The Century Cook Book Part 56

4 tablespoonfuls of salad oil.

1 tablespoonful of hot water.

1 tablespoonful of tarragon vinegar.

Beat the yolks; add the oil and water; stand the bowl in boiling water and stir until the eggs thicken; remove and add salt, pepper, and vinegar. It should be creamy and of the consistency of Mayonnaise. A few chopped capers, olives, and gherkins make it a good Tartare sauce; and a little tomato puree will make it a red Mayonnaise to use with cold boiled fish.

=MAYONNAISE=

Yolk of 1 egg.

1/2 teaspoonful of salt.

Dash of cayenne.

1 cupful of salad oil.

1-1/2 teaspoonfuls of lemon-juice.

Let the oil and egg be thoroughly chilled before beginning to make Mayonnaise. In summer it is well to stand the soup-plate in which the dressing is being mixed in a dish of cracked ice; stir constantly with a silver fork or a wooden spoon. Have the yolk entirely free from any white of the egg; add drop by drop the oil. The success depends on adding the oil slowly at first. It is well to spend half the time in incorporating the first two spoonfuls of oil; after that it can be added in larger quant.i.ties. After the dressing has become a little thick, alternate a few drops of lemon-juice or of vinegar with the oil; a little tarragon vinegar gives good flavor. If mustard is liked, add one quarter teaspoonful of dry mustard. Add the salt and pepper last. If the sauce curdles, take another yolk, and add slowly the curdled Mayonnaise.

A few drops of ice water or a small bit of ice added to the mixture when it begins to curdle will sometimes bring it back.

This dressing will keep for some time in a closed jar in the ice-box.

The proportions given are right, but it is usually desirable to make a larger quant.i.ty. With care more oil can be added to the egg, which will give more sauce.

A very safe mixture, and one recommended for summer, is made by using the yolk of a hard-boiled egg with a raw yolk. With this the dressing is more quickly made and seldom curdles. Lemon-juice makes a whiter dressing than vinegar, but it also makes it a little softer.

=WHITE MAYONNAISE=

Just before serving add to the above quant.i.ty of Mayonnaise one half cupful of very stiff whipped cream, or the white of one half an egg whipped very stiff.

=GREEN MAYONNAISE=

Take some green herbs, such as chervil, tarragon, chives, parsley, a leaf of spinach, lettuce or watercress, and pound them in a mortar with a little lemon-juice. Express the juice and add it to the Mayonnaise. It is then called Ravigote sauce. Mashed green peas may be used to give color and also more consistency to the sauce when it is to be used to cover cold fish. A little vegetable green coloring can be added if the color is not sufficiently deep, but a delicate color is preferable.

=RED MAYONNAISE=

Dry some lobster coral; pound it to a powder and rub it through a sieve; mix it with a little lemon-juice and add it to the Mayonnaise. Use a little carmine color if deeper shade is wanted. Or, color with well-strained tomato puree.

=JELLY MAYONNAISE=

Instead of yolks of eggs, use aspic jelly as a medium to hold the oil; mix the sauce the same as the ordinary Mayonnaise. Or, to a cupful of aspic jelly (see page 321) or chicken aspic add a cupful of oil, one tablespoonful of vinegar (one half being tarragon if convenient), a few drops of lemon-juice, salt, pepper, and cayenne; stir together all at once, the jelly being warmed enough to be liquid. Place it on ice and stir until it begins to set; keep it in a cool place. This jelly softens easily. It is used to coat fish or meats, and should be put on when a little soft. It will then make a smooth and polished surface. Keep the meats coated with the jelly on ice until ready to serve. It is used also for salads in forms, or Russian salads (see receipts).

=MAYONNAISE WITH ARROWROOT=

Smooth a tablespoonful of arrowroot in cold water; stir it over the fire until it becomes smooth, clear and firm like starch; when a little cooled, add salt, pepper, mustard, and two or three yolks, and beat until smooth; when cold add oil as in regular Mayonnaise. This mixture will not curdle.

=TARTARE=

(FISH AND COLD MEATS)

To a cupful of Mayonnaise made with mustard, add one tablespoonful of capers, three olives, and two gherkins, all chopped very fine; also the juice expressed from some pounded green herbs, as in green Mayonnaise or Ravigote (see above); or chop the herbs fine and mix them in the dressing. A good Tartare sauce can be made by using tarragon vinegar and a little onion-juice when mixing the Mayonnaise, and adding parsley and capers, both chopped very fine, just before serving it.

=AGRA DOLCE=

(SOUR SWEET)

(AN ITALIAN SAUCE USED WITH VENISON, SWEETBREADS, CALF'S-HEAD, AND MUTTON)

Mix together two heaping tablespoonfuls of brown sugar, one quarter bar of grated chocolate, one tablespoonful each of shredded candied orange and lemon-peel, ten blanched almonds shredded, one half cupful of currants, and one cupful of vinegar. Let them soak for two hours. Then pour it over the cooked meat, and simmer for ten minutes.

This receipt was obtained in Florence, where it is a well-known and favorite sauce.

=BEURRE NOIR OR BROWN b.u.t.tER SAUCE=

(EGGS, CALF'S HEAD, CALF'S BRAINS, FISH)

Put a quarter of a pound of b.u.t.ter in a saucepan and let it cook slowly until it has browned, then add three tablespoonfuls of hot vinegar, one tablespoonful of chopped parsley, and a dash of pepper and of salt.

CHAPTER XII

ENTReES

Entrees are the dishes served between any of the regular courses.

=CROQUETTES=

GENERAL DIRECTIONS

[Sidenote: Shape.]

[Sidenote: How to serve.]

Croquettes are simply minced meat mixed with a thick sauce, then rolled into shape and fried. Any kind of cooked meat, fish, sh.e.l.l-fish, hard-boiled eggs, and some kinds of vegetables may be served as croquettes. Croquettes may be plain, using one kind of meat alone, or made richer by combining with it sweetbreads, brains, mushrooms, truffles, etc. Whatever meat mixture is used, the rules for sauce, molding, and frying are the same. The croquettes may be shaped like cylinders, pyramids or chops. The meat should be chopped very fine. (An "Enterprise Chopper" is recommended.) They should be very soft and creamy inside, and should be fried to a light golden color only. Serve them on a napkin and garnish with parsley.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CROQUETTES. (SEE PAGE 292.)]

THE ENTERPRISE CHOPPER

This simple machine minces meat very fine, and is useful in making croquettes, forcemeat for stuffings, etc. Where meat having much fiber is put in the chopper, it soon becomes clogged. The end piece can then be taken off, and the fiber clinging to it, which stops the holes, be removed. In making timbales the meat put through the chopper in this way, and then pounded, will sometimes do without being pa.s.sed through a sieve.