Luncheons

Saute three or four sliced onions in a tablespoonful of butter. Put them when soft into the casserole. Cut a steak, taken from the upper side of the round, into pieces suitable for one portion. Put them in the saute-pan and sear them on all sides, then put them in the casserole. Add a tablespoonful of flour to the saute-pan, let it brown, then add slowly a cupful and a half of water and stir until it is a little thickened, season with a teaspoonful of salt, a half teaspoonful of pepper, and a tablespoonful of chopped parsley. Add, if convenient, a little Worcestershire sauce and a little mushroom catsup. The sauce should be highly seasoned, and such condiments as are at hand may be used. The sauce will be richer if stock is used instead of water. Turn the sauce over the meat, cover the casserole, set it in the oven and cook slowly until the meat is tender, then cover the top with parboiled sliced potato and return it to the oven for a few minutes to finish cooking the potatoes. The sauce should be of the consistency of cream, and there should not be a great quantity of it. Serve in the casserole. FILLET OF BEEF The fillet or tenderloin of beef is taken from the under side of the loin. It is the most tender and the most expensive cut of the beef, costing from eighty cents to a dollar a pound. The whole fillet is used as a roast. When sliced it is given different names. Cuts from the middle, which is the thickest part, are Chateaubriands. The Chateaubriand is cut one and a half to three quarters of an inch thick, trimmed, tied into a neatly rounded shape, and struck lightly with the flat side of the cleaver to smooth the top and reduce the thickness to one and a quarter or one and a half inches. It is cooked and served as a steak. The next pieces are the mignon fillets. These are prepared in the same way as the Chateaubriand and should be about one inch thick and from two and a half to three inches across when finished. They may be broiled or cooked on a hot pan. Cuts from the small ends are noisettes and turnedos ; the former are cut one half of an inch thick and cooked in a saute-pan ; the latter are cut one quarter of an inch thick, and are cooked in a saute-pan for five minutes only. The noisettes and turnedos should be brushed with glaze before serving (see Glaze, page 104). Grenadines are cut lengthwise from the thin end of the fillet and trimmed into chop-shaped pieces. They are larded, sauted in a little butter, and cooked live to eight minutes. FILETS MIGNONS Prepare and cook the fillets as directed above. Arrange them in a circle overlapping one another and fill the center of the circle with fried potatoes. Lay on each fillet a half slice of lemon sprinkled with chopped parsley. The center of the circle may be filled with potato, mashed, balls, puffed, straws, etc., or with a vegetable such as peas, beans, macedoine, etc. The fillets may also be served with a bearnaise or a mushroom sauce. FILETS MIGNON WITH TOMATOES AND MUSHROOMS Prepare the fillets as directed on this page. Have them of uniform size. Broil them over coals or on a hot pan. Turn them very often so they will cook slowly and when done [illustration: NO. 61. FILLETS MIGNONS ARRANGED IN CIRCLE. HALF A SLICE OF LEMON ON EACH FILLET. FRIED POTATOES IN CENTER.] [illustration: NO. 62. FILLETS MIGNONS. EACH FILLET COVERED WITH A SLICE OF BROILED TOMATO AND A STUFFED MUSHROOM. FANCY SKEWER ON RIGHT OF DISH.] have an even red color all through. The broiling will take eight to ten minutes. Cover the tops with maitre d 'hotel butter (page 103), or butter, pepper and salt, and chopped parsley. Arrange them in a circle on one end of a platter. Place on each one a slice of broiled tomato (see page 97), and on the tomato a stuffed mushroom (page 79).