The art of cookery

Puree of Salsify. — Cook together one tablespoonful of butter and two tablespoonfuls of flour, add one cup of sweet milk and two cups of salsify cooked and rubbed through a sieve. Let simmer five minutes, pour in a cup of sweet cream, bring to boiling point, season to taste, and serve. Chicken or veal broth may be used in place of milk and cream in this puree. Purees may be made of carrots, turnips, parsnips, beets, and other vegetables in the same way they are made of salsify, asparagus, etc. In a similar manner they can be made of chicken, game, fish, and shell fish — the meat or fish being cooked tender, then ground or pounded and rubbed through a sieve. Puree of Chestnuts. — Blanch two cups of hulled chestnuts, put them in two cups of boiling water slightly salted, cook until tender, then rub through a sieve. Put into a sauce-pan with two cups of chicken or veal stock, thicken with one tablespoonful of butter and two table- Soup- Making. 125 spoonfuls of flour cooked together, add a teaspoonful of sugar, let simmer five minutes, season to taste, and serve. Puree of Lentils. — In six cups of cold water cook a quart of lentils, a slice of lean ham, the skeleton of a roast chicken or other fowl, an onion, and half a dozen roots of celery. Strain the broth into a saucepan, rub the lentils through a sieve, add them to the broth, thicken with a tablespoonful of butter and two tablespoonfuls of flour cooked together, let simmer five minutes, season, and serve. A simpler puree of lentils may be made by cooking the lentils in salted water, rubbing them through a sieve, mixing them with the water in which they were cooked, and then thickening the mixture with butter and flour. Puree of Sorrel. — Boil a quart of sorrel until tender, then drain and rub through a sieve. Cook together a tablespoonful of butter and two tablespoonfuls of flour, add to it the sorrel and four cups of chicken, veal, or beef broth. Let simmer five minutes, season to taste, and serve. A cup of sweet cream may be added, if liked, just before the puree is taken from the fire. CHAPTER XL MEAT SAUCES. The principles involved in making- meat sauces are similar to those involved in making many soups ; and the relation between the two subjects is so intimate that from quite a number of sauces — when properly prepared — excellent soups can be made by simply adding water and seasoning. A sauce is a liquid, semi-liquid, or stiff mixture composed of oil, butter, cream, flour, eggs, fish, shell fish, game, poultry, meat, vegetables, and fruits or fruit extracts, flavored and seasoned with herbs, spices, and condiments. The mission of a sauce is to improve or render more appetizing the dish with which it is served ; and when needed for such purpose it should be chosen with that object in view. Mixtures, denominated sauces, are too frequently and too indiscriminately served. A sauce that is inaptly chosen, and is unsuitable for the dish with which it is served, detracts from, instead of improving, the flavor of the dish. And a sauce served with a dish when it is not needed is simply an impertinence. A knowledge of these facts should lead to a strict observance of the following rules : ist. All foods of delicate flavors when freshly cooked are not, except in rare cases, improved by being served with made sauces ; 2d, -126 Meat Sauces. 127