The Ideal cook book

Boil two small cauliflowers ; when done, pick them out into sprigs and arrange them, head downwards, in a pudding basin, which must have been made quite hot; press them in gently. then turn them out dexterously on a dish, and pour over them the following sauce, boiling hot: Melt one and a half ounces of butter in a saucepan, mix with it a tablespoonful of flour, and then add half a pint of boiling water ; stir till it thickens ; add salt and white pepper to taste ; then take the saucepan off the fire, and stir in the yolks of two eggs beaten up with the juice of a lemon and strained. 233. Mushroom Sauce—Ingredients—A plateful of mushrooms, 3 shallots, 2 or 3 sprigs of parsley, gravy stock, pepper and salt to taste, a small piece of butter, flour. Pick clean a plateful of mushrooms, put them into a saucepan with three shallots chopped up, and two or three sprigs of parsley, cover up with gravy stock, add pepper and salt to taste, and let the whole boil for a couple of hours. Strain the liquor, passing the mushrooms, etc., through a hair sieve. Melt a piece of butter in a saucepan, add a little flour, mix well, then add the above. 234. Dutch Sauce—Ingredients—3 tablespoonfuls of vinegar, 1 Ib, of butter, yolks of 2 eggs, pepper and salt to taste. Put three tablespoonfuls of vinegar in a saucepan, and reduce it on the fire to one-third ; add a quarter of a pound of butter and the yolks of two eggs. Place the saucepan on a slow fire, stir the contents continuously, and as fast as the butter melts add more, until one pound is used. If the sauce - becomes too thick at any time during the process, add a table- spoonful of cold water and continue stirring. Then put in pepper and salt to taste, and take great care not to let the sauce boil. When it is made—that is, when all the butter is used and the sauce is of the proper thickness—put the sauce- — SAUCES: : pe pan containing it into another filled with warm (not boiling) water until the time of serving. 235. Piquante Sauce (Without Eggs). (1) Melt one ounce of butter, and add gradually two eight spoonfuls of white wine vinegar, a shallot and a little parsley chopped very fine, pepper and salt; stir over the fire till it boils. (2) Chop up some herbs—thyme parsley, tarragon, and a shallot (about a tablespoonful in all)—and put them into a saucepan with one and a half gills of vinegar; reduce to one gill; add half a pint of broth, strain, thicken with a roux of half an ounce of butter and half an ounce of flour; boil up the sauce, stirring all the time, add a few chopped herbs, pepper and salt, and serve. (3) The following is taken from “Round the Table:” ‘Fry some slices of shallots, or onions, till they assume a light brown color (taking care by frequent stirring that they do not get burnt or done too much); add - a small piece of garlic, some sweet herbs, and a mixture of equal parts of vinegar and water (or of vinegar and broth), strain and let the whole boil, then stir this mixture into a saucepan containing butter and flour, as for prepared plain melted butter ; add pepper, salt, some minced parsley, and chopped gherkins.” 236. Anchovy Sauce—Ingredients—About % oz. of butter, yolk of 1 fresh egg, I teaspoonful of anchovy sauce, cayenne pepper and salt to taste, squares of freshly browned toast. Heat a dinner-plate until it will melt half an ounce of butter placed on it; take the yolk of a fresh egg, beat it with a fork into the butter, add a teaspoonful of anchovy sauce, cayenne pepper and salt to taste. Have ready some freshly browned squares of toast, dip them into the mixture, covering both sides and serve at once. 237. Grill Sauce—Ingredients—1 gill of good gravy, 1 tablespoonful of mushroom catchup, I of French mustard, a few chopped capers, a little grated lemon peel, butter, flour, a few drops of lemon juice.