Practical household cookery

Chop up the carcasses of two or three fowls ; put them in a saucepan with about one pound of fillet of veal cut in four; moisten this with three pints of chicken broth, add an onion with two cloves stuck in, the half of a carrot, and a "bouquet garni ;'* simmer for an hour, strain the essence through a fine cloth, by twisting it, into a basin, remove carefully all fat, and put by in a cool place for use. 174. ESSENCE OF ANCHOVIES. Wash, bone, and clean six anchovies ; pound them in a mortar with a tablespoonful of capers and one shalot ; put these afterwards into a small stewpan with salt, pepper, a little mace, and two tablespoonfuls of mushroom ketchup ; simmer for five minutes; then moisten with half a pint of broth ; boil it on a brisk fire till reduced by half, and rub it through a tammy into a basin. When wanted, warm it up in a bain-marie, and add a few drops of lemon juice before serving. 175. ESSENCE OF FISH. Clean and cut in pieces a pound each of whiting, gurnard, and soles, or any other small fish ; put them in a stewpan with two onions stuck with two cloves, a carrot, a "bouquet garni,'' four shalots, a pint of French white wine ; salt and pepper to taste ; boil for five minutes, then add three pints of fish broth, boil again over a brisk fire till reduced to half its original quantity, and strain it through a cloth into a basin and put it by for use. 176. MELTED BUTTER SAUCE. Put a stewpan on the fire with two ounces of butter, mix with it the same quantity of semolina flour, half a pint of cold water, the juice of a lemon, and salt to taste ; boil on a moderate fire and stir well with a wooden spoon the while, to make it soft and without clots; as soon as it boils rub it through a fine sieve or tammy cloth, return it to the stewpan on the fire, add a little grated nutmeg, six ounces of butter, and a few drops of lemon-juice ; stir, and serve as soon as the butter is properly melted. This sauce can be improved by adding the yolks of two or three eggs well beaten, diluted with a little hot water passed through a sieve and mixed with the sauce before serving. 177. BUTTER AND KETCHUP SAUCE. Mix well in a stewpan two or three tablespoonfuls of ketchup sauce with a teacupful of Velout^i sauce ; set it on the fire and boil for a few minutes ; stir occasionally with a wooden spoon, add an ounce of butter, stir again, and serve. Note, — This sauce can be made in the same way with any other essence. 178. BLANQUETTE SAUCE. Melt three ounces of butter in a stewpan ; mix with it the same quantity of flour and work it into a paste without browning ; moisten with a pint of veal broth ; stir with a wooden spoon till it boils ; then draw by the side of the fire, add a bay-leaf and two small slices of ham, simmer it for an hour; skim and pass it through a sieve into a basin, to be used as wanted. 170. POULETTE SAUCE. Stir an ounce of flour with the same quantity of butter in a stewpan on the fire for three minutes; then add a pint of white broth, and continue the stirring for fifteen minutes; after which, draw the stewpan away from the fire, thicken the sauce with the yolks of two eggs, season with salt and pepper, add a dozen champignons, sliced in twos or threes, with a gill of the liquor they have been boiled in, stir the sauce over the fire till near the boil, add a small piece of butter, stir again to melt it, and serve. 180. GOOSEBERRY SAUCE. Clean and blanch for a few minutes in a stewpan one pint of green gooseberries; strain off the water through a colander, rub them in the usual way through a sieve into the stewpan again, add two ounces of butter, boil, stir well, and serve. 181. APPLE SAUCE.