Cassell's dictionary of cookery

Mushrooms, Sauce of, Brown.— But- ton or fiap mushrooms may be used for this sauce. They should be rinsed in cold water, drained, and dried in a soft cloth, and, if flap ones, cut into piecas. Simmer the mushrooms, without stalks, in half a pint of beef gravy, add a little mushroom ketchup, and an ounce of butter, blended with flour. If liked, flavour with lemon-peel, and squeeze in some of the juice before serving. Time, twenty to twenty- five minutes. Mushrooms, Sauce of. White.— To preserve the colour of this sauce see that the mushrooms are well cleansed from the soil that hangs about them, and drop them, first re- moving the outer skin by means of salt, into a bowl of water and lemon-juice. Drain, wipe diy, and chop them finely, without the stalks. Put them with an ounce 'of butter into a stew- pan to simmer until tender, but do not let the butter get colour. Add half a pint of bechamel sauce, and simmer a few minutes longer, when the sauce should be rubbed thi-ough a fine sieve. Serve hot. \\Tien required to be warmed, place it into a vessel of boiling water. Serve poured over boiled fowls. Time, fifteen minutes altogether. Suflicient, one pint of mushrooms for half a pint of sauce. Mushroom Toast.— Stew over a gentle fire a quiirt of nicely-prepared mushrooms ^just opened ones), first dissolving three ounces of butter in the stewpan, and seasoning the mushrooms with white pepper or cayenne, a salt-spoonful of mace, powdered; stir them carefully, and toss them in the pan to prevent burning, and until the butter is dried and slightly bro-svn, when add half a pint of thin cream, the grated rind of half a lemon, and a little salt, and stew until the mushrooms are tender. Beef-gravy may be substituted for the cream, and the grated lemon-i)eel omitted. Serve on buttered bread, fried or grilled, which should be thick enough to aUow of the inside being scooped out. Serve hot, and squeeze the juice of a lemon over. Time, fifteen minutes to stew in butter ; five minutes in gra-\y. Mussels. — The«e are a species of shell-fish found in great quantities on the rocky shores of many parts of Britain, adhering to the rocks. They are also met with in immense beds, both in deep water and above the low-water mark in the British seas. The common mussel is much used as an article of food, and usually is found quite wholesome ; but sometimes it proves poisonous, especially in spring and summer. Mussels (a la Poulette). — Prepare the mussels as directed for garnishing {see Mussels for Gramish). Strain the liquor, beard the m>ussels, and dip them in plenty of hot water, then put them on a soft cloth to drain. Make a sauce as follows : — Blend together an ounce of butter with an equal quantity of flour, and stir it over a slow tire for a minute or two, then moisten with the strained liquor, and add two dessert-spoonfuls of chopped parsley, pre- viously scalded. Take it off the fire, and stir in the beaten yolks of two eggs and another piece of butter, about half an ounce. Put the mussels on a dish in their shells, detached, and pour the sauce over.