The new century cookery book

201. Potage à la Tomate maigre ( Tomato Soup without Meat Stock). — 1 lb. fresh or preserved tomatoes, fish-bones and trimmings (those from a brill or plaice will do nicely ), 1^ oz. flour, 2 oz. butter, \ pint of milk, 1 onion, 1 small blade of mace, 3 cloves, 1 bouquet garni, a tablespoonful of crushed tapioca, pepper and. salt. Chop up the fish-bones, put them together with the trimmings in a stewpan, add about 3 pints of water, the onion (peeled and stuck with the cloves), the mace, and bouquet ; let it boil, skim, and simmer for about half an hour. Cut the tomatoes into slices, melt the butter in a stewpan, broil them over a bright fire. Strain the fish stock into this, stir the milk into the flour, and put with the soup ; stir until it begins to boil, skim and cook slowly for half an hour. Season with pepper and salt. Rub through a fine sieve, boil again, stir in the tapioca, let simmer for another ten minutes, and serve. CHAPTER XV (See also Chapter X. on the composition of sauces) 202. Sauce Béchamel. — • oz. flour, 2 oz. butter, 1^ pint of milk, 1 pint of milk, and meat stock, 1 small onion or shallot, 1 small bouquet garni, 10 peppercorns, ½ a bay-leaf, 1 small blade of mace, seasoning. Put the milk on to boil with the onion or shallot (peeled), the bouquet, peppercorns, mace, and bay-leaf. Melt the butter, stir in the flour, and cook a little without browning (or use white roux), stir in the milk, &c. (hot), whisk over the fire until it boils, and let simmer from fifteen to twenty minutes. Take out the bouquet, rub through a sieve or tammy, return to the stewpan, season lightly with a pinch of nutmeg, half-pinch of cayenne, and half a teaspoonful of salt. The sauce is then ready for use. 203. Sauce Béchamel, ( Maigre ). — 1 oz. butter , 1 oz. flour, 1 pint milk, 1 small onion, peeled and stuck with a clove, a few parsley-leaves tied in a bunch, ½ bay-leaf, 1 small blade of mace, salt and pepper. Boil the milk with the onion, clove, parsley, bay-leaf and mace. Melt the butter in the stewpan, stir in the flour, and cook for a few minutes without allowing the flour to brown, then add gradually the milk and other ingredients ; continue to stir till it boils, and let simmer for ten minutes or longer. Strain the sauce and use as required, adding salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg to taste. 204. Sauce Allemande. — Dissolve 1 oz. of butter in a stewpan, add 1 oz. of flour, stir a few minutes without allowing it to brown, dilute with rather more than a pint of chicken stock, stir until it boils. Season with pepper and salt and grated nutmeg. Let it simmer for half an hour, skim, and finish with a liaison of 2 yolks of eggs, a tablespoonful of cream, and ½ oz. of fresh butter. Stir over the fire until the eggs begin to set, but do not let it boil ; add a teaspoonful of lemon-juice, and pass through a fine strainer or tammy cloth. 205. Sauce d'Allemande. — Dissolve 1^ oz. of butter in a stewpan, add 1 oz. of flour, stir long enough to cook the flour, moisten with about a pint of white stock and the liquor of the sole. Allow to boil for ten minutes, skim well, and finish with a liaison of 2 yolks of eggs ; stir in bit by bit 1 oz. of fresh butter and a few drops of lemon-juice ; pass through a fine strainer or tammy cloth, and use.