FoodNetArchive

A guide to modern cookery

1909

Page 193 · 1 recipe record on this page

Presented as published in 1909. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
A mousse prepared in this way may be either dished on a semolina or rice cushion, or in a deep silver entrée dish, as described above. 332 GUIDE TO MODERN COOKERY 976a—SUPREMES D’ECREVISSES AU CHAMPAGNE Select forty medium-sized crayfish that seem full of life; cook them quickly in a highly-seasoned mirepoix, moistened with one half-bottle of dry champagne. This done, shell them; trim their tails, and keep them in the cool in a small bowl. Pound their shells as finely as possible with one-quarter Ib. of fresh butter, and put the resulting purée in a saucepan, together with one-half pint of boiling velouté containing four or five leaves of gelatine, and the cooking-liquor of the cray- fish passed through a fine strainer. Set to boil for a few minutes, that the remains may exude all their flavour; rub through tammy over a basin lying on ice, and whisk the preparation in order to accelerate its cool- ‘ing. As soon as it begins to thicken, add one pint of half- whipped cream to it. Then pour the whole into a silver or porcelain timbale, taking care that the utensil be not more than three-quarters full. When the mousse has set, decorate the surface with the reserved crayfish tails, to which are added, as a finish, bits of truffle and chervil leaves. Cover the decoration with a thin coating of easily-melting and amber-coloured fish jelly, and put the timbale on ice. When about to serve, incrust it in a block of carved ice, or place it on a silver dish with broken ice all round. 977—MOUSSE D’ECREVISSESMousse d'Ecrevisses CARDINAL For ten people cook the crayfish as explained in No. 976, but take forty instead of thirty. Shell the tails; trim them and cut them into dice. Prepare the mousse in the same way, but use twice as much red butter. Garnish twelve carapaces after the same manner, and decorate each with a slice of truffle. Clothe a dome- or Charlotte-mould somewhat thickly with jelly; garnish its bottom and sides with crayfish tails, pre- viously dipped in half-melted jelly, and arranged in superposed rows; and place the crayfish so that the tails of the first row lie to the left, those of the second row to the right, and so on. As often as possible, do this work before preparing the mousse, in order that the latter may be put into the mould as soon as ready. When about to fill the mould, add twenty fine slices of truffle to the mousse. Dish after one of the two methods directed in the appended note to No. 970, and take care to dip the mould quickly into hot water before attempting to turn out its contents. FISH 333 978—PETITS SOUFFLES FROIDS D’ECREVISSES Prepare the crayfish mousse as directed under No. 976, and replace the fish velouté by cold Béchamel. The addition of sauce is even unnecessary in this case, and the preparation may be all the more delicate for consisting only of the crayfish cullis and two tablespoonfuls of fish jelly. For the moulding of these small soufflés I can only repeat what I said under ‘‘ Petites Mousses de Homard’’ (No. 958). Let a thin coating of jelly set on the bottom of the small cassolettes or timbales used; garnish their insides with a band of white paper, reaching one inch above their brims; stick the end of this band with a little batter. Now garnish the timbales with mousse, letting it project above their edges to the extent of two-thirds of an inch, and leave it to set in the cool. When about to serve, remove the band of paper, holding in the projecting mousse, and the appearance of the garnished timbales is exactly that of small, hot soufflées. Allow one soufflé for each person. 979—SHRIMPS AND PRAWNS (Crevettes Grises et Crevettes Roses) Prawns are chiefly used for hors-d’ceuvres, but they may, nevertheless, be prepared in Aspics; Mousses; small cold Soufflés, &c. As regards shrimps, their use is entirely limited to gar-