Put two pounds of carefully picked sorrel in plenty of boiling water, with a little salt, and a pinch of pepper : blanch for twelve minutes, drain thoroughly, pressing out all moisture, and chop the leaves small on a board. Melt an ounce of butter in a saucepan over a low fire, to which add an ounce of flour, stir till smooth for three minutes, then add the sorrel, a salt- spoonful of sugar, and a gill of good broth, stirring vigorously to prevent the leaves catching at the bottom of the pan : — When the sorrel, gravy, and butter are thoroughly amalgamated and stiffly reduced, stir in the yolks of two eggs beaten up in a tablespoonful of milk✪ Beefsteak with Sorrel Puree ; work this briskly over the fire for five minutes, and it will be ready. The sorrel should, of course, be got ready beforehand, and kept hot in the bain- marie. Dish in this way : — Lay the puree of sorrel in a neat shape on a hot silver dish, place the steak upon it, brush over the top of the steak with diluted glaze, and pour the sauce round the outside. It is a good thing 44 FIFTY DINNERS. to save the fat and grill it, laying the pieces on the top of the steak. This way of cooking potatoes will be found nice for a change : — Boil the potatoes till nearly done : slice them in thick slices, and simmer them, a la 4. Potatoes _ fricassee.! in half a pint of white sauce made ^can fashion, with milk previously flavoured as for bread sauce with onion, spice, pepper, and salt. The yolk of an egg, a large spoonful of curly parsley minced fine, and a pat of butter the size of a shilling should be stirred into the saucepan, off the fire, before serving. A few drops of lemon-iuice are an improvement. Let the snipe be very carefully roasted and served 5. Roast on freshly toasted toast. Butter and snipe. Nepaul pepper should be handed round. No other adjunct is needed. Choose a pint and a half plain Charlotte mould, butter it well with melted butter, slightly cooled, using a brush for the operation. Deco- rate the top and walls of the mould with ratafias — slices of stale Madeira cake would do — fixing them neatly. Next prepare six good ripe bananas in this manner : — peel them, scrape off any fibre that may adhere to them, slice them in halves longitudinally, cross-cut the halves, and divide each quarter thus obtained in two lengthwise. Spread these on a flat dish and marinade them, using a BANANA PUDDING. 45 liqueur-glass of rum, kirsch, or maraschino, and the juice of half a lemon, with castor sugar dusted over all. With half a pint of milk that has been boiled, strained, and cooled, make a good custard, using four whole eggs, two ounces of sugar, and almond or ratafia flavouring. When made to satisfaction, strain and cool the custard. During the latter process pack the inside of the lined mould with the slices of banana, laying them crosswise, and leaving little spaces through which the custard may presently find its way. When the latter is cool, pour it into the mould by degrees, letting it settle well, leaving half an inch at the end of the mould unfilled. Put a two-gallon stewpan on the fire, having covered the bottom of it inside with a sheet of folded paper, and poured in water till about an inch deep.✪ Banana Pudding

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Put two pounds of carefully picked sorrel in plenty of boiling water, with a little salt, and a pinch of pepper : blanch for twelve minutes, drain thoroughly, pressing out all moisture, and chop the leaves small on a board. Melt an ounce of butter in a saucepan over a low fire, to which add an ounce of flour, stir till smooth for three minutes, then add the sorrel, a salt- spoonful of sugar, and a gill of good broth, stirring vigorously to prevent the leaves catching at the bottom of the pan : — When the sorrel, gravy, and butter are thoroughly amalgamated and stiffly reduced, stir in the yolks of two eggs beaten up in a tablespoonful of milk ; work this briskly over the fire for five minutes, and it will be ready. The sorrel should, of course, be got ready beforehand, and kept hot in the bain- marie. Dish in this way : — Lay the puree of sorrel in a neat shape on a hot silver dish, place the steak upon it, brush over the top of the steak with diluted glaze, and pour the sauce round the outside. It is a good thing 44 FIFTY DINNERS. to save the fat and grill it, laying the pieces on the top of the steak. This way of cooking potatoes will be found nice for a change : — Boil the potatoes till nearly done : slice them in thick slices, and simmer them, a la 4. Potatoes _ fricassee.! in half a pint of white sauce made ^can fashion, with milk previously flavoured as for bread sauce with onion, spice, pepper, and salt. The yolk of an egg, a large spoonful of curly parsley minced fine, and a pat of butter the size of a shilling should be stirred into the saucepan, off the fire, before serving. A few drops of lemon-iuice are an improvement. Let the snipe be very carefully roasted and served 5. Roast on freshly toasted toast. Butter and snipe. Nepaul pepper should be handed round. No other adjunct is needed. Choose a pint and a half plain Charlotte mould, butter it well with melted butter, slightly cooled, using a brush for the operation. Deco- rate the top and walls of the mould with ratafias — slices of stale Madeira cake would do — fixing them neatly. Next prepare six good ripe bananas in this manner : — peel them, scrape off any fibre that may adhere to them, slice them in halves longitudinally, cross-cut the halves, and divide each quarter thus obtained in two lengthwise. Spread these on a flat dish and marinade them, using a BANANA PUDDING. 45 liqueur-glass of rum, kirsch, or maraschino, and the juice of half a lemon, with castor sugar dusted over all. With half a pint of milk that has been boiled, strained, and cooled, make a good custard, using four whole eggs, two ounces of sugar, and almond or ratafia flavouring. When made to satisfaction, strain and cool the custard. During the latter process pack the inside of the lined mould with the slices of banana, laying them crosswise, and leaving little spaces through which the custard may presently find its way. When the latter is cool, pour it into the mould by degrees, letting it settle well, leaving half an inch at the end of the mould unfilled. Put a two-gallon stewpan on the fire, having covered the bottom of it inside with a sheet of folded paper, and poured in water till about an inch deep.

Fifty dinners