Salads, sandwiches, and savouries

Frying Batter for Dariols. — Put into a bowl 4oz. of fine sifted flour, two whole raw eggs, and one- and a half tablespoonfuls of salad oil, and mix it all to a smooth, rather thick paste, working in' rather over a gill of cold water, then use to coat the hot fryer pretty thinly. These batter dariols require knack, but are well worth the trouble of acquiring it. Remember, that for dariol batter, the batter is made with whole unbeaten eggs, and' is used at once, differing in this from ordinarv fritter batter, which is always better for standing, and to which the whites of the eggs whisked to ai stiff froth are added just as it is to be used. Parsley.— Oi all decorations parsley is one of the- commonest, and, it may be added, one of the most carelessly prepared. To mince parsley, well wash it,, pick it free from the stalks, and put it into a pan with some cold salted water, and when this just comes to the boil, strain it off and dry the parsley by wringing it firmly but gently in a clean cloth ; now gather it well together with the fingers, and shred it ac.oss and across, mincing it as finely as- possible (it cannot be too finely minced), then gather it up in the corner of a clean cloth and hold it under the tap, or in a basin, wringing and pressing it till the water running from it turns- green ; it must now be wrung dry again, and will then be a bright green dust. Wet parsley will never- 126 SALADS, SANDWICHES, Ac. •chop properly, and nothing betrays an inferior cook more than unblanched and coarsely chopped parsley. By the way, very few cooks appear to know that for flavouring purposes (only) the stalks are quite as good, if not better than the leaves, which are wanted for garnish. To Fry Parsley, well wash it, picking it over, removing all but the smallest stalks, and choosing the finest and greenest leaves. Dry the leaves g'Giitly in a clean cloth ; when you have done frying the dish the parsley is to garnish, draw the fat boiler off the fire to let it cool for three or four minutes, leaving the basket in the hot fat ; now drojD the parsley into this, and re-heat gently, till the leaves are crisp, which they will be in about a minute, then lift out, drain well, and use. Be careful when dropping the parsley into the fat to turn your head aside, for the cold leaves often cause the hot fat to spurt up, and this might burn you badly. Socles. — Mention has already been made of jelly borders and bread erofitons, but beside these there :are rice borders and white-fat socles, or stands, which, though not of general use, yet, on occasions, are a great addition to the appearance of a supper or ceremonial breakfast table, and are sufficiently easy to prepare to render them available for home use. For the rice border, boil, say, lib. of rice in plenty of water (half a gallon for 11b. of rice is none too much) till it is perfectly soft, then drain it well, and pound it to a smooth paste in a mortar. When well amalgamated, turn it ^out on to the pastry slab, and knead it with GARNISHES, &c. 127