The "Queen" cookery books: Entrees

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This is a specialized 1901 volume from The Queen Cookery Books series, devoted entirely to entrees and rechauffes (reheated dishes), and compiled by S. Beaty-Pownall from recipes gathered over eight or nine years in the Queen newspaper's cookery column. Rather than a general household manual, it is a technical guide aimed at cooks who already have kitchen experience, walking through the construction of the four foundation sauces, the trimming and cooking of cutlets, and an enormous range of French-influenced dishes built from beef, veal, game, poultry, and organ meats. The book gives equal weight to grand, formal presentations (aspics, chaufroix, timbales, vol-au-vents) and to the humble but esteemed art of transforming leftovers into refined dishes. Recipes are dense with French culinary terminology and assume familiarity with classic technique, sauce theory, and mold work. For the modern reader, it offers a detailed window into turn-of-the-century upper-middle-class and professional English kitchen practice, particularly the era's fascination with French haute cuisine vocabulary and presentation, and its practical, thrifty approach to using every part of the animal and every scrap of a previous meal. The final chapters function as a technical reference, covering sauces, forcemeats, garnishes, borders, and basic techniques, with an index for cross-referencing throughout the book.

The book opens with a preface and Chapter I explaining the philosophy of entrees and rechauffes, then Chapter II moves into cutlet preparation technique (section 1). It proceeds through chapters organized by dish category: fillets, veal, game, and poultry (section 3); souffles, mousses, creams, and composed meat dishes like boudins and pains (section 4); pastry-based entrees such as timbales, vol-au-vents, and patties, followed by miscellaneous poultry dishes in Chapter VI (section 5); further miscellaneous entrees and the beginning of the rechauffes chapter in Chapter VII (section 6); continued rechauffes technique and frying methods in Chapter VIII (section 7); miroton variations and the start of Chapter IX on chaufroix and cold dishes (section 8); continued chaufroix and aspic entrees in Chapter X (section 9); a systematic sauce reference in Chapter XI covering roux and the four foundation sauces plus derivatives (section 10); further sauce recipes, cold sauces, and technique notes in Chapter XII (section 11); and a closing reference section on rice, forcemeats, garnishes, and technical preparations, ending with an index (section 12).