The Project Gutenberg EBook of Twenty-four Little French Dinners and How to Cook and Serve Them, by Cora Moore This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: Twenty-four Little French Dinners and How to Cook and Serve Them Author: Cora Moore Release Date: September 12, 2009 [EBook #29970] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 24 LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS *** Produced by Jana Srna and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) Transcriber's Note: Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as possible, including inconsistencies in spelling and hyphenation; changes (corrections of spelling and punctuation) made to the original text are marked like this. The original text appears when hovering the cursor over the marked text. TWENTY-FOUR LITTLE FRENCH DINNERS AND How to Cook and Serve Them BY CORA MOORE NEW YORK E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY 681 Fifth Avenue Copyright 1919, by E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY All Rights Reserved 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 v vi 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 (With Directions for Preparing) 33 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 vii–viii ix–x xi–xii 1 2 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.” 3 4 5 6 7–8 9 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 9 10 11 12 13 14 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 15 16 17 18 19 20 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 21 22 23–24 25 26 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. 27 28 29 30 31 TWENTY-FOUR LITTLE F R E N C H D I N N E R S I MENU 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. II MENU 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 33 34 35 36 37 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 MENU 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. 38 39 40 41 42 43 IV MENU 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. V MENU 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 43 44 45 46 47 48 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. VI MENU 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 MENU 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. 49 50 51 52 53 54 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 MENU 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. IX MENU 55 56 57 58 59 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 fin...