Paper-bag cookery

“ They don’t want any watching. You just grease the bag, and in some cases the piece of meat or fish. Turn on the gas or the electric stove for eight minutes, and they do themselves after that; and then when they’re done you turn them out gently on to a hot dish and eat them.” “ I have a genius for eating,” he interrupted, frivolously, as he made a grab at a pile of bags. “ How many shall I want? ” “ One only for each dish,” said I, rescuing the precious things with haste from his clutches. “ Now be sensible, if you can, for a minute.” And I proceeded to give him the following menu : — Filleted Soles, fines herbes. Sweetbreads au naturel. Green Peas. Roast Fowl. Savory Crumbs. New Potatoes. Salad. Asparagus. Fruit Salad. Coffee. I gave him full instructions, and late that night he rang me up on the telephone. “Was it a success?” I asked, although I knew the answer beforehand. “A success? I should just think so. The old boy was delighted. Helped himself twice to everything, and asked who my cook was! I’m thinking of giving a little supper party next week; I suppose you could let me have one or two more recipes, eh ? ” So for the convenience of bachelors generally I give the following recipes : — Filleted Soles Fines Herbes. — Take four or six fillets of sole, dust lightly with salt and white pepper, and sprinkle also lightly with finely minced parsley, chopped mushrooms, and a very little minced shallot. Add the tiniest possible squeeze of strained lemon juice. Put a bit of butter on each fillet and slip them gently into a well-greased bag, add quarter of a glass of sherry. Bake in a moderately hot oven ■ for 15 to 18 minutes. Cut open the bag very carefully with a pair of clean scissors, and slip the fish and the sauce which will have formed during cooking on to a very hot dish. Send to table at once. Sweetbreads au Naturel. — Take four sweetbreads. Parboil them. Take off the skins. Grease a bag thickly. Dust each sweetbread with salt and pepper very lightly, and pour over each sweetbread a tablespoonful of cream. Slip the sweetbreads into the greased bag, cook in an only moderately hot oven slowly for 40 minutes. Open bag. Slip out gently on to hot dish. Surround with border of green peas and serve. Green Peas. — Butter a bag well. Put in the peas, a pint to the four sweetbreads, three or four leaves of mint, a teaspoonful of powdered sugar and salt to taste, a sprinkling of flour, and a small tumbler of water, or, better still, if to hand, good white veal or chicken stock. Place bag on broiler or gas broiler. Cook gently for 20 minutes. Fowl. — Savory crumbs. Wash the fowl out well inside with plenty of cold water. Dry well, put the liver and a small shallot inside the bird. Have ready a large tablespoonful of white breadcrumbs. Add to them a lump of butter the size of a big walnut, pepper and salt to taste, a teaspoonful of finely minced chives, and a teaspoonful of well washed and minced tarragon. Mix all together and put into the bag with the bird. Cook gently for 65 minutes. Open bag. Slip bird and crumbs out gently on to a hot dish and send to table with new potatoes and salad. Note that the asparagus, which forms a course by itself, is cooked in the same way as the green peas.