LUNCH DISHES

Pâtés à la financiere (181)
Veal shells and mushrooms (205)
Raie au fromage (206)
Peas au jus (156)
Châteaubriant à la méridionale (207)
Petits flans au fromage blanc (198)

DINNER DISHES

Pea soup (208)
Eggs à la portuguaise (166)
Tomatoes stuffed with cheese (188)
Shoulder of lamb meunière (209)
Artichoke hearts Soubise (144)
Omelette soufflée aux fraises (210)

205. Veal shells and mushrooms.
200 grams of lean roast veal, without skin or nerves, 100 grams of mushrooms, 35 grams of butter, 30 grams of flour, 30 grams of grated Gruyere cheese, a little salt, a pinch of spices, two deciliters of milk.

Cut the root of the mushrooms; peel them and wash them; blanch them for a minute in a small saucepan with a drop of lemon and butter; let them cool in the covered saucepan.

Trim the veal and cut it into small cubes of one square centimeter. Melt the butter in a small saucepan; mix the flour with the wooden spoon; moisten with the hot milk and the little cooking of the mushrooms; stir over low heat until it has the consistency of a thick cream; add the salt and spices, the small diced mushrooms and the veal. Fill the four shells with this mixture; sprinkle the grated Gruyere cheese on top; brown for five to six minutes in a hot oven, the shells placed on a rack so that they brown well without boiling.

206. Skate with cheese.

One kilo of skate, half a liter of milk, a teaspoon of flour, a clove of garlic, two cloves, two shallots, a sprig of thyme, a bay leaf, 100 grams of Gruyere cheese, 100 grams of butter, salt and pepper.

Choose a thick skate rather than a wide one. Wash the fish in several waters, rubbing it with a couch grass brush and put it in a saucepan with onions, parsley, salt, vinegar and cold water in sufficient quantity to bathe it well; boil; remove to the corner of the fire and let it simmer for a few minutes. Remove completely from the heat; let the fish soften for a quarter of an hour in the cooking water. Then, remove it; drain it; remove the skins from both sides; cut each half of the skate into pieces.

Put in a saucepan, a little wide, half a liter of milk, 20 grams of butter, a teaspoon of flour, two cloves stuck in and two shallots, a bay leaf, a sprig of thyme, a little salt and ten to twelve peppercorns; boil while diluting the flour well, and place the pieces of skate in this sauce; after two or three minutes of gentle cooking, remove them with the skimmer; reduce the sauce, so that it has the appearance of a sauce, bound, then pass it.

In a serving dish going on the fire, put half of this cooking; sprinkle with half of the cheese; arrange the pieces of skate on top; pepper well; cover with the rest of the cheese; sprinkle with the other half of sauce; place a few pieces of butter on top; sprinkle with white breadcrumbs; put in a hot oven; immediately browned on top, serve.

207. Chateaubriant à la méridionale.

A pound and a half of fillet, olive oil, a pound and a half of tomatoes, two cloves of garlic, a sprig of thyme, half a bay leaf, parsley, salt, pepper, pinch of cayenne.

Take a piece of fillet, cut, as much as possible, in the middle of the fillet and four centimeters thick; sprinkle it with olive oil and put it in the fridge for a few hours to soften it.

While the fillet is marinating, make your sauce which can wait the necessary time. Take a pound and a half of very red tomatoes, very fleshy, and especially not in water as often happens. Cut them in half, in the direction of the roundness, and remove the seeds with the handle of a teaspoon; put them in a saucepan with half a decilitre of water, two cloves of garlic, a sprig of thyme, half a bay leaf and some parsley; cook over a moderate heat, and when they are melted, pass them by pressing well with a fork, so that only the skins and the bouquet remain in the strainer. Then put back on the heat, with salt, pepper, a pinch of cayenne, four or five spoonfuls of good oil, and let cook gently until reduced to a good thickness. Keep warm until ready to serve.

Remove the fillet, wipe it, remove the skins, burrs and fat. Have a nice fire of embers, a little dampened; heat the grill. Thirty minutes before serving, place the fillet on the grill, taking care not to let the fire be too hot or the grill too close to the fire, because then this would happen: it is that, if the

piece is too close to the fire, it will be quickly seized and grilled on the outside; the top will be bitter and the inside soft and tasteless. Cook the first side for sixteen minutes, turn the piece over, and cook the second side for fourteen minutes. Moreover, at this point, the droplets of blood should be pearling on it; it is time to remove from the heat; then salt both sides.

At this point, add a small glass of good cognac to the coulis; heat vigorously and pour into a hot dish; place the chateaubriand on top, which should be well puffed up, not overcooked and juicy. Serve quickly with hot plates.

208. Pea soup.
100 grams of butter, 150 grams of peas, one liter of water, fifteen small potatoes, salt, four thin slices of bread.

Put 80 grams of fine, fresh butter in a saucepan; this is the secret to the succulence of this soup. Put in this barely melted butter 150 grams of freshly shelled and very fine peas; cover the saucepan and let the peas sweat over low heat for five minutes.

Then moisten with a liter of hot water; as soon as it boils, add about twenty very small new potatoes, whole and of equal size; salt and let cook. When the potatoes and peas are well cooked, cut four thin slices of bread; coat them in butter in a saucepan; when they are golden brown, sweeten them with caster sugar and put them in the oven for two minutes. Then push them to the bottom of the soup tureen; pour the pea soup over them, cover the soup tureen and serve.

209. Shoulder of lamb meunière.
A shoulder of lamb, 125 grams of butter or Végétaline 150 grams of bacon, a clove of garlic, a bouquet garni, a deciliter and a half of broth, small whole potatoes.

Bone the shoulder without cutting the flesh too much; salt the inside and roll it into a sleeve.

Put 100 grams of butter, 150 grams of bacon cut into pieces in a frying pan; melt and brown these pieces of bacon and remove them; set them aside on a plate. In this fat, put the shoulder and brown quickly; as soon as it has taken on color, remove it and keep it warm.

Put 25 grams of butter, a clove of garlic, a bouquet garni, then the roasted pieces of bacon and a deciliter and a half of broth in a braising pan; when it starts to boil, place the shoulder in this sauce and cook over a very low heat.

Now, in the fat in which the bacon and the shoulder have roasted, cook whole potatoes, small and of the same size, in a covered saucepan. When it is cooked and well browned, the shoulder will be ready; unbridle it and place it in a very hot dish; pepper the sauce, but do not salt without tasting, because of the bacon; pour it by passing it over the shoulder; arrange the potatoes around it; serve with hot plates.

210. Strawberry Soufflé Omelette.
150 gr. sugar, 120 gr. wild strawberries, three egg yolks, six egg whites, a little lemon or orange juice.

Quickly wash the strawberries in cold water; scatter them on a double cloth to dry the water; pass them through a horsehair sieve.

Work 130 grams of sugar with the three egg yolks for five minutes; add half a teaspoon of lemon or orange juice; work for another five minutes. Mix a spoonful of strawberry puree, then another, slowly, methodically, finally the rest of the puree. Very lightly butter an oval dish about thirty-four centimeters, fireproof; sweeten it very little. Beat the egg whites until stiff; add the sugar set aside; work for five minutes to firm them up. Mix a little egg white into the yolks.

Remove the whisk; take the spatula in your right hand, and with your left, pour the strawberry mixture; mix by cutting the dough and rotating the basin. With a piece of card, drop all the mixture into the egg whites as quickly as possible, to avoid dropping the whites. Take the basin in your left hand; with the card in the right, slide the omelette into the middle of the dish. Straighten it with the card, pressing from bottom to top. With a slightly large knife, make a strong cut in the middle of the omelette, lengthwise; push into the oven for fifteen minutes; sprinkle with icing sugar and let melt for a minute. Place on a cold dish lined with a napkin. Serve immediately.

THE HOUSEHOLD'S CRICKET.