Entrees made easy

Then again, there are various ways of serving meat which do not strictly come under the head of hashes, but which will be treated of in this chapter. Hash (Hot). * Cut any cooked meat you may happen to have into neat slices, sprinkle these with a little pepper and flour, and lay them in the ready prepared sauce ; leave the meat to soak in this for sometime, heat it up just before it is wanted, very slowly, taking care it does not cook but merely becomes hot. Hashed Beef (Hot). Slice a small onion, lay it in butter or clarified dripping ; when it begins to colour, stir in a tablespoonful of flour, then add | pint of good stock, pepper and salt, a sprinkle of powdered sweet herbs, £ a wineglassful of tarragon vinegar. Boil this up for a minute or so, strain it into another saucepan, and when cold put in the meat cut into neatly trimmed slices ; leave it by the fire to get slowly hot, adding a few sliced gherkins to it just before it is ready. Hashed Mutton à la Francaise (Hot). ^ [Cut up some cold mutton into neat slices ; boil \ lb. of rice in plenty of water, then drain, and let it dry. Heat 3 gills of rich brown sauce, put the meat into this, simmer very slowly ; add to it 4 oz. of stewed, stoned prunes, 2 oz. preserved cherries, and the rice, seasoning to taste with salt and coralline pepper. When thoroughly hot, serve. Hashed Lamb (Hot). Have ready a good white sauce (half stock and half milk), cut up some cold, cooked lamb into neat slices, soak these in this sauce for some time, then leave them to simmer very slowly at the side of the fire till quite hot. Just before servng, pour in the remains of the mint sauce, and garnish with fried croutons. Oxford Hash (Hot). Slice some cold mutton thinly to about the size of half a crown. Chop up a well-boiled onion into small pieces, lay it in a saucepan, and add to it about a gill of stock, season with pepper, salt, and, if liked, a little mace ; lay the meat in this and let it get hot, add 4 or 5 spoonsful of picalilli and a little red wine. Serve very hot with croutons of fried bread. Hash à la Bourgeoise (Hot). Cut some cold roast beef into dice, cut up 2 oz. of cooked ham, and 4 oz. mushrooms. Fry 2 finely chopped shallots or a small onion in butter or dripping, and the ham and mushrooms, and finally the meat, stirring it all well together for a few seconds. Pour on to this a little brown sauce, and the same of tomato sauce, season with pepper, salt, and a grate of nutmeg, and simmer very gently for £ an hour. Serve garnished with fried potatoes. Meat au Gratin (Hot). Have ready a fire-proof dish, and sprinkle this liberally with seasoned breadcrumbs, then dot little pieces of butter or dripping about (l| oz. altogether), lay in slices of meat (beef, mutton or chicken), pour some brown sauce over these, sprinkle with grated cheese and more seasoned breadcrumbs, continuing this till the dish is full, finishing with breadcrumbs and a little more butter. Bake in a sharp oven, and serve very hot. Bubble and Squeak (Hot).