Mrs. Roundell's Practical cookery book

Sole for an Invalid. — Boil the sole thoroughly, and drain it from all water. Fillet it, and send up one fillet at a time, on a perfectly dry and hot plate. The fillet should be rolled, and another kept in readiness to go up at once if the invalid should fancy it. Any delay will take away a sick person’s capricious appetite. The Doctor should be asked if a little minced cooked mushroom may be dusted over the fillet of Sole. If it is explained to him that only mushroom, and no rich sauce, will be added, he will be likely to consent, as mushrooms are light and nourishing, and the flavour tempting. A Sole boiled in milk instead of water is often liked by Invalids. SOLE FOR AN INVALID Another way is to put the Sole on a buttered baking-sheet with a buttered paper over it, and to bake it in a moderate oven from fifteen to twenty minutes according to the size of the Sole. Then fillet as before. If cooked in this way there can be no risk of wateriness, and the butter which may remain can be wiped off before the Sole is filleted. Mutton Cutlet for an Invalid. — Take three of the nicest cutlets from the middle of a neck of mutton. Trim one of the cutlets very neatly, and trim the other two so as to project beyond it. Tie the three together with the invalid’s cutlet in the middle. Turn the three with the cutlet-tongs over and over till they are done. All the gravy will be concentrated in the centre or invalid’s cutlet. Send this cutlet up to the invalid, using the others in the dining-room. If allowed, a mouthful of mashed potato or potato snow may be sent up with it, but many doctors now think potatoes unwholesome. In this case a spoonful of spinach puree or Jerusalem artichoke puree may be substituted, if liked. Or the mutton may be lightly cooked, very finely minced, egged and breadcrumbed, and delicately fried. Cooked in this way no knife will be required to cut it. The fillet from a Saddle of Mutton makes a perfect dish for an invalid, far better than a cutlet. Chicken for an Invalid.— Steam the Chicken for two hours and a half. Cut off the fillets, and use these only for the Invalid. A few little slices can be laid on a buttered baking-tin, covered with a buttered paper, and just warmed through in the oven. Or the Chicken can be minced very finely, and warmed up, a little at a time, in broth made from the bones and giblets of the Chicken. If allowed, the Chicken can be braised in vegetable stock, constantly basted with the broth, and a fillet or a slice of a fillet served as soon as the Chicken is taken out of the braising-pan. Solid Broth. — ( Family Recipe.) — Wipe a knuckle of veal clean, cut it into small pieces, and simmer it in four quarts of water. When it comes to a strong jelly, strain. Next day simmer it again for a short time, and take off all fat. Put the jelly into either a silver stewpan or a china dish, set upon a pot of boiling water. Keep the water boiling. Stir the jelly now and then a little, till it becomes as thick as bird lime (which you