Practical gastronomy and culinary dictionary

Draw, wipe, and singe the chicken, cut it into neat joints (it should make twelve nice pieces), melt the butter in a saute-pan ; when hot, put in the pieces, season with pepper and salt, and fry a golden colour over a brisk fire. Add the shallot, finely chopped, at the last moment, so as to blend a little ; now add the sherry, cover and reduce a little, then add tomato and Espagnole sauce, put on the lid, and let simmer gently for about forty minutes. Eoll out the paste, butter six or more little dariole moulds and line them wath the paste ; line the inside with greased paper, fill them up with raw rice or dried peas, and bake in a moderately-heated oven for fifteen minutes, or until they are of a nice golden colour. Turn out the rice, remove the paper, and fill with the following mixture : Cut the ham and game or beef into small pieces, and pound in a mortar till smooth ; add the bechamel sauce, butter, and hard-boiled yolk of egg, pound well, work in the two raw yolks, season with pepper and salt, and rub through a wire sieve. Cut the truffle into slices and stamp out as many rounds as you have cases ; chop the trimmings finely and mix with the above. The filling must be done very carefully, and is best performed with a forcing-bag. Sprinkle the sur- face with grated cheese and bake for ten minutes in a moderate oven. Dish up the chicken on a croute of fried bread, fixed on a hot dish by means of a little batter or white of egg. Skim off the fat from the sauce and strain over the chicken. Cut some slices of hard- boiled white of egg, stamp out neatly some triangle or heart shapes, cut out the centre so as to receive the slices of truffle previously prepared ; place these taste- fully on the baked cases, and dress them round the croute. Garnish with a few sprigs of parsley and serve. N.B. — These croutades or timbales make a very pretty second course or savoury dish, served by them- selves or as a garnish. 588 RECHERCHE COOKERY. 457. Poulet a la Duchesse. — 1 boiled chicken (small), 6 oz. lean ham, 12 preserved mushrooms, 2 French gherkins, f pint Veloute or bechamel sauce, 2 yolks of eggs, 1 lb. potatoes, 1 oz. butter, ^ gill cream, 1 tea- spoonful chopped parsley, salt, pepper, grated nutmeg. Free the chicken from skin and bone, and cut the meat into shreds ; cut the ham, mushrooms, and gherkins in a similar manner. Wash, peel, and boil the potatoes, drain, and rub through a fine sieve; put them in a stewpan, mix 'with the butter and cream, season with salt, pepper, and a grate of nutmeg ; when thoroughly hot, mix in the egg-yolks, and keep hot. Bring the sauce to a boil, put in the chicken, ham, and gherkins, stir gently, and let it get hot ; season with pepper and salt. Fill a buttered border-mould with the potato puree, turn out on a dish, bake in a hot oven for ten minutes. Serve the chicken, &c., in the centre, and sprinkle over a little chopped parsley. 458. Poulet Frit a la Tyrolienne. — 1 tender chicken, 1 whole egg and 1 yolk of egg, 2 oz. butter, 1 teaspoon- ful chopped parsley, pepper and salt, breadcrumbs, clarified butter or lard, tomato sauce.