Culinary jottings

3. — Or, — "à la maître d'hôtel": — tossed in butter, and served on a hot silver dish, with the melted butter, a squeeze of lime juice and a sprinkling of very finely chopped curled parsley. 4. — Or, — "au gratin" : — the pieces neatly disposed upon a silver dish, with a little gravy round them to keep them from burning, dusted over with very finely sifted breadcrumbs, chopped mushroom, parsley, and a little shallot, pepper, salt, and a piece of butter on the top of each piece, then baked for ten minutes and served hot. 5. — Or, "à l'Italienne" : — as in the foregoing, substituting a dusting of mild grated cheese for bread-crumbs, omitting the mushroom and chopped herbs, and merely adding the pepper, salt, and butter. 6. — Or, "à l'Espagnole" : — gently simmered in rich brown sauce. 7. — Or, "à la Lyonnaise": — the pieces heated in the oven very carefully, piled upon a hot silver dish, and a rich brown sauce (with finely minced onion fried, and a table-spoonful of minced parsley incorporated therewith) poured over them. 8. — Or, à la poivrade : — trimmed as aforesaid, simmered in blanc, and served with sauce poivrade. Artichoke bottoms (fonds d' artichauts entiers) are trimmed in this way : — Cut the tops of the leaves horizontally? parallel with, and close down to the top of the "/oncZ." Trim all leaves that may adhere to the fond quite closely all round, and pare off the stalk smoothly. Now, plunge the artichoke bottoms into boiling salt and water, and blanch them to facilitate the scooping out of the " choke," which should be done with a silver spoon. With artichokes thus prepared you can turn out : — Fonds d'artichauts à la harricot : — Having scooped out the chokes, and drained six artichoke bottoms of a fair size, give them a dust of salt and pepper, put them on a clean dish, and prepare this ' farce' : — four ounces of finely minced bacon, a quarter ounce of butter and the same weight of flour, a coffee-cupful of broth, and one tablespoonful of very finely minced parsley, one table- spoonful of finely minced mushrooms, and one dessert-spoonful of finely chopped white onion. Stir the mixture over the fire for five minutes, and then fill the hollows of the artichoke bottoms with it. Tie a very thin slice of bacon over each fond, and put them in a stew-pan with a breakfast- cupful of good gravy. Put the stew-pan into the oven, and bake for twenty minutes, ascertain if tender, then dish up and serve, [Gouffe.] Audot recommends that the fonds be placed upon lean slices of veal or pork, which should be laid at the bottom of a braising-pan ; that the gravy should be poured in, and that the process should be that of braising. For fonds d'artichaitts à la Provençale, prepare the artichokes as above without the ' farce,' place them in a piedish with enough salad oil to keep them moist and safe from burning, and with six cloves of garlic, pepper, and salt. Put the dish into the oven, and bake : when the fonds are tender, remove the garlic, give them a dust of pepper and the squeeze of a lime, dish up, and serve. People who dislike oil, and a ' far-off' suspicion of garlic can, of course, use melted butter, and slices of shallot.