Cookery for every household

when cut, or it will not rise well. Lay the rounds on a baking tin, keeping them as much to the middle of this as possible, a precaution which also promotes their rising evenly. Brush over the tops with beaten egg, being careful not to touch the edges, as the egg would harden the pastry and prevent it rising. Bake in a hot oven for 20 minutes, or until the pastry is well risen and nicely browned. If on taking the patties out of the oven one side is found to be higher than the other, press the tops gently into place at once before they have time to stiffen, using if necessary a little beaten egg on a brush to make them stick. When the patties are ready, lift off the inner circle of pastry and remove the uncooked paste from the interior to make room for the filling. If lids are wanted for the cases, roll out the remainder of the pastry to about J inch in thickness and stamp out rounds for covers with the smaller of the two cutters used for the patties. Bake these on a separate tin, as they will take a shorter time to cook. About 10 minutes should be sufficient. Second Method. — Use either rough -puff or flaky pastry, rolling it out to rather more than £ inch in thickness. Let it rest for a few minutes to allow for shrinking, and cut into rounds with a plain or fluted cutter 2} inches in diameter. From half of these rounds cut a hole in the centre 11- inches in diameter. Moisten the edges of the whole rounds with egg or water, and lay the rings on the top. Place the patties on a baking tin, and prick the centres with a fork and put in a small round piece of stale bread to prevent them rising. Brush over with beaten egg, and bake in a hot oven for 20 minutes. On another tin put the small rounds cut from the centre of the rings, brush them over with beaten egg, and bake about 10 minutes. These will serve as covers. When the patties are ready, fill up the hollows in the centre with any mixture, and put on the lids. Pastry cases, made in the above way, may also be used for sweet tartlets, but the pastry should then be rolled rather thinner, and a fluted cutter should be used. Small patties are also known by the name of Bouchees — they can be served either as an entree, or, if very small, as a savoury. Filling lor Patties A great variety of mixtures may be made for filling patties. A good sauce, with or without cream, generally forms the foundation of these mixtures, a garnish being added according to the kind of patty desired. Small tasty pieces of meat, game, fish, and even vegetables can all be utilised for the purpose, while the addition of a few mushrooms, oysters, truffles, &c., will make the mixture all the more tasty. The following recipes will give a good idea of what can be done in this way. When the pastry cases are made beforehand the mixture must always be thoroughly cooked and made very hot before it is put into them. Then after filling, the patties should be returned to the oven for a few minutes, so that there may be no chance of their being served lukewarm. 1506. Beef Patties ! lb. tender steak. 1 tea-sp.chopped parsley Salt, pepper. A little flour. Mushroom ketchup. Rough-puff pastry.