366 menus and 1200 recipes of the Baron Brisse in French and English

Melon. Melon. Raie au beurre noir. Skate with black butter. Croquettes de palais de bœuf, Croquettes of ox palates. Gigot rôti. Roast leg of mutton. Haricots panachés sautés. French beans and haricots with butter. Gâteau d'amandes. Almond cake. How to choose a melon. You can always tell if a melon has ripened on the plant, or if it has been ripened artificially, by examining the stalk, as if the latter, it will be quite shrivelled. If the melon is heavy it proves it is not spongy ; if the skin smells strong it indicates a well-flavoured melon ; and if on pressing the little round opposite the stalk you find it not quite hard you may feel sure that the fruit is ripe. Some good housewives bite the stalks of the melons before buying them, as they say that the more bitter the stalk the sweeter the melon. Melons are generally served after the soup. Some people eat sugar with their melon, which is a great mistake, as it makes it more difficult to digest ; salt and pepper, on the contrary, help the digestion immensely. Croquettes of ox palates. Boil three ox palates in water; trim, scrape, skin, and cut them into quarters ; simmer for half an hour in stock; season with a head of garlic, two heads of cloves, thyme, laurel leaves, salt and pepper; drain, and leave until cold. Lay a small teaspoonful of beef forcemeat on each piece, roll up into the shape of a cork, dip into very thin paste, made with a tablespoonful of olive oil, a little flour, a tumblerful of white wine, and a pinch of salt, it must be almost liquid; fry in boiling lard or butter, and serve very hot, garnished with fried parsley. ————————— Potage à la julienne. Julienne soup. Soles au gratin. Baked soles. Timbales de semoule au chasseur, Timbales of semolina au chasseur. ‘ Lapereaux sautés. Young rabbits fried. Tendrons de veau en mayonnaise, Mayonnaise of tendons of veal. ! Macaroni à l'italienne, - Maccaroni cheese. Macédoine de fruits. Macédoine of fruit. Timbales of semolina au chasseur. Butter eighteen small moulds, and fill with semolina which has been boiled in stock ; when cold, turn out of the moulds, sprinkle with bread-crumbs, and dip into beaten yolks of egg, which have been stirred into melted butter with salt and pepper; bread-crumb again, press a round tin cutter an inch smaller than the moulds into the top of the timbales, and fry ; when done, scoop out the centres and fill with a forcemeat of young rabbit (see forcemeat, 28th of August), mixed with a purée of mushrooms. Warm in the oven, and serve. Mayonnaise of tendons of veal. Cut up the tendons into pieces of equal size, blanch them, and boil in stock ; when done, warm them in either thin glaze or their own sauce reduced ; when cold, place round a dish, cover with Mayonnaise sauce, and garnish with cold onions, which have been boiled in stock, and gherkins, Potage Crécy. Crécy soup. Croquettes de volailles. Chicken croquettes. Filet de bœuf rôti. Roast fillet of beef. Pommes de terre sautées, Fried potatoes. Buisson d’écrevisses. Crayfish. Beïgnets d’abricots. ; Apricot fritters. Chicken croquettes. Mince and pound all the flesh of a large chicken ; reduce two large cupsfui of stock, add the pounded chicken to it, stir well, and thicken with four yolks of eggs; when done, take lumps about the size of a walnut, roll in bread-crumbs with your hand until the shape of a large cork, dip into beaten yolks of egg, bread-crumb, and fry in boiling butter; when a good colour, dish up, and serve very hot. ; Apricot fritters. Cut the apricots into halves, they must not be too ripe, soak in brandy, with a little sugar and lemon peel for an hour ; drain, dip in batter, and fry; drain again, and serve, sprinkled with powdered sugar. Roast beef with forcemeat patties,