The housewife's referee

Celery, Stewed. — Wash and trim off the outer leaves, put it on to boil ; when it is tender, take it out and squeeze it well ; then place it in a stewpan with some good veal broth, and simmer it over a gentle fire. When reduced enough, thicken the sauce with a bit of butter the size of a walnut rolled in flour ; add a few drops of vinegar or a squeeze of lemon, and serve. Celery with Gravy. — Take six heads of fresh celery, cut off the tops, leaving each head six inches long, trim the outside leaves and cut the roots to a point ; wash, then blanch them for ten minutes in boiling water, cool, and wash them again ; carefully tie the heads together in two bundles, and put them in a stewpan with three gills of broth, two gills of water, one gill of stock-pot fat or clean dripping, one faggot, one small carrot, say two ounces, one small onion, say two ounces, one pinch of salt, and one small pinch of pepper. Put a round of paper over the whole and close the stewpan, simmer for two hours ; when done, drain and put the celery on a dish — three heads at the bottom, then two, then one. Prepare a sauce as follows : — Put one ounce of butter and one ounce of flour in a stewpan, stir over the fire for three minutes ; add a pint and a half of household gravy, stir till reduced to one pint ; strain through the pointed strainer, pour over the celery, and serve. Chartreuse a la Variete. — Oil well a plain round mould, cut some truffles into pieces an inch square, and one eighth of an inch thick. They must be very evenly cut. Make some savoury custard in which aspic jelly has been mixed, and cut it into pieces the same size. Place these evenly and alternately like a chess-board all round the oiled mould, then paint very thinly all over with aspic jelly just before it quite sets, and place on ice for two or three hours. Then fill the centre with pate de foie gras, or any kind of force-meat, and put on ice again ; then turn out, and serve red aspic jelly, chopped fine, round the base. Cheese Balls. — The whites of two eggs, two ounces of grated Parmesan cheese, salt, and a dust of cayenne. Beat the eggs to a stiff froth ; stir in the cheese, salt, and pepper. Shape the mixture into balls the size of marbles, and drop them into boiling lard. Fry them for about five minutes till a golden brown, drain well, and serve with grated cheese. Chendool Curry. — Either pound, or pass through a machine, one pound and a half of meat ; mix with it one small onion very finely chopped, two beads of garlic ditto, one teaspoonful of mixed ground spice, one or two chopped chillies, and a little green ginger ; salt to taste ; add just a very little flour, and bind the mixture with a well-beaten egg. Make into little balls, and fry a nice golden colour in butter, and put them on one side. Cut up an onion into very thin rings, chop one bead of garlic small, and fry these a golden brown with twelve cloves and the seeds of eight cardamoms in two ounces of butter ; then add one tablespoonful of best mild curry powder (such as may be got at Stenbridge's, in Leicester Square, or Cook's, in Prince's Street, Oxford Circus) ; fry this a minute also, and then add one teaspoonful of Armour's beef extract dissolved in one small cup of water ; let this simmer gently for about an hour, then add one tablespoonful of cream ; salt to taste, an