A guide to modern cookery

Send to the table with it as many fine collops of foie-gras, tossed in butter and each covered with a nice slice of truffle, as there are diners. Send also a timbale of asparagus-heads. The waiter in charge then puts a slice of ham, a collop of foie-gras, and a tablespoonful of asparagus-heads on each plate and serves. The sauce should be a Madeira flavoured with truffle essence. 1419b—JAMBON DE PRAGUE A LA NORFOLK Prepare a ham as in No. 1419. Serve each slice of it with one collop of braised veal sweetbread and one tablespoonful of fresh peas a la paysanne. Send as an adjunct the braising-liquor of the veal sweetbread. 1420—VARIOUS GARNISHES FOR BRAISED HAM The garnishes best suited to ham relevés are :— Spinach; new broad beans; braised lettuce; endives; fresh peas a la paysanne. Noodles; Spaghetti; various Macaronis; Gnochi; Purées of fresh beans, broad beans. The most usual accompanying sauce is half-glaze with Madeira. 1421—JAMBON SOUFFLE This is a variety of the ham soufflés given hereafter. The preparation used is the same, and it may be made either from raw or from cooked ham. After having completely boned it, but for the end bone, which must be kept, cook the ham, and cool it. Now cut it horizontally, one-half inch above its bone, from the extremity of the end bone to the head of the latter. At the last-mentioned point, make a vertical incision meeting and ending at the first; remove the cushion of ham, which should by now be quite separated from the rest of the joint, and put aside for some future purpose. All that remains of the ham, therefore, is a thick piece adhering to the end-bone. Carefully trim this piece, and surround it with a strong band of buttered paper, tied on by means of string, the purpose of which is to hold in the soufflé. This done, put a sufficient quantity of soufflé de Jambon (described hereafter) on the remaining meat of the ham to recon- Struct it entirely. Smooth the surface of the preparation with the flat of a knife (dipped in cold water), and so finish off the contour of the ham. Decorate according to fancy; place the dish containing the ham on a saucepanful of boiling water, and put the two in the oven with the view of obtaining the maximum amount of steam, which latter helps to poach the souffle. This souffléd ham may be poached just as well in a steamer. When the preparation is properly poached, remove the band of paper; dish the ham, and send one of the garnishes or sauces given for braised ham separately. 1422—SOUFFLES AU JAMBON Ham soufflés are prepared after two recipes; in the first, cooked ham is used, and in the second the ham is raw. This last procedure is derived from mousseline forcemeat, and, inasmuch as the preparation resulting from it is less flimsy than that of the first, it is preferred when a large number of people have to be served. 1423—THE PREPARATION OF THE SOUFFLE WITH COOKED HAM Finely pound one lb. of lean, cooked ham, and add thereto, one after the other, three tablespoonfuls of very cold Béchamel sauce. Rub through a fine sieve; put the resulting purée into a sautépan, and finish with one-quarter pint of very creamy and boiling Béchamel sauce, flavoured with ham essence; four eggyolks, and the whites of six eggs, beaten to a stiff froth. This preparation may be combined with three oz. of grated Parmesan, and the two flavours will be found to blend very agreeably. Prepared in this way, it is particularly well suited to the “‘Jambon Soufflé,”’ the recipe whereof is given above (No. 1421). 1424—THE PREPARATION OF THE SOUFFLE WITH RAW HAM Following the quantities given under “Farce mousseline” (No. 195), make the soufflé preparation, and add thereto four HH 2 tablespoonfuls of reduced and very cold Béchamel sauce per Ib. of raw ham.