poulet Sauté à l'Estragon.=--Sprinkle the pieces of a cut up raw
chicken with pepper and salt and cook in a saucepan with a little oil.
Make a gravy of a cupful of clear stock in which tarragon stalks have
been boiled for an hour, dish up the fowl on a hot platter, pour over
the sauce, straining it, and sprinkle on top tarragon leaves blanched
and coarsely chopped.

=Artichauts à la Barigoule.=--Cut off the tops and leaves of the
artichokes and boil the bottoms in plenty of slightly salted water till
tender. Scoop out the fibrous interior. Grate some cooked bacon into a
saucepan with a gill of fine herbs and a cupful of broth. Cook for five
minutes. Put a little of this mixture in each artichoke, cover the
opening with a slice of lemon and bake in a sauté-pan in the oven for
twenty minutes.

=Petit Petac.=--Peel tiny new potatoes and sauté in oil till a golden
brown. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve.

=Soufflé Georgette.=--Grate a half-dozen stale macaroons into a half-cup
of brandy, add a pint of cream and two teaspoonfuls of dissolved
gelatine. Whip in a dozen maraschino cherries and turn into a mould to
harden. Serve with macaroons dipped into the liquid that comes around
the maraschino cherries. A custard may be used in this recipe instead of
the cream.

Potage au Riz
Rougets en Papillotes
Veau à la Suzette
Demi tasse

=Potage au Riz.=--Put half a pound of well-washed rice into a saucepan
with two quarts of vegetable stock and boil till tender. When the rice
is cooked move the saucepan to the side of the fire and mix in a cupful
of stewed tomatoes and an ounce and a half of butter. Serve with sippets
of toast or croutons that have been fried in butter.

=Rougets en Papillotes.=--This recipe is for mullets, but any small,
plump fish may be used. Make a paper case for each fish with a sheet of
well-oiled notepaper and put the cases into the oven for a few minutes
to harden. Sprinkle the under sides of the fish with pepper and salt
and lay them in their cases with a small piece of butter under and over
each. Place the cases in a baking-dish and cook for about twenty minutes
in the oven, or more if the fish are otherwise than small. Sprinkle well
with lemon juice just before serving.

=Veau à la Suzette.=--Trim saddle of veal neatly and put it into a
saucepan with a good sized piece of butter. Turn it constantly on the
fire till it is a rich golden color all over, then put it onto a dish
and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add more butter to the gravy in the
saucepan and put in raw potatoes cut up in sections like oranges. Cover
the saucepan and cook, shaking frequently, till the potatoes have a good
color. Add an onion, finely minced, and when it is browned, a clove of
garlic, minced very fine; next put in a tablespoonful of flour followed,
when the flour is brown, by about two cupfuls of stock. Stir well and
put back the meat and any juice that may have oozed from it. Lastly add
a bouquet of herbs, simmer for an hour at least and serve the meat
surrounded by the potatoes with the sauce poured over the whole.

Potage à l'Américaine
Filet d'Eglefin
Gigot de Mouton aux Épinards
Chou de Mer au Fromage
Petites Crèmes au Chocolat

=Potage à l'Américaine.=--Parboil a medium sized cauliflower in salted
water, change the water and boil till done. Drain well and press through
a sieve. Dilute with consommé or broth. Boil a few minutes more,
stirring well. Beat up in a basin the yolk of an egg with three
tablespoonfuls of cream, add this to a few tablespoonfuls of the
cauliflower mixture, then, taking the saucepan containing the soup from
the fire, add the egg and cream mixture and stir together. Add half an
ounce of butter and serve with croutons.

=Filet d'Eglefin.=--Cut a haddock into fillets, trimming into pieces
about six inches long. Dip them in well beaten egg and then into sifted
breadcrumbs and plunge into deep, well-boiling fat, frying to a rich
color, turning occasionally to cook both sides evenly. Remove, drain,
put on a cloth spread over a hot dish and serve with a simple white
sauce.

=Gigot de Mouton aux Épinards.=--Roast a small leg of mutton, putting
some salt and a small quantity of water at the bottom of the tin. When
half cooked, remove the meat and carefully skim the gravy of all fat.
Return the mutton to the tin, pour gravy over it and surround it with
potatoes cut to the size of walnuts. Put back in the oven, letting the
potatoes cook in the juice of the meat. Meanwhile cook about three
pounds of spinach, drain, squeeze out all water and pass through a
sieve. Return to a saucepan in which about two ounces of butter has been
heated and season with pepper and salt. Add a tablespoonful of gravy
from the mutton and allow the spinach to simmer till the meat is done.
Then pile the spinach with the potatoes about the meat and serve, having
the gravy in a sauceboat.

=Chou de Mer au Fromage.=--Carefully wash sea-kale to remove grit,
remove any black parts from the roots and tie up the shoots in small
bundles. Cook in boiling salted water for twenty minutes, drain and keep
hot. Mix on the fire an ounce of butter and a tablespoonful of flour,
moisten with half a cup of water in which the kale was cooked, bring to
a boil and mix in two or three tablespoonfuls of grated Parmesan cheese.
Take from the fire and add the beaten yolk of an egg. Arrange the kale
on a hot dish, pour the sauce over and serve immediately.

=Petites Crèmes au Chocolat.=--Mix two tablespoonfuls of chocolate or
cocoa in a cup of boiling milk and sweeten to taste. When nearly cold
add to this the yolks of two eggs, well beaten, and a gill of heavy
cream. Mix thoroughly and strain into china cases. Place these in a
large shallow stewpan containing just sufficient water to reach half way
up on the cases. Let steam for twenty minutes, when the custard ought to
be firm. The water should be boiling when the cases are first put in,
but afterwards may simmer. Put the cases on ice, and serve as cold as
possible with little sponge cakes or lady fingers.

Potage purée de Pois Secs
Saumon à la Hollandaise
Pommes de Terre, Barigoule
Haricots verts au riz tomate

=Potage Purée de Pois Secs.=--Boil a pint of green peas in three pints
of water with a piece of fat ham or bacon, two carrots, an onion, a
leek, a bayleaf, some parsley, pepper and salt. Allow to simmer two or
three hours, stirring occasionally. Pass the peas and onions through a
hair sieve and add the strained liquor. Return to the saucepan, boil up,
add some whole cooked peas with a little mint and serve.

=Saumon à la Hollandaise.=--Cut a piece of salmon from the middle of the
fish, cover in the kettle with cold water and plenty of salt. Bring
slowly to a boil, removing scum, and allow to simmer till the fish is
done. Drain thoroughly and serve with the following sauce in a boat:
Take three ounces of butter, the yolks of two eggs and put them in a
double boiler over the fire, stirring briskly till the butter is
dissolved. Mix in a scant ounce of flour, stir well and add the juice of
a lemon, half a pint of milk, a little grated nutmeg and pepper and
salt. Stir constantly till the sauce thickens to the consistency of a
custard.

=Pommes de Terre, Barigoule.=--Place ten potatoes in a saucepan with
enough broth to cover them and boil slowly till done. Drain, taking care
not to break them. Put a teacupful of olive oil into a deep frying pan,
heat, put in the potatoes, tossing them till they are browned all over
lightly. Place on a dish and sprinkle with salt, pepper and vinegar.
Serve piping hot.

=Haricots verts au riz tomate.=--Boil rice carefully so that every grain
will be separate, toss it in a little butter and moisten with tomato
sauce and add the yolk of an egg, well beaten and stirred in, and a
little Parmesan cheese. Make a border of the rice on a dish and pile in
the center some French beans plainly boiled and tossed in a little
butter with some pepper and salt.

VII

Potage Velouté
Brochet à la Tartare
Biftecks sautés aux Olives
Pommes de Terre à la Lyonnaise
Épinards au Gratin
Beignets Soufflés

=Potage Velouté.=--Boil a cup and a half of tapioca in two quarts of
water and season with salt and pepper. At the bottom of a tureen place a
lump of butter, and the yolks of two eggs, pour the tapioca over while
it is still boiling, add a pint of hot milk and serve.

=Brochet à la Tartare.=--Cut a fresh pike into slices and marinade each
slice separately with a sauce made of sufficient olive oil, black
pepper, a minced onion, finely cut mushrooms and chopped parsley. Cover
the fish with breadcrumbs and broil, brushing occasionally with the
marinade. When it is a golden color remove from the fire, place on a hot
platter and serve sprinkled with parsley with a tartar sauce in a
sauceboat.

=Biftecks sautés aux Olives.=--Cut the steak into six pieces and toss in
a frying pan with lard. When well done sprinkle with seasoning and
remove from the fire. Then take half a glass of white wine, a
tablespoonful of consommé, two or three dozen green olives, with the
pits removed, and boil together for a few minutes. Set the steak in a
crown on the platter and in the center place the dressing. Pour the
gravy from the frying pan over all and serve.

=Pommes de Terre à la Lyonnaise.=--Take a dozen potatoes of the same
size, cut into pieces the size of a quarter of a dollar, roll in flour
and put into a frying pan with boiling fat, taking them out when they
are a golden brown. Also fry some thin slices of onion, mix with the
potatoes, sprinkle with salt and serve garnished with parsley.

=Épinards au Gratin.=--Boil two pounds of spinach and chop very fine.
Beat up two eggs to each pound of spinach, mix with it and sprinkle the
whole with breadcrumbs. Pour over some olive oil or melted butter and
heat thoroughly in the oven in a vegetable dish.

=Beignets Soufflés.=--Put a pound of flour, a pinch of salt, a liquor
glass of rum, the yolks of three eggs and a quantity of lukewarm water
into a mixing dish and beat these together till it shrinks from the
dish. Then mix in the well-beaten whites of the eggs and then allow to
rise for an hour or so. Have a baking dish very hot and put in the paste
in pieces the size of a nut, which will triple in size while cooking.
Let them cook to a golden color, remove from the fire and sprinkle with
powdered sugar. Serve hot.

VIII

Consommé Royale
Filet de Sole à la Vénétienne
Salade Barbe de Capucin
Beignets de Pêches

=Consommé Royale.=--Beat two eggs and mix them with half a cup of milk
and a pinch of salt. Pour into a basin, stand this in a larger one
containing hot water, place in the oven and bake till the contents of
the small basin are firm, renewing water in the larger dish if
necessary. Allow to cool and when set cut into small well-shaped pieces,
pour over them a quart of hot consommé and serve immediately.

=Filet de Sole à la Vénétienne.=--Place in a buttered tin two small or
one large onion cut in thin slices, a little chopped parsley, a bayleaf,
one or two whole cloves and salt and pepper. Lay the fillets of two
soles on these with a generous piece of butter, pour over half a pint of
white stock and a small glass of white wine. Cover the tin with oiled
paper, and bake in the oven for about twelve minutes. When the fish is
cooked take out all the liquor except just enough to keep the fish moist
as it remains in the oven turned very low, strain it and add
three-quarters of an ounce of flour and the same amount of butter. Bring
the sauce to a boil, take it from the fire, add the yolk of an egg and a
good amount of blanched parsley and chervil, chopped very fine. Arrange
the fillets of sole on a hot dish, pour the sauce over and serve.

=Salade Barbe de Capucin.=--Carefully pick over and break into
convenient pieces the required amount of chicory and place in a salad
bowl well rubbed with an onion. Just before serving pour over a French
dressing, remembering to be in making it "a spendthrift for oil, a miser
for vinegar, a counselor for salt and a madman to stir it all up."

=Beignets des Pêches.=--Peel, stone and cut in halves some firm peaches.
Toss about in a bowl with sugar, being careful not to break. Put a pound
of flour in a basin and stir in gradually half a pint of water. Mix the
whites of two stiffly beaten eggs with this batter and then add one and
a quarter ounces of melted butter. Bring olive oil to a good heat in a
frying pan, dip each piece of peach in the batter and fry in the fat.
When lightly browned drain on a cloth or paper, lay on a baking dish,
sift powdered sugar over and glaze by placing in a hot oven a few
minutes. Arrange in pyramid shape on a folded napkin on a hot dish and
serve immediately. Canned peaches, if firm, may, of course, be
substituted for the fresh fruit.

Côtelettes de Saumon, à l'Anglaise
Pommes de Terre, Marquise
Petits Pois à la Paysanne
Salade Américaine
Choux au Chocolat

=Côtelettes de Saumon, Anglaise.=--Divide slices of salmon into shape of
cutlets, sprinkle with pepper and salt and put into a saucepan with a
small amount of butter and toss over the fire. When cooked take out and
drain, place on a hot dish and serve with the following sauce: Put three
tablespoonfuls of velouté sauce into a saucepan, reduce slightly and add
one egg, four ounces of butter, a little salt, cayenne, some finely
minced parsley and the juice of half a lemon. Mix together well over
the fire till the ingredients are blended and it is ready.

=Pommes de Terre, Marquise.=--Boil potatoes in salted water and pass
through a sieve. Season with salt, pepper, nutmeg, chopped parsley and a
little chopped thyme. Moisten with some good gravy or stock and form
into small balls. Dip each in well beaten egg and fry to a light brown
in butter.

=Petits Pois à la Paysanne.=--Take fresh green peas, or canned ones if
the former are not available, put over the fire in a saucepan with
plenty of butter and stir frequently. Cut one or two rashers of bacon in
very small dice and toss them in a saucepan over the fire. When the
bacon is well fried, mix in with the peas and let the two finish cooking
together, seasoning with pepper, salt and a little sugar.

=Salade Américaine.=--Cut in rounds resembling a quarter-dollar equal
quantities of new potatoes, carrots and beet root, all previously
cooked. Then add a sour apple, cut in the same shape, and a few
anchovies cut in small pieces. Pour over this a dressing of three parts
oil to one of vinegar, add pepper, salt, mustard and chopped parsley.
Pile the salad up and surround with cress.

=Choux au Chocolat.=--Into a small saucepan put half a cup of water with
two ounces of butter and one of sugar. When boiling add gradually two
and a half ounces of finely sifted flour and stir till the mixture is
stiff. Take from the fire, stir some more, then add two eggs, one at a
time, beat the whole well, and leave to cool. Butter a baking sheet, lay
the paste on it in round balls the size of a plum and bake in a moderate
oven for about twenty minutes. Allow to cool and then make an incision
in the side of each and fill with whipped cream slightly flavored with
vanilla or with jam. Just before serving glaze each chou slightly with a
chocolate icing.

Consommé Duchesse
Saumon, Sauce Piquante
Rissolettes de Bœuf
Salade à la Reine
Crème Noyau

=Duchesse Consommé.=--Boil four tablespoonfuls of rice (ground) in four
cups of water for fifteen minutes, adding half a teaspoonful each of
salt and sugar. When the rice is soft and just before serving add a
quart of warmed milk, bring to a boil, adding lastly a dash of pepper
and paprika.

=Saumon, Sauce Piquante.=--Take slices of salmon about three-quarters of
an inch in thickness and place in a saucepan with hot fish broth mixed
with a small quantity of wine. Allow to simmer for fifteen minutes. When
cooked remove and wipe free from broth, place on a hot platter and
serve with a sauce made as follows: Melt a quantity of butter, flavor to
taste with tarragon vinegar, pepper, mustard, fennel and such spices as
are liked. Stir over the fire till cooked, move to the side of the
stove, thicken with the yolk of an egg and serve.

=Rissolettes de Bœuf.=--With four cups of finely minced beef mix one cup
of breadcrumbs, adding one boiled onion, a little essence of anchovies,
salt, pepper and a raw egg. Make into balls, roll in breadcrumbs and fry
slowly. Prepare a gravy by boiling the trimmings of the meat in the
water in which the onion was boiled, thicken with flour or cornstarch,
add three teaspoonfuls of lemon juice and pour over the rissolettes
which should be arranged on a heated platter around a heap of mashed
potatoes.

=Salade à la Reine.=--Lay strips of endive lengthwise on the salad
plates and cross them with peeled tomatoes cut in sections like an
orange. Dress with a French salad dressing.

=Crème Noyau.=--Pound in a mortar together a quarter pound of Jordan and
an ounce of bitter almonds with a scant half cup of cream and two ounces
of sugar. Rub through a sieve into a bowl, add a pint of whipped cream
flavored with Noyau and then an ounce of gelatine dissolved. Pour into a
mould to set. Serve with champagne wafers.

Consommé à la Madrilène
Perches aux Fines Herbes
Filets Mignons aux Pommes de Terre
Aubergines Farcies
Omelette au Rhum

=Consommé à la Madrilène.=--Put through a medium sieve five or six
boiled ripe tomatoes, or a can of tomatoes, allow to cool and pack in a
freezer. Add to a cold consommé and serve in cups.

=Perches aux Fines Herbes.=--Prepare six fresh perch and marinade them
with two tablespoonfuls of olive oil, a sprig of parsley, a little
pepper and salt and allspice, bayleaf and other strong spices chopped
fine. Keep the fish in this for about an hour, remove and roll in
breadcrumbs lightly flavored with spices. Grill over a low fire till a
golden brown in color and serve with butter sauce.

=Filets Mignons aux Pommes de Terre.=--Marinade the required number of
small filets mignon of mutton in butter seasoned with salt and chervil.
Leave for an hour or more and just before they are to be served, grill
them, basting frequently with the butter. Flavor with lemon juice and
serve with buttered fried potatoes.

=Aubergines Farcies.=--Cut eggplants in halves lengthwise, remove the
inside and of this make a farcie by mixing it with chopped parsley, two
chopped onions and salt and pepper. Stuff the eggplant halves with this
mixture and put the combination into a casserole containing a good
quantity of melted butter and allow to simmer over a slow fire till all
is thoroughly done. Cover the tops with breadcrumbs, add a drop of oil
or a little melted butter and keep piping hot till served.

=Omelette au Rhum.=--Prepare an omelette as for any sweet omelette and
just before serving place on a hot platter, pour rum over, ignite and
carry to the table blazing.

XII

Potage Riz, Creçy
Canapés de Saumon Fumé
Paupiettes de Porc, Sauce Piquante
Asperges en Petits Pois
Tarte à la Turque

=Potage Riz, Creçy.=--Cut several firm, red carrots lengthwise, using
only the red part. Place in a casserole with a good bouillon and allow
to simmer over a slow fire. Pass through a sieve when the carrots are
soft, and put back in the bouillon. Add a cupful of cooked rice, bring
to a boil and serve.

=Canapés de Saumon Fumé.=--Cut a smoked salmon into slices and spread
them with butter, adding pepper and salt and a pinch of nutmeg. Heat
over a crisp fire, place on a hot dish, cover with croutons and serve.

=Paupiettes de Porc, Sauce Piquante.=--Take small slices of cold roast
pork and spread them with sausage meat. Roll them and fasten with
skewers, then cover with a thin coating of lard or with oiled paper and
cook them over a low fire in a casserole. When thoroughly done, take off
the papers, cover with breadcrumbs and brown. Serve with a piquant
sauce.

=Asperges en Petits Pois.=--Cut up the green part of two bunches of
asparagus, roll in butter and add a little salt. Heat a cupful of flour,
being careful not to allow it to color, and dredge the asparagus with
it. Put into a saucepan with sufficient milk and water in equal parts to
cover, add a bouquet of herbs and allow the whole to simmer till the
asparagus is cooked. Season with white pepper and serve.

=Tarte à la Turque.=--Boil a cupful of rice till thick in milk to which
has been added a stick of cinnamon, a little lemon juice and sugar. When
the rice is cooked allow to cool. Make a border of it on a buttered
plate and fill the center with a marmalade made as follows: Cut the
peeled stalks of a bunch of rhubarb into dice and allow them to simmer
in a small amount of water till they are of the consistency of
marmalade. Add three or four teaspoonfuls of sugar, a lump of butter and
the rind of a lemon. Take from the fire and immediately add the beaten
yolks of two eggs. Arrange, as stated, in the middle of the rice,
sprinkle with a little more sugar and set in the oven for fifteen
minutes or more before serving.

XIII

Potage à la Chicorée
Allumettes d'Anchois
Bœuf Bouilli en Vinaigrette
Pommes Maire
Salade de Tomates
Crème Brulée

=Potage à la Chicorée.=--Pick carefully and wash two or three heads of
chicory, cut into shreds and pass through a little heated butter without
allowing to take color. Then add sufficient of the water in which the
Pommes Maire (below) were boiled to make the required quantity of soup,
add pepper and salt, simmer for an hour. Just after taking from the fire
add the beaten yolk of an egg. Pour into the tureen over toasted slices
of stale bread.

=Allumettes d'Anchois.=--Make a fritter paste with flour and oil,
omitting salt. Soften with white wine. Wash the desired number of
anchovies, remove the bones and draw out the salt by soaking in milk.
Dip into the paste and fry.

=Bœuf Bouilli en Vinaigrette.=--Cut cold, lean beef into narrow, thin
slices. Place it in a bowl with a finely chopped onion and some chervil,
a few cut-up gherkins, a teaspoonful of capers, pour oil, a little
vinegar and the juice of half a lemon over, add pepper and salt, toss
well together and serve at once.

=Pommes Maire.=--Use "kidney" potatoes if procurable; if not, ordinary
potatoes of small size. Boil in salt water and peel while still hot,
then cut in thick chips and place in a casserole and cover with boiling
milk. Season with pepper and salt and allow to boil, turning with a fork
till the milk has boiled away. Remove from the fire, pour over a cup of
rich milk, season again and serve.

=Salade de Tomates.=--Cut a pound of not too ripe tomatoes into one
inch cubes, add salt, pepper, vinegar and oil to taste and then toss
together with a minced onion. Serve right away. If desired, cold boiled
beef in dainty slices may be added.

=Crème Brulée.=--Blend a tablespoonful of flour with the yolks of three
eggs and place in a casserole. Pour slowly in a pint or more of milk,
add a pinch of cinnamon, a few drops of extract of lemon or any flavor
desired, and stir constantly over the fire. When the cream is cooked,
make a caramel sauce in a porcelain pot by melting five or six lumps of
sugar and cooking to the browning point. Pour this into a serving dish,
pour the cream over it and allow to cool.

XIV

Bisque d'Herbes
Turbot à la Rachel
Choufleur au Gratin
Salade Barbe de Capucin
Gâteau de Frangipane

=Bisque d'Herbes.=--Chop together about a handful each of lettuce,
sorrel, spinach, also a small onion, a little celery and some chervil
and cook all with an egg-sized piece of butter for fifteen minutes,
stirring constantly. Then add three tablespoonfuls of flour made smooth
with a little stock, stir in four cupfuls of the cauliflower water
(which you will have from a recipe following) into which has been beaten
the yolk of an egg. Serve very hot with croutons.

=Turbot à la Rachel.=--Boil the fish in salted water. Whitefish or
haddock will serve as well as turbot. Make the following sauce: Smooth
and brown together two tablespoonfuls of flour and two ounces of butter
and stir in five gills of water in which the fish was boiled, adding a
teaspoonful each of anchovy essence and mushroom catsup. Remove from the
fire and beat in the yolks of two eggs and the juice of one lemon. Color
with liquid carmine or a few drops of cochineal and pour over the fish.

=Choufleur au Gratin.=--Dip the cauliflower into ice water, then plunge
it into boiling salted water to cook fifteen minutes. Cut a slice off
the stalk, remove the leaves, lay on a flat dish and cover with a cream
sauce. Sprinkle with grated breadcrumbs and grated Parmesan cheese,
brown in the oven and serve.

=Salade Barbe de Capucin.=--Lay the stalks of American endive in a dish
and cut into small pieces a medium shallot. Mix, add a French dressing
and sprinkle with finely chopped tarragon leaves.

=Gâteau de Frangipane.=--Whisk together a quarter of a pound of powdered
sugar and the whites of three eggs, then beat in three tablespoonfuls of
milk, the grated peel of a lemon and a dash of salt. Then stir in half a
pound of flour. Bake in patty tins and when done scoop a piece out of
the top of each patty and fill with jam. Then pour over a sauce made as
follows: Put two wineglassfuls of white wine into a small saucepan and
stir in a cupful of orange marmalade with the juice of a lemon. Thicken
with a little corn-starch.

Potage Bisque
Canard à la Pertinset
Pommes de Terre à la Crème
Choufleur au Beurre Noir
Salade de Lentilles
Pêches au Vin

=Potage Bisque.=--Boil as many crabs as are needed in water, adding
salt, pepper, two good sized onions and equal quantities of carrots and
chives. Remove the crabs and take the meat from the claws. Mash the
vegetables until they form a purée and add a good sized lump of butter.
Place over the fire with water or bouillon and allow to come to a boil.
Serve very hot with croutons and the meat from the crab claws.

=Canard à la Pertinset.=--Place a carefully prepared duck in a casserole
and dredge it with a lump of melted butter, add two onions, one clove,
a dash of garlic. Put in the oven but do not allow the onions to become
too brown before removing the duck. Then add five or six tomatoes, one
glass of white wine, a glass of bouillon, a few cloves and a bayleaf.
Let this boil over a low fire, then mash the tomatoes and onions, put
back the duck into the casserole and boil for forty minutes.

=Pommes de Terre à la Crème.=--Put into a casserole a lump of butter, a
pinch of flour, salt and pepper, nutmeg and a young onion. Mix well and
add a cup of rich milk. Place on the fire, stir constantly, and remove
as soon as the mixture comes to a boil. Meanwhile boil as many potatoes
as are required in salted water. Peel and cut into slices, add to the
sauce and serve.

=Choufleur au Beurre Noir.=--Boil a cauliflower and drain. Add a pinch
of salt, nutmeg and a dash of vinegar to a pint of the water in which
the cauliflower was cooked. Melt two tablespoonfuls of butter and when
it is a light brown add it to the mixture. Pour over the cauliflower on
a hot platter.

=Salade de Lentilles.=--Having boiled two cupfuls of lentils till they
are tender, season them either hot or cold with a little garlic cut up
fine, or with chives and serve in lettuce leaves with a French dressing.

=Pêches au Vin.=--Put peaches into a stewpan and cover them with water.
In ten minutes remove the skins. Then place them in a shallow dish and
cover them either with Madeira or Moselle wine and allow them to stand
for at least two hours. Then drain them, place them in the dish in which
they are to be served and cover them with vanilla sugar. Set the wine in
which they have been soaked on the fire, add sugar to taste, and pour
the sauce boiling over the peaches.

XVI

Sardines Grillées
Chapon à l'Indienne
Pommes de Terre en Matelote
Salade Beaucaire
Crème Fouettée

=Sardines Grillées.=--Grill half a dozen sardines, or as many as desired,
for a few minutes. Melt butter in a frying-pan, stir in a little flour
and moisten with hot water, then add a few drops of vinegar, a dash of
mustard, salt and pepper. Pour this very hot over the sardines.

=Chapon à l'Indienne.=--Prepare and truss a capon as for roasting, rub
all over with butter and place in a casserole with a good sized slice of
salt pork. Cook over a slow fire for three hours. In the meantime cook a
cupful of rice, season it with a little curry powder and pimento, and
place around the capon on the platter on which it is served.

=Pommes de Terre en Matelote.=--Slice freshly boiled potatoes and cook
en casserole with seasoning of pepper and salt, two or three sliced
onions, a sprig of chopped parsley, a lump of butter and a small amount
of flour and water. Cook till all the ingredients are well blended and
when heaped on a platter and ready for the table, pour over a glass or
two of wine.

=Salade Beaucaire.=--Chop coarsely celery and endive together, season
with oil, vinegar and mustard an hour before using. Just before taking
to the table, add chopped boiled ham, a sour apple, diced, moistened
with a little tarragon and mayonnaise. Surround the salad with a border
of small potatoes, boiled and sliced, alternated with slices of beet.

=Crème Fouettée.=--Whip cream till it is very thick or make about a
quart of custard. Mash thoroughly a pound of cherries or raspberries, or
both with powdered sugar. Mix with the cream or custard, beat again and
serve immediately. In summer this may be iced with good results.

XVII

Potage Macédoine
Homards et Champignons
Côtelettes de Mouton à la Brunoise
Petits Pois à la Française
Choux à la Crème

=Potage Macédoine.=--Place thin pieces of ham in the bottom of a
saucepan and then put in three each of turnips, potatoes and onions, all
cut up small. Pour in some stock, season with pepper and salt and simmer
till the ham and vegetables are cooked. Add a quart of milk and bring
almost to a boil, strain and serve immediately.

=Homards et Champignons.=--Cut an equal quantity of lobster meat and
mushrooms into dice. Boil some velouté sauce together with some essence
of mushrooms till somewhat reduced, then thicken and mix with the
lobster and mushrooms. Fill ramekin cases with the preparation,
sprinkle with breadcrumbs, pour over a little melted butter and bake in
the oven till browned. Serve piping hot.

=Côtelettes de Mouton à la Brunoise.=--Trim mutton cutlets neatly,
cutting away all fat, and place side by side in a large stewpan. Cover
with well-flavored stock and leave to simmer, well covered, for an hour
and a half. Take equal quantities of turnips, onions and celery and
double the amount of carrots, cut all into quarter-inch cubes and fry in
butter till they begin to color, putting in first the carrots, then the
celery, then the onions and last the turnips. When all are done, drain
and allow them to simmer gently in a little common stock. A little while
before the cutlets are done drain off all the surplus stock from the
vegetables, or boil it down quickly over a hot fire. Dress the cutlets
on the rim of a platter, heap the vegetables in the center and pour the
gravy all over them. Accompany with mashed potatoes.

=Petits Pois à la Française.=--Cook a pint of shelled peas till tender,
drain and place on the back of the fire with not quite a gill of the
water in which they have been boiled, a little flour and an ounce of
butter. Simmer for five minutes, adding pepper and salt to taste and
just before taking from the fire add the yolk of an egg mixed with a
tablespoonful and a half of cream. Serve very hot in china or paper
cases.

=Choux à la Crème.=--Put a small piece of butter in a saucepan with half
a pint of water, a teaspoonful of sugar, a piece of lemon peel and a
little salt. Boil well together, stir in two tablespoonfuls of flour and
stir till thick and cooked. Allow this paste to cool and then work into
it two eggs and sufficient milk to make it thin enough to drop from a
spoon. Heat lard in a deep frying pan, not quite to the point of
boiling, and with a spoon drop the paste into it in lumps about the size
of a hen's egg. When slightly brown and well swollen, remove the cakes,
drain them well, scoop out a little of the top of each to form a hollow
and allow them to cool. Whip cream to a stiff froth and put a small
amount into the hollow of each chou, arrange on a fancy dish and serve.
The chou may be filled with jelly or preserves if preferred.

XVIII

Potage à la Printanière
Paupiettes de Veau
Pommes de Terre, Maître d'Hôtel
Salade de Laitue
Feuillantines

=Potage à la Printanière.=--Cut two carrots and one turnip into shapes
with a vegetable scoop, simmer for twenty minutes in salted water, drain
and place in a quart of the water in which the potatoes (in this same
menu) were boiled. Add a handful of chiffonade, cook five minutes and
serve.

=Paupiettes de Veau.=--Cut thin cutlets from a fillet of veal and beat
them flat and even. Also mince a small quantity of the veal very fine,
mix it with some of the kidney fat, also minced fine, and half a dozen
minced anchovies, adding a little salt, ginger and powdered mace. Place
this mixture over the slices of veal and roll them up. Beat up an egg,
dip the rolled slices in it and then in sifted breadcrumbs. Let them
stand for fifteen or twenty minutes, egg them again, roll in breadcrumbs
and fry to a golden brown in boiling lard or clarified dripping, or stew
them in some rich gravy with half a pint of white wine and a small
quantity of walnut pickle.

=Pommes de Terre, Maître d'Hôtel.=--Cut up carefully selected,
underboiled and cold potatoes in rather thick slices. Dredge half a
tablespoonful of flour in a saucepan with a lump of butter and when
smooth add gradually a cupful of broth, stirring till it boils. Place in
the potatoes along with a tablespoonful of chopped parsley and pepper
and salt. Stew for three or four minutes, remove the pan to the side of
the fire and add quickly the yolk of an egg previously well beaten with
a teaspoonful of cold water and a little lemon juice. When the egg has
become thickened, turn the potatoes with their sauce on a flat dish and
serve.

=Salade de Laitue.=--Select fine lettuces, remove the coarse outer
leaves, wash and wipe, place in a salad bowl and sprinkle over a
tablespoonful of chopped chives, half a teaspoonful each of chopped
chervil and tarragon. Season with a pinch of salt, half a teaspoonful of
pepper, two tablespoonfuls of vinegar and a tablespoonful and a half of
oil. Mix thoroughly and serve.

=Feuillantines.=--Prepare some puff paste; roll out to about a third of
an inch thick and cut into strips an inch wide and two inches long.
Spread a baking dish thick with butter, arrange the pieces of paste on
it, placing them upon their sides and leaving a small space between
them. Put them in the oven and when they are firm and their sides have
spread, glaze them with white of egg and dust with powdered sugar. As
the feuillantines are cooked set them on paper and drain off any extra
grease. Now mask them separately with small quantities of different
colored jams. Arrange on fancy edged dish-paper or a folded napkin on a
dish and serve.

XIX

Potage Crème d'Orge
Bœuf à la Mode
Pommes de Terre, Sautées
Salade de Romaine
Soufflé au Chocolat

=Potage Crème d'Orge.=--Mix in a saucepan a teacupful of barley, an
onion, a small piece of cinnamon, half a blade of mace and three pints
of water in which potatoes have been boiled. When the mixture boils
remove from the center of the fire and allow to simmer slowly for three
hours or more. Pass through a fine sieve and return to saucepan. Mix in
two tablespoonfuls of butter and half a pint of boiling milk, season
with pepper and salt. Beat an egg yolk in a teacupful of milk, mix in
the soup but do not allow to boil after egg is added. Serve with
croutons.

=Bœuf à la Mode.=--Take the under part of a round of beef, place it in a
deep earthen dish and pour over it spiced vinegar. Let the meat remain
in this for several hours, then dress it with strips of salt pork, a
third of an inch square, inserted in incisions made a few inches apart.
Stuff larger incisions with breadcrumbs highly seasoned with salt,
pepper, onions, thyme and marjoram. Bind the beef into a shape to retain
the dressing and dredge with flour. Then cut up two onions, half a
carrot and half a turnip and fry in fat drippings till brown and place
in a stewpan. Brown the meat all over with the same fat, place on a
trivet in the pan, half cover with boiling water, add a small quantity
of mixed herbs tied in a bag, cover and simmer for about four hours, or
till done. Take out carefully, remove strings and cloth, and place on a
large dish. Skim off the fat from the gravy, add more seasoning, thicken
with wetted flour worked smooth, boil for eight or ten minutes and
strain over the meat. Decorate with small onions and potato balls.

=Pommes de Terre, Sautées.=--Boil potatoes until almost done, cut into
quarters or slices of medium thickness. Melt butter or clarified
drippings in a frying pan, put in the potatoes sprinkled with salt and
pepper and finely chopped parsley and toss over the fire till they are a
fine golden brown color. Serve with chopped parsley.

=Salade de Romaine.=--Put crisp leaves of romaine in a salad bowl rubbed
lightly with a shallot or new onion. Make the following dressing. Take
one hard-boiled egg and mash it as finely as possible with a fork, add a
little paprika, a pinch of salt, half a teaspoonful of French mustard, a
teaspoonful of hashed chives, the same of hashed tarragon, two
tablespoonfuls of oil and three of vinegar. Add this to the romaine,
toss well and serve.

=Soufflé au Chocolat.=--Mix a small tablespoonful of starch with a gill
of milk and when quite smooth add two ounces of powdered sugar and two
ounces of butter. Put the mixture into a saucepan and stir over the fire
till it boils. When cold stir in an ounce of grated chocolate and the
yolks of two eggs. Beat well together till perfectly smooth, then mix in
the whites of the eggs. Pour into a buttered souffle dish and bake for
forty minutes.

Potage Gourmet
Eglefin à la Maître d'Hôtel
Pommes de Terre, Casserole
Salade de Tomates et de Laitue
Canards Sauvages, Sauce Orange
Soufflé au Citron

=Potage Gourmet.=--Pour into a saucepan about a quart of the water in
which potatoes have been boiled, add a small amount of cold chicken cut
in small dice, two tablespoonfuls of boiled rice, two tablespoonfuls of
cooked green peas and one truffle cut into dice, also pepper and salt,
along with one or two whole cloves. Bring to a boil, allow to simmer for
fifteen minutes, and serve.

=Eglefin à la Maître d'Hôtel.=--Cut a cleaned haddock open at the back
on each side of the bone, dust with pepper and salt, dip in flour,
place on a gridiron over a clear fire and cook for about twenty minutes,
turning carefully from time to time. Remove from the fire, place two
ounces of butter on the back of the fish, place it in the oven to melt
the butter, then, put the fish on a hot platter and sprinkle with mince
parsley and lemon juice, the latter heated.

=Pommes de Terre, Casserole.=--Boil a pound or two of potatoes, drain
and mash and make into a stiff paste by adding butter and milk together
with a little salt. Form into a casserole, put on a dish, make an
opening in the top, brown in the oven and serve.

=Salade de Tomates et Laitue.=--Split the white leaves of lettuce into
quarters and place in a bowl. Cut tomatoes into thin slices and place
over the lettuce. Season with a sauce made of one part of vinegar, two
of oil, a little salt and pepper. Pour the sauce over just before
serving.

=Canards Sauvages, Sauce Orange.=--Roast two wild ducks over a brisk
fire, having them underdone, more or less, according to taste. Baste
all the time they are cooking with butter and the juice of lemon and
serve with the following sauce. Shred finely the rind of two oranges and
parboil in a little water. Melt an ounce of butter and stir into it a
dessertspoonful of flour moistened with a little water. Stir well over
the fire and then add the juice of the two oranges, some very clear
gravy, flavor with pepper and salt and cayenne, then add the parboiled
orange rind. Let the sauce boil and keep hot till wanted.

=Soufflé au Citron.=--Put three egg yolks and three ounces of powdered
sugar into a basin with the grated rind of a lemon and a half and stir
till quite thick. Add slowly a tablespoonful of lemon juice and then,
quickly, the well beaten whites of the three eggs. Pour into a pie dish
and bake in a medium oven for twenty minutes. When the surface is a
golden brown it is done. Serve immediately.

XXI

Filets de Carrelets, Italienne
Pommes de Terre, Loulou
Cailles Rôtis
Salade des Tomates et d'Artichauts
Vol-au-Vent, Chantilly

=Filets de Carrelets, Italienne.=--Take the fillets of two firm
flounders, trim and flour each piece lightly. Dip in egg beaten with
pepper and salt, cover on both sides with stale breadcrumbs and fry in
boiling olive oil. When the fillets are a golden brown place on a sieve
in front of the fire with a soft paper beneath them that they may drain.
Serve with fried parsley and quarters of lemon.

=Pommes de Terre, Loulou.=--Chop raw potatoes fine and place them in a
saucepan with butter and a seasoning of pepper, salt, paprika and a
trace of nutmeg. Cover and cook very slowly, agitating them constantly.
When they become soft, beat well and arrange a layer on a vegetable
dish, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, put on another layer of potatoes,
then more cheese, and so on, having the top layer of cheese. Pour over
all melted butter and bake about twenty minutes in a slow oven.

=Cailles Rôtis.=--Tie a thin slice of bacon over the breast of each
quail, roast them at a clear fire for fifteen minutes, basting
frequently. Lay them on crisp buttered toast, sprinkle with minced
parsley, salt and paprika, and serve with a rich wine jelly on a
separate dish.

=Salade des Tomates et d'Artichauts.=--Cut the under part of boiled
artichokes into slices and take the same number of slices of tomato. Dip
both into a dressing made of olive oil, vinegar, tarragon, chervil, salt
and pepper, with a little mustard and arrange in a salad bowl. Pour over
the remainder of the dressing and serve.

=Vol-au-Vent, Chantilly.=--Roll a pound of puff paste to about an eighth
of an inch in thickness and cut out about thirty rounds with a fluted
cutter, about two and a half inches in diameter. Then cut out the center
of these with a cutter about an inch across. Roll out the paste taken
from the centers and cut out more rings in the same way. Brush the rings
over with egg, place one on top of another, two by two, press together
so that they will stick, place on a baking sheet, brush over with egg
and bake in a brisk oven. When almost done sprinkle with sugar and allow
to remain in the oven till they are glazed and fully done. Remove and
place on a warmed platter and fill with any sort of cream desired, or
jam or tart marmalade.

XXII

Potage Julienne
Homard Bordelaise
Canard à la Reine
Salade à la Russe
Café Bavaroise

=Potage Julienne.=--Cut carrots, onions, leeks and turnips into thin
slices or strips of equal size with a head of celery. Put all into two
ounces of butter melted in a saucepan and toss over a slow fire for a
few minutes. If desired other vegetables in season such as cauliflower,
peas or asparagus may be added. Pour clear chicken broth over the
vegetables, put in some pieces of cold chicken, allow to come to a boil,
then simmer till the vegetables are tender and pour the whole into the
tureen with sippets of toast.

=Homard Bordelaise.=--Cut a small carrot and an onion into fine pieces
and boil for five minutes in a wineglassful of red wine. Now add the
meat from two lobsters, cut in small pieces, say, about a pound and a
half. Season with a very little pepper, salt, and a trace of nutmeg,
adding, just before the lobster is cooked, about half a pint of velouté
sauce. Stew well together and serve at once.

=Canard à la Reine.=--Cut off one wing of a duck and half the breast
from the same side, remove the skin, take out the bone and fill the
place with quenelle forcemeat. Lard the breast and put it into a
braising pan over slices of leeks, carrots and onions and a little
thyme, chervil, bayleaves and lemon peel. Add sufficient stock to
prevent burning, set the pan on the fire and braise the duck, then glaze
it. Serve with a purée of beans for garnish.

=Salade à la Russe.=--Cut cold chicken and salmon into thin slices,
arrange in a salad dish and mix with finely cut cooked asparagus heads,
carrots and cauliflower, a few capers and a little caviare. The dressing
is made with three parts of oil and one of vinegar, a little mustard and
cayenne pepper and a tablespoonful of minced onion. Pour over the salad
and stand on the ice till served.

=Café Bavaroise.=--Grind half a pound of green coffee, roast in a sugar
boiler without burning it or even browning and soak a quart of milk with
it for about an hour. Now stir into a cupful of flour a teaspoonful of
castor sugar into which has been dropped a little vanilla extract, and a
little salt. Stir this all in with the strained coffee-flavored milk,
bring to a boil, remove from the fire and stir in the yolks, then the
whites of three eggs, all beaten firm. Fill paper cases with the
mixture, bake, sprinkle castor sugar over the tops and serve at once.

XXIII

Huitres à l'Américaine
Bœuf à l'Aurore
Pommes de Terre, Lyonnaise
Salade Française
Crème à la Russe

=Huitres à l'Américaine.=--Place in a sauce bowl a heaped teaspoonful of
salt, three-quarters of a teaspoonful of white pepper, a medium sized
onion, chopped, and a teaspoonful of minced parsley. Mix lightly
together along with a teaspoonful of olive oil, six drops of tobasco
sauce, a little Worcestershire sauce and a gill of vinegar. Put a
teaspoonful of this mixture on each raw oyster just before taking to the
table.

=Bœuf à l'Aurore.=--Season two steaks of about three-quarters of a pound
each (any ordinary cut will do) with salt and pepper, baste on either
side with a little oil and broil over a brisk fire for six minutes.
Place on a hot dish and serve with the following sauce poured over: Mix
in a saucepan a small glass of mushroom liquor with half a pint of
bechamel sauce, half an ounce of butter and two or three tablespoonfuls
of tomato sauce. Place on the fire, stir for ten minutes and just before
removing add whole mushrooms cut in squares.

=Salade Française.=--Chop fine a bunch of parsley, two small onions and
six anchovies. Lay them in a bowl and mix with salt and mustard to
taste, two tablespoonfuls of salad oil and a gill of vinegar. Stir all
well together and then add, one at a time, some very thin strips of cold
roasted or boiled meat, not more than three or four inches long. Shake
the slices well in the dressing. Cover the bowl closely and allow to
stand for at least three hours. Serve garnished with parsley.

=Pommes de Terre, Lyonnaise.=--Cut into round slices eight boiled
potatoes, lay them in a frying pan with an ounce and a half of butter
and the slices of a partly cooked onion. Season with salt and pepper and
cook till the potatoes become well browned, tossing all the while. Serve
with chopped parsley sprinkled over.

=Crème à la Russe.=--Put into a saucepan a pint of milk, half a pound of
lump sugar, the grated rind of two lemons and an ounce of gelatine,
previously soaked in water. Cook till the sugar dissolves over a slow
fire, then allow the mixture to cool somewhat before stirring in the
yolks of two eggs, unbeaten. Place on the fire to curdle. Strain, and
when cool add the juice of the two lemons and the whites of the eggs
beaten stiffly. Stir all well together and pour into a wet mould. Turn
out when well set.

XXIV

Potage Napolitaine
Truites à la Monbarry
Croquettes de Pommes de Terre
Celeri-rave en Salade
Pouding aux Figues

=Potage Napolitaine.=--Boil in strong bouillon small forcemeat balls
made of any left-over game or meat. Then soak croutons in the same
bouillon. Add the forcemeat balls and serve.

=Truites à la Monbarry.=--Prepare several trout and lay them in a pan
with a quarter pound of butter and some strong spices. Allow to heat
slowly in an open oven and when the butter is entirely melted, drop on
the trout two well beaten yolks of eggs. Grate cheese over this and
cover all with a quantity of fine breadcrumbs. Brown lightly in a hot
oven and serve.

=Croquettes de Pommes de Terre.=--Boil and drain about two and a half
pounds of potatoes. Add a generous quantity of butter, yolks of two
eggs, salt and pepper and the white of the eggs beaten to a snow. Beat
the whole up briskly, shape the mixture into balls and fry in a pan.

=Celeri-rave en Salade.=--Trim carefully a bunch of celery, leaving on
as much of the root as possible. Cut in half and boil in salted water
till tender. Then trim into even sticks and season it very piquantly
with French mustard, a few young onions, pepper, salt and finely chopped
parsley. Garnish with lettuce-leaves and slices of beet.

=Pouding aux Figues.=--Mix in a large bowl a cupful of breadcrumbs, half
a cup of farina, a pinch of salt, a cup of suet, cut fine, a cup of
powdered sugar, a minced carrot and a cup and a half of chopped figs.
Grease a baking mould, line it with whole figs, and empty the mixture
into it. Cook for four hours, the pan standing in water. Serve hot with
a rum sauce.

LET US EAT FISH

A FAMOUS FRENCH LUNCHEON À L'AMÉRICAINE

Only in the Latin countries has fish as an edible ever been fully
appreciated and, as is the case with most other things gastronomic, it
is in France that the food possibilities of the denizens of the water
have been brought nearest perfection.

Over here we have always seemed to regard fish as useful chiefly for
stocking aquariums or for furnishing sport for the vacationist, along
with golf, tennis and bowling. True, we have become rather well
acquainted with certain sea foods, the oysters, Blue Points and Cape
Cods; we have a nodding acquaintance with some of the clam clan,
especially the Rhode Island branch, and the Little Necks, the blue
bloods of the family. And, of course, we are familiar with the
crustaceans, the lobsters and the crabs.

And we know, too, certain succulent sea delicacies that come to us from
Palm Beach shores and California and Oregon regions, tuna and halibut,
bluefish and salmon as it comes to us variously prepared for the table.
In short, we Americans are fairly friendly with a number of the
aristocrats of the water, but on analyzing the situation we come to
realize that as for knowing the "finny tribe" as a whole well enough to
get complete gastronomic joy out of the situation, it remains that it is
only the French people who are so blessed.

Time and the hour and the high price of meat, however, render it
advisable, even absolutely necessary, that we work _all_ our resources
instead of only a part of them, to economize whenever and wherever we
can, and the waters in our midst and around us are surely one of the
most important resources not already worked to the limit.

Therefore, let us eat fish--but first let us learn of the French about
fish, even as we have learned of them concerning other foods, or as we
have learned fashions, for, verily, the turning out of a proper fish
dish for the table has ever been regarded by the French as no less an
art than the creation of a beautiful frock in one of their ateliers.
Moreover, their ways with fish are so broadly inclusive that one may
make up an entire menu from one end to the other, with only a cup of
coffee needed as a final fillip to make a perfect meal--and all of fish.

By way of furnishing inspiration to our own appetites, herewith is a
suggestion for a fish luncheon, a favorite menu of France, which its
wealth and fashion delighted to have set before it in those good old
days before the war. Substitutes are given for any fish not indigenous
to American waters; otherwise it is just as it would be served at one of
the Riviera restaurants, with the exception, of course, that on the
Riviera or at any of the noted marine restaurants, the visitor himself
was permitted to select the fish for each course from among the
different specimens swimming in the reserves, altogether unconscious of
impending fate.

No French restauranteur worthy the name ever kept dead fish in stock,
for nothing deteriorates so quickly. There is rarely over here the
natural reserve that the Riviera takes as a matter of course, although
there is, in some restaurants, the tank of running water in which the
fish are kept in condition till required.

AN ALL FISH LUNCHEON

=Hors d'Œuvres.= =Little Necks or Blue Points.=

(At Monte Carlo one would be served Clovisses.)

=Lobster with Sauce Piquante.=

(A substitute for the French langouste, which is similar to a giant
lobster minus the two long nippers. Or there might be served abroad
for this course a little gelatinous fellow called supion, or
sea-hedgehog, or perhaps nonnots, smaller and more delicate than our
own whitefish.)

=French Sardines Grilled, or Shad Planked.=

(Shad is a most satisfactory substitute for the French
restauranteur's delight--loup de mer.)

=Flounder, Sauce Meunière, or Shrimps.=

(In Dieppe sole and certain crevettes are both specialties and are
served at this juncture, but little sole is being received here and
our own flounder answers requirements admirably. Shrimps, too, will
please an American palate fully as well as the crevettes.)

=Bouillabaisse.=

(This, for which we have no nearer synonym than fish stew, which is
a libel, is the pièce de résistance of the luncheon. It is probably
the most famous fish dish of France.)

=Salade de Poisson with Aioli.=

(Aioli is a Mediterranean mayonnaise and "the dressing," the French
say, "is the soul of the salad.")

It will be noted that there is no dessert given with the above menu, but
the repast may be gracefully topped off with crackers and cheese and
café noir. Tea is never served with fish, as the tannin is said to
render fish particularly indigestible.

TO PREPARE THE LUNCHEON

The French disdain the pepper, horseradish and tomato mixtures with
which we are wont to dress raw oysters, preferring to get the full
coppery taste peculiar to their home product, but the American oyster,
even these artists of the culinary department agree, requires a dressing
to bring out the flavor. As for the clovisse, which is, by the way,
first cousin to our clam, it is eaten from the shell, each clovisse
being opened immediately before being disposed of.

Lobster as here served to take the place of the French langouste, tastes
much like deviled lobster. The sauce piquante is made as follows: Into a
saucepan put a tablespoonful of finely chopped onion with a little salt,
grated nutmeg, black pepper and an ounce of butter. When this melts and
blends add a little chopped red pepper along with three tablespoonfuls
of vinegar and a teaspoonful of mustard. Stir together well, then mix in
half an ounce of flour and half a pint of fish stock. Simmer for half an
hour, skimming occasionally and, finally add a chopped pickled gherkin.

=Sauce Meunière=, served with the sole, or, in this case with the
flounder, is made by adding a few shrimps and mussels, minced, to a pint
of white wine in a saucepan, along with a cupful of minced mushrooms, a
teaspoonful of butter, salt and pepper and three or four cloves. Simmer
for twenty minutes and pour over the fish just before serving.

=Salade de Poisson, Aioli=, is made by taking any cold fish, say salmon,
with this menu. It is flaked and marinaded in oil and vinegar seasoned
well with pepper and salt. Allow to remain for an hour or so, then
remove and arrange compactly in a salad bowl. The aioli, the
Mediterranean delicacy with which it is served, is made by whipping two
eggs, four teaspoonfuls of olive oil, a half teaspoonful of French
mustard and a half cupful of cream together till stiff, in a bowl rubbed
with garlic. Heap this on the center of the fish.

As for the =Bouillabaisse=, it is like our own Welsh Rabbit in so far as
hardly any two persons make it alike. Here are two recipes which
gastronomic authorities have accorded the meed of highest praise:

No. 1.--Cut into pieces and remove the bones from three pounds of fish;
say one pound each of cod, halibut and bluefish, though any fish of like
nature will do. To these add the cooked meat of one lobster or two
crabs, and six shrimps and put all into a casserole in half a pint or
more of olive oil to cook, adding one lemon, sliced, two tomatoes, one
onion, one sliced carrot, a bunch of saffron, a bunch of parsley, a
bayleaf and a clove of garlic--or have the casserole rubbed with the
garlic. Cook for ten minutes, stirring frequently, then add one cup of
soup stock and a glass of wine or cider. Cook for fifteen minutes
longer, remove to a hot bowl, line the casserole with slices of toast,
and pour back the bouillabaisse. Serve at once.

No. 2.--Place the pieces of fish to any desired amount in a large
saucepan, add two or three sliced onions, one or two sliced carrots,
three shallots, two cloves of garlic, a bunch of thyme and parsley,
three or four cloves, two bayleaves, half a teaspoonful of capsicum, a
wine-glass of olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Pour over the
above mixture two quarts of water and boil gently for half an hour, the
pan covered. Drain and lay on a hot dish. Then mix a teaspoonful of
saffron in the liquid, pass through a strainer into a soup tureen. Serve
the soup with the fish and a plate of croutons of fried bread or sippets
of toast.

FISH À LA MARSEILLES

The French have another fish dish which, like bouillabaisse, is
practically a meal in itself and which in these days should be better
known to the American table. It is a specialty in the vicinity of
Marseilles and made there, of course, with fish peculiar to the home
waters, but M. Auguste Gay, Chef of the Yale Club, New York, who,
incidentally, has probably given more attention to the adaptation of
French cookery to American requirements than any other chef, is
authority for the statement that the following recipe produces an almost
perfect substitute for the French dish:

Chop into fine bits a small sweet Chile pepper and toss it about in a
saucepan over the fire with a third of a cupful of olive oil or butter.
When hot add a cupful of okra and the same amount of stewed fresh or
canned tomatoes. Cook fifteen minutes and add a full cupful of cooked
fresh fish--cod, haddock, etc., and a half cupful of flaked salt fish,
mackerel, for instance. Cover and cook for twenty minutes longer and
serve with water crackers.

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

One secret of the French cook's superiority to the American in preparing
fish is that the former has almost a congenital knowledge of his
subject. To him all fish is not just fish. He differentiates sharply as
to species, tempering his treatment to varied requirements.

Roughly, there are two classes of fish: those which have dark flesh or
flesh with a pinkish tone which is streaked with fat, and those which
have white, firm flesh and are the more digestible. Best known in the
first class are shad, butterfish, bluefish, salmon, mackerel and
sturgeon, and in the second, cod, halibut, flounder, trout, rock and sea
bass, pompano, weakfish and perch.

One matter-of-course rule is that no fish of whatever kind shall be
allowed to enter the kitchen unless it is perfectly fresh. To be sure
of this see that the gills are bright and shining and the flesh firm,
not readily separating from the bones. That settled, you have an almost
endless choice of ways of cooking.

Fish may be boiled, broiled, fried, baked, planked, creamed, steamed,
cooked en casserole, jellied or pickled, but of all these ways none
produces quite the universally satisfactory results with a sizable fish
that planking does, and planking is not more difficult or expensive than
other methods.

All that is required in the way of accoutrements is a half-inch-thick
hardwood board which is heated in advance in the oven when planked fish
is to figure on the menu. Then having thoroughly cleaned the fish,
removed its head and tail, split it up the back half through the bone so
that it will open out flat, brush it with butter and season with pepper
and salt, place it skin-side down on the board.

Put it in the oven and when it is done, which can be easily ascertained
by lifting a bit of the flesh, you, being American, may garnish the
board with mashed and seasoned potatoes, set the board back in the oven
till the potatoes are browned and serve. The French, on taking the
cooked fish from the oven, merely brush it with a little oil or melted
butter, squeeze some lemon juice over, sprinkle a few bits of parsley
about, and send the fish thus to the table.

Small fish, such as perch, smelts, etc., are best fried in deep fat or
its substitute, first being dipped in egg and rolled in fine cracker or
breadcrumbs, then served with a Sauce Mousseline, mashed potatoes or
boiled new ones, and a crisp salad.

This Sauce Mousseline is made by beating two eggs in a saucepan, adding
a cupful of top milk, butter the size of a walnut and pepper and salt,
then stirring over the fire till it begins to thicken. When of the
proper consistency, add a tablespoonful of lemon juice and it is ready
for the table.

A tart sauce for boiled fish that is much favored in the south of France
but which, if it has ever crossed the water, has kept its arrival very
quiet, is quite simply made and will be much liked as a decided change.
To make it dissolve a tablespoonful of powdered mustard in a half cupful
of fish stock and add two tablespoonfuls of white wine vinegar by
preference, though other vinegar will do. Let this come to a boil, add
two or three slices of lemon and boil a few minutes longer. Take from
the fire and add two eggs that have been beaten with a teaspoonful of
water. Season with salt and pepper and heat again but do not allow to
boil.

[ Transcriber's Note:

The following is a list of corrections made to the original. The first
line is the original line, the second the corrected one.

vinegars, Worchestershire and many another flavoring designed to give a
vinegars, Worcestershire and many another flavoring designed to give a

left of the morn ng cereal except to the advantage of some later made
left of the morning cereal except to the advantage of some later made

over a moderate fire and add to it chopped parsely and chives, or
over a moderate fire and add to it chopped parsley and chives, or

a boil and mix in two or three tablespoonsfuls of grated Parmesan cheese.
a boil and mix in two or three tablespoonfuls of grated Parmesan cheese.

fish, cover in the kettle with cold water and, plenty of salt. Bring
fish, cover in the kettle with cold water and plenty of salt. Bring

and moisten with hot water, then add a few drops of vinegar a dash of
and moisten with hot water, then add a few drops of vinegar, a dash of

on each side of the bone, duct with pepper and salt, dip in flour,
on each side of the bone, dust with pepper and salt, dip in flour,

parsely, salt and paprika, and serve with a rich wine jelly on a
parsley, salt and paprika, and serve with a rich wine jelly on a

please an American palate fully as well as the crevettes.
please an American palate fully as well as the crevettes.)

say, "is the soul of the salad."
say, "is the soul of the salad.")

]

*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Twenty-four Little French Dinners and How to Cook and Serve Them" ***

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