Fifty dinners

This is an excellent summer dish — soup and fish combined. Choose about a pound and a half of small fish: eels, whiting, flounders, or slips — any two of the four varieties given will do, in fact with one sort only a nice zootje can be made, but fish cuttings for broth should be got also. Fillet the fish neatly in small fillets ; set these aside, and put the whole of the remnants, heads, skin, bones, fins, and trimmings, into a stewpan, adding for each pound weight of such stock-stuff one good-sized onion (four ounces when trimmed) sliced thinly, a handful of curled parsley shredded, a tablespoonful of strips of parsley-root about an inch long, a dessert-spoonful of horseradish shavings, twelve peppercorns, a good teaspoonful of salt, and a pinch of mace or mixed spice ; cover with cold water, bring slowly to the boil, skim, then simmer slowly for an hour, and strain. Into this hot broth (using another stewpan for the operation) put the fillets with six freshly cut bunches of parsley (which should be previously blanched for three minutes in scalding water) and simmer gently for ISO about ten minutes until the fillets are tender. Now empty the contents of the pan into a deep dish, and serve with thinly sliced brown bread and butter. A spoon and fork will be required by those who take this dish. A blanquette of veal is the nearest relation of a fricassee of chicken. The breast is the part to use : cut it into two and a half inch squares, lay 2. Elan- them in a stewpan, season with salt and quette of veal. pepper, and just cover with warm water ; place the pan over a moderate fire, and when just on the point of boiling, stop, drain off the water, refresh the meat with a douche of cold water, replace it in the stewpan, and moisten with good broth ; bring slowly to the boil, skimming carefully, and then add six ounces of onion, the same of turnip, and a bouquet garni. Simmer now until tender, then take the pan from the fire, drain off the broth, skim it, lay the pieces of meat on a dish, and trim them neatly ; turn the broth to a white sauce with an ounce of butter and an ounce of flour, give it a flavouring with mace, pass it through the hair sieve, mix into it the yolks of two raw eggs, moisten the meat with it, placed on a clean stewpan, heat up gently, but without actual boiling, and serve. Mushrooms as a rule accompany a blanquette., in which case the peelings are cooked with the stew, and the mushrooms themselves in the sauce, thus flavouring it nicely. Follow the advice given for salmon-trout in Menu xvi., substituting a lobster for the trout — i.e., boil your CHEESE IN CASES A LA HOLLANDAISE. 151 lobster yourself a quarter of an hour or so in good fish broth and a glass of chablis. The dressing, however, cannot be too plain — i.e., vinegar, oil, and seasoning. Rich creamy mayonnaise is out of place here. Let the dressing be done à l'osh as the French cook says — no soaking — garnish neatly with the driest and freshest salading, broken aspic, and the adjuncts given for the salmontrout salad accompanying. For six darioles take half a pint of boiled milk, turn this to a custard with four whole eggs, stirring in half an ounce of gelatine, cool, and whip it, adding a gill of whipped cream. Set 4- Custard , , 1 1 • 11- 1 . • creams with the moulds m crushed ice, and set ripe strawberries.