Fifty dinners

Grate four ounces of fine stale crumbs, put them in a basin, and pour over them half a pint of boiling milk and a few drops of ratafia essence : cover the basin with a plate, and let the liquid soak into the crumbs, and get cold : now stir into the basin four ounces of dry, finely minced suet, a pinch of salt, three ounces of crushed ratafias, and three ounces of candied peel sliced thin. Next whisk three eggs well, with two ounces of sugar, continue to beat them together until the sugar is dissolved, then pour them into the basin with the other ingredients, and mix well ; turn all into a buttered basin, and boil for two hours. For the sauce dilute two tablespoonfuls of raspberry jam with a gill of hot water and a liqueur-glass of rum, brandy, or kirsch ; stir over the fire to moisten the jam well, then strain into a hot sauce-boat, adding the juice of half a lemon. Out of some stale bread cut six neat oblong croûtes, each of a size large enough to carry a sardine, fry them, and keep them hot. Remove the oil from the sardines, carefully scrape off the skin, and lay them in a row on a baking-sheet well buttered, devil them with a seasoning of salt, black pepper, and Nepaul pepper, and heat them in the oven. When ready lift each with the palette-knife, and place it on a crofite, brushing all over with melted glaze, and serving forthwith. MENU XXIV. {December or January.') Queue de boeuf lie. Harengs frits a la zingara. Poulet I’Am^ricaine. Langue de boeuf. Creme de marrons a la vanille. Crodtes aux crevettes. For this please turn to Menu iii. If the clear variety be made one day, the thick can be prepared the next, or next but one following, with the meat of oxtail soup second boilings. Having cooled and strained this off, take off any fat that there may be. Select about four ounces of the nicest lean meat, pound this to a paste, and pass it through the wire sieve ; melt half an ounce of butter in a stewpan, stir in half an ounce of flour, mix for three minutes, and then moisten with a pint and a half of the stock, passing in the puree as well, bring to the boil, and simmer for ten minutes, then pass through the hair sieve. Warm up when required, adding a dessertspoonful of marsala. Carefully remove, the flesh in two long fillets on each side of three fresh herrings, take off the skin, brush the insides of the fillets over with a beaten egg, sprinkle with finely chopped parsley, and then close each pair together again, thus reforming the fish. Let no FOWL IN THE AMERICAN MANNER. iii them set for half an hour, and then brush them over with beaten egg, roll them in finely sifted panure., let this coating dry, repeat it, and fry the herrings one by one in a bath of boiling fat. As soon as they turn a rich golden herrings. colour, stop, take them out with the perforated slice, drain, dry, and serve on a hot napkin. Make sauce zingara in this way : — Reduce a gill of French vinegar with a dessert-spoonful of minced onion and a small salt-spoonful of salt and one of mignonette, pepper till about a dessert-spoonful of the liquid remains, moisten with two gills of fish broth, simmer for ten minutes, strain, add two tablespoonfuls of lightly fried bread-crumbs, and finish with a dessertspoonful of minced parsley and the juice of half a lemon. Serve with the herrings.