The Hotel St. Francis cook book

Italian meringue. Put one pound of sugar and one gill of water into a copper kettle (copper inside and out) and cook to a blow. (See below). Beat six whites of eggs very hard and dry, and then pour into the cooked sugar, stirring constantly, and beat well until cold. It will then be a very smooth meringue paste, which can be used for meringue with whipped cream, or sherbet, or to make small fancy cakes, or for use in decorating cakes, pies, tarts, etc. How to cook sugar to a blow. Dissolve one pound of sugar in one gill of water, and put on fire to cook. After about five minutes of good boiling dip a skimmer into it and remove immediately. Let the syrup drain a little, and then blow through. If small air bubbles fly out the sugar is cooked to a blow. If no air bubbles fly continue cooking until they do. It may possibly require some time to get it right. Peas a la Frangaise. In a casserole put two ounces of butter and a head of lettuce sliced very fine. Simmer for five minutes, then add two pounds of shelled peas, six small raw French carrots and one dozen raw fresh asparagus tips. Season with salt and a pinch of sugar, add one pint of chicken broth, cover, and simmer for one hour. Serve with fresh-chopped chervil on top. \ Baked pears Canape Riga Bacon and eggs Sweetbreads, Lavaliere Rolls Cold roast beef Coffee Field salad Lemon water ice Langues de chat Demi tasse Consomme Allemande California ripe olives Perch au bleu Potatoes nature Larded tenderloin of beef, Vigo String beans in butter Green corn on cob Lettuce salad, Russian dressing Chocolate blanc mange Assorted cakes Coffee Baked pears. Core one dozen pears, but leave the stems on. Put in a pan with half a pint of water and half a pound of sugar, and bake in medium hot oven until soft. Serve either hot or cold, with sauce separate. Baked peaches. Prick one dozen peaches all over with a fork, and set them close together in a pan. Sprinkle with one-quarter pound of granulated sugar, and add just water enough to cover the bottom of the pan. Bake until soft. Serve cream separate. Sweetbreads, Lavaliere. Prepare some sweetbreads braise, place on a platter, garnish with peas in butter, and onions glaces. In the gravy put pieces of parboiled salt pork cut in small dices, and cook for ten minutes. Pour over the sweetbreads. Consomme Allemande. Mix in a bowl three-quarters of a cupful of sifted flour, one-quarter of a cupful of milk, two whole eggs, and a little salt. Let it run through a colander into three pints of boiling consomme, and boil for five minutes. Consomme Xavier. Same as Consomme Allemande, with the addition of a little chopped chervil just before serving. Perch au bleu. Put four fresh-killed perch on a platter, and pour a glassful of white wine vinegar over them. Put in a fish kettle on the fire, some water, a handful of salt; and one sliced onion, one carrot, a bay leaf, clove and parsley tied in a bouquet. Boil for five minutes, then add the fish and vinegar, bring to a boil, and then set on side of the range for fifteen minutes. Serve on a napkin garnished with small boiled potatoes, parsley in branches, and lemons cut in half. Serve Hollandaise sauce separate.