Mrs. Roundell's Practical cookery book

Vegetable Toasts. — Almost all vegetables can be worked up into good purees, and served plainly on hot toasts. Or they may be spread on anchovy toasts, with or without buttered eggs above them. Such vegetables as sprigs of cauliflower, or artichoke bottoms, can be warmed in veloute sauce or poulette sauce before they are laid on the toasts, or savoury custard may cover them. Many Vegetable Toasts are improved by the addition of a little grated cheese. Cold cooked French beans are good cut into thin strips, and moistened with Soubise sauce. Sauce Milanaise is suited to many Vegetable Toasts. 5*5 HOT SAVOURIES. Devilled Biscuits. — Use either water biscuits (page 535) or Bath Olivers. (1.) Plain. — For these: Melt half an ounce of butter in a small saute-pan, lay the biscuits on the butter, turning them over a low fire, till the butter browns. Pepper them on both sides with grill seasoning (see page 149), put the biscuits on a very hot dish, pour the browned butter over them, and serve. (2.) Devilled Biscuits with herring roes. — Allow six soft roes of bloaters or of cooked fresh herrings to eight biscuits. If bloaters are used pound the roes to a paste in a mortar with an ounce of butter, a teaspoonful of anchovy essence, and a dust of pepper. Empty this paste into a soupplate put over a small basin of hot water, moisten it well with the yolks of two raw eggs. Cover the plate, and keep it as hot as possible. Now choose a large saute-pan, melt two ounces of butter in it, lay the biscuits in the butter so that they just touch each other but do not overlap. Set the pan over a moderate fire, and turn the biscuits about to heat well and absorb the butter. Do not let the butter burn. Pepper freely, take the biscuits out, spread a layer of roe paste over each, dust again with pepper, crisp them for a moment on a wire drainer in the oven, and serve very hot. Or if fresh herring roes are used, do not cut them, but warm them thoroughly over a low fire. When they are hot season well with Nepaul pepper, curl each roe round and lay it on a devilled biscuit. Or use smoked cod’s roe in the same way. Allow a teaspoonful of roe to each biscuit, melt an ounce of butter in a saucepan over a low fire, stir in the roe, add the yolks of two eggs, stir till it thickens, spread the mixture over the biscuits, set them in the oven for three or four minutes, and serve very hot. Or grill a mushroom for each devilled biscuit, season with pepper and salt, and serve at once. Or have ready a dessertspoonful of finely-minced ham for each biscuit, well moistened with brown sauce (see page 134), make a gill and a half of savoury custard as for toasts. Keep all L L 2 HOT SAVOURIES very hot. When required lay the devilled biscuits on a very hot dish, spread the minced ham over each, mask each with the savoury custard, sprinkle over the surfaces a little grated cheese, and serve as hot as possible. Or mix together three teaspoonfuls of salt, one of black pepper, and half a one of Nepaul pepper. Devil the biscuits well with this whilst the butter browns, and lay on the top neat little fillets of grilled kippered salmon. [ Wyvern^