Harper's cook book encyclopædia

Apricot Souffle. — Split, peel, and stone a dozen ripe apricots, put them into a preserving - pan, with half a pint of water and lb. of sifted sugar. Keep them simmering gently, until the apricots can be pulped and beaten through a fine sieve ; then mix together 4 ozs. of flour and half a pint of cream; add it to the pulped apricots, with 2 ozs. of butter, and stir over the fire until it boils. Take the mixture off the fire and stir in six beaten yolks of eggs, and lastly and lightly nine whites whisked to a firm froth. Have ready a souffle-dish, with a band of paper above to allow of its Cheese Souffle Lemon Souffle rising a great deal, which it will do if the above instructions are carefully carried out. Bake in a moderate heat, and turn the dish about, that all parts of the souffle may be alike. Time, three-quarters of an hour. Cheese Souffle. — Cook together in a saucepan a table-spoonful of flour and one of butter, then add a halfcupful of milk, stirring all the time, until smooth and thick. Now add four table-spoonfuls of grated Parmesan cheese and a good pinch each of pepper and salt. Remove from the fire, and stir into the mixture the well-beaten yolks of three eggs, and, last of all, and lightly, the whites whipped very stiff. Turn into a greased baking-dish, and bake until it is puffed up to twice its original size and is a bright brown in color. Chicken Souffle. — One pint of cooked chicken, finely chopped ; one pint of cream sauce, four eggs, a little onion -juice, salt, pepper. Stir the chicken and seasoning into the boiling sauce. Cook two minutes. Add the yolks of the eggs, well beaten, and set away to cool. When cold, add the whites, beaten to a stiff froth. Turn into a buttered dish, and bake half an hour- Serve with cream sauce. Chocolate Souffle. — A % lb. of grated chocolate delicately flavored with vanilla, % lb. of almonds blanched and pounded, 6 ozs. of sifted sugar, and the yolks of eight eggs must be stirred together for a half-hour ; then, after whisking the same number of whites to a stiff froth, stir them gently in with the rest of the ingredients. Butter a mould well, strew it with bread-crumbs, put in the batter, and bake it an hour in a regularly heated oven. Fish Souffle.- — Cook a sea -bass weighing 3 lbs. in a court-bouillon made as follows : Into the fishkettle put two quarts of water, two sliced onions, one sliced carrot, four sprigs of parsley, one bunch of celery, one bay-leaf, two cloves, four whole peppers, one - half table - spoonful of salt, and two gills of vinegar. Cook twenty minutes. Add the fish, which has been previously washed and dried in a napkin, and cook for twenty minutes longer over a moderate fire. Remove the fish, pick out all skin and bones, and pass the meat through a sieve. Put into a saucepan onehalf table - spoonful each of butter and flour ; stir and cook for about four minutes. Add slowly, stirring constantly, one-half pint of rich cream, seasoned with one teaspoonful of salt and two pinches of pepper. Cook three minutes, then add the fish, mixing thoroughly. Cool the mixture in a bowl before adding the yolks of six eggs ; mix well, add the six whites well beaten, and mix gently. Butter slightly a plain mould, pour in the puree, and put into a hot oven for fifteen minutes. If preferred, this souffle may be served in small, individual timbales.