Little French dinners

Eglefins a la Maitre d'Hotel (Haddocks a la Maitre d'Hotel). — Take some small fresh haddocks, let them be split open by the fishmonger ; trim them neatly, cutting off the heads and tails, wipe them dry, and rub them on both sides with a little salt and then with butter. Sprinkle them well with pepper, and having well greased the gridiron to prevent the fish from sticking, broil the haddocks over a clear fire. When done — they should be nice and brown — butter them again, squeeze the juice of half a lemon over the fish, sprinkle them freely with very finely chopped parsley, and serve as hot as possible. 40 Little French Dinners. Selle d'Agneau aux Petits Fois (Saddle of Lamb with Peas). — Choose a nice saddle of lamb, trim the joint neatly, cover it over with buttered paper and roast it at a clear, brisk fire. Baste frequently, remove the paper a quarter of an hour before the meat is done, and at the last sprinkle with salt. Serve with the gravy thoroughly freed from fat, and with mint sauce, if liked, and garnish the dish with peas cooked as follows : Boil the peas in plenty of boiling salted water, with an onion and a bunch of mint, as briskly as possible for about twenty minutes. Then drain them thoroughly, return them to a clean saucepan, and toss them over the fire with a little butter, pepper, and salt. Fommes de Terre Santees should be handed round at the same time. Boil some potatoes (let them be underdone), cut them in quarters or slices of medium thickness ; melt some butter or clarified dripping in a frying-pan, put in the potatoes, sprinkling them with plenty of pepper and salt and finely chopped parsley, and toss them over rather a brisk fire till they are a golden-brown colour. Be careful not to break them during the process. Spaghetti a la Napolitaine (Spaghetti, Neapolitan Fashion). — Boil about half a pound of spaghetti, broken into convenient lengths, in plenty of boiling salted water. Stir every now and then, and when it is done, which it should be in about fifteen minutes, pour a jug of cold water into the saucepan before taking it off the fire, and then strain the spaghetti on to a sieve, so that it is perfectly free from all water. Melt an ounce and a half of butter in a clean saucepan, add half a sixpenny bottle of French tomato conserve, with pepper and salt to taste, and two or three spoonfuls of good gravy. Let it boil for ten minutes, then remove the saucepan to the side of the fire, and put in the spaghetti a little at a time. Mix thoroughly, adding two tablespoonfuls of freshly grated Parmesan cheese and stir it all together as gently as possible. Little French Dinners. 41 Serve in a silver entree dish, and hand round grated Parmesan cheese on a plate at the same time. Soufflé au Chocolat (Chocolate Souffle). — Take a small tablespoonful of cornflour, mix it with a gill of milk, and when quite smooth add two ounces of caster sugar and two ounces of butter. Put the mixture in a saucepan and stir over the fire till it boils. When cold, stir in an ounce of Cadbury's chocolate grated, and the yolks of three eggs. Beat well together and when perfectly smooth, mix in the whites of four eggs whisked to a stiff froth. Pour into a well buttered souffle dish and bake for forty minutes. MENU.— XV. POTAGE DUBARRY. FILETS DE MAQUEREAUX À LA RAVIGOTE. CÔTELETTES D'AGNEAU AUX ÉPINARDS.