LUNCH DISHES

Warm Rabbit Pâté (137)
Polish Pike (94)
Scallop Bread (120)
Braised Beef Tongue (117)
Italian Tomatoes (138)
Merveilles (139)

DINNER DISHES
Pea Soup (99)
Flour Omelette (140)
Ham with Madeira Sauce (141)
French Peas (118)
Alsatian Veal (108)
Rum Jelly (142)

137. Warm Rabbit Pâté.
One wild rabbit, butter, broth, salt, pepper, herbs, a few pieces of truffles, shortcrust pastry, sausage meat, a small glass of cognac. Preferably choose a wild rabbit, skin it, brown it in a saucepan with a little butter; then cut it into pieces, bone it, and cook it in the same saucepan with good stock; season with salt, pepper, chopped herbs and a few pieces of truffle; chop the liver from which you have taken care to remove the bitterness, and add it to the stew, which you remove from the heat when it is sufficiently cooked. Then butter the inside of a hot pâté mold; line it with a half-centimeter thick layer of shortcrust pastry; spread a layer of sausage meat at the bottom of the mold, and put your pieces of rabbit on it, then cover the pâté with another layer of shortcrust pastry, taking care to pierce a small hole in the middle, to let the steam escape during cooking; pinch, brown your pâté; Place it on a pie dish and bake for an hour and a half if the oven is very hot, two hours if the heat is moderate.

138. Italian-Style Tomatoes.
8 tomatoes, 125 grams of rice, white sauce, milk, herbs, breadcrumbs, butter.
Choose beautiful red tomatoes; scoop them out with a small teaspoon. Cook 125 grams of rice in a little lightly salted water. Make a white milk sauce with chopped and crushed herbs; let it boil two or three times. Dissolve an egg yolk in it with a little lemon juice. Add this sauce to the rice, stirring well. Fill the inside of the tomatoes with this mixture, cover them with breadcrumbs and a small knob of butter. Cook the remaining contents of the tomatoes for fifteen minutes, strain them, and add a glass of milk. Pour this sauce into a gratin dish and arrange the tomatoes in it. Bake for one hour.

139. Merveilles.
500 grams of flour, three eggs, 30 grams of butter, two tablespoons of cherry brandy, or half a glass of white wine, three tablespoons of sugar and cinnamon mixed together, deep-fry.
Place the flour on a pastry board or in a bowl; make a well in the center, break three whole eggs into it, add a pinch of salt, two tablespoons of brandy or half a glass of white wine, and mix the flour by turning the eggs with your fingertips. Make a consistent, soft dough that won't stick to your hands. Divide it into pieces and let it rest in a cloth. Spread some of it with a rolling pin or a bottle on the table or a floured board. When the dough is very thin, cut it into strips with a knife or pastry cutter, make knots or tufts, and toss them into the hot frying oil. When the omelets are a nice golden color, place them in a dish and sprinkle them with caster sugar. Before frying the strips, be sure to stretch them. Instead of ribbons, you can cut the dough into circles, diamonds, crescents, etc.

140. Flour Omelet.
Four eggs, four tablespoons of flour, 100 grams of butter, half a glass of white wine, salt, and pepper.
Mix the flour with the eggs, a little water, half a glass of white wine, a pinch of salt, and a pinch of pepper. You can tell the dough is thick enough when, when you dip a wooden spoon into the batter, it comes out completely covered. Beat vigorously to make the batter smooth and light. Heat 100 grams of butter and add the mixture in two or three batches to make several small omelets, which is better than making one too thick; add more butter if necessary. Turn the omelet over to brown it on both sides. You can also beat the egg whites at the last minute and add them to the mixture before pouring it into the pan. Grated or sliced ​​apples mixed into the batter also make an excellent dish.

141. Ham with Madeira Sauce.
One kilo of ham, half a bottle of white wine, spices, and a glass of Madeira.
Take one kilo of salted ham; trim it and soak it in plenty of water for two days. Once done, wrap it in a towel and place it in a saucepan; cover it with water to which half a bottle of white wine has been added; add herbs and spices. Let it cook gently for three or four hours. Remove, unwrap, remove two-thirds of the rind, and place it in a covered dish with a large glass of Madeira. Bake for half an hour to brown, basting it occasionally with the cooking liquid. Remove, arrange on a platter, and serve with a side of Madeira sauce in a gravy boat.

142. Rum Jelly.
One and a half pounds of sugar, 15 to 20 grams of very good gelatin, lemon zest, three egg whites, rum, kirsch...
Dissolve one and a half pounds of sugar and 15 to 20 grams of very good gelatin in a cold saucepan with a liter of cold water and a lemon zest. Stir occasionally while it dissolves. Then add three egg whites, beaten with two tablespoons of cold water. Place over a fairly high heat and continue stirring until the mixture begins to take on a milky appearance. Then, soak a towel in the fresh water and wring it out to drain it; then, as soon as your jelly has bubbled for the first time, place it in this towel, tied by its four corners over any container. Let the process continue on its own, but preferably in a warm room. When the jelly has
strained and cooled, add the rum and a few drops of kirsch if you like; pour it into a mold, usually a cylinder mold, and set it in ice, or failing that, in as cool a place as possible.

THE HEARTH CRICKET.

A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING
SOME LIQUORS TO MAKE YOURSELF

Orange Blossom Liqueur. Take just 150 grams of orange blossom petals, place them in a bottle, and cover with a liter of good wine brandy. Let it infuse for a month or two, keeping the bottle tightly sealed. After this time, add a syrup made from 300 grams of sugar and three deciliters of water; filter and bottle.

Tarragon Liqueur. Place 20 grams of green tarragon sprigs in a liter of brandy and let it macerate for twenty-four hours. Dissolve 500 grams of sugar in half a liter of water; mix the two mixtures, let it sit for forty-eight hours, and filter. This liqueur is an aperitif and stomachic.

Angelica liqueur. Obtain one kilogram of angelica stems, cut them into small pieces, and macerate them in a liter of good brandy for five to six weeks. Distill two-thirds of the quantity. Make a syrup with one liter of water and one kilogram of sugar. Mix equal amounts of syrup and reduced alcohol; filter and bottle.

Cinnamon liqueur. Macerate 100 grams of Ceylon cinnamon in a liter of brandy for eight days, then distill in a bain-marie. Add a liter of sugar syrup. This liqueur is useful in doses of 20 to 100 grams to perk up dejected energy.

Blackcurrant liqueur. Place in a vase: 500 grams of very ripe blackcurrant berries, 1 gram of cloves, 1 gram of cinnamon, one and a half liters of brandy, and 400 grams of sugar. Let it infuse for two weeks, stirring daily. Crush the blackcurrant berries; press the mixture through a cloth to extract all the liquid; filter, and bottle.

Distilled mint liqueur. For six liters of brandy and one liter of water, add 30 grams of green anise or Verdun. Take two medium handfuls of freshly picked mint grown in gardens. Let it infuse for a few days, and distill it as usual. As a proportion, put 1 kilo 750 grams of sugar in three and a half liters of water; mix everything, and filter.