Twenty-four Little French Dinners and How to Cook and Serve Them Part 2

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=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 b.u.t.tered dish, previously rubbed with an onion, and pour over it a sauce made as follows: Melt an ounce and a half of b.u.t.ter 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 Cafe.=--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.

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Filet de Sole a la Provencal Poulet Saute a l'Estragon Artichauts a la Barigoule Pet.i.t Petac Souffle Georgette

=Filets des Soles a la Provencal.=--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 Saute a 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 coa.r.s.ely chopped.

=Artichauts a 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 saute-pan in the oven for twenty minutes.

=Pet.i.t Petac.=--Peel tiny new potatoes and saute in oil till a golden brown. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve.

=Souffle 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.

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Potage au Riz Rougets en Papillotes Veau a la Suzette Demi ta.s.se

=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 b.u.t.ter. Serve with sippets of toast or croutons that have been fried in b.u.t.ter.

=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 b.u.t.ter 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 a la Suzette.=--Trim saddle of veal neatly and put it into a saucepan with a good sized piece of b.u.t.ter. 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 b.u.t.ter 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.

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Potage a l'Americaine Filet d'Eglefin Gigot de Mouton aux epinards Chou de Mer au Fromage Pet.i.tes Cremes au Chocolat

=Potage a l'Americaine.=--Parboil a medium sized cauliflower in salted water, change the water and boil till done. Drain well and press through a sieve. Dilute with consomme 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 b.u.t.ter and serve with croutons.

=Filet d'Eglefin.=--Cut a haddock into fillets, tr.i.m.m.i.n.g 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 epinards.=--Roast a small leg of mutton, putting some salt and a small quant.i.ty 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 pa.s.s through a sieve. Return to a saucepan in which about two ounces of b.u.t.ter 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 b.u.t.ter 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.

=Pet.i.tes Cremes 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.

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

=Potage Puree 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. Pa.s.s 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 a 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 sc.u.m, and allow to simmer till the fish is done. Drain thoroughly and serve with the following sauce in a boat: Take three ounces of b.u.t.ter, the yolks of two eggs and put them in a double boiler over the fire, stirring briskly till the b.u.t.ter 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 b.u.t.ter 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 b.u.t.ter with some pepper and salt.

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Potage Veloute Brochet a la Tartare Biftecks sautes aux Olives Pommes de Terre a la Lyonnaise epinards au Gratin Beignets Souffles

=Potage Veloute.=--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 b.u.t.ter, and the yolks of two eggs, pour the tapioca over while it is still boiling, add a pint of hot milk and serve.