Fifty dinners

This is a pie that can be eaten hot. Buy a piece of the fillet steak of beef weighing about a pound, and the same of coarser meat for gravy. With the beef letter commence the making of the steak pie gravy in this way : — Melt an ounce of butter in a stewpan, put into it four ounces of onion, two of carrot and of turnip, one of celery, and a sprinkling of parsley ; fry gently over a low fire for five minutes, then lay over the vegetables the coarser meat cut up into thin slices. Continue the frying till a light brown glaze forms at the bottom of AN EXCELLENT BEEFSTEAK PIE. the pan, then dilute with two pints of warm broth or water and simmer gently part covered till the liquid is half reduced. Then strain, cool, skim, and use as required. When the broth is ready cut the piece of steak into neat slices a quarter of an inch thick, and about three inches long ; place the slices on a flat dish and upon each slice lay a thin one of boiled bacon ; give the whole a dusting of spiced pepper. Roll them up (each separately) and give them an external dusting of spiced pepper. Take a pie-dish — one of the brown French stoneware for choice — rub it well with a shallot, butter it, arrange a bed of sliced raw potato over the bottom of it, and upon that place a layer of the rolled slices, setting them closely ; repeat the process, adding another layer of rolled beef slices, till the dish is packed ; garnish the surface with pieces of hardboiled egg, moisten with a gill of the gravy, and cover the whole with a good light crust, bake in the usual way and serve. Oysters, minced anchovies, chopped olives, or mushrooms may, of course, be mingled with the layers, and a glass of white wine may enrich the gravy. The oven should be moderate and the paste should be protected with buttered paper. An hour or an hour and a quarter will suffice for the baking. Work in a bowl with a whisk over hot water three yolks of eggs and two ounces of finely powdered sugar till they are frothy. Cool this. Pound three macaroons and pass the powder through a wire sieve. Beat the three whites of the eggs till stiff, and then blend the three things — yolks, macaroon powder, and whites. Heat two ounces of butter in an omelette-pan, put the mixture into it, and keep it over a low fire till the under part is sufficiently set to allow omelette to be doubled over. Do this carefully, passing a palette-knife under it. Turn the omelette out upon a buttered fireproof china or oval metal gratin-dish, and set it in the oven. As soon as nicely coloured, draw out the dish, and smother the omelette with powdered sugar, put it back for a few seconds to glaze the sugar, and then serve forthwith. Take a sheep’s kidney, cut it open, skin, and blanch it, then cool and mince it very finely. Melt half an ounce of butter in a small sauté-pan, put in a teaspoonful of finely minced onion, fry over a low fire till the onion pieces are soft, then add the minced kidney with one fillet of anchovy and half an ounce of glaze ; moisten with a tablespoonful of gravy, continue to cook slowl)', seasoning the whole with salt, Nepaul pepper, and powdered sweet herbs. When the kidney is tender, empty the contents of the pan into a mortar and pound them to a paste. While the kidney is cooking make a gill of savoury custard in the manner described in Menu vi.