Provençal Cuisine

LUNCH MENU

Hors-d'oeuvres
Tuna Macedonia,
Anchovy fillets Tomato,
peppers and fine herbs
Mutton mince with poached eggs
Red partridges cooked in a casserole
Boulangère potatoes
Watercress and lettuce salad
Cheese
Fruits

Mutton mince à la Ménagère.
Mutton mince is generally prepared with roasted, fried, braised and even boiled meats, leftovers from the previous meal. Mutton is the most suitable for this type of dish.
Finely chop three to four hundred grams of roasted mutton. Brown in two spoonfuls of butter, two spoonfuls of finely chopped onion, mix in the mutton, let it stew for a few moments with the onion, season with salt, pepper and a hint of grated nutmeg. Add a few spoonfuls of tomato sauce and if possible a little good juice. Let it simmer very gently for 12 to 15 minutes. Arrange the mince in a deep dish, place the necessary number of eggs on top of the mince and lightly sauce them with tomato sauce.
NOTE. If the housewife finds herself short of meat for the number of people to be served, she can make up for it by adding a third of its volume, potatoes cooked in salted water, well drained and passed through a strainer or sieve.

Red Partridges in a Casserole.
Half a partridge per guest. Choose them young, give them the necessary cleaning, salt them inside, truss them, wrap them in bacon strips, cook them in the earthenware casserole, with butter and chopped lean bacon.
At the same time as the partridges, cook potatoes cut into small squares in butter and mix them, after cooking, with one or two spoonfuls of chopped onion cooked in butter.
Unbridle the partridges, put them back in the casserole, sprinkle them with a few drops of good Armagnac, a few spoonfuls of white wine and, to finish, the addition of a little good concentrated juice will deliciously complete the flavor of this dish. Serve the partridges in the cooking casserole.
Arrange the potatoes in a vegetable dish, sprinkle them with a little of the partridge cooking liquid.

A. Escoffier.