In foreign kitchens

Soup with Parmesan Paste. — Any clear soup can be used for this, two quarts being sufficient. For the paste, take a small cup of grated Parmesan cheese, one of flour, a saltspoonful of salt, and a pinch of cayenne. Beat four eggs and add the flour, etc. , slowly, with half a cup of cream or rich milk. It should be a rather thin batter. Have the soup boiling, and let this batter run through a small, very coarse sieve into it. It will make long strings, which must boil ten minutes. Ravioli. — For the genuine ravioli paste, take one pint of sifted flour, five eggs beaten to a cream, half a teaspoonful of salt, and two spoonfuls of warm water. Knead this till it is a firm, glossy dough, and let it stand half an hour. Prepare a delicate mince, as in the first rule given, but when half the ravioli paste has been rolled out, put only half a teaspoonful on it, at equal distances, letting them when cut be no longer than a finger. Boil ten minutes in salted water, and put in layers in a vegetable dish, grating a little Parmesan cheese on each layer and pouring on it a spoonful of melted butter. Mask the top with some spoonfuls of thick tomato sauce, and serve very hot. This paste is also rolled thin, cut in ribbons, and boiled five minutes in salted water, then served with grated cheese and melted butter, or a cupful of rich gravy or tomato sauce. Risotto. — Wash half a pound of rice and dry it well. Melt a spoonful of butter in a saucepan and put in the rice, stirring it now and then till it is a light-brown. Add to it three pints of broth, well- seasoned, and a minced onion fried brown in a little butter. Cook very slowly till the rice has absorbed the broth, — about three quarters of an hour. Add to this a pinch of red pepper, a cup of tomato sauce, a spoonful of melted butter, and two of grated cheese, and serve very hot. For the American palate the cheese may be omitted if tomato is used. The risotto is often varied by adding dice of cooked meat or chicken. Polenta with Gravy. — Simple as this dish is, it will be found an excellent one as a vegetable for cold days. Have ready three pints of boiling water, with a teaspoonful of salt, and as it boils add a spoonful of butter and about a pint of fresh, coarsely ground semoule or Indian meal. Sift in slowly, stirring constantly, and boil twenty minutes. Have ready, hot, a cup of good gravy and one of tomato sauce ; put a layer of the polenta in a dish, then sauce and gravy and a little grated cheese. Fill the dish in this way and serve hot. Entr6e of Partridges. — Three young partridges, cleaned and washed. Heat a cup of olive oil in a saucepan; add a bit of garlic; put in the partridges, and let them cook five minutes. Then take them out, and fry in the oil two small minced onions, a small carrot, some sprigs of parsley, and a bay leaf. Season with a pinch of pepper and half a teaspoonful of salt. Fry five minutes, then put in the partridges; add one pint of good broth, and stew for twenty minutes. Strain the broth, return to fire, and thicken with a tablespoonful of browned flour. Pour over the birds and serve. Entree of Veal or Beef, with Macaroni — One pint of finely chopped meat ; one each of stewed tomato and boiled macaroni. Mince two small onions very fine, and fry in a spoonful of butter; then mix with the tomato, adding a pinch of cayenne and half a teaspoonful of salt. Butter a pudding-dish and put a layer of bread-crumbs, then a layer each of meat, of macaroni, and of tomato. Alternate in this way until the dish is full, ending with bread-crumbs. Dot with bits of butter, and bake half an hour till a bright brown.