The art of cooking

When the crust has become cool and firm in the icebox, take it out and placing it upon the mixing board roll it out to. about a third of an inch in thickness. Cut out two vol-au-vent with the vol-au-vent cutter, or a biscuit CHAUD-FROID OF CHICKEN. 85 cutter if the first be not convenient, cut in each a smaller circle, about one inch from the edges, half way through the crust, and placing both upon a baking tin, bake in a hot quick oven for twenty minutes. When done remove the crust from the inner circle by slipping in a knife-blade and splitting it asunder, scrape out the centre of the vol-au-vent in order to make a hollow in which to pack the sweet-breads, put into each equal parts of the sweet-bread, sprinkle over the meat the remainder of the lemon-juice, cover over it the little baked circle previously split out, garnish with fresh sprigs of parsley and send to table in a hot napkin. Notes — The difficulty in making the vol-au-vent paste lies in its becoming heated in rolling and the butter, which is used in excessive proportion, running in consequence. This may be prevented by putting it to cool between rollings and taking a little longer time for it^ preparation. It is really puff- paste that is used for the vol-au-vent and the crust should rise in baking at least three inches. Chaud-froid of Chicken.— One young fowl, two ounces of butter, two ounces of flour, one-half pint of milk, one gill of cream, one saltspoonful of salt, one saltspoonful of white pepper, one quart of second stock, one-half ounce of gelatine, one tablespoonful of vinegar, one sprig of parsley, one gill of cold water, whites of three eggs, one-half teaspoonful of black pepper. This dish requires two days for its preparation, and therefore its use must be anticipated. Melt first the gelatine in half of the cold water, and let it stand for ten minutes ; put then the stock into a copper or porcelain-lined saucepan, add to it the vinegar, parsley black pepper and half of the salt, place it over the fire, and when tepid put into it the gelatine. Beat the whites of the eggs well in a bowl, with which mix the remainder of the cold water, pour this into the stock and whisk all together until the stock boils, using either two forks or an egg-whisk. The instant the stock boils, cover the saucepan and draw it aside from the fire, let it simmer here slowly for twenty minutes, when it should be strained into a basin through a clean towel. Let this preparation stand over night, as it will not cool through and set in shorter time. Clean and wash also the fowl, then plunging it into boiling water, let it cook until a skewer will pierce easily into the breast, when it must be immediately taken out, and it also allowed to stand over night to become thoroughly cooled. Having prepared the material in the above manner, upon the day the chaud-froid is to be used, cut first the wings and legs from the fowl and trim them neatly ; cut also two filets from the breast, taking care not to break the crisp grain of the meat. Melt now in a porcelainlined or copper saucepan the butter, stir into it the flour, add by degrees the milk and stir all until boiling, when the mixture must be seasoned with the white pepper and salt, the cream added and stirred carefully until it has boiled for two minutes. Take the saucepan from the fire and put with its contents a dessert spoonful of the cold jelly, draw the skin off the pieces of fowl and dip them into this sauce, when they are to be placed in a sieve and left about thirty minutes to cool. CHICKEN CROQUETTES. $7 When the sauce is quite cold upon the pieces of fowl, arrange them neatly into the bottom of a flat dish, chop roughly the jelly and scatter it around and garnish the dish either with fresh sprigs of parsley, or with parsley finely chopped and sprinkled over.