LUNCH DISHES

DINNER DISHES

Watercress Soup
Deviled Eggs (116)
Morels in Chicken Sauce (170)
Stuffed Chicken with Rice (171)
Cheese-Stuffed Tomatoes (172)
Fruit Tart (130)

167. Wild Rabbit with Mushrooms.
One young rabbit, 125 grams of lean breast bacon, 150 grams of fresh mushrooms, one onion, four shallots, a clove of garlic, a sprig of thyme, half a bay leaf, one deciliter of good cognac, two and a half deciliters of white wine, 60 grams of butter, and a teaspoon of chopped parsley.
Skin and gut the rabbit, cut it into pieces, and set aside the liver. Cut the bacon into small squares and blanch it for five minutes. Drain. Peel the mushrooms and place them in lightly vinegared water. Chop the onion, shallot, garlic, thyme, and bay leaf. Heat half the butter in a casserole dish and brown the bacon. Remove the bacon and brown the rabbit pieces. After five minutes, add the onion, shallot, and all the chopped ingredients. Two or three minutes later, deglaze with the cognac, then add the white wine, bacon, and sliced mushrooms. Bring to a boil, then place in the oven for fifteen minutes. The sauce should reduce by half. A few minutes before serving, add the chopped liver, then, off the heat, thicken with the remaining butter.

168. Cardoon in Juice
One cardoon, one tablespoon of flour per liter of water, one tablespoon of vinegar, salt, 25 grams of butter, and 25 grams of flour.
For the sauce: one deciliter of stock.
Prepare a "white" with three or four tablespoons of flour, which you will dilute in a little cold water. Add three or four liters of water, then add a little salt and a spoonful of vinegar. Bring to a boil. Remove the outer leaves and keep only the white part of the heart. Do not use the hollow parts. Cut into pieces about six centimeters long. Peel quickly and toss the pieces, as you go, into the vinegar water. As soon as the "white" meat boils, add it and immerse the cardoon. Cover tightly and simmer over moderate heat for one hour. The cardoon should be able to be mashed with a fork. While it cooks, prepare the sauce by mixing 25 grams of butter and 25 grams of flour over low heat, without browning. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Drain the cardoon and add it to the sauce. Simmer, uncovered, for half an hour.

169. Pigeons with Peas.
Two pigeons, a bunch of parsley, 30 grams of fine butter, half a liter of stock, two egg yolks, 10 grams of flour, one liter of peas, and a spoonful of cream. Gut and flambé the pigeons. Tuck the legs in and cut them in half. Place them in a saucepan with 30 grams of fine butter, the parsley, and then, ten minutes later, the peas. Moisten with the stock and, after a quarter of an hour of cooking, remove the pigeons and arrange them on the platter. Thicken, off the heat, with the two egg yolks and a spoonful of cream. Remove the parsley and serve.

170. Morels in Poulette Sauce.
500 grams of morels, three deciliters of stock, 50 grams of butter or "Végétaline", 20 grams of flour, one egg yolk, a teaspoon of chopped parsley, and one lemon.
Make a roux by mixing 50 grams of butter and the flour over low heat. Moisten with the broth, bring to a boil, add the parsley, and simmer over low heat. Remove the earthy ends from the morels and wash them. Let them soak in the water for five minutes. Drain them on a cloth.
Place them in a saucepan with three deciliters of water, the juice of half a lemon, and 30 grams of butter; bring to a boil, cover, and simmer on the stovetop for ten minutes. Add a little of the mushroom cooking liquid to the simmering sauce, from which you have removed the parsley, to obtain a sauce of good consistency and quite rich. Thicken this sauce with the egg yolk, add the morels, heat over low heat, and add a few drops of lemon juice. Pour into the vegetable dish, sprinkle with chopped parsley, and serve.

Wash 150 grams of rice and sprinkle it into a liter of very hot broth. Let it boil vigorously for a few minutes. Drain it and place it in a saucepan with 30 grams of butter, a little salt, pepper, grated nutmeg, and two egg yolks. Place over low heat and stir. When everything is well mixed, let it cool. Make an incision on the back of the carefully gutted chicken. Remove the spine bones, then the breastbone. Fill the chicken with rice and sew up the skin. Rub it with lemon and wrap it in bacon strips. Place the chicken in a saucepan lined with rind with the sliced ham, veal shank, onions, carrots, and bouquet garni. Moisten with a liter of consommé and let it cook gently for an hour and a half. Cook 200 grams of rice separately in one and a half liters of broth, without stirring. Serve the chicken surrounded by the separately cooked rice and served with a Spanish sauce. This sauce is prepared by making a brown roux with 30 grams of butter and 30 grams of flour. Add half a liter of broth, bring to a boil, and simmer for thirty to forty minutes. Thicken with the remaining divided butter.

172. Cheese-Stuffed Tomatoes
Four large tomatoes, 20 grams of cooked ham, 20 grams of grated Parmesan cheese, 20 grams of fresh breadcrumbs, 20 grams of mushrooms, a teaspoon of chopped parsley, a small onion, 40 grams of butter, 5 grams of flour, two tablespoons of broth, breadcrumbs, salt, and pepper.
Scald the tomatoes by immersing them in boiling water for ten minutes. Hollow them out lightly without peeling them. Wash and pat them dry, then squeeze the water out in a cloth. Separately chop the onion, parsley, and ham. Heat 30 grams of butter in a small saucepan and sauté the onion for two or three minutes over low heat. Add the ham, mushrooms, and parsley. Sprinkle with the flour and moisten with half a deciliter of hot broth. Season very lightly with salt and pepper. Mix over low heat, stirring. Add the well-crushed and ground breadcrumbs to a tablespoon of broth. Mix in the cheese. Fill the tomatoes with this mixture. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Add a small knob of butter to the top of each tomato and bake in the oven for fifteen minutes; serve on croutons fried in butter.

THE HEARTH CRICKET.

A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING

REFRESHING DRINK AND FOOD (Continued)
Claret Cup. - Put a bottle of Bordeaux, a glass of port, a glass of Curaçao, three spoonfuls of powdered sugar, half a siphon of seltzer or soda water, and the lemon juice into a jug; add a pinch of grated nutmeg. Keep the jug on ice and, when in season, add whole, but peeled, wild strawberries.

Egg Hugger. - Put a very fresh egg yolk, a tablespoon of powdered sugar, grated nutmeg, and ground cinnamon, a pinch of each, into a large cup. Beat the mixture as if for cream, add a few pieces of ice, a shot glass of cognac, half a glass of rum, and one and a half glasses of Madeira. Fill with good milk, shake, strain into another cup, and grate a little nutmeg over it.

Vanilla Bavarian Cream. - In an earthenware saucepan, boil a quarter liter of cream. When it begins to boil, add sugar and a small piece of vanilla. Remove from the heat and let cool, making sure to cover the saucepan. Then mix six egg yolks into the cream and whisk until smooth. Heat over the stovetop, stirring with a wooden spoon. When the cream thickens, let cool. Then add 30 grams of fish glue, dissolved as for jellies, and some whipped cream. Pour everything into a mold and let set like jellies.

Apricot Bavarian Cream. - Have one kilo of ripe, open-air apricots; pass them through a Venetian sieve with twelve perfectly crushed apricot kernels. To the resulting puree, add 300 grams of sugar and 40 grams of melted gelatin, as for the strawberry Bavarian cream; finish in the same way.