Miss Parloa's kitchen companion

To make an aspic border, place a border mould in a pan and surround it with ice. Pour the jelly into the border to the depth of an inch. When this is congealed, decorate it with cooked beet and carrot, and the white of a hard-boiled egg, all cut into fancy shapes with the vegetable-cutters. Add two table-spoonfuls of liquid jelly to fasten the decorations in place. When this has hardened, pour in about an inch more of the liquid jelly, and let it stand in a cool place for several hours. This border may be turned on a flat dish, and the centre be filled with a salad or with cold fish. If the border be large enough, a boned fowl or bird may be placed in the centre. The jelly may be cooled in tiny moulds, and each mould be decorated with any of the vegetables named for the border, or with anything else one may fancy. Glaze. Meat glaze is used a great deal in high-class cookery. It is consommé boiled down to a thick glue-like substance. One quart of consomme is put in an open saucepan, and boiled until it is reduced to half a pint. Half-glaze is made by reducing a quart of consommé to one pint. The thicker glaze may be kept for a month or more in a cool dry place. Glaze is used to give a smooth, glossy surface to cooked meats. It is also added to soups, sauces, and ragouts to give them smoothness and body. When it is used on meats it should be put in a small saucepan, and this saucepan must be placed in another of boiling water ; stir the glaze until it is melted, and it is ready to use. A brush or a small piece of cloth is used for spreading the glaze on the meat. Marinades. ' A marinade is a kind of pickle which is used to season meats and fish either before or after they are cooked. It is nearly always added to the meat or fish that is to be used in a salad. Cold boiled fish is sometimes sprinkled with it several hours before serving. Various kinds of cutlets are steeped in a marinade for hours before they are cooked. A leg of venison, and venison chops, steaks, and cutlets, are frequently kept in marinade for a day or longer, before being cooked. There are two kinds of marinades, the cooked and uncooked. Cooked Marinade. Put into a stew-pan two table-spoonfuls of butter, two of chopped bacon, three each of chopped onion, carrot, and celery, one clove of garlic, one bay leaf, and one sprig each of thyme and parsley. Let these cook slowly for twenty minutes ; then add three gills of vinegar, and one of water, one teaspoonful of salt, and half a teaspoonful of pepper. Simmer for twenty minutes; then strain and cool. This marinade is particularly nice for cutlets of game and poultry, and for fish. Raw Marinade. Mix together three table-spoonfuls of oil and six of vinegar, one teaspoonful of salt, half a teaspoonful of pepper, and half a teaspoonful of onion juice. If the marinade be for fish, use only three table-spoonfuls of vinegar and three of lemon juice. The onion juice may be omitted if it be not liked. This marinade is suitable for cooked meat or fish that is to be served in a salad. Essence of Chicken.