Banquets of the nations

Put four ounces of butter in a pan ; when boiling, add twelve peppercorns, a few parsley stalks, add also two ounces flour. Stir over the fire for ten minutes, then add a pint and a half of white chicken stock, the juice of half a lemon, a little salt, and the trimmings of white mushrooms, previously well washed and all the water well squeezed out of them. Boil till well reduced ; strain, and finish with half a pint of thick cream. Pass through a fine cloth and heat up. BORSTEN VAN GEBRADEN PLUVIEREN. (Fillets of Roasted Plovers.) Clean and then roll four birds in thin slices of bacon, and wrap in paper. Roast, and, when finished cooking, leave them till cold with the bacon round them. Cut the fillets off the breast, and stick the drumstick of the leg at the point of each. Put the trails of the birds in a mortar, pound them and season slightly. Cut as many pieces of bread, the same size and shape as the fillets, and fry them in butter till lightly browned. Mix the beaten yolk of an egg with the trails, spread the mixture on the croutons of bread, and place them in the oven for fifteen minutes. Fix a piece of the bacon on each of the plover fillets, dip them in beaten egg and breadcrumbs then egg and breadcrumb them again, and fry them in boiling fat. When nicely browned, drain the fillets and arrange them alternately with the croutons of bread on a hot dish, and pour truffle sauce over the fillets. Serve with fried potatoes and compote of fruit similar to Cremona compote. Truffle Sauce. Break up the bones of any cooked game, and put them with the trimmings into a pan with a sliced onion, two tablespoonfuls of chopped raw ham, one glassful of sherry. Boil for five minutes, then pour in one and a half pints of good white stock or reduced partridge cullis, and keep simmering for half an hour. Strain and skim the sauce, and boil till reduced to a thickish cream. Add a good tablespoonful of minced truffles cooked whole in the sauce before being strained. BODEMS VAN ARTISCHOKKEN EN SPERGIEBOONTJES. (Artichoke Bottoms with French Beans.) The artichoke bottoms are to be first partially boiled ; then arrange them one by one in a flat stewpan, and just cover with a rich white broth, a bit of butter, the juice of two or three lemons, and a little white wine. Lay a buttered paper over them, and finish the cooking gently. Take one pint of French beans, roughly minced. Put them in boiling water with plenty of salt, and boil over a hot fire until done. Drain and put them in a stewpan with a good quarter pound of butter. Season with pepper and salt, and toss them well over the fire till the butter is all melted ; then add the juice of a couple of large lemons. Pile up in a pyramid on a dish, and arrange the artichoke bottoms round them like shields, slightly overlapping. The artichoke bottoms should be as nearly one size as possible. Serve as a separate dish. Gestoomde Pudding. (Steamed Pudding.)