Little French dinners

the pieces of mutton and pass them through the mincing machine, adding a rasher of lean cooked bacon. This done, put the mince into a saucepan in which half a finely chopped shallot has been frying. Moisten with a sufficiency of good gravy, and season with pepper and salt, a little chopped parsley, half a teaspoonful of Worcester sauce, and a spoonful each of tomato and mushroom ketchups. Let the mince get hot very slowly and when of the right consistency turn it out on to a hot dish, flatten it slightly and arrange on it some poached eggs, which have been neatly cut out with a fluted round cutter : ornament with fried sippets of bread and serve as hot as possible. Braised Beef. An Economical Dish. THE reason this dish is so economical is because the liquor in which the meat is cooked makes the most delicious clear soup, very strong and beautifully flavoured with vegetables. The part of meat that is always used, namely, the silverside, is very low in price, generally about ninepence per pound, and moreover, the meat thus cooked is most delicious when hot, and still more so when served cold, being even nicer than pressed beef, as the vegetables, herbs, spices, etc., with which the piece of beef is cooked, impart to it a delicious flavour. See that the saucepan is thoroughly dry and clean, and then line the bottom of it with thin slices of fat bacon, put in an ounce of butter or dripping, three small onions cut in slices, and on the top of all lay the piece of fresh silverside of beef (about pounds five and a half) neatly kept in shape with string. Put on the lid of the saucepan, and let it remain right over the fire for about thirty minutes, turning the piece of beef when it has browned on one side ; this must be done by lifting it up by the string with a fork, taking care not to prick the meat, which would allow the juice to escape. Then fill up the saucepan almost to the brim with hot water, and add salt, whole pepper, a bay leaf, half a blade of mace, a tiny bit of thyme, two or three sprigs of parsley, a small onion stuck with cloves, four carrots cut in slices, three turnips cut in slices, and then 1 1 o Braised Beef. cut in half across, and any other vegetables that you may have, such as celery, etc. Add also the small bone which the butcher generally sends with this piece of meat. Bring the water to the boil, remove any scum that there may be on the surface, cover over the saucepan, and put it at such a part of the stove that it will simmer slowly for about three hours and a half. It must be frequently looked at, and at the first approach of any signs of the water boiling, the saucepan must be removed to a still cooler part of the stove. If, as is sometimes the case, it cannot be made to cook slowly enough, on account of the stove having become very hot, the saucepan must be placed on a trivet.