A guide to modern cookery

Preparation.—Have ready two lbs. of ordinary brioche paste without sugar (No. 2368). Stiffen in butter one and one-half Ibs. of small salmon collops, and prepare one-sixth Ib. of mushrooms and one chopped onion (both of which should be fried in butter), one-half lb. of semolina kache (No. 2292) or the same weight of rice cooked in consommeé ; two hard-boiled eggs, chopped; and one lb. of vesiga, roughly chopped and cooked in consommé. For this weight of cooked vesiga about two and one-half oz. of dried vesiga will be needed, which should be soaked for at least four hours in cold water, and then cooked for three and one-half hours in white consommé. It may also be cooked in water. Roll the brioche paste into rectangles twelve inches long by eight inches wide, and spread thereon in successive layers the kache or the rice, the collops of salmon, the chopped vesiga, the eggs, the mushrooms, and the onion, and finish with a layer of kache or rice. Moisten the edges of the paste and draw the longest ends of it towards each other over the enu- merated layers of garnish, and join them so as to properly enclose the latter. Now fold the two remaining ends over to the centre in a similar way. Place the coulibiac thus formed on a bakingtray, and take care to turn it over in order that the joining parts of the paste lie underneath. Set the paste to rise for twenty-five minutes, sprinkle some melted butter over the coulibiac, sprinkle with some very fine raspings, make a slit in the top for the escape of vapour, and bake in a moderate oven for forty-five or fifty minutes. Fill the coulibiac with freshly-melted butter when withdrawing it from the oven. DARNES DE SAUMON The few recipes dealing with ‘‘ Darnes de Saumon,”’ which I give below, may also be adapted to whole salmon after the size of the fish has been taken into account in measuring the time allowed for cooking. 790—DARNE DE SAUMON CHAMBORD As already explained, the term *‘ darne”’ stands for a piece of salmon cut from the middle of that fish, and the size of a darne is in proportion to the number of people it is intended for. Proceed after the manner directed under ‘‘ The Braising of Fish ’’ (No. 780); moisten in the proportion of two-thirds with excellent red wine and one-third with fish stock, calculating the quantity in such wise that it may cover no more than two-thirds of the depth of the darne. Bring to the boil, then set to braise gently, and glaze the darne at the last moment. Garnish and Sauce.—Garnish with quenelles of truffled mousseline forcemeat for fish, moulded by means of a spoon; two large ornamented quenelles; truffles fashioned like olives; pieces of milt dipped in Villeroy sauce, treated a l’anglaise and fried when about to dish up; small gudgeon or smelts treated similarly to the milt, and trussed crayfish cooked in courtbouillon. The sauce is a Genevoise, made from the reduced cooking. liquor of the darne. Dishing Up.—Surround the darne by the garnishes enumerated, arranging them tastefully, and pierce it with two hatelets, each garnished with a small truffle, an ornamented quenelle, and a crayfish. Send the sauce to the table separately. 791—DARNE DE SAUMON DAUMONT Poach the darne in a court-bouillon prepared beforehand. Dishing Up and Garnish.—Surround the darne by mediumsized mushrooms stewed in butter and garnished with small crayfish tails cohered by means of a few tablespoonfuls of Nantua sauce; small round quenelles of mousseline forcemeat for fish, decorated with truffles, and some slices of milt treated @ l’anglaise, and fried when about to dish up. Serve the Nantua sauce separately. 792—DARNE DE SAUMON LUCULLUS Skin one side of the darne, lard it with truffles, and braise it in champagne.