LUNCH DISHES

Pâtés à la financiere (141)
Eel à la poulette (265)
Fried eggs (215)
Cèpes à la bordelaise (201)
Hare à la broche (266)
Omelette au kirsch (219)

DINNER DISHES

Spanish soup (220)
Eggs financier (267)
Beef tongue tartare (268)
Cauliflower dome (269)
Crapaudine pigeons (246)
Apple tartade (270)

265. Eel à la poulette. A pound and a half of eel, butter, salt, pepper, bouquet garni, half a bottle of white wine, a few small fresh mushrooms or dried ceps, crust of hot pâté, croutons, an egg yolk.
Cut the eel into pieces; brown them lightly in a little butter with salt, pepper and a small bouquet garni. Moisten with half a bottle of white wine and add a few small fresh mushrooms or dried porcini mushrooms which give a particular aroma.
When your pieces are cooked to perfection, drain them and then put them in a vol-au-vent or in a hot pâté crust, adding, between each piece, croutons fried in oil. After having skimmed your sauce, add a good knob of butter, thicken with two egg yolks, pass through a cheesecloth and pour over everything. Serve immediately.
This is an exquisite and decorative dish.

266. Hare on a spit. A saddle of hare, a bottle of Chablis, onion rings, carrots, bay leaves, three cloves of garlic, thyme, parsley, basil, pepper, thick double cream.
You half-soak a magnificent saddle of hare in white wine (if possible, the best Chablis). The bowl is previously garnished with the usual condiments: slices of onions and carrots, chopped bay leaves, three cloves of garlic, thyme, parsley, basil, freshly ground pepper that you sprinkle on top and underneath. If the saddle is not completely soaked, four or five times a day you sprinkle it with its juice.
After forty-eight hours of soaking, you put it on a spit in front of a vine fire, coating, instead of butter, your saddle with good thick and well-set double cream.

Poach the eggs. To do this, bring salted water to the boil in a saucepan, with low sides and quite wide; then put your saucepan on the corner of the stove.
Break your eggs, one by one, into a saucer and slide them into the boiling water, completely covering them with their white; turn them over delicately with the skimmer. When they are well set, remove them and place them on a very clean towel to drain them. Then take small porcelain cups; put, in each of them, a small slice of smoked York ham; on this, skillfully place your egg. Cover with a thick mayonnaise, on which you will spread a few small pieces of truffles, mixed with very finely chopped parsley.

268. Beef tongue tartare. A beef tongue, pot-au-feu vegetables, butter, carrots, about ten small onions, a clove of garlic, two shallots, a bouquet garni of thyme and bay leaf, two glasses of white wine, a glass of Madeira, a teaspoon of meat extract, a few pickles.
Cook a beef tongue garnished with vegetables for three long hours, as for a pot-au-feu. Don't forget, above all, before cooking, to wash it well and blanch it for a few minutes. After these three hours of cooking, remove it and carefully remove the white skin that surrounds it, starting with the tip. Then put the tongue in an oval saucepan with a little butter; let it brown on both sides; garnish with a few slices of carrots, about ten small onions, a clove of garlic, two shallots, a bouquet garni of thyme and bay leaf, two glasses of white wine, a glass of Madeira, and let all this simmer for two hours. Then add a teaspoon of meat extract, remove the tongue, arrange it, surrounded by the vegetable garnish and a few pickles, and sprinkle with the very reduced juice.

269. Cauliflower dome. A nice cauliflower, a béchamel sauce, a cup of cream, two egg yolks, a good knob of butter or Végétaline, a quarter of grated Gruyere cheese, breadcrumbs.
Take a nice cauliflower; completely break up the small branches, wash them carefully and throw them into boiling salted water, watching the cooking carefully. Remove your branches, still a little firm, and arrange them, in a dome, in a hollow ovenproof dish; keep them warm. Then prepare a good thick béchamel sauce, which you thicken with a cup of cream and two egg yolks. Add a good knob of butter and a quarter of grated Gruyere cheese; mix everything well and cover your cauliflower with it. Cover with breadcrumbs and a few small pieces of butter, and brown in the oven for a few moments. Serve decorated with carrot diamonds, cooked in salted water.

270. Apple crumble. Half a pound of flour, three spoonfuls of powdered sugar, a spoonful of rum, a little salt, half a pound of butter, an egg yolk.
Take half a glass of water, a little warm, half a pound of flour, three spoonfuls of powdered sugar; dilute all together, adding a spoonful of rum and a little salt. When the dough comes away from the dish, spread it on a table, sprinkled with flour; once spread, add, in small pieces, half a pound of very fresh butter; spread and fold your dough three or four times. Take a wrought iron tray, which you coat with butter; place on it, in a circle, a layer of your dough; place in it slices of apples, very thin and macerated, beforehand, in a little rum mixed with water and sugar. Cover these apples with another sheet of pastry, decorate it with taste, brown your cake with egg yolk and bake in the oven.

THE FIREPLACE CRICKET.

A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING

Jerusalem artichokes au gratin. Jerusalem artichokes, butter, herbs, salt, pepper, broth, breadcrumbs.
After peeling the Jerusalem artichokes, wash them and dry them. Cut them into thin slices and put them, with butter, chopped herbs, salt, pepper, in a baking dish. Moisten with broth or water; sprinkle lightly with breadcrumbs and bake in the oven, over moderate heat, for about an hour; you serve them in the dish that was used to cook them. You can replace the butter with two tablespoons of olive oil.

Tomato rice tart. Pie crust, rice, butter, thick tomato sauce.
Make a regular pie crust, but salt it instead of sweetening it. Garnish this crust with rice, previously cooked in water or lightly salted broth; place a few pieces of butter on top and cover with a very thick and well-seasoned tomato sauce. Bake in the oven, as for a regular tart.