Part 79

_Roasted._--Grate 3 oz. fat Cheshire cheese, mix with it the yolks of 2 eggs, 4 oz. grated bread, and 3 oz. butter; beat the whole well in a mortar, with 1 dessertspoonful mustard, and a little salt and pepper. Toast some bread, cut it into proper pieces, lay the paste as above thick upon them; put them into a Dutch oven, covered with a dish, till hot through, remove the dish, and let the cheese brown a little; serve as hot as possible.

_Sandwiches._--(_a_) Take 2 oz. grated cheese, 2 oz. pounded ham, 1 teaspoonful mixed mustard, a very small quantity of cayenne pepper and salt; mix all together with the beaten-up yolk of an egg. Spread the mixture between thin slices of bread, and fry in boiling lard or butter.

(_b_) Cut some slices of bread a day old, ⅛ in. thick, and some very thin slices of Gruyère cheese. Pick the leaves of a quantity of watercress, and mince them as fine as you can, then dry them in a cloth, mince them still more, and dry them again; then knead them with as much fresh butter as they will take up, adding a very little salt and white pepper; butter the slices of bread with this mixture, put the slices of Gruyère between 2 slices of bread, press them lightly, cut out the sandwiches into the shape of Savoy biscuits, and serve immediately.

_Scallop._--Soak a small teacupful of stale breadcrumbs in fresh milk; beat into this one large egg, a teaspoonful of melted butter, and 3 oz. grated cheese, pepper and salt to taste. Strew sifted crumbs over the top, and bake till it is of a delicate brown.

_Soufflé._--(_a_) Take 6 oz. grated cheese, 2 eggs, 1 oz. butter, a small teacupful of milk, and beat up all together in a basin; then put them in a small baking dish and bake a light brown. (H. E. C.)

(_b_) In a medium-sized round-bottomed saucepan, melt 1 oz. butter, add 1 oz. flour, and ¼ pint milk, 3 oz. grated Parmesan, salt, cayenne or pepper to taste, and boil well. Then stir in the yolks of 2 or 3 eggs, and beat the mixture thoroughly with a wooden spoon. Whip the whites of 3 or 4 eggs to the stiffest froth, and stir very lightly but thoroughly into the saucepan. Bake immediately in a very hot oven for 20 minutes, and serve at once in the dish in which it is cooked. The mixture can also be steamed for the same time or rather longer, or it can be baked for 5 minutes in paper cases. If it is baked as a whole, use earthenware made thoroughly hot before the soufflé is put in. Pretty red pans can be bought quite suitable to send to table, and as the great difficulty with soufflés is to get them to table before they cool and sink, it is very advantageous to have some pan that retains heat longer than the tin commonly used. The pan or tin must be well greased. Fresh-grated Parmesan is the best cheese for the purpose, or sometimes Gruyère for a change, but any dry well-flavoured cheese can be used. (E. A. B.)

_Stewed._--Cut ½ lb. Cheshire and Gloucester cheese in thin slices, put it into a stewpan with a little ale or white wine, and keep it stirring over the fire till it is melted; then put in a spoonful of mustard, the yolks of 2 eggs; beat up, stir it a moment over the fire, then put it in a small deep dish or soup plate, and brown it with a very hot iron or salamander; have ready thin toasted sippets or fried ones, cut triangularly. Stick them all round, and in the middle. Send it up hot and quick.

_Straws_ (Bâtons).--(_a_) Equal proportions of butter, flour, and cheese seasoned with salt and cayenne, and just enough butter to roll the mixture into a good paste. Cut the straws the desired size with a paste cutter, and bake them in a quick oven till they are quite crisp and a golden blown colour. The ordinary American cheese makes them as well as any other.

(_b_) 4 oz. flour, 4 oz. butter, 4 oz. Parmesan or other good cheese, grated, a little salt, and as much cayenne pepper as would cover a sixpenny piece. First mix the dry ingredients, and then proceed as for puff paste; cut the mixture into very narrow straws 4 in. long, round them at the sides with a knife, and bake a pale gold colour; serve hot. (F. C.)

(_c_) ½ lb. dried flour, ¼ lb. butter, ¼ lb. grated Parmesan or Gruyère cheese, 1 teaspoonful flour of mustard, 1 saltspoonful cayenne, and 1 saltspoonful salt. Rub the butter into the flour, then mix the whole well together; beat the whites of 2 eggs with ¼ pint cold water, and stir in enough to form a firm paste; knead the paste well, then roll it out ⅛ in. thick, and cut it into straw-like strips about 5 in. long. Bake in a quick oven till of a pale brown colour--about 5 minutes. Pile them on a dish prettily, and serve either hot or cold. Must be kept in a dry place.

(_d_) ¼ lb. Parmesan cheese, ¼ lb. flour, 2 oz. butter, ½ teaspoonful dry mustard, and a little cayenne pepper; grate the cheese, mix it and the flour into a paste with as small a quantity of water as possible, and the butter, which will be nearly sufficient to make the paste without water; roll and cut as thick as straws, and mark with the marker in stripes; bake a nice brown. This quantity will probably last for some time, and can be kept in a tin. When required for use re-warm before the fire, which crisps them better than re-warming in the oven.

(_e_) ¼ lb. butter, ¼ lb. Parmesan cheese grated, ¼ lb. fine flour, well mixed with 1 small saltspoonful cayenne pepper, 1 egg, and a little salt. Roll it out into a thin paste, and bake a light brown. Cut it into a neat form, and serve quite hot on a napkin.

(_f_) Make a paste with 6 oz. flour, 4 oz. butter, 3 oz. grated Parmesan cheese, moisten with a little cream or milk, season with salt, white pepper, and cayenne; roll it out thin, cut into narrow strips, and bake in a moderate oven.

_Tartlets._--Make a paste with 1 oz. butter, 2 oz. flour, the yolk of 1 egg, a little water, a pinch of salt, roll it out to the thickness of ⅛ in., and line some patty pans with it. Take 2 oz. finely grated Parmesan cheese, beat it up in a bowl with the yolks of 2 eggs; add pepper, salt, cayenne, and nutmeg, according to taste--very little of the two latter; then work in 3 tablespoonfuls cream, fill each patty pan with the mixture, and bake in a moderate oven till done.

_Tomato._--Take some tomatoes (the tinned ones do very well), chop them finely, cut up some cheese in small pieces, mix with a little milk, and season with pepper and salt. Have some slices of toast ready, and when the mixture is soft pour it over the toast, and serve very hot. Time, about 10 minutes. (E. Brace.)

_Toast_ (Rôties).--(_a_) Grate some rich cheese, add pepper to taste, a beaten egg, and sufficient milk to make it of the consistency of thick cream. Warm the mixture on the fire, and when quite hot pour it over some slices of hot buttered toast; serve immediately.

(_b_) English Rarebit.--Toast a slice of bread on both sides, put it into a cheese plate, pour a glass of red wine over it, and put it to the fire till it soaks up the wine; then cut some cheese in very thin slices, and put it thick on the bread; put it in a tin oven before the fire, toast it till it is brown, and serve it up hot. Or this way: Toast your bread, soak it in the wine, and set it before the fire to keep hot; cut the cheese in very thin slices, rub some butter over a pewter plate, lay the cheese on it, pour in 2-3 spoonfuls white wine, set it over a chafing dish of coals, and cover it with another plate for 2-3 minutes; uncover it, and stir it till it is done and well mixed, put in a little mustard, put it on the bread, brown it with a hot iron or salamander, and send it away hot.

(_c_) Scotch Rarebit.--Toast a piece of bread nicely on both sides, and butter it; cut a slice of cheese nearly the size of the bread, put it in a cheese toaster, and toast one side, then put the toasted side on the bread, and toast the other side nicely.

(_d_) Welsh Rarebit.--Slice some rich cheese into a stewpan, pour in a very little old ale, and set over the fire to simmer. When the cheese is quite melted pour it on to some hot toast, and serve quickly. Mustard and pepper should be spread on the cheese before serving. Some use butter, but ale is far nicer.

(_e_) Ditto.--Take rather a thick slice of either Cheddar or Gloucester cheese, cut into small pieces, put it into a small saucepan, with 1 teaspoonful mustard, 2 tablespoonfuls ale, a very little salt, and a small piece of butter; let it get well heated, stir it up well till it becomes the consistency of thick cream. Pour the mixture on a slice of toast cut into four, dredge a little pepper on the top and serve on a table napkin, very hot.

(_f_) Ditto.--Use a small iron saucepan. Grease with butter all the inside; then pour 3-4 tablespoonfuls good rich milk or cream into it; then 3-4 large mustardspoonfuls of made mustard; then about ½ oz. butter in small pieces; then about a ¼ lb. good Cheddar cheese; then dust the whole over with ground black pepper, and be not afraid of putting on too much pepper. Set the saucepan aside. Place a dish before the fire which is to go to table. Take a round of a loaf of bread, cut very thick and the hard crust cut off; toast, and then butter one side only, and put it, toasted side downwards, on the dish before the fire. Now set the little saucepan on the fire, and stir its contents with an iron spoon till the cheese is melted. Immediately then pour it on the bread which is before the fire and send to table; of course, with hot plates. (L.)

(_g_) Ditto.--Make some slices of toast about ¼ in. thick, trim off the crusts, and spread them with butter. Slice very thinly some rich cheese (about ¼ lb.) into a stewpan, add 1 small teaspoonful flour of mustard, a little salt and cayenne, ½ oz. butter, and pour over it a very little ale or porter, let it simmer until quite hot, pour it on the toast, and serve immediately.

=Eggs= (Œufs).--Few English cooks have any idea of the number of ways in which these nutritious articles may be dressed.

_À la Bonne Femme._--Slice an onion, fry it in butter to a light brown, add a teaspoonful of vinegar; butter a dish, spread the onion and vinegar over it, break the eggs into it, put the dish into the oven; when the eggs are done strew fried breadcrumbs over them, and serve very hot.

_À la Maître d’Hôtel._--(_a_) Make a sauce with boiling milk, rather highly seasoned and thickened with butter and flour and an onion chopped small; let it simmer gently for ½ hour, then add 2 oz. fresh butter and some finely chopped parsley; next lay in 4-6 hard-boiled eggs, cut in quarters or sliced, heat them through carefully, and serve very hot; squeeze in the juice of a lemon just before serving.

(_b_) Take 6 eggs, boil hard, and when ready plunge them into cold water to enable you to take off the shells easily; this must be carefully done so as not to damage the appearance of the eggs; then cut them into rounds--each, if properly managed, will cut 4. Have ready a sauce made as follows: Add to ½ pint ordinary good white sauce, a slight sprinkling of nutmeg, some very finely chopped parsley, say a teaspoonful, and about a saltspoonful of the green part of some shallots also very finely chopped. Put the eggs into this, make them hot, and serve heaped high on a dish, with the sauce poured round and over the eggs.

_À la Tartuffe._--Fry lightly some bacon; when done, lay it in a dish that will stand the fire, pour over it 2 spoonfuls strong stock flavoured with wine, and break in carefully 5 or 6 eggs, dusting them with pepper and salt. Let them cook over a slow fire, and pass a heated shovel over them to set the whites. The yolks _must not harden_.

_And Artichokes._--Strip the green leaves from 6 artichokes, and boil the bottoms in hard water for ½ hour, boil 3 eggs for 10-12 minutes, cut them across, and place on each artichoke half an egg, leaving the round end uppermost; put them each on a small round of toast, which must be cut with a round cutter, and serve on a very hot dish, with a little good melted butter or some rich gravy.

_And Caviar._--Cut some small slices of French rolls into rounds, lightly butter them, then spread some very fresh Russian caviar on them, add a sprinkle of lemon juice. Now cut some hard-boiled eggs into rounds, and lay a round on each round of French roll.

_And Mushrooms._--(_a_) 1 lb. mushrooms, 2 raw eggs, 2 hard-boiled, 3 oz. butter, 2 tablespoonfuls mushroom ketchup, 1 of vinegar, 1 onion, a little grated nutmeg, mashed potatoes. Peel the mushrooms and put into a rather large stewpan, with the butter, a small onion minced fine, a little grated nutmeg, 2 tablespoonfuls mushroom ketchup, 1 of vinegar, a little salt and pepper; let them stew about 20 minutes with the lid on, when done, add the yolks of 2 eggs to thicken the sauce, but do not let them boil after the eggs are in, or the sauce will curdle. Have ready some nicely mashed potatoes and 2 hard-boiled eggs, put a wall of the potatoes round an entrée dish, pour some of the sauce in the centre of the dish, then arrange the mushrooms piled high in the middle of the dish, and the remainder of the sauce over, and ornament the dish with the eggs cut in quarters or in slices, and serve. (E. A. Robbins.)

(_b_) Put 2 oz. butter into a stewpan; break over it 4 fresh eggs; add 1 tablespoonful chopped mushrooms, ½ teaspoonful salt, ¼ ditto pepper. Stir this mixture over a clear fire continually with a wooden spoon till it is of a thickish consistency, and serve very hot, poured over hot buttered toast.

_And Olives._--4 or 5 eggs, 4 large or 6 small olives, 1 slice ham, cooked, ½ oz. butter, a pinch of red pepper. Boil the eggs about 8 minutes, and put into cold water, as they will peel better. Pare the olives, and mince them, also the ham. Now take the shells off the eggs, cut a small piece off each end to make them stand. Now cut in halves, take out the yolks carefully, and put in the mortar with the ham and olives; pound to a smooth paste with ½ oz. butter, season with a little red pepper, and fill the whites of the eggs. Put a napkin on a dish, stand the half eggs on it, having smoothed over the top, and add some strips of toast. Or they can be served without the napkin and a little tartar sauce poured round them. The eggs should stand up like little cups.

_And Sorrel._--Boil a number of eggs in their shells for 3-4 minutes, then dip them into cold water, carefully remove the shells, and place them again in hot water to make them quite hot; drain, and serve them on the following purée with sippets of bread fried in butter round the dish. Pick and wash a quantity of sorrel, put it into a saucepan with a little water and some salt, when thoroughly done drain off all the moisture and pass the sorrel through a hair sieve. Amalgamate a piece of butter and 1 tablespoonful flour in a saucepan on the fire, put in the sorrel and stir well for some minutes, then add pepper and salt to taste, and the yolk of 1 egg beaten up with a little cold stock and strained.

_And Tomatoes._--Boil some ripe tomatoes, and pulp them through a coarse sieve. Mix this pulp with 3 or 4 eggs (according to the size of your dish), a little very finely chopped onion (some persons like freshly-cut garlic rubbed across the pan instead), pepper and salt, and fry all together lightly; a little chopped ham or cold boiled potato may be added if liked.

_Au Gratin._--(_a_) Wash, bone, and mince finely an anchovy; mince some parsley and chives, or shallot; mix all these well with some fine breadcrumbs, season highly with pepper and salt, and a dash of nutmeg; place some of this mixture and a little piece of butter in as many small cups (that will stand the fire) as you wish to cook eggs. Set them over a clear, gentle fire, and when this gratin is nearly done, break an egg gently into each cup. When done, pass a hot shovel over each to set the whites, dust over them a little salt and pepper, and serve them in their pots, very hot. Bacon minced may be substituted for the anchovy, but then less butter will be required; chopped mushrooms are also a good addition.

(_b_) Cut some hard-boiled eggs in slices, and lay them on a well-buttered dish, with grated Parmesan cheese, black pepper, and the least bit of powdered nutmeg; sprinkle some baked breadcrumbs over all, put the dish in the oven, and serve as soon as the contents begin to colour.

(_c_) Slices of hard-boiled eggs laid on a dish with baked breadcrumbs, grated Parmesan cheese, pepper and salt, the least bit of nutmeg, and some butter; put into the oven, and serve as soon as they begin to take colour.

(_d_) Put into a dish that will bear the oven 1 tablespoonful flour, several yolks of eggs, a little very finely chopped parsley and shallot, some salt, pepper, and nutmeg; mix all well together, and put them into the oven just long enough to let the mixture attach itself to the dish. Then take it out, put a few bits of butter on this gratin, and break on it carefully the number of eggs you desire to cook, seasoning them with a little pepper and salt. Let them just simmer in the oven, and serve, while the yolks are still quite soft, with a garnish of either fried or fresh parsley. The dish which they are cooked in should be placed on a neatly folded napkin, and must be thus served.

_Baked._--(_a_) Melt 1 oz. butter in a pie-dish, put the dish into the oven just to brown the butter, break 6 eggs separately into a cup and pour them carefully into the pie-dish; bake them for about 5 minutes or until the white is set, then sift a tablespoonful of fine breadcrumbs, which have been previously browned, over the eggs, through a tin strainer; warm over with a salamander and serve; garnish the dish with parsley.

(_b_) Beat up 4 eggs well, to each egg allow 2 tablespoonfuls new milk and ½ teaspoonful finely chopped parsley, seasoning with pepper and salt to taste. Melt some butter in an enamelled pie-dish, pour in the mixture, and bake quickly in a hot oven.

_Bread._--1 pint sifted meal, nearly 1 pint buttermilk, 1 egg, a lump of lard the size of a small walnut, and 1 teaspoonful salt. Just before baking, add 1 teaspoonful soda dissolved in 2 tablespoonfuls warm water, and add 1 teaspoonful salt. If the milk is sweet, add 2 tablespoonfuls cream of tartar.

_Buttered._--(_a_) Make a thick square of buttered toast, buttering it well on both sides, and cutting it into 4 or 6 pieces; let it stand before the fire to keep hot, but not sufficiently near to dry it up. Break 3 fresh eggs into a stewpan over the fire (both yolks and whites), having previously melted in it a piece of butter the size of a walnut; add a little salt, and 1 tablespoonful cream or good milk; stir it rapidly over the fire until it begins to thicken; then take it off and beat it until quite smooth; set it on the fire again, and keep stirring until it is very hot and thick. With a spoon heap this lightly up on to the square of buttered toast which has been keeping hot before the fire, making it stand as high as possible. Serve instantly.

(_b_) Boil 2 eggs hard. Let them get cold. Chop up yolks and whites finely, and spread them on hot buttered toast with pepper and salt to taste.

_Curried._--(_a_) Boil 6 eggs quite hard, and when cold cut each into 4 pieces, so that they may stand on the dish with the points uppermost; lay aside. Fry 2 onions, shred very fine, in butter, add 1 tablespoonful powder, 2 oz. butter rolled in flour, and by degrees ½ pint veal stock; let the whole boil up for ¼ hour, then stir in very slowly 2 tablespoonfuls cream, simmer 5 minutes; put in the eggs and let them heat slowly for 4-5 minutes, and serve in the sauce with boiled rice.

(_b_) Cut an onion in very thin and very small slices; fry in butter, flour them while doing to thicken the butter; they must not burn. Take 1 tablespoonful curry powder, or be guided by the strength of it; place in a bowl, squeeze the juice of ½ lemon, add a pinch of salt, 1 teacupful rich gravy or stock, ½ teacupful milk or a little cream, stir all together well; boil some eggs hard, take off the shells, cut them into quarters or halves, stir your curry powder that has been mixed as before directed; let all boil together, and when boiling take off the fire and put in the eggs; serve in a deep dish, with snowballs of rice round. If the eggs are required to be soft, poach them instead of boiling hard.

(_c_) Slice 1 large or 2 small onions into rounds, and fry in a good quantity of butter until quite brown, but not in the least black; then add 2 tablespoonfuls good gravy, well freed from grease, and, when that has mixed nicely with the onions and butter, add 1 small teaspoonful good curry powder; thoroughly mix this with your gravy, &c., and avoid lumps; let all simmer gently for 10 minutes, then put in 6 hard-boiled eggs cut in rounds, and let them cook till thoroughly hot, serve either with rice round, or, as some like it better, with the rice on a separate dish. Salt to taste should, of course, be added to the above.

(_d_) Boil 6 eggs quite hard, shell them, and cut them up into thick rounds or pieces. Pile them in the middle of a small dish, with plain boiled rice arranged in a ring around them. Slice 2 or 3 onions, and fry them in a little butter, add 1-2 spoonfuls curry powder to 1 dessertspoonful flour, and with ½ pint water; pour them into the frying-pan. When the curry is made, pour over the eggs. Garnish with slices of lemon.

(_e_) For this dish the eggs must be boiled hard, the shells removed, and the eggs cut in halves. A good curry sauce, made after the proper Indian fashion, should have been prepared previously, and then heated up again, the eggs, while still hot from boiling, being placed with the halves upright in a hot dish, with the curry poured round, but not over them, the dish garnished with fried rice balls nicely browned, and plain boiled rice sent to table with it, but in a separate dish.

(_f_) Fry 2 onions in butter, with 1 tablespoonful curry powder and 1 pint good broth. Let it all stew till tender; then mix in a cup of cream (or milk thickened with arrowroot and a dust of sugar). Simmer a few minutes; then lay in 6-8 hard-boiled eggs, cut in half or quarters, and heat them through, but _do not let it boil_. If procurable, use coconut milk instead of cream. Serve with rice.

(_g_) Cut 2 onions in slices, and fry them to a light golden colour in plenty of butter, add 1 tablespoonful curry powder and a sprinkling of flour, moisten with a cupful of stock, and simmer gently for 10 minutes, then add 6 hard-boiled eggs cut in slices, simmer for a few minutes longer, and serve.

(_h_) Mix very smoothly some curry powder with nicely flavoured rich gravy, halve some hard-boiled eggs, take out the yolks, and beat them in a little of the gravy and curry powder; replace them into the whites, of which the under part must be cut a little to make them stand nicely in the dish. Simmer them in the rest of the gravy, thicken it with a little butter and flour, garnish with fried onions, and serve with boiled rice in a separate dish.

_Devilled._--Boil a number of eggs very hard; when cold, remove the shells, and cut each egg in half. Take out the yolks and pound them in a mortar with a few boned anchovies, pepper, salt, and a pinch of dry mustard, moistening with a little butter. Fill the empty whites cut in halves with this mixture, and arrange in a dish garnished with parsley. This is a great favourite at Cinderella suppers.