European and American cuisine

Risotto à la Milanaise. — Place a saucepan with 1 ounce butter over the fire ; add y, cupful fine-chopped onion, cook 6 minutes without browning ; add ⅛ cupful fine-chopped mushrooms, and draw the saucepan to side of stove. Wash and place 1 cup of rice in a saucepan over the fire, cover with cold water, boil 10 minutes; strain in a sieve, and rinse with cold water; add the rice to the onion in saucepan, stir and cook 5 minutes ; then add 3 cups of white broth, 1 teaspoonful salt, ⅛ teaspoonful white pepper ; place 626 HIGB, HOMINY, AND BREAD GBOUSTADES. the saucepan in a vessel of hot water, cover and boil till done with the kernels whole (if necessary, add a little more broth while boiling) ; add lastly a little Spanish saffron dissolved in 1 tablespoonful broth. Turn the rice on to a dish, sprinkle over 4 tablespoonfuls grated cheese and 1 ounce butter in small pieces ; mix the whole together with 2 forks, and serve. Foundations. — Foundations are used to give entries a handsome appearance. They consist of 1 piece, and are made of rice, bread, forcemeat, paste, or wood. They should fit exactly on the dish on which they are to be served ; they may be either smooth on top or hollowed out in the center, and are also made of 2 or 3 pieces of different sizes, the top smaller than the lower ; they should be firmly made and rolled, so that, if necessary, the foundation will be able to carry a small vase or cupola. The foundation should be 1 to 1¼ inch in thickness. Rice Foundation. — Place 1¼ pound well-washed rice in a double boiler or steamer, add 3 pints cold water, ly^ ounce butter, and 1 teaspoonful salt, cook until soft ; remove from the fire, put into a wooden bowl, and mash fine; then take the rice on to a marble slab or molding board and work with wet hands until perfectly smooth. Put the rice 1¼ inch deep into a buttered fluted or plain mold, smooth the top with a knife, cover with buttered paper, and set it for 8 hours in a cool place or on ice. Shortly before serving set the mold for a few minutes in hot water, then turn it on to the dish the entree is to be served on, remove some rice ¾ inch deep from the center and 1 inch from the edge. Arrange a ragout in the center and place a border of fillets of chicken, game, or cutlets in a circle around it, or vegetables may be put in the center. Bread Foundation. — The bread should be baked in a round pan ¼ inch larger as used for the foundations ; it should be 2 days old. Cut the bread to ¼ inch in thickness, pare off the crust, make an incision on top with a small pointed knife 1½ inch from the edge, RICE, HOMINT, AND BREAD CROUSTADEa 527 pat it into a pan of hot fat, and fry light brown ; remove to blotting paper, and where the incision was made hollow it out '/« inch in depth. Or spread soft butter all over the foundation, set it on a baking pan, and bake to a fine golden color in a hot oven ; then fasten it on to the dish the entree is to be served on with white of egg and flour.