Tempting dishes for small incomes

A quarter-pound of lean ham chopped very fine, a dessertspoonful of butter and the yolk of an egg, a dust of cayenne, and a teaspoonful of cream or milk ; stir over fire in a saucepan till it thickens, then spread on toast. Jerusalem Artichokes and Cheese. Boil some artichokes, and cover them with a sauce made with a dessertspoonful of flour, rubbed into cold water (about a teacupful), and stirred over the fire till hot, then a little butter and grated Parmesan cheese stirred in till it is dissolved. Macaroni a l’ltalienne. Cook the macaroni in boiling salted water, and let it boil till cooked, which will be in twenty-five minutes ; allow half a pound of macaroni to a pint of boiling water. Take some tomato sauce, and add a good piece of fresh butter to it whilst cooking ; then pour on some good beef gravy, and thoroughly warm. Drain the macaroni, and place a layer of it in a deep dish, and sprinkle well with grated Gruyere and Parmesan cheese ; pour on it a small portion of the sauce and gravy mixed, and very hot , so as to melt the cheese ; then place another layer of macaroni, grated cheese and sauce ; then strain well, without breaking the macaroni, after which continue putting on layers, and finally serve hot. Macaroni a la Milanese. Boil a teacupful of macaroni till tender, strain it off, and put it in a stewpan with a little butter, pepper and salt ; add a teaspoonful of tomato pulp ; serve hot, and hand grated cheese separately. Mushrooms au Gratin. Scoop out the inside of some nice round cup mushrooms after peeling them ; cut off the stalks, peel them and chop them up with a small bit of onion, a teaspoonful of chopped parsley, a pinch of thyme and a piece of thin lemon-peel, the size of sixpence ; fry these in bacon fat, flavour with pepper and salt, and add sufficient quantity of bread-crumbs to fill the hollowed-out mushrooms. Fill the hollows with this mixture and cover with a few bread-crumbs, and cook very slowly in good fat in a stewpan, keeping them well covered to keep in the flavour. Serve with a little gravy poured round. Mushrooms with Toast. Rub the tops of the mushrooms with a piece of flannel dipped in salt. Heat some butter in a saucepan, into which put the mushrooms with a little salt and Nepaul pepper ; let them stew gently till the butter has almost disappeared, when add cream and the grated rind of a lemon. Let them simmer now only till done. Serve the mushrooms on cut rounds of fried bread, and squeeze some lemon juice over them. Pailles de Parmesan. Grate four ounces of Parmesan cheese, four ounces of bread-crumbs, the same quantity each of flour and butter, and add a pinch of cayenne pepper. Make into a paste (use a little milk to mix), cut this into narrow strips of half an inch thickness, and bake in a quick oven for five minutes. Serve cold. Potatoes and Bacon. Cut thin rashers of bacon, fry them, and when cooked throw into the fat in the saucepan some roughly chopped potatoes ; pile them on a hot dish, brown in front of the fire, and serve with the rashers on the top. Season the potatoes well with pepper and salt. Baked Potatoes with Cheese.