Tempting dishes for small incomes

Make about a dozen or more very small forcemeat balls, by mincing very finely half a pound of lean veal and three ounces of beef suet. Put these into a mortar with a little salt, pepper, minced parsley, and a pinch of mixed herbs. Mix and pound these to a smooth paste, moisten with a well-beaten egg, and make this preparation up into the required number of balls. Fry these well in a little boiling dripping, drain them, and put aside till required. Chop very finely three small onions and one small cabbage, fry them in a saucepan with two ounces of butter till lightly coloured, then mix in as smoothly as possible two tablespoonfuls of flour. Pour on it about two quarts of nicely flavoured stock and stir over the fire till the soup boils, draw the saucepan on one side and allow the contents to simmer gently for thirty minutes or till the vegetables are quite soft, cut a nice slice of cooked ham or lean bacon into small neat dice, and place them with the forcemeat balls at the bottom of the soup-tureen, pour over the boiling liquid and let it stand for five minutes, then stir the soup round and serve. A little finely chopped tarragon (if to be had) sprinkled in is an improvement. Sheep’s Head Broth. Take out the brains and wash every part of the head well. Pierce the eyes and wash the skin well with the liquor which exudes from it. Scrape out the holes where the eyes have been, then put the head and trotters in a tub of clean water with a little soda and salt. Let them soak for some hours, then take them out and scrape them well. Put them into the pot with a gallon of water, a teacupful of green peas (when in season) and threequarters of a teacupful of barley. Boil for threequarters of an hour. Add half a turnip cut in slices, half a carrot, parsnip, and cabbage, cut very small. Boil for an hour ; add leeks, celery, parsley cut small, and boil for another hour. Brodetto of Fish. Put some salad oil and some slices of onion into a saucepan, let the onion become a nice colour, then add some parsley and claret, or instead of claret some vinegar and water, and when it boils up add different kinds of fish. Season with pepper and salt, and let the whole simmer gently till done. Toast some slices of bread and place them in a deep dish and serve the fish with the sauce on them. Brochette of Smelts. Melt some butter and spread it on a dish, and dredge raspings of bread on it, season with pepper and salt, chopped parsley and shallots. Over the smelts pour a glass of wine (this can be omitted), a little Harvey and anchovy sauces, and some of the above dressing of butter. Put them in the oven for a quarter of an hour, serve quite hot on a napkin and garnish with lemon and fried parsley. Eel au Gratin. Put some oyster sauce at the bottom of a piedish, then a layer of sliced eel, seasoned with pepper and a dash of nutmeg. Repeat the layers of fish and sauce till the dish is filled. Cover with fine bread-crumbs, put little tabs of butter here and there, and bake for half an hour. Eels Stewed.