Soyer's standard cookery

Make a number of croutons of lightly fried bread and choose a like number of mushrooms the same size as the croutons. Peel the mushrooms, rinse them in warm water to remove any grit, and remove the stalks. Place them on a greased baking sheet, stalk side uppermost. Put some small pieces of butter on each mushroom, and a little pepper and salt. Cover with buttered paper, and cook in a moderate oven from ten to twenty minutes. Serve a mushroom on each crouton, and on each mushroom place a spoonful of clotted Devonshire cream. Blanched Mushrooms. Get a punnet of fresh mushrooms, remove the stalks (reserving them for chopping), wash the heads in a bowl of clean water, and drain in a sieve; put into a stewpan two wineglasses of cold water, and a little salt; peel each head neatly, and put them into the stewpan immediately, or they will turn black; set your stewpan on a brisk fire, let them boil quickly five minutes, put them into a bowl ready for use; chop the stalks, and peel very fine, put them into stewpan with three tablespoonfuls of the liquor the mushrooms have been boiled in; let them simmer three minutes, put them into a jar, and use where indicated. Peeling mushrooms is an art that practice alone can attain; if they are very fresh and white, wash them quickly and wipe them on a cloth; throw them into the liquid above-mentioned. White Mushroom Sauce. Use small white ones; cut the dark part out and remove the stalk, wash in several waters, put in a stewpan with a little butter, salt, pepper, juice of lemon, saute it for a few minutes, add a gill of white sauce, four tablespoonfuls of broth, milk, or water; boil, and serve under any white meat. Mushroom Croutes. Cut some rounds of bread about three-quarters of an inch thick and scoop them out rather thinner in the center, fry until a golden brown, drain, and keep hot. Place the required number of mushrooms on a greased baking-tin with a piece of butter in each, and place in the oven to cook. In the meantime, mince one or two mushrooms and place them in a pan with a small quantity of good brown sauce. When cooked place a spoonful on each croute, and a whole mushroom on the top of each. Serve very hot. Mushrooms Au Gratin. Peel the mushrooms and cut off their stalks, and place the heads in a buttered fireproof dish. Peel the stalks and wash them, add the peeling, dry them and cut them up. Make a sauce with one ounce of butter and when melted add half an ounce of flour, stirring into it half a pint of milk. Stir well, bring to the boil, and then throw in the chopped stalks, a dessertspoonful of finely chopped parsley, a teaspoonful of finely chopped onion, a dusting of pepper and half a teaspoonful of salt. Simmer the sauce until it thickens, strain and add some browning. Pour the sauce over the mushrooms, sprinkle some browned breadcrumbs over the whole, and bake in a quick oven for ten minutes. Mushrooms and Tomatoes, Baked. Put the required number of small tomatoes on a baking-tin, greased with butter or dripping. Sprinkle over them a little pepper and salt and cover them with greased paper. Place in a moderate oven for about ten minutes or a quarter of an hour. Serve between rows of baked mushrooms. Stewed Mushrooms.