Prepare either small flaps or buttons with great nicety, without
wetting them, and wipe the former very dry, after the application of
the salt and flannel. Stew them quite tender, with the same propor-
tion of butter as the mushrooms au beurre , but increase a little the
quantity of spice ; when they are done turn them into a large dish,
spread them over one end of it, and raise it two or three inches that
they may be well drained from the butter. As soon as they are
quite cold, press them very closely into small potting-pans ; pour
lukewarm clarified butter thickly over them, and store them in a
cool dry place. If intended for present use, merely turn them down
upon a clean shelf ; but for longer keeping cover the tops first with
very dry paper, and then with melted mutton-suet. We have our-
selves had the mushrooms, after being simply spread upon a dish
while hot, remain perfectly good in that state for seven or eight
weeks : they were prepared late in the season, and the weather was
consequently cool during the interval.
MUSHROOM-TOAST, OR CROUTE AUX CHAMPIGNONS.
( Excellent .)
Cut the stems closely from a quart or more, of small just-opened
mushrooms ; peel them, and take out the gills. Dissolve from
two to three ounces of fresh butter in a well-tinned saucepan or
stewpan, put in the mushrooms, strew over them a quarter of a
teaspoonful of pounded mace mixed with a little cayenne, and let
them stew over a gentle fire from ten to fifteen minutes ; toss or
stir them often during the time ; then add a small dessertspoonful
of flour, and shake the pan round until it is lightly browned.
Next pour in, by slow degrees, half a pint of gravy or of good beef-
broth 5 and when the mushrooms have stewed softly in this for a
CHAP. XVII.]
VEGETABLES.
831
couple of minutes, throw in a little salt, and a squeeze of lemon-juice,
and pour them on to a crust, cut about an inch and a quarter thick,
from the under part of a moderate-sized loaf✪ Mushroom-Toast, or Croute aux Champignons, and fried in good
butter a light brown, after having been first slightly hollowed in the
inside. New milk, or thin cream, may be used with very good effect
instead of the gravy ; but a few strips of lemon-rind, and a small
portion of nutmeg and mushroom-catsup should then be added to the
sauce. The bread may be buttered and grilled over a gentle fire
instead of being fried, and is better so.
Small mushrooms, 4 to 5 half pints; butter, 3 to 4 oz. ; mace,
mixed with a little cayenne, £ teaspoonful: stewed softly 10 to 15
minutes. Flour, 1 small dessertspoonful : 3 to 5 minutes. Gravy
or broth, £ pint : 2 minutes. Little salt and lemon-juice.
TRUFFLES AND THEIR USES.
The truffle, or underground mushroom, as it has sometimes been
called, is held in almost extravagant estimation by epicures,* and
enters largely into what may be termed first-class cookery, both in
England and abroad ; though it is much less generally known and
used here than in France, Germany, and other parts of the Continent,
where it is far more abundant, and of very superior quality.
Page 301 · 1 recipe record on this page
Presented as published in 1884. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Prepare either small flaps or buttons with great nicety, without wetting them, and wipe the former very dry, after the application of the salt and flannel. Stew them quite tender, with the same proportion of butter as the mushrooms au beurre , but increase a little the quantity of spice ; when they are done turn them into a large dish, spread them over one end of it, and raise it two or three inches that they may be well drained from the butter. As soon as they are quite cold, press them very closely into small potting-pans ; pour lukewarm clarified butter thickly over them, and store them in a cool dry place. If intended for present use, merely turn them down upon a clean shelf ; but for longer keeping cover the tops first with very dry paper, and then with melted mutton-suet. We have ourselves had the mushrooms, after being simply spread upon a dish while hot, remain perfectly good in that state for seven or eight weeks : they were prepared late in the season, and the weather was consequently cool during the interval.
MUSHROOM-TOAST, OR CROUTE AUX CHAMPIGNONS.
(Excellent.)
Cut the stems closely from a quart or more, of small just-opened mushrooms ; peel them, and take out the gills. Dissolve from two to three ounces of fresh butter in a well-tinned saucepan or stewpan, put in the mushrooms, strew over them a quarter of a teaspoonful of pounded mace mixed with a little cayenne, and let them stew over a gentle fire from ten to fifteen minutes ; toss or stir them often during the time ; then add a small dessertspoonful of flour, and shake the pan round until it is lightly browned. Next pour in, by slow degrees, half a pint of gravy or of good beefbroth 5 and when the mushrooms have stewed softly in this for a
couple of minutes, throw in a little salt, and a squeeze of lemon-juice, and pour them on to a crust, cut about an inch and a quarter thick, from the under part of a moderate-sized loaf, and fried in good butter a light brown, after having been first slightly hollowed in the inside. New milk, or thin cream, may be used with very good effect instead of the gravy ; but a few strips of lemon-rind, and a small portion of nutmeg and mushroom-catsup should then be added to the sauce. The bread may be buttered and grilled over a gentle fire instead of being fried, and is better so.
Small mushrooms, 4 to 5 half pints; butter, 3 to 4 oz. ; mace, mixed with a little cayenne, £ teaspoonful: stewed softly 10 to 15 minutes. Flour, 1 small dessertspoonful : 3 to 5 minutes. Gravy or broth, £ pint : 2 minutes. Little salt and lemon-juice.
TRUFFLES AND THEIR USES.
The truffle, or underground mushroom, as it has sometimes been called, is held in almost extravagant estimation by epicures,* and enters largely into what may be termed first-class cookery, both in England and abroad ; though it is much less generally known and used here than in France, Germany, and other parts of the Continent, where it is far more abundant, and of very superior quality.
Records on this page
Mushroom-Toast, or Croute aux Champignons