Peel the cucumber thinly, cut it in half lengthways, remove the seed part, cut up the remainder into pieces and put it into a stewpan with the butter. Stir over a brisk fire for a few minutes, then add about a gill of stock and a pinch of salt ; cook till tender, then rub it through a fine sieve. Beat up the eggs and strain this into the above pulp ; colour it with a few drops of spinach greening, to give it a greenish tint ; season with pepper, nutmeg, and salt to taste, and mix well. Have ready some buttered dariole moulds, garnish the bottom of each with a star-shaped slice of truffle, fill each mould with the 456 THE NEW CENTURY COOKERY BOOK prepared custard and poach till quite firm. Unmould on to a hot dish, -sauce over with tomato sauce, and serve. 1861. Concombre farci ( Staffed Cucumber). — Select a large cucumber and cut it into pieces about two inches long. Take out the centre with a cutter and fill it with sausage-meat. Braise the cucumber slowly for about twenty minutes. Dish the pieces up on croutons of fried bread brushed over with glaze. Have some round pieces of ham and truffle and put on as lids, and pour brown sauce (or white, if preferred) round. A few tomatoes cm gratin placed round the dish will greatly add to the appearance and success of this entree. ABBREVIATED RECIPES. 1362. Concombres a l’Espagnole. — Parboiled cucumbers cut into quarters, drained, fried in butter, and served with Espagnole sauce (No. 236), dished up in pyramidal form. 1363. Concombres a ITtalienne. — Cucumbers stuffed with a mixture of sausage-meat, chopped mushrooms, and savoury herbs, braised, cut crosswise into inch-thick pieces, ranged in layers on a dish, sprinkled with Parmesan cheese, and sauced over with hot veloutee sauce (No. 206). 1364. Puree de Concombres. — Mashed cucumbers cooked in stock, drained, and passed through a sieve, blended with a little bechamel sauce (No. 202), seasoned with pepper, salt, and a little sugar. Be-heat and serve hot. 1365. Petits Souffles aux . Epinards. — 2 lbs. spinach, 4 eggs, 1 oz. butter✪ Concomhres a la Creme, \ gill cream, cayenne pepper and salt, 10 paper souffle cases. Wash and pick the spinach leaves, cook them until tender in plenty of boiling water (salted) ; it usually takes about twenty minutes. When done drain, plunge into cold water to cool, then press out all the moisture, and rub through a fine sieve. Put the butter in a stewpan ; when hot add the spinach puree, season with a good pinch of cayenne and salt, if needed ; stir over the fire till hot, separate the yolks from the whites of eggs, work in three yolks, one at a time, remove from the fire before it boils, whip up the cream, and add to the mixture when cool. Whisk the whites of eggs to a stiff froth, and stir in as lightly as possible. Have ready the souffle cases, each fastened with a band of buttered white paper, about an inch broad ; pour in the souffle mixture, about three parts full, and bake in a moderately heated oven for fifteen minutes. Dish up, take off the bands, and serve as hot as possible. Note. — It is rather difficult to give the exact quantity of spinach for this dish, because some spinach requires more trimming than other, but when cooked there should be about a pint of it. VEGETABLES (LEGUMES) PLAIN AND DRESSED 457

AI-modernized reading of the original text

A modernized reading is not available for this page yet. You are seeing the original text.

Peel the cucumber thinly, cut it in half lengthways, remove the seed part, cut up the remainder into pieces and put it into a stewpan with the butter. Stir over a brisk fire for a few minutes, then add about a gill of stock and a pinch of salt ; cook till tender, then rub it through a fine sieve. Beat up the eggs and strain this into the above pulp ; colour it with a few drops of spinach greening, to give it a greenish tint ; season with pepper, nutmeg, and salt to taste, and mix well. Have ready some buttered dariole moulds, garnish the bottom of each with a star-shaped slice of truffle, fill each mould with the 456 THE NEW CENTURY COOKERY BOOK prepared custard and poach till quite firm. Unmould on to a hot dish, -sauce over with tomato sauce, and serve. 1861. Concombre farci ( Staffed Cucumber). — Select a large cucumber and cut it into pieces about two inches long. Take out the centre with a cutter and fill it with sausage-meat. Braise the cucumber slowly for about twenty minutes. Dish the pieces up on croutons of fried bread brushed over with glaze. Have some round pieces of ham and truffle and put on as lids, and pour brown sauce (or white, if preferred) round. A few tomatoes cm gratin placed round the dish will greatly add to the appearance and success of this entree. ABBREVIATED RECIPES. 1362. Concombres a l’Espagnole. — Parboiled cucumbers cut into quarters, drained, fried in butter, and served with Espagnole sauce (No. 236), dished up in pyramidal form. 1363. Concombres a ITtalienne. — Cucumbers stuffed with a mixture of sausage-meat, chopped mushrooms, and savoury herbs, braised, cut crosswise into inch-thick pieces, ranged in layers on a dish, sprinkled with Parmesan cheese, and sauced over with hot veloutee sauce (No. 206). 1364. Puree de Concombres. — Mashed cucumbers cooked in stock, drained, and passed through a sieve, blended with a little bechamel sauce (No. 202), seasoned with pepper, salt, and a little sugar. Be-heat and serve hot. 1365. Petits Souffles aux . Epinards. — 2 lbs. spinach, 4 eggs, 1 oz. butter, \ gill cream, cayenne pepper and salt, 10 paper souffle cases. Wash and pick the spinach leaves, cook them until tender in plenty of boiling water (salted) ; it usually takes about twenty minutes. When done drain, plunge into cold water to cool, then press out all the moisture, and rub through a fine sieve. Put the butter in a stewpan ; when hot add the spinach puree, season with a good pinch of cayenne and salt, if needed ; stir over the fire till hot, separate the yolks from the whites of eggs, work in three yolks, one at a time, remove from the fire before it boils, whip up the cream, and add to the mixture when cool. Whisk the whites of eggs to a stiff froth, and stir in as lightly as possible. Have ready the souffle cases, each fastened with a band of buttered white paper, about an inch broad ; pour in the souffle mixture, about three parts full, and bake in a moderately heated oven for fifteen minutes. Dish up, take off the bands, and serve as hot as possible. Note. — It is rather difficult to give the exact quantity of spinach for this dish, because some spinach requires more trimming than other, but when cooked there should be about a pint of it. VEGETABLES (LEGUMES) PLAIN AND DRESSED 457

The new century cookery book