Chez Nous

As indicated in the Foreword, these fifty-six recipes have been selected from our own repertoire of dishes that we prepare in our Paris kitchen. These comprise economical dishes both for the family and for informal lunch and dinner parties. They are all easy to prepare; the sauces, also, that accompany some of them.

Apart from the soups for eight to ten persons, there are "laborsaving" stews, i.e. they constitute dishes pre-prepared for more than one meal and, it will be found, to everybody's satisfaction, that most of them improve on being re-heated.

Among the fish dishes, I have selected the commoner, in­expensive kind of fish, in addition to those (also cheap) that are often overlooked in the fish market, but which are delicious and of a fine quality in their own way, especially when ap­propriately prepared, such as John Dory, gurnet, and sea bream.

I have avoided giving recipes which require time in the making of pastry. This also applies to desserts. Those that appear here are prepared in no time for they entail practically no cooking.

Soups:

Potage Fermiere a la Volaille (serves 10).

Soupe a l'Oignon Gratinee (serves 3 to 4).

Potage Puree de Pommes de Terre et

Poireaux (serves 10).

Soupe a la Tomate (serves 6 to 8).

Hors dOeume:

Crudites, Sauce Bagnarotte (serves 4).

Figues au Jambon Fume (serves 4).

Egg Dishes:

Oeufs Brouillés "Surprise" (serves 2).

Oeufs Bigarade (serves 2).

Oeufs Brouilllés Portugaise (serves 2).

La Piperade (serves 2).

Chakchouka (serves 4).

Fish:

Filets de Turbot a l'lndienne (serves 4).

Filets de Maquereaux a la Bretonne (serves 4).

Colin Froid, Sauce Mayonnaise (serves 4).

Cabillaud au Gratin (serves 6).

Filets de Daurade Pannes a l’Anglaise (serves 4).

Filets de Saint-Pierre, Sauce Hollandaise (serves 4).

Ecrevisses Scandinave (serves 4).

Fowl:

Poulet Flambe (serves 4).

Poule au Pot (serves 5).

Croquettes de Volaille a la Duchesse (serves 6).

Meat:

VEAL

Epaule de Veau aux Oignons (serves 4).

Pot-au-Feu a la Langue de Veau (serves 4).

Langue de Veau froide, Sauce Piquante (serves 4).

Croquettes Grand mere (serves 4).

Rognonnade de Veau Printaniere (serves 4).

Saute de Veau Marengo (serves 6).

Foie de Veau aux Raisins Sees (serves 6).

BEEF

Pot-au-Feu Alexandra (serves 6 to 8).

Steak Tartare (serves l).

Boeuf Danois (serves 8).

Steak Moyen Age (serves 2).

MUTTON

Navarin de Mouton (serves 4).

Coeurs d'Agneau Farcis (serves 4).

C6tes d'Agneau Grillees a la Provençale (serves 2).

PORK

Pore a l'Orange (serves 6).

Curry a llndo-Chinoise (serves 6).

Vegetable Dishes:

Pommes Pont-Neuf: see Filets de Daurade Pannes a l'Anglaise

Choux de Bruxelles a la Polonaise (serves 4).

Chou-fleur au Gratin (serves 4).

Chou Farci (serves 8).

Riz Creole: see Curry a l’Indo-Chinoise

Salads:

Salade Chinoise (serves 4).

Salade des Orfevres (serves 4).

Salade Fi-Fi (serves 4).

Desserts:

Riz a l'Amande (serves 12).

Bananes sur Toast (serves 4).

Mousse au Citron (serves 6).

Mousse au Cafe (serves 6).

Soups

POTAGE FERMIERE A LA VOLAILLE(CREAM OF VEGETABLE AND CHICKEN SOUP)

Serves 10

Giblets and bones and carcass of a cooked chicken (bone from a cooked leg or shoulder of mutton)

4 tablespoons butter

3 turnips, sliced

5 carrots, sliced

1 large onion, sliced

6 pints water

4 tender leaves of cabbage, chopped

3 leeks, sliced

3 large potatoes, sliced

Salt, pepper

Make a stock for the soup by boiling the chicken giblets and the bones, on which there is some meat left, in 6 pints of boiling, salted water, in a large pot, for one hour. If you happen to have some mutton bones, then add them to the pot.

Take out the bones and remove every little piece of meat from them, chop finely, and reserve. Cut away the top green part of the leeks, wash them thoroughly, and tie in a bundle. Place in the pot along with the sliced potatoes, cover, and simmer for one hour.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a casserole and place in it the rest of the vegetables, salt, and pepper, and cover securely. Place over a very low flame and cook gently for 15 minutes, or until the vegetables start to soften, then add them to the liquid in the pot, lower flame, and simmer, covered, for an­other quarter of an hour. Take out the bundle of green leek leaves and discard, and remove carefully all the other vege­tables from the pot. Make a purée of them—in an electric beater if you have one—and return to the pot. Stir well, add the chopped chicken (and mutton) meat, cover, and bring gently to a boil. Serve at once.

SOUPE A L'OIGNON GRATINEE(onion soup au gratin)

Serves 3 to 4

1½ cups onion, chopped

2 tablespoons butter

1 quart consommé or chicken bouillon(or water)

Salt, pepper

1 tablespoon port wine

1 egg yolk

Toasted bread

½ cup grated cheese(Parmesan and/or Gruyere)

Soften the onions gently in the butter: they must not color. Pour in the consommé or the bouillon and season with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove and pour into an earthenware pot, or an ovenproof casserole. Add the port beaten with the yolk of the egg. Stir well. Place the pieces of toasted bread on the surface of the soup. Sprinkle with the cheese and place in the oven till nicely browned. Serve very hot straight from the pot or the casserole.

POTAGE PUREE DE POMMES DE TERRE ET POIREAUX(cream of potato and leek soup)

Serves 10

2 carrots, sliced

2 onions, sliced

1 stick celery, sliced

4 tablespoons butter

2 pounds leeks, sliced

6 pints consommé or chicken bouillon(or water)

Knucklebone of veal, split

1½ pounds potatoes, sliced

Salt, pepper

2 bay leaves

Handful chopped fresh parsley

5 tablespoons fresh cream

Soften the carrots, onions, and celery, in 2 tablespoons butter, in a large pot. They must not color. Add the leeks. Mix well together, then add 2 more tablespoons butter. When the leeks are soft pour in the consommé or the bouillon (or water) and add the knucklebone. Bring to a boil and add the potatoes, a little rock salt, and freshly ground pepper, also the bay leaves. Cover, lower the heat, and cook gently for three quarters of an hour. Five minutes before removing from the fire, add the parsley.

Remove the bay leaves and the knucklebone. Pass the soup through a vegetable mill or, better still, make a puree in the electric beater. Replace the bay leaves and the soup in the pot, cover and boil gently for another 10 minutes. Serve with ½ tablespoon of fresh cream in each soup plate.

SOUPE A LA TOMATE(tomato soup)

Serves 6 to 8

2 carrots, chopped

2 onions, chopped

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

2 pounds tomatoes, peeled and quartered

2 quarts warm water

Salt, pepper

1 teaspoon sugar

Parsley

⅓ cup vermicelli

Soften the onions and the carrots in the butter. Add the flour to make a roux. Add the tomatoes. Tomatoes, like almonds, will peel easily if immersed in boiling water for 2 minutes. Pour in the warm water. Bring to the boil. Season with salt and pepper and add the sugar and a handful of freshly chopped parsley. Cover and cook gently for three quarters of an hour. Add the vermicelli and simmer for another quarter of an hour. Add about a teaspoon of fresh butter to each plate just before serving.

Hors d'Oeuvre

CRUDITES, SAUCE BAGNAROTTE(RAW SPRING VEGETABLES WITH SAUCE BAGNAROTTE)

Serves 4

This is a refreshing summer dish, full of vitamins, which you can also serve, by way of a change, at your cocktail parties. It consists of a large platter of raw spring vegetables—cauli­flower, celery, carrots, radishes, etc., which you eat with the fingers after dipping them in:

SAUCE BAGNAROTTE

6 tablespoons Mayonnaise*

2 tablespoons tomato ketchup

2 teaspoons fresh cream

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon cognac

Dash of Tabasco(optional)

A few drops of lemon juice

Very little salt and pepper

Mix all the ingredients well together and serve cold along with the platter of neatly arranged raw spring vegetables.

FIGUES AU JAMBON FUME(figs with smoked ham)

Serves 4

8 figs, ripe but not too soft

Tissue-thin slices of raw smoked ham

Peel the figs carefully. Wrap each one in slices of the raw smoked ham. Leave in the refrigerator just to chill before serving.

Egg Dishes

OEUFS BROUILLES "SURPRISE"(scrambled eggs "surprise")

Serves 2

2 lamb kidneys

Salt, pepper

5 eggs

1½ tablespoons butter

2 slices toast

You cannot fail with scrambled eggs if you cook very fresh country eggs and best quality table butter in a small copper casserole using a wooden spoon to stir them.

Soak the split kidneys in a little water and a teaspoon of vinegar for 10 minutes. Remove and dry, salt and pepper, and grill for 6 or 7 minutes only. They should be slightly pink inside. Longer cooking will tend to make them leathery.

As soon as you have started to grill the kidneys, beat the eggs lightly. Salt and pepper slightly. Melt one tablespoon butter in a small copper casserole and pour in the eggs. Stir constantly, with a wooden spoon, over a very low flame, making sure the eggs do not stick to the bottom of the cas­serole. As soon as the scrambled eggs have reached the desired consistency, remove from the fire and at once incorporate the remaining ½ tablespoon butter in small pieces. You must do this very quickly for the eggs will continue cooking as long as they remain in the copper casserole.

Have a piece of toast ready on two plates. Place a kidney on top of each and pour over the scrambled eggs so that the kidneys are hidden. Serve at once.

OEUFS BIGARADE (eggs with oranges)

Serves 2

1 orange

Sauce Tomate*

1 tablespoon Grand Marnier liqueur

1 teaspoon orange juice

1 teaspoon lemon juice

4 fresh eggs

Salt, pepper

Peel the outer rind of the orange and blanch in boiling water for 2 minutes. Leave to cool, then cut into thinnest possible julienne strips. Reserve. Remove the inner rind of the orange and cut into four thick, even slices. Reserve.

Prepare the:

SAUCE TOMATE

1 onion, chopped

Freshly ground pepper

Salt

6 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped

Flour

½ cup chicken broth or bouillon

Bouquet garni

1 tablespoon butter

Soften the onion in a small pan. Add pepper and salt and the tomatoes. Sprinkle with a little flour (less than a teaspoon), pour in the broth or bouillon, add the bouquet garni, and cook very gently, uncovered, over a low flame until almost all the liquid has disappeared from the pan. Remove the bouquet garni and strain through a fine sieve. Reheat with a walnut-size piece of butter.

Pour the Grand Marnier liqueur and the orange and lemon juice into the hot tomato sauce and mix well. You can do this over a very low fame, but be careful it does not get too hot otherwise the sauce will start to turn.

Keep the sauce hot while you cook 4 soft-boiled eggs. Place the 4 slices of orange in a hot, buttered serving dish and on top place the 4 shelled, slightly salted and peppered, soft-boiled eggs. Sprinkle them with the very fine julienne of orange. Pour the sauce over the eggs and serve at once.

OEUFS BROUILLES PORTUGAISE (scrambled eggs wtth tomatoes)

Serves 2

4 medium-sized firm tomatoes

5 eggs

1½ tablespoons butter

Salt, pepper

Peel the tomatoes by plunging them into boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain them thoroughly of their water and chop them coarsely. Place in a small pan over a low flame, so as to evaporate the remaining water.

Meanwhile, scramble the eggs as for Oeufs Brouilles "Sur­prise."* When cooked, place on a hot serving dish and top with the puree of tomatoes.

LA PIPERADE(scrambled eggs basquaise)

Serves 2

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon oil

½ cup diced bacon

4 fresh green peppers, seeded and cut in squares

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

4 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped

Salt, pepper

4 eggs

Heat the butter and the oil in a frying pan. Cook the bacon, green peppers, and onion until soft. Add the garlic and to­matoes. Salt and pepper. Raise the heat and, with a fork, keep crushing up the tomatoes so as to evaporate their water. About 2 minutes before the vegetables are cooked, add the four well-beaten eggs to the pan. Keep mixing with the fork until the eggs are sufficiently scrambled. Remove and serve the Piperade at once.

CHAKCHOUKA (ratatouille with eggs)

Serves 4

Ratatouille* 4 eggs

Prepare a hot Ratatouille. The vegetable mixture should be well crushed and smooth and not too thick.

Pour into a shallow Pyrex dish. With a soupspoon, make four hollows in the mixture. Break a fresh egg into each hol­low. Place the dish in a hot oven and leave till the eggs are cooked. Serve straight from the Pyrex dish.

Fish

FILETS DE TURBOT A L1NDIENNE(curried turbot)

Serves 4

½ cup shallots, finely chopped

4 tablespoons butter

Salt, pepper

1½ pounds fillets of turbot

1½ teaspoons curry powder

1 clove garlic, chopped

4 tomatoes, peeled, drained and coarsely chopped

1 cup dry wine, warmed

½ cup fresh cream

Soften the shallots in two tablespoons butter. Salt and pepper the fillets of turbot and place them in the bottom of a buttered oven (or Pyrex) dish. Add the curry powder and the garlic to the shallots, mix well, and spread over the fish. Add the tomatoes, dot with small pieces of butter and pour in the wine. Cook in the oven, uncovered, for 10 or 12 minutes, basting frequently. Add the fresh cream and continue basting until the fish is cooked (about 20 minutes in all).

If the sauce is too thin, then remove the fish and keep it hot while you reduce the sauce till it starts to thicken. Do not attempt to add flour as a thickening agent as this will only turn the sauce. Never boil a sauce which has both flour and cream in it, for this will spell disaster.

Arrange the fillets of turbot on a hot serving dish and pour over them the curry sauce. Serve with rice as prepared in first paragraph of recipe for Riz Creole.*

FILETS DE MAQUEREAUX A LA BRETONNE(COLD MACKEREL A LA BRETONNE)

Serves 4

4 very fresh mackerel, filleted

Court Bouillon*

1 teaspoon tarragon mustard

2 egg yolks

½ teaspoon wine vinegar

1 teaspoon chopped chives

Salt, pepper

3 tablespoons melted butter

Have your fishmonger fillet the mackerel. Poach them in the Court Bouillon for 6 or 7 minutes. Remove, drain, and arrange them neatly on a serving dish. Leave to cool.

Prepare the sauce by beating together the tarragon mustard and the egg yolks. Add slowly the vinegar, the chopped chives, and salt and pepper. Mix well. Add the warm melted butter carefully to the mixture, which should have the con­sistency of a thin mayonnaise sauce. Pour over the cold fish, sprinkle with a little more chopped chives, and decorate with parsley.

COLIN FROID, SAUCE MAYONNAISE (cold hake with mayonnaise sauce)

Serves 4

Court Bouillon*

Sauce Mayonnaise*

4 hake steaks of ¼ pound each

Start by preparing the:

2 quarts water, or enough to cover the fish well

4 bay leaves

1 sprig thyme

1½ tablespoons rock salt

2 carrots, quartered

2 onions, quartered

Small handful fresh parsley

½ cup wine vinegar

Freshly ground pepper

Cook together all the ingredients for the Court Bouillon in a large casserole. Allow to boil, covered, for three quarters of an hour. Leave to cool. When cold, add the hake steaks and bring gently to a boil, uncovered. As soon as the Court Bouillon shows signs of boiling, lower the heat at once—as low a flame as possible—and poach the fish very gently for 10 minutes.

COURT BOUILLON

Remove the fish, skin and bone it carefully, and leave to cool.

Meanwhile, prepare the:

SAUCE MAYONNAISE

2 very fresh egg yolks

½ teaspoons salt

One or two turns of the pepper mill

Dash of French mustard, to flavor

Juice of half a lemon

Oil(peanut oil is best for mayonnaise)

It is really very easy to make a mayonnaise sauce, using only a plate and a fork, if the two following rules are strictly observed. Both the eggs and the oil must be cold, and of the same temperature. And the oil must be added to the egg mixture, at the beginning, drop by drop, beating constantly.

Mix together, in a plate, the egg yolks, salt, pepper, mus­tard, and half the quantity of lemon juice. Add the oil drop by drop with the one hand, while beating all the time with the other. Never add more oil until it is entirely absorbed into the mixture. As the sauce thickens you can add a little more oil at a time. Continue pouring and beating until you have ac­quired the right consistency. When you have obtained a firm mayonnaise, add the rest of the lemon juice to smooth the sauce.

CABILLAUD AU GRATIN (codfish pie)

Serves 6

This is an economical, light fish pie, ideal for the family.

2 pounds fresh cod(middle cut)

Court Bouillon*

2 pounds potatoes

3 tablespoons butter

¼ cup milk, scalded

Salt, pepper

Celery salt

3 tablespoons oil

Handful freshly chopped parsley

Bread crumbs

Poach the cod in the Court Bouillon for 20 minutes. Remove at once and keep warm.

As soon as you place the fish in the cold Court Bouillon and put it on the stove, start boiling the potatoes. When cooked, strain them. Replace in the pan over a low flame so as to evaporate all the water. Pass the potatoes through a sieve and return to the pan. Add the butter, bit by bit, beating vigor­ously with a wooden spoon. Then gradually pour in the warm milk beating all the time till it has all been incorporated into the puree. Add salt, pepper, and celery salt.

Skin and bone the fish, and, with a fish knife and fork, flake the flesh. Add to the potatoes in the pan. Pour in the oil, add the parsley, and gently mix all together. Butter a hot oval dish or a Pyrex dish that will go into the oven. Carefully empty the fish and potato mixture into it. Spread evenly and sprinkle generously with bread crumbs. Dot with little pieces of butter and brown in the oven. Serve very hot.

Another economical, but more substantial, fish pie can be made with the fillets of six mackerel. Prepare the mashed potatoes as indicated for the Codfish Pie. Meanwhile, flour the fillets of mackerel, salt and pepper them, and fry in 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons oil. Remove the skin and bones from the fillets and break up the fish coarsely with a fork. Proceed exactly as with the cod and complete the cooking of the pie by browning it in the oven.

FILETS DE DAURADE PANNES A L'ANGLAISE (fried fillets of sea bream)

Serves 4

2 sea bream of 1 pound each

Bread crumbs

Flour

2 white of egg

Salt, pepper

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons oil

Ask your fishmonger to fillet the fish. Wash and dry them. Mix 3 parts bread crumbs with one part peppered flour. Dip the fillets of fish in the whites of egg beaten with one table­spoon oil and then in the flour and bread-crumb mixture.

Sprinkle a little salt over the bottom of a large frying pan and fry the fish, gently, on both sides in the hot butter and the remaining oil. The salt will prevent the fish sticking to the pan and the oil will prevent the butter from burning.

Serve with Pommes Pont-Neuf.*

POMMES PONT-NEUF

4 large potatoes

Salt

Cooking fat or oil

Peel and wash the potatoes and then cut them into equal-sized strips about two inches long and one quarter, or a little more, of an inch thickness. Dry them well, then cook, uncov­ered, in very hot deep fat or (preferably) oil, for 6 or 7 minutes. Remove the potatoes and drain on absorbent paper. Reheat the fat (or oil) and cook the potatoes again, rapidly, for one or two minutes, or until golden brown and crisp. Remove, dust with fine salt, and serve at once.

FILETS DE SAINT-PIERRE, SAUCE HOLLANDAISE(FILLETS OF JOHN DORY, WITH HOLLANDAISE SAUCE)

Serves 4

John Dory, an ugly fish whose weight is half made up by its head and bones, is one of the most delicious of fish and especially good with Sauce Hollandaise. Halibut, too, is ex­cellent eaten this way. Reckon a K-pound halibut steak per person, for poaching likewise in the Court Bouillon.

2 pounds filleted John Dory Sauce Hollandaise* Court Bouillon*

Start preparing the Hollandaise Sauce at the same moment that you place the fish in the Court Bouillon. As soon as it comes to a boil, the fish should poach for about 15 minutes. Remove at once and keep warm, if, by that time, you have not finished making the sauce.

SAUCE HOLLANDAISE

3 egg yolks

1 teaspoon water

½ cup butter

Salt

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Place the egg yolks and the water in the top of a double boiler over hot but not boiling water. Whisk until creamy. Add the butter, bit by bit, never putting in one piece until the previous piece has completely disappeared into the sauce. Whisk continuously. Season with a pinch of salt, add the lemon juice and serve immediately with the hot poached fillets of John Dory, accompanied with small new potatoes.

If, in the making of the sauce, it starts to thicken too much, then dilute it with a half teaspoon or more of water. The tricky thing about making Sauce Hollandaise is mostly a matter of heat. You must remove the double boiler from the fire as soon as the sauce thickens enough. If, however, it starts to curdle, then you can rectify this by adding a little boiling water and whisking again to acquire the desired consistency.

ECREVISSES SCANDINAVE(SCANDINAVIAN CRAYFISH)

Serves 4

4 dozen crayfish

10 tablespoons rock salt

4 quarts of water  

8 tablespoons sugar

1 large handful fresh parsley 

1 teaspoon paprika

1 large handful fresh dill

Wash the crayfish in cold water then plunge them into the boiling water in a large pot containing the herbs and seasoning. Cook for 10 minutes. Remove the pot from the fire and leave the crayfish to cool in the liquid. When cold, remove and place on a large serving dish filled with cracked ice.

Fowl

POULET FLAMBE (chicken with cream and brandy sauce)

Serves 4

1 tender roasting chicken

Salt, pepper

2 tablespoons cognac, warmed

¾ cup fresh cream

Riz Creole*

1 cup butter

Empty and truss the chicken. Salt and pepper the chicken and brown it quickly on all sides in the butter in a casserole. Then lower the heat and cook gently, covered, for about three quarters of an hour. When it is nearly cooked, remove and cut up and replace in the casserole.

Raise the heat and pour in the warmed cognac and blaze. If the cognac is poured in cold and the casserole itself is not sufficiently hot then you may not succeed in setting the brandy alight.

Remove the pieces of chicken, after turning them well around in the juice of the casserole, and keep hot. Add the cream to the juice in the casserole, bring slowly to the boil, reduce the heat and cook very gently, stirring all the time with a wooden spoon, until the sauce starts to thicken. Rectify the seasoning.

Serve the chicken with Riz Creole, making a mound of it in the center of a hot serving dish, and arrange the chicken around it. Serve the sauce separately.

Reserve the giblets, the bones and the carcass for making the Cream of Vegetable and Chicken Soup.*

POULE AU POT (boiled chicken with vegetables)

Serves 5

1 young boiling fowl of 3½-4 pounds

1 veal knucklebone, split

3 quarts consommé, or chicken bouillon(or water)

3 onions, two stuck with one clove each

2 turnips, diced

3 carrots, diced

1 stick celery, diced

5 leeks, cut into ½-inch strips

½ cup barley(optional)

Bouquet garni

Salt, pepper

Stuffing

1 cup bread crumbs

½ cup milk

Liver and heart of chicken, chopped

¼ pound sausage meat

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 egg

1 teaspoon fresh tarragon leaves, chopped

Salt, pepper

Reserve the chicken giblets. Prepare the stuffing. First let the bread crumbs soak in the milk, then mix in thoroughly with all the other ingredients for the stuffing. To make the stuffing lighter, add a little water to the mixture. Stuff the chicken and sew it up. Place the chicken, with the neck, wings, feet, giz­zard, and the veal knucklebone, in the bottom of a large pot. A large earthenware marmite, which retains the heat better than any other kind of receptacle, is ideal for cooking this dish. Add three quarts consommé, or bouillon (or water). Bring to the boil, skim thoroughly, and cook for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat and add the vegetables, the barley, and the bouquet garni. Salt and pepper, cover, and simmer for one and a half hours, or until the chicken is tender.

Remove the chicken. Carve it and serve with the vegetables, a little of the broth, rock salt, and tiny gherkins.

Alternatively, you can serve the chicken with rice and a White Sauce.*

The broth, with the vegetables, makes a delicious soup, especially if you have added the barley.

If you have an ample quantity of chicken and stuffing left over then you can make Croquettes de Volaille a la Duchesse by mixing equal quantities of finely chopped chicken and stuffing with Pommes Duchesse.*

CROQUETTES DE VOLAILLE A LA DUCHESSE (chicken and potato croquettes)

Serves 6

Pommes Duchesse

1 pound cooked chicken and stuffing, finely chopped

1 white of egg

Flour

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons oil

Make 1 pound of Pommes Duchesse by preparing half of the quantity of Puree de Pommes de Terre* as prescribed by Dumaine. But instead of the milk, substitute 1 egg yolk (reserve the white for coating the croquettes) and 1 table­spoon grated cheese.

Beat the chopped chicken and the stuffing into the Pommes Duchesse and leave to cool, then form into croquettes or ris­soles. Dip into the beaten white of egg then roll in flour. Heat the butter and the oil in a large frying pan and brown the croquettes on either side till golden. Serve at once.

Meat

EPAULE DE VEAU AUX OIGNONS (shoulder of veal with onions)

Serves 4

1½ pounds shoulder of veal

Knucklebone of veal, split

6 tablespoons butter

24 baby onions

Salt, pepper

Have your butcher cover the sides of the piece of veal with larding pork. This will prevent the meat from becoming dry in the cooking process. Heat the butter in a cocotte and as soon as melted add the baby onions and brown them quickly on all sides. Remove and keep warm.

Brown the veal on all sides in the butter in which you have sautéed the onions. Season with salt and pepper. Lower the heat, cover securely, and simmer for three quarters of an hour, after which time add the onions. When you remove the lid from the cocotte, do so carefully, tipping it so that the water from the steam drips back into the juice in the cocotte. Continue cooking very gently, and securely covered, for another half an hour. Remove the meat and the onions and keep hot on a serving dish.

Strain the juice from the cocotte through a fine sieve, with a cheesecloth to catch the fat. Reheat the sauce and serve separately, along with Puree de Pommes de Terre.*

If you have inadvertently put too much salt into the mashed potatoes then an extra tablespoon of milk, or cream, will rectify this. A Puree de Pommes de Terre should be eaten as soon as it is cooked. But if your guests are late for dinner then flatten the surface of the mashed potatoes and pour over it a table­spoon of milk, or enough just to cover it. This will prevent a crust forming on top of the potatoes. Cover the pan and keep warm in a bain-marie (double boiler) or in a slow oven. Just before serving, beat the milk into the potatoes.

POT-AU-FEU A LA LANGUE DE VEAU(VEAL TONGUE COOKED IN POT-AU-FEU)

Serves 4

This is what I term a "multipurpose" dish as four separate preparations can be made out of it.

1. Prepare the Pot-au-Feu* as indicated in the recipe, but without the marrow bone, the calf’s foot, and the garlic.

Soak a 2-3-pound veal tongue overnight in plenty of cold water. In the morning, drain and wash well. Place the tongue and the knucklebone in the cold water in the pot, bring to the boil, skim thoroughly, reduce the heat, and boil gently for a quarter of an hour. Remove as much of the fat as possible then add all the vegetables and the herbs and the seasoning. Simmer, covered, for an hour and a half, or until tender. Re­move the tongue, trim the root end, and take off the skin.

Serve the tongue in the same way as the beef with the drained vegetables arranged neatly around it.

2. You can eat the rest of the tongue cold, or all of it cold, instead of hot, with:

Salt, pepper

3 tablespoons shallots, chopped

¼ cup dry white wine

¼ cup wine vinegar

1 cup broth from the Pot-au-Feu

3 teaspoons potato flour

1 tablespoon freshly chopped parsley

1 tablespoons mixed, freshly chopped, tarragon and chives

1 teaspoon capers

1 small gherkin, sliced

Salt and pepper the shallots and simmer in the wine and vine­gar until reduced by half. Add the broth from the Pot-au-Feu and simmer for another 10 minutes. Thicken with the flour blended with a little of the broth. Mix in gradually, stirring well all the time over a very low flame. Just before serving add the herbs, the capers and the gherkin. Rectify the season­ing. Serve warm.

SAUCE PIQUANTE

3. Do not discard the root end of the tongue as this can be used to make delicious, light:

CROQUETTES GRAND'MERE

1 onion, shredded

3 tablespoons butter

½ pound finely chopped cooked root end of tongue

½ pound finely chopped, cooked shoulder of pork

1 egg

6 tablespoons bread crumbs

Salt, pepper

Flour

1 tablespoon oil

Soften the onion in a little butter, then mix well together with the tongue, pork, egg, and bread crumbs. Salt and pep­per. Gradually add water to the mixture and knead with the hands until you obtain a malleable consistency. Wet the hands, which will prevent the fingers from becoming sticky and enable you easily and quickly to form croquettes, rolled in flour, of the desired size and shape. Heat the butter and oil in a frying pan and brown the croquettes on all sides till golden. Serve with a Sauce Tomate.*

4. The Pot-au-Feu, in which the tongue has cooked, makes an excellent and nourishing soup.

ROGNONNADE DE VEAU PRINTANIERE (saddle of veal with spring vegetables)

Serves 4

Rognonnade de Veau is made from a cut of veal known in France as longe de veau. It corresponds to the chump end of loin of veal and is similar to the saddle cut of lamb. Here, on the inner side of the veal cutlets, you will find the kidney.

Have your butcher remove the kidney and cut away most of the outer fat. The longe should then be boned, the kidney replaced, and the bavette, or flap-end of the cutlets, wrapped around it and the whole rolled and tied for braising.

1½ pounds chump end of loin of veal, with the kidney

½ cup butter

1 cup carrots, sliced

12 small onions

1 cup water

Bouquet, garni

Salt, pepper

Brown the meat in the butter in a stew pan, then add the carrots and the onions. When they, too, are browned, add the warm water and the bouquet garni. Salt and pepper, cover and cook very gently for about one and a quarter hours, or until the veal is tender. You can tell when the meat is suffi­ciently cooked by pricking it with the sharp end of a kitchen knife. If a drop or two of clear liquid oozes out of the meat, then it is cooked enough.

Garnish with new potatoes and hearts of artichokes; spinach; or spring vegetables.

SAUTE DE VEAU MARENGO (veal stew with tomatoes)

2½ pounds breast of veal

Salt, pepper

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons oil

6 medium-sized onions

6 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and quartered

¼ cup flour

1 cup dry white wine

1 cup consommé or bouillon

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

Bouquet garni

½ cup sliced mushrooms

Chopped parsley

Cut the meat up into 1½-inch cubes. Salt and pepper them and brown in the hot butter and oil, in a saucepan, along with the onions. Add the tomatoes and then the flour to make a roux. Warm the white wine and the consomme, or bouillon (or water) and add to the saucepan, along with the garlic and the bouquet garni. Cover and simmer gently for three quarters of an hour. Add the sliced mushrooms, cover, and simmer for another quarter of an hour. Serve with Riz Creole* and with chopped parsley sprinkled over the meat

Serves 6

FOIE DE VEAU AUX RAISINS SECS(CALF'S LIVER WTTH RAISINS)

Serves 6

Salt, pepper

6 sliced of calf’s liver

2 tablespoons flour

3 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon wine vinegar

¼ cup bouillon

Pinch of brown sugar

2 tablespoons Madeira

Soak in warm water for 3 hours:

¼ cup light raisins

¼ cup dark raisins

Salt and pepper and dredge the slices of liver in flour. Turn them quickly in the hot butter in a frying pan. Remove and place in a buttered Pyrex dish in a warm oven.

Add a half tablespoon of flour to the butter in the frying pan and mix in well, scraping the bottom of the pan, with a wooden spoon. As soon as the butter and the flour start to color, pour in the vinegar and then the bouillon. Add the pinch of brown sugar and boil rapidly for 1 or 2 minutes. Re­move the pan from the fire and pour in the Madeira. Stir and then pass the sauce through a fine sieve with a damp cheesecloth. Return the sauce to a small casserole. Add the raisins and heat the sauce, but be careful that it does not boil.

Pour the sauce over the slices of liver and serve with new potatoes.

POT-AU-FEU ALEXANDRE (boiled beef with vegetables)

Serves 6 to 8

2 pounds shin of beef

½ calf’s foot

1 knucklebone of veal

1 marrow bone of beef

8 pints of water

1½ pounds of leeks, cut into 1-inch slices

1½ pounds of carrots, sliced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 pound turnips, cut and sliced

½ pound celeriac, cut and sliced

4 onions, three stuck with one clove each

Bouquet garni

1 tablespoon rock salt

Freshly ground pepper

Pot-au-Feu is one of the national dishes of France. It is a per­fect dish for a large family and is economical and easy to pre­pare.

Ask your butcher to tie up the piece of meat and to leave a length of string attached. This is to enable you to pull out the meat from the bottom of the pot, instead of fishing for it among the bones and vegetables.

Blanch the calf’s foot and the knucklebone in boiling salted water for 10 minutes. Remove and rinse well. Place the beef, with the length of string hanging outside the pot, the calf's foot, and the knucklebone in the pot. Add the marrow bone. Pour in the water and bring to a boil. Skim thoroughly. Lower the heat, cover, and boil over a medium flame for one hour. Skim off all the fat. An effective way of doing this is to sprinkle cold water on the surface of the liquid in the pot. You will then see the fat rise to the top. Or else, you can leave the Pot-au-Feu in a cool place overnight. By the morning, the fat will have formed a cake which can be easily and quickly removed.

Put the Pot-au-Feu back on the stove. Add the carrots, turnips, and celeriac. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat. After a quarter of an hour, add the leeks and the onions, and the garlic, the bouquet garni, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for two and a half to three hours.

Pull out the meat with the aid of the string, slice and place on a hot serving dish with the vegetables arranged around it. Serve with boiled potatoes, gherkins, and horseradish.

Replace in the pot what is left of the meat. This Pot-au-Feu improves as it is progressively reheated. The soup is most nourishing and the last plateful of it is the best of all!

STEAK TARTARE

Serves 1

The secret of a really good Steak Tartare is that the meat should be very fresh and eaten as soon as possible after it has been minced.

½ pound tender rump steak, finely minced

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon capers

1 tablespoon raw chopped onions

½ tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

½ tablespoon tomato ketchup

1 teaspoon olive oil

Dash Worcestershire sauce

Dash Tabasco

Salt, pepper

Have your butcher mince the meat very finely. Make a flat round of the raw meat in the middle of a plate. With a spoon, make a hollow on top and in it place the raw egg yolk. Around the meat, arrange the capers and the chopped onions and parsley.

Bring to the table and mix well together, and season to taste, with all the other ingredients.

BOEUF DANOIS(beef stew)

Serves 8

2½ pounds shin of beef

1½ cup onions, sliced

½ cup butter

Salt, pepper

2 marrow bones

1 knucklebone, split

5 bay leaves

Warm water

Red wine(optional)

4 tablespoons flour

This is a simplified Danish version of the well-known Boeuf Bourguignon. It is very easily prepared, is economical (the cut of beef is a cheap one) and is excellent when reheated.

With a very sharp kitchen knife, remove all fat and gristle from the meat. Cut into cubes and beat each piece of meat with a heavy flat instrument so as to make it more tender for cooking.

Soften the onions in the butter in a stew pan. Remove and reserve. Brown the cubes of meat in the same butter. Season slightly with salt and pepper. Return the onions to the pan. Add the split knucklebone and the two marrow bones to either ends of which pat in just a little rock salt. This will prevent the marrow from escaping out into the stew during the cook­ing process.

Add the bay leaves and pour in sufficient warm water to cover the meat and the bones. Cover, lower the heat, and simmer for two hours. Remove the knucklebone and pour in red wine to taste. Cover and simmer for another hour.

Remove the pan from the fire. Make a paste with the flour and a little cold water and stir into the stew very gently and slowly, stirring well all the time. Replace the pan on the fire, cover, and bring back slowly to the boil. Simmer for quarter of an hour, then remove the marrow bones. (Marrow, on toast, makes a very good savory.)

Serve the stew straight from the pan accompanied with Mashed Potatoes (Puree de Pommes de Terre).*

STEAK MOYEN AGE(medieval steak)

Serves 2,

This recipe originates from medieval Flanders. It is a winter dish and required to be cooked over a log fire. It makes an excellent and pleasantly different barbecued steak.

1 thick fillet steak for two Rosemary persons

Do not salt the steak but merely press, with the heel of the hand, plenty of rosemary into the flesh of the steak on either side. Place in a greased folding wire broiler with a long handle and grill over the glowing embers on either side—3 to 4 min­utes on either side should be sufficient to cook it medium-to-rare. The herb will sputter and crackle over the heat and its aroma will sink into the meat. As soon as the steak is suffi­ciently grilled remove the rosemary still adhering to the meat and place at once on very hot plates. Serve with Pommes Pont-Neuf.

NAVARIN DE MOUTON(mutton stew)

Serves 4

2 pounds shoulder of mutton, honed

Bouquet garni

1 cup carrots, diced

2 tablespoons butter

1 cup turnips, diced

Salt, pepper

15 baby onions

Pinch of sugar

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 tablespoons flour

12 small new potatoes

Warm water

1 cup cooked peas

4 tomatoes, peeled and seeded

Have your butcher chop up the shoulder of mutton into pieces of about 2 ounces each. Brown the meat well on all sides in the butter in a large cocotte. Season with salt and pepper and add a pinch of sugar. Add the flour to make a roux. Stir thoroughly and pour in sufficient warm water to cover the meat. Bring to a boil, stir again, and add the tomatoes and the bouquet garni. Cover, reduce the heat, and cook gently for one hour.

Remove the meat and keep hot. Pour the juice in the co-cotte through a fine sieve, into a pan. Remove as much of the fat as possible by sprinkling the surface of the liquid with cold water and then skimming.

Return the meat and the liquid to the cocotte (which should have been well rinsed with hot water in order to remove any particles of bone) and add all the vegetables, except the potatoes and the peas. Add the garlic, cover, and simmer for half an hour, then add the potatoes and, a quarter of an hour afterwards, the peas. Turn the contents of the cocotte very carefully with a wooden spoon, cover and simmer for another quarter of an hour.

Serve the Navarin straight from the cocotte. This dish is excellent when reheated.

COEURS D'AGNEAU FARCIS(stuffed lambs' hearts)

Serves 4

4 lambs' hearts  

2 tablespoons butter

Salt, pepper

1 tablespoon flour

Parsley

Powdered sugar

Clean the hearts and soak them in cold water to rinse out the clotted blood inside. Dry them and salt and pepper them in­side and then stuff them with plenty of fresh parsley, not chopped but which has simply had the stalks removed.

Brown the hearts well on all sides in the butter in a small casserole. Pour over sufficient warm water to come up to two thirds of the level of the hearts. Cover securely and simmer for one hour. Remove and skim off the fat. Make a paste of the flour and a little water and pour in gently, stirring well all the time. Put back on the fire, rectify the seasoning, and add a pinch of sugar. Cover and simmer for quarter of an hour. Serve with new potatoes and French Beans.*

COTES D'AGNEAU GRILLEES A LA PROVENCALE (lamb chops with grilled tomatoes)

Serves 2

4 firm tomatoes, finely chopped

2 tablespoons butter

Chervil

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

Parsley

Salt, pepper

4 lamb chops

Cut the tomatoes in half horizontally and, with the aid of a teaspoon, scoop out the water and seeds from each segment and insert tiny pieces of butter. Sprinkle each tomato with garlic and a little of the herbs (two portions of chervil to one of parsley). Salt and pepper slightly and place under the grill.

While the tomatoes are grilling, cook the lamb chops. Do not salt them before placing on the grill. As soon as both are done serve together at once.

PORC A L’ORANGE(PORK WITH ORANGE)

Serves 6

3 pounds loin of pork

3 tablespoons butter

Salt, pepper

2 tablespoons cognac, warmed

1 knucklebone of veal

Bouquet garni

4 carrots, diced

½ cup dry white wine

½ cup chicken bouillon

2 oranges

Arrowroot

Brown the meat on all sides, in the butter, in a cocotte. Salt and pepper. Pour in the cognac and blaze. Add the knuckle-bone of veal, the bouquet garni, and the carrots. Pour in the white wine and the bouillon, cover and simmer for one and a half hours, or until the pork is tender.

Meanwhile, take two oranges. Peel the rind of both and blanch in boiling water for 2 minutes. Remove and leave to cool and then cut into the thinnest possible julienne strips. Squeeze out the juice from one of the oranges and reserve. Skin the other one and cut into slices and reserve.

When the pork is cooked, remove from the cocotte, along with the carrots, and cut into slices and arrange on a hot serving dish. Strain the juice in the cocotte through a sieve with a damp cheesecloth, so as to catch the fat, and pour into a small pan. Add the orange juice and the orange julienne strips. Make a thin paste with a little arrowroot and water and add to the sauce so as to thicken it. Bring to a boil, cook gently for 6 or 7 minutes, stirring well, then pour over the sliced pork. Arrange the slices of orange around the meat and serve at once.

CURRY A L1NDO-CHINOISE(curried pork)

Serves 6

2½ pounds boned bladebone of pork

2 tablespoons butter

Salt

3 tablespoons oil

1 cup onions, chopped

1½ tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon curry powder

3 cups warm water

5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

Riz Creole*

Palm shoots

6 eggs

3 firm, medium-sized tomatoes

Juice of a lemon

Mango chutney

Cut the meat into cubes and brown quickly on all sides in the butter, in a stew pan. Salt, cover, and keep warm.

Heat the oil in a deep frying pan over a brisk flame, and as soon as it starts to smoke, add the onions. Keep stirring well with a wooden spoon until the onions start to color, then add the flour and the curry powder (a strong Madras curry powder is the best). Lower the heat and pour in one cup warm -water. Stir well, and 2 or 3 minutes later, pour in another cup of warm water. After 5 minutes, add a third cup of warm water. Raise the heat so that the liquid comes to a boil. Stir well and pour into the stew pan containing the meat. Add the garlic, bring to a boil, and cook rapidly for 5 minutes; then cover, lower the heat, and simmer very gently for two hours. If the liquid reduces too rapidly, gradually add more hot water. Stir every now and again with a wooden spoon, to prevent the meat sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Meanwhile, prepare the rice:

RIZ CREOLE (CREOLE BICE)

½ tablespoon butter

1½ cups unwashed long-grain rice

3 cups coiling water

Salt

Melt the butter in the bottom of a casserole. The rice will cook better in a copper casserole which retains an even dis­tribution of heat throughout. Add the rice and stir, with a wooden spoon, over a medium flame, for about a minute only. Then pour in the boiling water. Add a little salt. Place a folded clean kitchen cloth over the casserole, and on top four plates (for the curry dish). Lower the heat and boil gently for 20 to 25 minutes by which time the water will have disap­peared and the rice should be perfectly cooked, with every grain separate. (Leftover Riz Creole may be used in the preparation of Tomates du Midi.*)

Remove the curried pork and serve garnished with palm shoots, fried eggs (which, to remove easily from the pan without breaking them, should be lifted out with a kitchen spatula preheated in boiling water) and slices of cold, fresh tomatoes to offset the hot sauce. // the curry sauce is found to be too strong then whisk a little fresh coconut milk into it.

This dish can be made to look very attractive if the rice from a ring mold is set in the center of a large, hot serving dish and the curried pork, with the sauce poured over it, placed in the middle of it. Place palm shoots at either end of the dish and, around the ring of rice, alternate slices of tomatoes with fried eggs. Serve the mango chutney separately.

This curry dish improves on being reheated. Remove the top fat, add the juice of a lemon, turn the pieces of meat gently with a wooden spoon, and reheat slowly.

Vegetable Dishes

CHOUX DE BRUXELLES A LA POLONAISE(BRUSSELS SPROUTS A LA POLONAISE)

Serves 4

2 pounds Brussels sprouts, of equal size

2 or 3 sprigs of parsley

¼ cup cold, crumbled, hard-boiled egg yolks

2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley

½ cup butter

2 tablespoons bread crumbs

Remove the outer leaves and cut off the hard end of the stalks of the sprouts. Wash well and leave for quarter of an hour in a basin of warm, salted water. Remove and drain thoroughly.

Plunge the sprouts into a large pan of boiling, salted water. Add the sprigs of (well-washed) parsley which, during the cooking process, will take away some of the bitterness from the sprouts. Cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes or until the sprouts are just tender (they must not get soft). Remove at once, strain, and place in a hot buttered dish.

Mix together the crumbled egg yolks and the parsley and sprinkle over the sprouts. Heat the butter in a small pan until it starts to turn nut brown. Add the bread crumbs and fry them rapidly. As soon as the butter becomes frothy remove and pour over the sprouts and serve at once.

CHOU-FLEUR AU GRATIN(CAULIFLOWER AU GRATIN)

Serves 4

1 cauliflower of about 3 pounds

Salt

White Sauce*

½ cup mixed, grated Gruyere and Parmesan cheese

Bread crumbs

Butter

Detach the flowerets from the cauliflower, cut off the harder piece from the stalks, and place in a large pan of warm, salted water. Wash and rinse thoroughly, then plunge the flowerets into large pot of boiling, salted water. Boil, un­covered, for about 8 minutes, or until just cooked (the stalks must remain firm, just giving way to the fingers and no more). Remove from the fire and pour in a glass of cold water. This will stop the cauliflower from cooking more and enable you to take your time removing the flowerets carefully and placing them on absorbent paper to drain them of their water.

Prepare the:

sauce blanche (white sauce)

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

Salt, pepper

1½ cups of scalded milk

Salt, pepper

Nutmeg

Make a roux by mixing the hot butter and the flour in a small pan. Stir over a medium flame until it starts to color. Gradually add the milk which should be the same temperature as the roux. When all the milk has been added, lower the flame and simmer for 20 minutes. At the last minute add a teaspoon of butter, a little salt and pepper, and a pinch of grated nutmeg. Butter an oval Pyrex dish and arrange in it, evenly, the flowerets of cauliflower. Sprinkle over them half the grated cheese. Pour over the White Sauce, sprinkle again with the rest of the cheese. Cover with bread crumbs, dot with small pieces of butter, and brown in the oven. Serve very hot.

Reserve the water in which the cauliflower has cooked for using in the preparation of soups.

CHOU FARCI(stuffed cabbage)

Serves 8

2 pounds shoulder of pork

12 tablespoons bread crumbs

2 onions, shredded

1 egg

Salt, pepper

Water

1 large, fresh, white cabbage

4 tablespoons butter

Pinch of sugar

2 pounds small new potatoes

2 tablespoons flour

Grated nutmeg

Order two pounds of shoulder of pork from your butcher and get him to trim it of all excess fat and then mince it. Mix well together the meat, the bread crumbs, the onions, and the raw egg. Season with salt and pepper. Gradually add a cup or more of water to the mixture and knead with the hands until you obtain a malleable consistency.

Remove the core of the cabbage and separate the leaves. Place them in a pan and pour over them 2 cups of warm, salted water. Bring to the boil. Press down the leaves of the cabbage until they start to soften. Remove and drain.

Place 2 tablespoons of butter and a cup of water in the bottom of a stew pan, then line it with two thirds of the cabbage leaves. Add a pinch of sugar and a little pepper. Add the pork stuffing, cover with the remaining cabbage leaves. Cover the stew pan and simmer for about three quar­ters of an hour, or until the cabbage leaves are tender. Mean­while, cook the potatoes.

Remove and strain off the juice from the dish. Make a roux with the flour and the rest of the butter and slowly add the strained juice to make a White Sauce.* Add a pinch of grated nutmeg to the sauce and, at the last minute, the final juice from the stuffed cabbage. Turn the stuffed cabbage upside down onto a hot dish and serve at once, sliced, with the potatoes and the White Sauce.

If you have some of the pork stuffing left over, then you can use this for making pleasantly light fried meat balls. Mini­ature size, they are delicious, in soups (reserve the water in which the cabbage has cooked for this purpose). All you need do is to drop them into boiling water for a few minutes. When they rise to the surface, they are sufficiently cooked for placing in the soup tureen.

Salads

SALADE CHINOISE(CHINESE SALAD)

Serves 4

This is a most refreshing summer salad and is useful for using what is left of the carcass of the cold chicken.

1 cup soya bean sprouts

½ cup chilled New Orleans prawns

½ cup diced cooked chicken

Sauce Vinaigrette*

1 fresh, crisp romaine(cos) lettuce, cut in strips

2 tomatoes, sliced and quartered

½ cup sliced and quartered cucumber

Wash thoroughly the Soya bean sprouts and plunge them into boiling, salted water for just under 1 minute. Remove im­mediately and dry and chill them.

The New Orleans prawns should be steamed rapidly for about 10 minutes, or until the shells turn red as when cook­ing lobster. Then shell them, cut into thin slices when cold, and place in the refrigerator along with the diced chicken.

Prepare the Sauce Vinaigrette preferably with the lemon juice and without the tarragon mustard. Pour into a salad bowl. Place in it the vegetables and arrange the chicken and prawns neatly on top. Leave in the refrigerator to chill. Turn the salad at the last minute before serving.

SALADE DES ORFEVRES(endive, beetroot, and walnut salad)

Serves 4

1 cup diced beetroot

½ cup walnuts, halved

¾ pound fresh, firm Belgian endive

Sauce Viaigrette*

Dice the beetroot, halve the walnuts, and wash and dry the endives and cut into 1½-inch slices.

Prepare the:

SAUCE VINAIGRETTE

4 tablespoons olive or peanut oil

A little tarragon mustard

Freshly ground pepper

1 tablespoon wine vinegar, or lemon juice

Salt

Mix all the ingredients well together and pour into a salad bowl. Place in it the endives, beetroot, and walnuts. Leave in the refrigerator to chill. Bring to the table and turn the salad in the dressing just before serving.

SALADE FI-FI (romaine [cos] and mushroom salad)

Serves 4

Sauce Vinaigrette*

1 fresh, crisp romaine(cos) lettuce, cut in broad strips

½ cup finely sliced, raw mushrooms

1 tablespoon finely chopped mixed chives and parsley

Prepare the Sauce Vinaigrette and pour into the salad bowl. Place in it the lettuce and, on top, the sliced mushrooms. Sprinkle with the herbs. Place in the refrigerator to chill. Turn the salad at the table just before serving.

Desserts

RIZ A L'AMANDE (bice and almond dessert)

Serves 12

6 tablespoons rice

2 pints milk

½ stick vanilla, split

¼ ounce powdered gelatin or 10 gelatin leaves

¼ cup water

¾ cup sugar

3 cups cream

6 tablespoons almonds, peeled and chopped

Rum or port wine to flavor

Cook the rice gently in the milk for about three quarters of an hour, with the vanilla stick. Meanwhile, soak the gelatin leaves in cold water. When the rice is cooked, remove from the flame, add the sugar, and leave to cool. Drain the water from the gelatin leaves and melt them very gently (they must not cook) over a low flame. Whip the cream.

Add the melted gelatin to the cold cooked rice. Next add the chopped almonds and the flavoring and stir in very gently so as not to break the grains of the rice.

Add the whipped cream to the dish, mixing it in well and right down to the bottom of the bowl in which it is going to be served, until the whole starts to set. Leave to chill until ready to serve.

BANANES SUR TOAST (bananas on toast)

Serves 4

3 bananas

1 tablespoon butter, softened

½ teaspoon lemon juice

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon paprika

4 slices toast

Mash the bananas and incorporate the butter, lemon juice, salt, and paprika. Spread evenly over four pieces of toast. Heat under the grill until the surface is slightly browned. Serve at

MOUSSE AU CITRON(lemon mousse)

Serves 6

5 eggs

½ cup powdered sugar

1 cup cream

½ ounce powdered gelatin or 7 gelatin leaves

½ cup water

Juice of 1½ lemons

Separate the eggs and beat together the yolks with the sugar until they turn white.

Beat the whites of the eggs till very stiff. Beat the cream till it, too, stiffens. Soak the gelatin in the cold water. Stir the lemon juice into the egg yolks. Drain the water from the gelatin leaves and melt them very gently over a low flame. Stir the melted gelatin gently into the egg-yolk, sugar, and lemon mixture, and when it starts to stiffen fold in, very care­fully, the egg whites. Add half the quantity of the cream, mixing gently right down to the bottom of the bowl so that it be­comes light and fluffy. Empty into the serving bowl and decorate with the rest of the cream. The serving bowl should be rinsed with cold water so as to prevent the mousse from sticking to the sides.

MOUSSE AU CAFE (coffee mousse)

Serves 6

3 eggs

½ cup powdered sugar

2 cups cream

½ ounce powdered gelatin or 5 gelatin leaves

¼ cup water

½ cup strong, black, cold coffee

Separate the eggs and beat together the yolks with the sugar until they turn white.

Beat the whites of the eggs till very stiff. Beat the cream till it, too, stiffens. Soak the gelatin in the cold water. Stir cold black coffee into the egg yolks. Drain the water from the gelatin and melt very gently over a low flame. Stir the melted gelatin into the egg-yolk, sugar, and coffee mixture, and when it starts to stiffen fold in, very gently, the egg whites. Be careful not to crush them. Add the cream, stirring very gently, right down to the bottom of the bowl. Keep stirring gently until the mousse starts to stiffen, as the gelatin other­wise will settle in the bottom. Empty into the serving bowl, which should be rinsed with cold water, and decorate with a little cream.

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