French dishes for American tables

176. Stewed Terrapin a la Lucie. Drop three live terrapins into boiling water, and, if large, boil them three hours, or, if moderate sized, two hours and a half. Then pick them, throwing away all of the intestines, heart, head, and most of the feet ; also be very particular to cut out the gall, which will be found in the middle of the liver, and throw it away. Scrape out all the fat and meat sticking to the shells, and put into a saucepan with half a pound of very good butter, a good deal of salt, and cayenne pepper. Simmer over a slow fire for about two hours. Wine may be added, according to taste, after the terrapin is served. 177. Stewed Terrapin a la Maryland. Pick and clean, as the foregoing, two terrapins weighing about six to seven pounds. Boil them in some water with a little salt for about twenty minutes. Drain them, cut them in moderate-sized pieces, and put them in a saucepan with enough cream to cover them, a pinch of salt, pepper, nutmeg, and three wineglasses of sherry. Simmer gently for three quarters of an hour. Mix four yolks of eggs with two tablespoonfuls of cream, add them to your terrapins, and serve very hot. 178. Stewed Terrapin (another manner). Prepare your terrapins as the foregoing, add to them half a pint of brandy, touch it with a lighted match, let it burn, and serve. 179. Glaze. Put two quarts of consomme- (Art. 1) in a saucepan on the fire. Reduce it by very gentle boiling until it becomes the color of chocolate. Put it in a bowl on the ice, and keep it until needed. CHAPTER IV. BEEF. 1 80. Beef Tongue, Sauce Piquante. Wash carefully a beef's tongue, boil it an hour, put it in cold water, then remove the skin. Take some strips of larding pork about two inches long, roll them in some parsley chopped very fine, a little pepper and nutmeg, and lard your tongue, which having done, place in a saucepan with a carrot, two onions, six cloves, six pepper-corns, four bay-leaves, and four branches of thyme. Add enough consomme" (or stock) to cover the tongue, simmer very gently for four hours, and serve with a sauce piquante (Art. 86). 181. Beef's Tongue a la Jardiniere. Proceed exactly as for the foregoing, and serve on a macedoine of vegetables (Art. 416). 182. Smoked Beef's Tongue, Wine Sauce with Mushrooms. Soak a smoked tongue in water the night before it is needed. Then put it in about four quarts of cold water, and boil it slowly about five hours; drain, place it in cold water a moment, remove the skin, trim the thicker end of the tongue neatly, and put it again in hot water for a moment, drain, put it on a dish, pour around it half a pint of Spanish sauce (Art. 80), to which you have added, while on the fire, ten chopped mushrooms and a sherry-glass of sherry. 183. Hashed Beef. Take two pounds of cold beef, free from sinew and bone, and chop it up well. Peel and cut in pieces two onions, and put them in a frying-pan with two ounces of butter. When beginning to color very lightly, add your beef, a little salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and a pinch of thyme. Toss all together on the fire ten minutes. Just before serving, sprinkle a tablespoonful of chopped parsley over your hash.