The Century Cook Book Part 57

[Ill.u.s.tration: ENTERPRISE CHOPPER.]

=SAUCE FOR CROQUETTE MIXTURE=

(To this amount of sauce add two cupfuls of meat.)

1 tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter.

2 tablespoonfuls of flour.

1 cupful of milk or cream.

1 egg.

1 teaspoonful of onion-juice.

1 teaspoonful of salt.

1/4 teaspoonful of pepper.

Dash of cayenne.

Dash of nutmeg.

Put the cream or milk in a double boiler and scald it. Rub the b.u.t.ter and flour together. Take this paste on a spoon and stir it in the scalding milk until it is dissolved from the spoon, and the sauce has become thickened and consistent. Add the seasoning; then remove from the fire and stir in a beaten egg (the egg may be omitted if desired). Place it again on the fire for a minute to cook the egg, but do not let it boil, and add two cupfuls of meat minced very fine.

Pour this mixture on a flat dish, and set it away for two or more hours.

It will then be stiffened and can be easily molded. If a mixture is used which absorbs the sauce, add more than the quant.i.ty given in receipt.

The softer the mixture, the more creamy, and therefore the better will be the croquettes, and if allowed to stand long enough the molding will not be difficult.

=TO MOLD CROQUETTES=

Take a tablespoonful of the mixture (this will make a croquette of the right size; large ones are likely to crack open in frying); roll it lightly between the hands into a ball. Have a plentiful supply of bread-crumbs spread evenly on a board; roll the ball lightly on the crumbs into the shape of a cylinder, and flatten each end by dropping it lightly on the board; put it in the egg (to each egg add one tablespoonful of water, and beat together), and with a spoon moisten the croquette completely with the egg; lift it out on a knife-blade, and again roll lightly in the crumbs. Have every part entirely covered, so there will be no opening through which the grease may be absorbed. Where a light yellow color is wanted, use fresh white crumbs grated from the loaf (or rubbed through a puree sieve) for the outside, and do not use the yolk of the egg. Coa.r.s.e fresh crumbs are used for fish croquettes, which are usually made in the form of chops, or half heart shape. A small hole is p.r.i.c.ked in the pointed end after frying, and a sprig of parsley inserted. For lobster croquettes a small claw is used instead of the parsley. Cracker-crumbs are used where a smooth surface is wanted.

Have all the croquettes of perfectly uniform size and shape, and lay them aside on a dish, not touching one another, for an hour or more before frying. This will make the crust more firm.

The white of an egg alone may be used for egging them, but not the yolk alone. Whip the egg with the water, just enough to break it, as air-bubbles in the egg will break in frying, and let the grease penetrate.

=TO FRY CROQUETTES=

Let the fat become smoking hot; then test it with a piece of bread. If the bread colors while you count forty (twenty seconds), it is right. It is well to put the frying-pot on the fire an hour before it is needed, so it will be hot, and ready to be raised quickly to the right degree.

After dipping the frying-basket in the fat to grease it, lay in it four croquettes so that they do not touch one another, and immerse them in the fat. Cook only long enough to attain a delicate color. Let them drain a moment over the hot fat; then lift them from the basket with the hand (if done quickly the hand will not be burned) and place on a brown paper on the hot shelf or in the open oven until all are ready. Do not fry more than four at one time, as more would reduce the heat of the fat too much. Let the fat become smoking hot before each immersion of croquettes. Hang the basket on a long iron spoon so the hand will not be burned by the spattering fat.

=MATERIALS USED FOR CROQUETTES=

CHICKEN CROQUETTES

Chop the chicken very fine, using the white meat alone, or the dark meat alone, or both together. Season with salt, pepper, onion-juice, and lemon-juice. Chopped mushrooms, sweetbreads, calf's brains, tongue, ham or truffles are used with chicken, and a combination of two or more of them much improves the quality of the croquettes.

VEAL CROQUETTES

Veal is often mixed with chicken, or is used alone as a subst.i.tute for chicken. Season in same manner and make the same combinations.

SWEETBREAD CROQUETTES

Cut the boiled sweetbreads into small dice with a silver knife. Mix with mushrooms, using half the quant.i.ty of mushrooms that you have of sweetbreads. Use two eggs in the sauce.

OYSTER CROQUETTES

Scald the oysters; cut them into small pieces with a silver-plated knife.

LOBSTER CROQUETTES (see page 138)

FISH CROQUETTES (see pages 121 and 126)

MEAT AND BOILED HOMINY CROQUETTES

Equal proportions.

MEAT, RICE, AND TOMATO CROQUETTES

Equal proportions of meat and boiled rice: moisten with tomato puree.

MACARONI CROQUETTES

Boil the macaroni in salted water until tender; let it cool; then cut into pieces one quarter inch long, forming rings. To a cupful of the rings add one tablespoonful of grated cheese.

The sauces to serve with croquettes are brown, Bechamel, Poulette, and Tomato.

=TIMBALES=

[Sidenote: General directions.]

Timbales are forms of pastry or of forcemeat filled with salpicon. They are made in individual, border, or cylinder molds. The receipts below give the rules for making the pastry, forcemeat, and salpicon, and the combinations. For forcemeat, the raw meat is used, and may be used alone or mixed with panada: in the latter case it is called Quenelle forcemeat. Cut the meat or fish in pieces (excepting chicken, which is sc.r.a.ped), and pound it in a mortar to separate the flesh from the fiber, then press it through a puree sieve.

Do not chop the meat, as the fiber is not then so easily separated. If the meat pulp is mixed with panada, press it through the sieve again so the paste will be perfectly smooth and fine. Truffles are used in decorating the molds and in the salpicon. The little bits left from the decoration are chopped and used in the salpicon or in a sauce.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HINGED MOLD AND INDIVIDUAL TIMBALE MOLDS.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: PUReE SIEVE AND MORTAR.]

=TRUFFLES=

Truffles can be bought in tins, and as very little is used at a time they are not as expensive as at first appears. To preserve truffles left over in an opened can, drain them from the liquor and roll them in melted paraffine or in melted suet. With the air-tight covering which either of these things gives, the truffles can be kept in the refrigerator for an indefinite time.