The housewife's referee

So few English cooks can make a good breakfast omelette that scrambled " eggs, with or without chopped ham, mushrooms, or tomatoes make a very good substitute. They require but a few minutes to cook, but the various substances added must be separately cooked first. Minced tongue, ham, or truffles, can be stirred into the frying-pan, if finely chopped, but mushrooms and tomatoes must be stewed or fried first to soften them. Heating a little cream, and mixing it with eggs, forms a favourite variety. Any remains of fish left from the previous evening's dinner make capital little breakfast dishes, such as kedgeree, scallops, fish cakes, and balls. Grills of every description require but little time and make most palatable dishes. These grills can be changed ad infinitum by adding different condiments, such as curry powder, some Worcester sauce, Lea's sauce piquante, or a teaspoonful of brandy with a lump of butter. In making a dry grill, but a small quantity of butter is used; the pieces should be first warmed through and then well covered by the mixture, after which they can be cooked in the frying-pan, and some more mixture poured over them, or done on the gridiron. No game should be grilled ; a salmi is the only way in which they should be rechauffed ; but as they take too much time for the early breakfast they are best eaten cold. Fillets of sole à l'Orientale is a delicious dish. Dip some fillets in egg and flour, and fry them in salad oil, then roll and allow to get cool : then cover them with a sauce made with a gill of fresh cream, adding two teaspoonfuls of essence of anchovy ; well mix, and then add, drop by drop, the juice of half a lemon and two teaspoonfuls of essence of anchovy. THE housewife's REFEREE Mix well, and then add, drop by drop, the juice of half a lemon. Chicken Croquettes. — Mince the remains of any cold fowl or game, and add half its weight in minced ham or tongue, and the same of mushrooms. Make a sauce with one ounce of butter, one ounce of flour, with a gill of milk or stock (or half of each), some finely minced parsley, a few pieces of finely grated lemon peel, pepper, salt, and cayenne to taste, with a little grated thyme; stir these together over the fire till smooth, then stir in the chicken and cook over the fire ; when cooked, turn it out to get cool, and when perfectly cold shape it into balls or cutlets, using flour to prevent the hands sticking , then brush the balls over with beaten egg and roll in fine breadcrumbs, and fry in plenty of friture to a golden brown; drain on blotting paper, and serve very hot garnished with fried parsley. Cold Salmon. — Put the remains of any salmon left from the day before on a dish, and cut it into neat pieces and cover with mayonnaise sauce ; garnish with cray fish and parsley. Grillade of Fowl. — Score deeply the legs of a cold roast fowl and cover with the following sauce : — Two teaspoonfuls of salad oil, one of Chutney, a teaspoonful of Brand's anchovy paste, a teaspoonful of French mustard, and a dust of cayenne ; let the fowl remain covered with this from half an hour to an hour, then grill it over a good, bright, clear fire.