Cookery and housekeeping

Take 2 lbs. of large mushrooms, of which the gills are turning from red to black, wash, drain, remove the stalk and skin, which will do for flavouring sauces. Put them in a stewpan with a little butter, and after a few minutes' slow cooking add some sauce to complete the cooking of the mushrooms ; this will take half an hour. Pass the whole through a tamis, and finish your puree with either cream or brown sauce according as the dish requires. For white entrees the puree should be dark (nearly black), as contrast of colour is desirable. Broken pieces of large mushrooms are quite as good as whole mushrooms. Button mushrooms must be used when a garnish, not a puree, is to accompany an entree. Sauce a la Milanaise {white). Take some good cream sauce, not too thick, and stir in a tablespoonful of grated Parmesan cheese, let it melt into the sauce which must be of the consistency of double cream when finished. This is a good sauce with turbot ; it must be sent up very hot. Sauce a la Milanaise {brown). Take some brown sauce which has not been thickened, stir in a little mustard flour, and grated Parmesan cheese which will thicken it. This can also be sent up with boiled white fish, or with boiled mutton. Gooseberry Sauce. Take a pint of green gooseberries, remove the tops and stems, wash them, and stew for half an hour, or till quite tender, in just enough water for the stewing process to take place. When the gooseberries are soft, pass the pulp through a sieve, add sugar enough to give softness, but not to be perceived in the sauce. Mix in some butter and breadcrumbs, and pass again through the sieve. Let the sauce be the thickness of double cream. The pulp varies according to the state of the gooseberries, and breadcrumbs are added when the pulp would be otherwise too thin. This sauce is to be used with mackerel, and is also a substitute for apple and tomato sauce with roast pork. Apple Sauce. Pare, core, and quarter some good cooking apples and throw the quarters into a basin of cold water as you proceed. Have ready a milk saucepan, or a jar which will fit into a bain-marie. Let the apples stew in the jar or milk saucepan till tender. They require very little water, and if cider is to be had, use no water at all. Pass the pulp through a tamis, introduce sugar enough to correct the tartness of the apple, and butter to give mellowness. If the pulp is too thick, add some broth or white wine. Serve hot, and let the sauce be a rich golden brown, not white and raw-looking. Tomato Sauce. This sauce can be made from either fresh tomatoes, or tomatoes preserved in tins. It cannot be made from the mixture sold as tomato sauce. The tomatoes must be baked till they are tender, and then passed through a tamis. Have ready enough stock to make the puree of tomatoes into a sauce the consistency of cream. Warm in the bain-marie, and add a small lump of butter which must melt into the sauce, but not be boiled in it. It is better to serve tomato sauce in a sauce-boat, as it gets chilled if poured into a dish, and some palates do not like the flavour of tomatoes. Fumet of Game Sauce.