Culinary jottings

Canapes form a delicious luncheon dish, follows: — cut some slices of bread a quarter of an inch thick, and two inches long if heart-shaped, two inches in diameter if round, and two inches square if rectangular. Fry these a pale golden colour in butter, and set them on a dish to get cold. To complete the canape, first spread a layer of " green butter" over each piece of fried bread, upon that place a layer of prawn or lobster meat pounded with butter, and slightly seasoned with Nepaul pepper ; smooth this with a dessertknife, place a leaf of lettuce (cut from the golden heart) upon the top of the prawn meat, and a piece of beetroot shaped with your cutter. Over each canape when thus prepared, and placed in the dish for serving, pour a dessertspoonful of rich, thickly worked, mayonnaise sauce, iced. A little chopped olive, or chopped capers, or the two mixed, may be judiciously sprinkled over each cap of mayonnaise dressing. The dish should stand on ice before serving. Instead of prawn meat, you can use cold chicken, finely sliced or pounded, an atom of the divine truffle might then be added to each canape, and the thinnest slice of tongue might cover it.' Instead of lettuce, a few sprigs of the flower or cold cauliflower can be introduced, or any cold vegetable of a delicate kind, asparagus points to wit. Fish may be used in this fashion : — caviare, cod's roe, lobster, herring a la sardine, sardines, lax, preserved tunny, and anchovies. Fancy some neatly picked fillets of the last named fish, wiped free from oil, and the skin and bones removed, reposing on the green butter ; over them a goodly sprinkling of sliced olives, then the lettuce leaf, &c., as previously described — " say, dost thou like the picture ?" In houses where the cook can really master an omelette properly, one with Parmesan laid upon a fricassee of cauliflower flowers, or upon a puree de topinamboursy or composed aux points cVasperges, aux tomates, or aux truffes, may safely form an item of the choicest luncheon bill of fare. Here is a pretty little recipe for a Jilet de hoeuf cl Vltalienne which, to my mind, is worthy of attention, and well adapted for a mid-day festival. Take a tender fillet of beef (the undercut of the sirloin if possible) preserve it whole after trimming it into shape ; make an incision in it lengthways, and insert therein a long strip of bacon, fat and lean in equal parts, previously rolled in a fines herbes mince composed of a table-spoonful each of finely chopped mushroom, and parsley, a dessert-spoonful of minced shallot, and some pepper : tie up the fillet now, carefully, with tape. Take a good slice of bacon, mince it very small with thyme, marjoram, lime peel, a clove of garlic, half a sweet onion and a carrot, shake this mixture in a little butter at the bottom of a stew-pan, and when it melts, place the fillet upon it, and turn it gently till it browns nicely. Now, pour in a pint of tomato puree diluted with beef gravy to the consistency of ordinary peasoup : simmer your fillet in this till it is done, it ought to be kept at least a couple of hours at a gentle heat : when ready to serve, strain off the sauce, place the fillet upon a very hot dish, remove the tape, garnish with glazed onions, haricots verts, Brussels sprouts, or any nice vegetable, and pour a little of the sauce over it.