Little French dinners

Egg and Anchovy. — Beat up slightly in a basin five or six eggs, add cayenne pepper and salt to taste, and a tablespoonful of milk. Melt a piece of butter in a small saucepan, pour in the beaten up egg, and stir over the fire with a wooden spoon, without ceasing, till the mixture begins to get thick and lumpy. Then pour it on to pieces of buttered toast, about two inches broad and three inches long ; lay two strips of filleted anchovies crossways on each piece, and serve immediately, as hot as possible. This dish is further improved by spreading the pieces of toast first with anchovy butter, made by pounding together in a mortar an ounce of butter and half an ounce of anchovy, and then passing the paste through a hair sieve. Tongue and Egg. — Chop up finely some remnants of tongue with some parsley and a tiny bit of shallot. Fry all together in a saucepan with a little butter, pepper, salt if required, and then add one or two hard-boiled eggs, also finely chopped, and a spoonful or two of gravy or brown sauce. Make the mixture as hot as possible and turn out on to rounds of fried bread, which have been hollowed out slightly in the middle. The whole to be served as hot as possible. Pole Gras. — Make some pieces of toast about a quarter of an inch thick ; be careful that they are not dried up, cut them in pieces three inches by one and a half inches, spread them with foie gras, and send to table immediately, for they should be served quite hot. Marrow. — Have ready some square pieces of buttered toast, spread them with a little mustard, and sprinkle on them some pepper and salt and a little lemon-juice. Parboil some beef marrow for a minute in salted water, spread it as quickly as possible on the pieces of prepared toast and send to table at once. Savoury Toasts. 89 Cheese. — Grate some Cheddar cheese into a small saucepan and add a small quantity of ale, stir together over the fire, and when melted and quite smooth add a pinch of salt and a little flour of mustard. Pour on to prepared pieces of hot toast and send to table without delay. A poached egg neatly trimmed with a fluted cutter may be served on each croute if liked. Salmon. — Cut some smoked salmon into very thin slices, arrange them on square pieces of buttered toast, sprinkle them with pepper, put them in the oven for a few minutes covered over with a greased paper, and serve hot. Egg and Spinach.. — Boil some spinach and, having thoroughly drained it, pass it through a hair sieve, and return it to a clean saucepan with an ounce of butter and pepper and salt to taste. Let it simmer slowly till well rediiced, then add a spoonful or two of cream, mix well, and spread lightly to the thickness of a quarter of an inch on square pieces of toast about three inches square. Place on each a poached egg neatly trimmed with a fluted cutter, and serve at once. Kidney. — Take two sheep's kidneys, skin, split them in half, and put them into boiling salted water for a minute or two. Then drain and wipe them, chop them up finely, and toss them in a small saucepan with half an ounce of butter, in which a small piece of chopped shallot has been fried, pepper and salt, a little chopped parsley, and half an ounce of glaze. Have ready some fried croutes of bread slightly hollowed out in the centre. Arrange some chopped kidney in each, and serve directly.