Nowadays, although we still pride ourselves on being “ true-born Britons,” we do not think it necessary to rest one of our claims to this title on a love for the heavy dinners of our fore- fathers. Seriously, people have begun fully to realize that, even in a household of quite modest pretensions, there is no necessity for going without the daintinesses of life, and that even the “ Single-Handed Cook ” is quite capable, with a little thought, of turning out a dinner which does not entirely depend on the plain “ roast or boiled ” of that worthy, though stolid, individual the “ plain cook.” If it could only 7 ENTREES MADE EASY be impressed on people that, for ordinary occa- sions, one dish of fresh meat was quite suffi- cient for the piece de resistance, making up the other meat course of the dinner with re- chauffes, a great stride would be made both towards economy and excellence. Of course it must be fully understood that these entrees do not mean in any sense an indiscriminate mixture of scraps and sauces of all kinds, nor an extravagant use of expensive accessories such as truffles, foie gras, etc. If we would only realize that “ high class cookery ” simply means making the best of the means and materials at the disposal of the cook, and that the greatest chef will expend as much care on the proper cooking of a chop as he will on the creation of some such dish as Parjait de Foie Gras, this form of cookery would not be looked upon as something quite beyond the reach of the average human being. And indeed there should be no such term as high-class cookery ; properly there are only two kinds of cookery — good and bad. The great secret in garnishing is to use only those things which are really edible, and which in truth really belong to the dish. For example, 8 GENERAL INTRODUCTION with stewed cutlets, a very favourite dish, simply garnish it with the vegetables with which it has been cooked, cutting these up into neat pieces, and just tossing them in a little butter and sugar, to glaze them. When croutons of bread are required, take care that they are all cut the same size, and fried a delicate brown, when they may be either used plain, or spread with some savoury butter, such as anchovy butter, etc. ; or the remains of the green butter in last night’s savoury may be used up in this way. Rissoles and croquettes are things which should never be very large, and should be care- fully shaped, well drained, and served with fried parsley. Mutton cutlets too should be neatly arranged in a circle round a mound of mashed potatoes, or vegetables, the bones having been scraped quite clean and cut to the same length. Fillets of beef can either be served on a wall of mashed potato or vegetables, or on croutons. Rechauffes, again, are a very important factor in entrees, especially the more homely ones, such as hashes, etc. And a rechauffe certainly does not mean that the meat is cooked again, but simply carefully reheated in the proper gravy or sauce. 9 ENTREES MADE EASY

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Nowadays, although we still pride ourselves on being “ true-born Britons,” we do not think it necessary to rest one of our claims to this title on a love for the heavy dinners of our forefathers. Seriously, people have begun fully to realize that, even in a household of quite modest pretensions, there is no necessity for going without the daintinesses of life, and that even the “ Single-Handed Cook ” is quite capable, with a little thought, of turning out a dinner which does not entirely depend on the plain “ roast or boiled ” of that worthy, though stolid, individual the “ plain cook.” If it could only be impressed on people that, for ordinary occasions, one dish of fresh meat was quite sufficient for the piece de resistance, making up the other meat course of the dinner with rechauffes, a great stride would be made both towards economy and excellence. Of course it must be fully understood that these entrees do not mean in any sense an indiscriminate mixture of scraps and sauces of all kinds, nor an extravagant use of expensive accessories such as truffles, foie gras, etc. If we would only realize that “ high class cookery ” simply means making the best of the means and materials at the disposal of the cook, and that the greatest chef will expend as much care on the proper cooking of a chop as he will on the creation of some such dish as Parjait de Foie Gras, this form of cookery would not be looked upon as something quite beyond the reach of the average human being. And indeed there should be no such term as high-class cookery ; properly there are only two kinds of cookery — good and bad. The great secret in garnishing is to use only those things which are really edible, and which in truth really belong to the dish. For example, with stewed cutlets, a very favourite dish, simply garnish it with the vegetables with which it has been cooked, cutting these up into neat pieces, and just tossing them in a little butter and sugar, to glaze them. When croutons of bread are required, take care that they are all cut the same size, and fried a delicate brown, when they may be either used plain, or spread with some savoury butter, such as anchovy butter, etc. ; or the remains of the green butter in last night’s savoury may be used up in this way. Rissoles and croquettes are things which should never be very large, and should be carefully shaped, well drained, and served with fried parsley. Mutton cutlets too should be neatly arranged in a circle round a mound of mashed potatoes, or vegetables, the bones having been scraped quite clean and cut to the same length. Fillets of beef can either be served on a wall of mashed potato or vegetables, or on croutons. Rechauffes, again, are a very important factor in entrees, especially the more homely ones, such as hashes, etc. And a rechauffe certainly does not mean that the meat is cooked again, but simply carefully reheated in the proper gravy or sauce.

Entrees made easy