ENTY-FOUR LITTLE
ENCH DINNERS
nd '
low to Cook
id Serve Them
ORA MOORE
THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
THE GASTRONOMY COLLECTION OF
GEORGE HOLL
AGRIC.
LIBRARY
TWENTY-FOUR LITTLE
FRENCH DINNERS
AND
How to Cook and Serve Them
TWENTY- FOUR LITTLE
FRENCH DINNERS
AND
How to Cook and Serve Them
BY
CORA MOORE
NEW YORK
E. P. BUTTON & COMPANY
681 FIFTH AVENUE
COPYRIGHT 1919, BY
E. P. BUTTON & COMPANY
All Rights Reserved
Printed in the United States of America
7X7/7
M75
' ;.
IRARY
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 atmos-
phere, 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
Frangois or "Old Monsoor," with his
eternal grouch, who glides about the
zinc counter.
But there is also magic in the arrange-
ment of the menus, in the combinations
vi PREFACE
of food, in the very names of the con-
fections 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'oeuvre to cafe 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 regime, in the garnishings
that glorify the most insignificant con-
coctions 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 expen-
PREFACE vii
sive, even extravagant, but that is be-
cause 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 DIN-
NERS 33
(With Directions for Preparing)
LET Us EAT FISH!. 109
TWENTY-FOUR LITTLE
FRENCH DINNERS
AND
Haw 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 com-
mand 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 cor-
responding day last week or tickled
with a sauce that is in itself an inspira-
tion 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, regard-
ing them even as the law of the Medes
and the Persians, "which altereth not,"
2 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
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 Ameri-
can 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 enco-
miums 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 knowl-
edge 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
TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 3
true food economy is not at all syn-
onymous 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 com-
prises a row of little receptacles labeled
"pepper," "salt," "cloves," "allspice,"
"ginger," "cinnamon," "nutmeg," and
possibly one or two other spices or con-
diments rarely more. With these and
4 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
a bottle each of lemon extract and
vanilla, she is satisfied that she is fully
equipped as far as flavoring possibili-
ties 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 fore-
sigh tedness 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," disclaim-
ing utterly any responsibility for the
monotony that is undermining the
family health and temper and, quite
possibly, its morals.
That is where the American house-
wife makes her primary and most im-
portant mistake. The French, on the
other hand, know that there are, liter-
ally, 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.
TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 5
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 Bur-
gundian, 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
6 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
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 pate's
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 Hamp-
shire to find in their glory, or the tur-
keys that, as much as the Green Moun-
tains, 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
TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 7
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 possi-
ble. 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
9
10 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
for his meat in the first place. This
would be true enough according to the
average American's method of proced-
ure. 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 gar-
bage 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, to-
mato paste, chutney, various vinegars,
Worchestershire and many another flav-
oring designed to give a tang and a
eest even to the most unpromising dish,
if used aright. There you will find,
too, fifty or more dry seasonings, includ-
TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 11
ing 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'hote 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
12 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS ^
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 remain-
der ever possessed has well-nigh : van-
ished. 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 medi-
cine" 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 neces-
sarily follow that the entire household
TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 13
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 re-
stricted 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, in-
describable flavor. An ordinary bread
pudding becomes veritably a queen of
14 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
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 exhib-
its 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 ar- 1 methods
of procedure are set forth. But if the
ordinarily experimental American house-
wife 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, particu-
larly 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 eat-
ing" 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
15
16 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
printed to help her conduct her house-
hold adequately amid the necessary
limitations of wartime, she already
knows that there is absolutely no ex-
cuse 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 morn ng 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 thicken-
ings 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
TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 17
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
18 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
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 contain-
ers, 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 ap-
pealing to a happy morning appetite.
TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 19
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 ques-
tion 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 consump-
tion for every American; the English-
man 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 ob-
tained only by absorbing the red blood
and muscle of the beasts of the field,
that there is as much, if not more, of
20 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
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 appear-
21
22 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
ance 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 nas-
turtiums, 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 slum-
bering 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
TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 23
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 Societe
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 remem-
bered 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 trans-
form plain dishes into seemingly pre-
25
26 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
tentious ones, even though she never
attain that sauce that Balzac knew,
"in which a mother might unsuspect-
ingly 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 a la
Creme, for use with white entries, 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 fif-
TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 27
teen 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 sauce-
pan with a scant tablespoonful of but-
ter. While heating over a moderate
fire, add a sprig of thyme, a tablespoon-
ful 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 table-
spoonful of vinegar. Boil again, pass
through a sieve and season with salt
and pepper.
A simple sauce is that Maitre <T Hotel,
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 parsely and
chives, or parsley alone. Season with
salt and pepper and a little lemon juice
28 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
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
TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 29
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, tarra-
gon, 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
30 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
Sauce Blanquette, which is used to raise
cold meats to the dignity of a fricassee,
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 Ameri-
can 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
TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 31
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 grad-
ually 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
MENU
Potage a la Duchesse
Cabillaud a la Bechamel
Pommes de Terre, Genevoise
Salade Celeri
Pouding a la Vanille
Potage la Duchesse. Butter a baking
sheet, cover with four ounces of ehou
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 consommS and
serve.
33
34 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
Cabillaud a 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 sprink-
ling of cheese, and so on till the moulds
TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 35
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 a 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 sauce-
pan of boiling water and steam the
pudding for half an hour. In the
36 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
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, f 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 con-
taining the pudding while it is cooking,
or it will be spoiled,
II
MENU
Consomme a la Napolitaine
Cabillaud a la Financiere
Pommes de Terre en Rubans
Beignets a la Printemps
Choufleur au Gratin
Bavaroise au Cafe
Consomme a 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 cauli-
flower in this dinner was cooked, pep-
per 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 a la Financiere. Cook a piece
of cod weighing three pounds in salted
water for twenty minutes, drain a place
37
88 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
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 a 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
TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 39
powdered sugar and serve. If the fruit
is not fully ripe, parboil in syrup before
using.
Choufleur au Gratin. Soak a cauli-
flower 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 but-
tered 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 dessert-
spoonful of flour, mix and add a cup of
milk. Stir till it thickens, add pepper
and salt and add two or three table-
spoonfuls of grated Parmesan cheese.
Mix well and after pouring over the
cauliflower sprinkle all over with bread-
crumbs 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
40 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
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 dis-
solved gelatin. Pour into a mould and
turn out when set.
ra
MENU
Filet de Sole a la Provengal
Poulet Saute a 1'Estragon
Artichauts a la Barigoule
Petit 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 FEstragon. Sprinkle the
pieces of a cut up raw chicken with
pepper and salt and cook in a sauce-
pan 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.
41
42 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
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.
Petit 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.
IV
MENU
Potage au Riz
Rougets en Papillotes
Veau a 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 to-
matoes 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 note-
paper and put the cases into the oven
for a few minutes to harden. Sprinkle
43
44 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
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 other-
wise 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 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.
TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 45
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.
MENU
Potage a PAmericaine
Filet d'Eglefin
Gigot de Mouton aux Epinards
Chou de Mer au Fromage
Petites Crcmes au Chocolat
Potage a 1'Americaine. Parboil a me-
dium 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 cauli-
flower mixture, then, taking the sauce-
pan 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.
46
TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 47
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 occasion-
ally to cook both sides evenly. Re-
move, 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 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 sur-
round it with potatoes cut to the size
of walnuts. Put back in the oven, let-
ting 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
4ff TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
a tablespoonful of gravy from the mut-
ton 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 min-
utes, drain and keep hot. Mix on the
fire an ounce of butter and a table-
spoonful 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 tablespoonsfuls of grated Par-
mesan 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 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
TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 49
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 min-
utes, 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 cakfcs or lady fingers,
VI
MENU
Potage pure*e de Pois Sees
Saumon a la Hollandaise
Pommes de Terre, Barigoule
Haricots verts au riz tomate
Potage Puree de Pois Sees. 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 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,
50
TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 51
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
52 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
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 Veloute
Brochet a la Tartare
Biftecks sautes aux Olives
Pommes de Terre a la Lyonnaise
fipinards au Gratin
Beignets Souffle's
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
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 a 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
53
54 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
breadcrumbs and broil, brushing occa-
sionally 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 sautes aux Olives. Cut the
steak into six pieces and toss in a fry-
ing 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 con-
somme*, two or three dozen green olives,
with the pits removed, and boil to-
gether 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 a 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
TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 55
the potatoes, sprinkle with salt and
serve garnished with parsley.
Epinards 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 thor-
oughly in the oven in a vegetable dish.
Beignets Souffles. 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 pow-
dered sugar. Serve hot.
VIII
MENU
Consomm6 Royale
Filet de Sole a la Ve*ne*tienne
Salade Barbe de Capucin
Beignets de Peches
Consomme 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 consomm6
and serve immediately.
Filet de Sole a la Venetienne. 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
56
TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 57
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. Ar-
range 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."
58 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
Beignets des Peches. Peel, stone and
cut in halves some firm peaches. Toss
about in a bowl with sugar, being care-
ful 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 plac-
ing in a hot oven a few minutes. Ar-
range in pyramid shape on a folded
napkin on a hot dish and serve im-
mediately. Canned peaches, if firm,
may, of course, be substituted for the
fresh fruit.
IX
MENU
Cotelettes de Saumon, a TAnglaise
Pommes de Terre, Marquise
Petits Pois a la Paysanne
Salade Am^ricaine
Choux au Chocolat
Cotelettes 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
veloute* 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
59
60 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
the fire till the ingredients are blended
and it is ready.
Pommes de Terre, Marquise. Boil po-
tatoes in salted water and pass through
a sieve. Season with salt, pepper, nut-
meg, 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 & 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 Americaine. Cut in rounds re-
sembling a quarter-dollar equal quanti-
ties of new potatoes, carrots and beet
root, all previously cooked. Then add a
sour apple, cut in the same shape, and a
TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 61
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.
MENU
Consomm6 Duchesse
Saumon, Sauce Piquante
Bissolettes de Boeuf
Salade a la Heine
Creme Noyau
Duchesse Consomme. Boil four table-
spoonfuls of rice (ground) in four cups of
water for fifteen minutes, adding half a
teaspoonf ul 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
62
TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 63
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 Bceuf. 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 a la Reine. Lay strips of endive
lengthwise on the salad plates and cross
them with peeled tomatoes cut in sec-
tions like an orange. Dress with a
French salad dressing.
64 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
Creme 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 gela-
tine dissolved. Pour into a mould to
set. Serve with champagne wafers.
XI
MENU
Consomme* a la Madrilene
Perches aux Fines Herbes
Filets Mignons aux Pommes de Terre
Aubergines Farcies
Omelette au Rhum
Consomme a la Madrilene. 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 consomme 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 all-
spice, bayleaf and other strong spices
chopped fine. Keep the fish in this for
about an hour, remove and roll in bread-
65
66 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
crumbs 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 sea-
soned 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.
TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 67
Omelette au Rhum. Prepare an
omelette as for any sweet omelette and
just before serving place on a hot plat-
ter, pour rum over, ignite and carry to
the table blazing.
xn
MENU
Potage Riz, Cregy
Canapes de Saumon Fume*
Paupiettes de Pore, Sauce Piquante
Asperges en Petits Pois
Tarte a la Turque
Potage Riz, Cre?y. 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.
Canapes de Saumon Fume. 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.
TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 69
Paupiettes de Pore, 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 aspara-
gus 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 aspara-
gus is cooked. Season with white pepper
and serve.
Tarte a 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
70 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
of it on a buttered plate and fill the
center with a marmalade made as fol-
lows: 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 marma-
lade. Add three or four teaspoonf uls of
sugar, a lump of butter and the rind of
a lemon. Take from the fire and im-
mediately add the beaten yolks of two
eggs. Arrange, as stated, in the middle
of the rice, sprinkle with a little more
sugar and set ia the oven for fifteen
minutes or more before serving.
XIII
MENU
Potage a la Chicor6e
Allumettes d'Anchois
Boeuf Bouilli en Vinaigrette
Pommes Maire
Salade de Tomates
Creme Brulee
Potage a la Chicoree. 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 quan-
tity of soup, add pepper and salt, sim-
mer 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.
71
72 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
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.
Bceuf 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 Make. Use "kidney" pota-
toes if procurable; if not, ordinary pota-
toes 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. Re-
move 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
TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 73
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.
Crme Brulee. Blend a tablespoon-
ful 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
MENU
Bisque <T Herbes
Turbot a la Rachel
Choufleur an Gratin
Salade Barbe de Capucin
Gateau 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 a la Rachel. Boil the fish
in salted water. Whitefish or haddock
74
TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 75
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 cauli-
flower 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.
76 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
Gateau 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.
XV
MENU
Potage Bisque
Canard a la Pertinset
. Pommes de Terre a la Creme
Choufleur au Beurre Noir
Salade de Lentilles
Peches 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. Re-
move the crabs and take the meat from
the claws. Mash the vegetables until
they form a puree 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 a la Pertinset. Place a carefully
prepared duck in a casserole and dredge
77
78 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
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 toma-
toes, 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 a la Creme. 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 con-
stantly, 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 cauli-
flower 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
TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 79
butter and when it is a light brown add
it to the mixture. Pour over the cauli-
flower 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.
Peches 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
MENU
Sardines Grilles
Chapon a 1'Indienne
Pommes de Terre en Matelote
Salade Beaucaire
Creme FouettSe
Sardines Grillees. 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 a Tlndienne. 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 mean-
time cook a cupful of rice, season it with
80
TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 81
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.
Creme Fouettee. 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
82 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
powdered sugar. Mix with the cream
or custard, beat again and serve im-
mediately. In summer this may be
iced with good results.
XVII
MENU
Potage Maadoine
Homards et Champignons
C6telettes de Mouton a la Brunoise
Petits Pois a la Franchise
Choux a la Crcme
Potage Macedoine, Place thin pieces
of ham in the bottom of a saucepan and
then put in three each of turnips, pota-
toes and onions, all cut up small. Pour
in some stock, season with pepper and
salt and simmer till the ham and vege-
tables 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 velout4
sauce together with some essence of
mushrooms till somewhat reduced, then
thicken and mix with the lobster and
83
84 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
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.
Cotelettes de Mouton a 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.
TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 85
Petits Pois a la Franf aise. 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 a la Creme. 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,
86 TWENTY-FOUR: FRENCH DINNERS
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 pre-
serves if preferred.
XVIII
MENU
Potage a la Printaniere
Paupiettes de Veau
Pommes de Terre, Maitre d'H6tel
Salade de Laitue
Feuillantines
Potage a la Printaniere. Cut two car-
rots 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 pota-
toes (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
87
88 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
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 fif-
teen or twenty minutes, egg them again,
roll in breadcrumbs and fry to a golden
brown in boiling lard or clarified drip-
ping, or stew them in some rich gravy
with half a pint of white wine and a
small quantity of walnut pickle.
Pommes de Terre, Maitre d'Hotel. 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
TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 89
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 tablespoonf ul 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 tablespoonf ul 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.
90 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
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
MENU
Potage Creme d'Orge
Boeuf a la Mode
Pommes de Terre, Sautdes
Salade de Romaine
Souffle au Chocolat
Potage Creme d'Orge. Mix in a sauce-
pan 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 pep-
per 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.
91
92 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
Boeuf a 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 mar-
joram. 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
TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 93
the meat. Decorate with small onions
and potato balls.
Pommes de Terre, Sautees. Boil pota-
toes until almost done, cut into quar-
ters 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 tea-
spoonful of hashed chives, the same of
hashed tarragon, two tablespoonfuls of
oil and three of vinegar. Add this to the
rofhaine, toss well and serve.
Souffle au Chocolat. Mix a small table-
spoonful of starch with a gill of milk and
when quite smooth add two ounces of
94 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
powdered sugar and two ounces of
butter. Put the mixture into a sauce-
pan 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.
XX
MENU
Potage Gourmet
Eglefin a la Maitre d'H6tel
Pommes de Terre, Casserole
Salade de Tomates et de Laitue
Canards Sauvages, Sauce Orange
Souffle au Citron
Potage Gourmet. Pour into a sauce-
pan 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 fif-
teen minutes, and serve.
Eglefin a la Maitre d' Hotel. Cut a
cleaned haddock open at the back on
each side of the bone, duct with pepper
95
96 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
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.
Fortunes de Terre, Casserole. Boil a
pound or two of potatoes, drain and
mash and make into a stiff paste by add-
ing 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
TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 97
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.
Souffle 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
MENU
Filets de Carrelets, Italienne
Pommes de Terre, Loulou
Cailles Rotis
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 be-
neath 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 sauce-
pan with butter and a seasoning of pep-
TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 99
per, 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 pota-
toes, then more cheese, and so on, hav-
ing the top layer of cheese. Pour over
all melted butter and bake about twenty
minutes in a slow oven.
Cailles Rotis. 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 parsely, 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.
100 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
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
MENU
Potage Julienne
Homard Bordelaise
Canard a la Reine
Salade & la Russe
Cafe 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.
101
102 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
Homard Bordelaise. Cut a small car-
rot 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
veloute* sauce. Stew well together and
serve at once.
Canard a 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, bay leaves 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 puree of
beans for garnish.
Salade a la Russe. Cut cold chicken
and salmon into thin slices, arrange in
a salad dish and mix with finely cut
TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 103
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.
Cafe Bavaroise. Grind half a pound of
green coffee, roast in a sugar boiler with-
out 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
MENU
Huitres a TAmericaine
Boeuf a 1'Aurore
Pommes de Terre, Lyonnaise
Salade Frangaise
Creme a la Russe
Huitres a PAmericaine. 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 tea-
spoonful of this mixture on each raw
oyster just before taking to the table.
Boeuf a PAurore. Season two steaks
of about three-quarters of a pound each
(any ordinary cut will do) with salt and
104
TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 105
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 mush-
room 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 Frangaise. 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 dress-
ing. 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
106 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
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.
Creme a 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
MENU
Potage Napolitaine
Truites a 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 a la Monbarry. Prepare sev-
eral 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
107
108 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
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
A L'AMERICAINE
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 per-
fection.
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 acquaint-
ance with some of the clam clan, espe-
cially the Rhode Island branch, and the
Little Necks, the blue bloods of the
family, And, of course, we are familiar
109
110 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
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 pre-
pared for the table. In short, we Ameri-
cans 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
TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 111
let us learn of the French about fish,
even as we have learned of them con-
cerning 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 sug-
gestion 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; other-
wise 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
112 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
restaurants, the visitor himself was per-
mitted 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 res-
taurants, the tank of running water in
which the fish are kept in condition till
required.
AN ALL FISH LUNCHEON
MENU
Hors d'CEuvres. 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 Meuniere, 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 piece de resistance
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."
113
114 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
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 cafe
noir. Tea is never served with fish, as
the tannin is said to render fish par-
ticularly indigestible.
TO PREPARE THE LUNCHEON
The French disdain the pepper, horse-
radish and tomato mixtures with which
we are wont to dress raw oysters, pre-
ferring to get the full coppery taste
peculiar to their home product, but the
American oyster, even these artists of
the culinary department agree, re-
quires 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
115
116 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
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 Meuniere, served with the sole,
or, in this case with the flounder, is
made by adding a few shrimps and mus-
sels, 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 tak-
ing any cold fish, say salmon, with this
menu. It is flaked and marinaded in
oil and vinegar seasoned well with pep-
per 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
TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 117
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 au-
thorities have accorded the meed of
highest praise:
No. l. : 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
118 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
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 bay-
leaves, 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 A 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, inci-
dentally, has probably given more atten-
tion to the adaptation of French cook-
ery to American requirements than any
other chef, is authority for the state-
ment 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
119
120 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
amount of stewed fresh or canned toma-
toes. 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 con-
genital knowledge of his subject. To
him all fish is not just fish. He dif-
ferentiates sharply as to species, tem-
pering his treatment to varied require-
ments.
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 per-
1121
122 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
fectly 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 cook-
ing.
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 re-
sults 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 hard-
wood board which is heated in advance
in the oven when planked fish is to
figure on the menu. Then having thor-
oughly 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
TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS 123
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 substi-
tute, 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 stir-
ring 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.
124 TWENTY-FOUR FRENCH DINNERS
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.
