The encyclopædia of practical cookery

Chestnut Puree Soup. — Peel off the dark skin of some Chestnuts, put them in boiling water for a few minutes, remove the under-skin, put them in a saucepan, just cover with a little broth, and let them boil on a moderate fire until they are tender ; then strain and pound them. Pass 3 pints of warm broth through a sieve into a stewpan, put the Chestnut puree into it, and stir ; when it bubbles, move it to the side of the fire, and let it simmer three-quarters-of-an-hour. In the meantime peel and blanch some carrots and turnips, and cut them up into little pieces the size of a pea. Skim the fat off the soup, add a saltspoonful of sugar, put in the carrots and turnips, and keep the liquid simmering, skimming it often ; in a quarter-ofan-hour add some moderate-sized heads of white asparagus, blanched, cut in lengths of two-thirds of an inch, and boiled five minutes. When ready, serve the soup in a tureen. For details respecting Culinary Processes, Utensils, Sauces, i Sec., referred to, see under their special heads. Chestnuts — continued. Chestnut Rout Cakes. — Prepare the paste as directed for Compote of Chestnut Paste, using 1/2 lb. of Chestnut-flour instead of roasted Chestnuts. Mix the Chestnut-flour with 1/2 pint of hot water, and hold it oyer the fire until thoroughly mixed ; then pass it through a wire sieve, make into a paste, roll out, and cut with biscuit-cutters into various shapes. Chestnut Salad. — Make a slight incision in the outer skin of thirty Chestnuts, put them in a saucepan of hot water, and boil for twenty minutes. When cooked, drain the Chestnuts, plunge them into cold water, and then peel off both skins. Cut the Chestnuts into quarters, and dust some pepper and salt over them. Peel four sour cooking apples, core them, and cut them in pieces of a similar size to the nuts. Cut some of the dark meat off a cold roasted turkey, into pieces of the same size. Wash some lettuces, pull the leaves apart, and arrange them in a salad bowl; put in tastefully the above ingredients, sprinkle over them about 2 tablespoonfuls of chopped mixed pickles, pour a plain dressing over the salad, and serve. Chestnut Sauce. — (1) Boil 1 pint of peeled Chestnuts in water for about three minutes, plunge them into cold water, and rub off the dark skins with a cloth ; then put them on to cook in 1 qt. of stock. Boil gently until they will mash readily (say about an hour), and mash as fine as possible. Put 2 table- spoonfuls of butter and 1 table-spoonful of flour in a saucepan, and cook until a dark brown ; then stir into the sauce, and cook two minutes. Add, as seasoning, 1 teaspoonful of lemon-juice, salt, and pepper, and rub all through a sieve. This sauce is for roast turkey. When to be served with boiled turkey, use only 1 1/2 pints of stock ; rub the butter and flour together, and stir into the boiling mixture ; rub through the sieve as before, add 1/2 pint of cream to the sauce, return to the fire, boil up once, and serve. The Chestnuts used should be very large and ripe.