Mrs. Roundell's Practical cookery book

but in the more wholesome English cookery the simple Roux already given is best. Or half an ounce of rice or tapioca can be boiled with the broth. If Roux is used the broth must be added to it, as in the case of thickened soups, and the broth must be constantly stirred till it comes to the boil. Game and poultry should be boned, passed through the mincing machine, then pounded in a mortar, a little broth or butter being used to lubricate them. After that the pulp must be rubbed through a wire sieve, and finally through a hair sieve. In using sieves they should be held slanting over a large basin, and the pulp rubbed through with a wooden spoon, reversing the sieve now and then and removing any pieces which adhere to the bottom with a second spoon. Many cooks hold the sieve over far too small a basin. Hair sieves must be gently treated, for, if the cook works the Puree hurriedly and roughly through, the hair will very soon part from the wooden framework. But for boned birds and for vegetables the tamis -cloth is far quicker and better than a sieve. For this two persons are needed. Each must twist up a comer of the tamis-cloth firmly in her left hand, and hold in her right a long-handled square wooden spoon. The spoons are worked together, to and fro, and the Puree pressed through the tamis-cloth into a basin below. The tamis-cloth hangs like a little hammock, firmly held at each end. When the Puree has been smoothly rubbed through add to it sufficient broth to make it rather thinner than the soup is intended eventually to be, stir constantly till it comes to the boil, and, if necessary, skim it. The Croutons to be handed with Purees are dice-shaped pieces of bread which have been well soaked in the proper broth for the Puree and then crisped on a buttered tin in the oven. They are far more palatable when treated thus than when merely fried in butter. Wyvern’s Vegetable Stock, already given, made without meat, is excellent, and most nourishing as a Puree. Purees, as I have just said, are not only Soups. But all Purees, whether Soups, or vegetables arranged in the middle of a dish of cutlets, or vegetables made into a thick sauce, are 58 PUREES cooked in tlie same way. Quenelles, and such entrees as Creme de Volatile, are Purees in another form. Wine is generally recommended for game Purees. It is not necessary, and is indeed disliked by many people. If it is used, a small quantity, from one to two tablespoonfuls, will be sufficient, and good Marsala is quite the best wine to select. In many Purees of game it is a great improvement to add a tablespoonful of red currant jelly and a teaspoonful of lemon juice to the soup just before it comes to the boil and whilst it is being thoroughly stirred. VEGETABLE PUREES. Vegetable Purees ought not to be the tasteless gruel so often sent up. The cook must have plenty of time in which to prepare them. I have chosen recipes for several kinds of Vegetable Purees, and if the directions are carefully followed excellent results cannot fail to be obtained. Croutons of crisped bread should always be handed with Purees.