A guide to modern cookery

Drain them well, dry them, place them in a pan, and marinade them for twenty minutes in oil and lemon-juice. This done, garnish them, either with a salpicon thickened with mayonnaise, a milt or other purée, a small macédoine, or a vegetable salad, &c. Place on a hors-d’ceuvre dish with a garnish of parsley sprays. 314—BARQUETTES These are a kind of small Croustades with indented edges, made in very small, boat-shaped moulds, and they may be .garnished in any conceivable way. As their preparation is the same as that of Tartlets, see the latter ‘No. 387); also refer to ‘‘ Frivolities ’’ (No. 350). HORS-D’GEUVRES 145 315—SMOKED HAMBURG BEEF Cut it into very thin slices; divide these up into triangles, and roll the latter into the shape of cones. The slices may also be served flat. Dish up at the last moment, and serve very cold. 316—CANAPES AND TOAST In the matter of hors-d’ceuvres, the two above names have the same meaning. The preparation consists of small slices of the crumb of bread, about one-quarter inch thick, slightly toasted and with a garnish on one of their sides. The garnish is subject to the taste of the consumer, the resources at the disposal of the cook, or the latter’s fancy, which may here be fully indulged. But the garnish, par excellence, for Canapés or Toast, is fresh butter combined with a fine mince of white roast chicken- meat, the meat of shell-fish or fish, or cheese, &c., as I pointed out above under the butters for hors-d’ceuvres. Whatever be the garnish of Canapés or Toast, and even when it would be unreasonable to let butter form a part of it, as, for example, in the case of marinaded fish, anchovies, filleted herring, &c., it is always best to put plenty of butter on the pieces of toast while they are still hot, with the view of keeping them soft. When the garnish consists of a purée, t.e., a compound butter, I should advise the use of a piping-bag fitted with a grooved pipe, for laying the preparation upon the toast. This method is both clean and expeditious, and lends itself to any fanciful arrangement which the varying shape of the toast may suggest. The principal shapes given to the toast are as follows: round, square, rectangular, oval, triangular, crescented, star- like, crossed, &c. They should never exceed one and one-half inches in diameter, and a corresponding size in the other shapes. I shall only indicate here a few kinds of specially gar- nished toast, and leave the thousand and one other kinds for the operator himself to discover. 317— ANCHOVY TOAST Make the pieces of toast oval. Cover with anchovy butter, and place thereon, lattice-wise, some fillets of anchovy cut to the length of the toast. Garnish the pieces of toast all round L 146 GUIDE TO MODERN COOKERY with the separately chopped whites and yolks of hard-boiled eggs, alternating the colours. 318—CAVIARE TOAST Make the pieces of toast round; cover with caviare butter; garnish the edges with a thread of softened butter, laid on by means of a piping-bag fitted with a grooved pips. Put fresh caviare in the centre. 319 SHRIMP TOAST Make the pieces of toast round; cover with shrimp butter, and garnish by means of a border composed of shelled shrimps’ tails with a caper in the centre. 320—CITY TOAST Make the pieces of toast round, and cover with a thick coating of the following preparation, viz.:—Four oz. of fresh butter, softened; two oz. of fresh Gruyére and two oz. of Parmesan, both grated; a dessertspoonful of cream, and a little salt and cayenne. Cover this preparation with two half-discs, which when juxtaposed are equal in circumference to the round of the toast. The half-discs should be cut respectively from a Lyons sausage and a Gruyére cheese; both should be thin, and equal in thickness. 321I—DANISH TOAST