Luncheons

On one side of the platter place an ornamental skewer stuck into a shaped piece of uncooked vegetable of sufficient size. The skewer in illustration has a mushroom on top, then a slice of lemon, then a row of small carrots strung on a thread, a slice of lemon to hold the carrots in place, and then the foliage of the carrots. It is stuck into a raw parsnip cut so it stands firm. The skewer is for ornamenting the dish only. CHOPS A LA SOUBISE Put soubise sauce in the center of the dish and arrange broiled French chops standing in a ring around it. Place a ring of fried onion over each chop bone. French chops are cut from the rack and trimmed so as to leave the upper half of the bone bare. SOUBISE SAUCE Boil six white onions for ten minutes. Cut them in pieces, put them in a saucepan with one quarter of a pound of butter and cook them very slowly indeed for a long time or until they are soft. The onions must cook so slowly that they do not color. Add a tablespoonful of flour. After the flour is cooked remove the onions from the fire, add one cupful of cream, and pass the whole through a sieve. Add a very little pepper and salt. This sauce should be white and have the consistency of thick cream. CHOPS WITH HORSERADISH SAUCE Arrange French chops down the middle of the platter, with the chops overlapping and the bones crossing. Place a piece of bread under the first two to support and lift the bones off the dish ; the rest are then easily arranged in a symmetrical manner. Garnish the dish with spoonfuls of horseradish sauce, or serve the sauce in a separate dish. HORSERADISH SAUCE Grate fresh horseradish root and mix with it enough whipped cream to make it light and to reduce sufficiently the sharpness of the horseradish. The horseradish absorbs the cream, and a few more spoonfuls of the cream are needed than of the grated horseradish. The sauce should not be mixed until just before serving. CHOPS GARNISHED WITH ARTICHOKES These chops are cut from the rack. They are cut an inch thick, the bones removed, and the meat turned and tied into round pieces. They are then struck with the flat side of the cleaver to smooth and flatten them a little. Broil the chops, spread them with butter, and sprinkle them with chopped parsley, pepper, and salt. Arrange them symmetrically on a platter and place on each one an artichoke bottom holding a little good sauce, such as bearnaise or Hollandaise, or even melted butter, and a few green peas. Artichoke bottoms come in cans and can be purchased from a grocer. The French ones are the best. They do not need any more cooking, but should be heated by placing them in hot water. [illustration: No. 63. Chops à la Soubise] [illustration: No. 64. Mutton Chops with Horseradish Sauce] [illustration: No. 65. Boned Mutton Chops with Artichoke Bottoms Holding Green Peas] [illustration: No. 66. Boned Loin Chops with Mushrooms and Peas] [illustration: No. 67. Carved Leg of Mutton à la Jardiniére] [illustration: No. 68. Slices of Mutton à la Jardiniére] BONED CHOPS WITH MUSHROOMS These chops should be cut an inch and a quarter thick from the loin, the bone then carefully removed, some of the fat taken out, and the thin end piece drawn around and fastened with a wooden skewer, giving a perfectly round chop. Have them uniform in size. Cook them on a hot pan. Turn them frequently after the surfaces are seared so they will cook evenly and slowly. If preferred, they can be broiled over hot coals, but are then more likely to lose their shape and the skewers will be burned.