Practical household cookery

or braizing-pan on the drainer ; laj the fillet on them ; add two onions with two cloves stuck in each, a shred carrot, one head of celery, and a " bouquet garni ; " moisten with half a bottle of sherry and one pint of good stock ; season with a tablespoonful of salt. Cover the pan and set it to simmer very slowly for about two hours, basting the meat frequently with its liquor while simmering. Meanwhile prepare a pint of Indian sauce (No. 185) in a stewpan apart; have also ready, and cold, half a pound of risotto (No. 108) which place on a slab or board, and make a hole in the centre ; fill this hole with about a quarter of a pound of Italian salpicon (No. 307), to which a pinch of cayenne has been added. Mix these well together with a tablespoon, then form the risotto into croquets, or the shape of corks ; pass them through the yolks of three eggs well beaten, and roll in bread-crumbs ; then fry in the fat in the usual way to a nice colour. When the fillet is cooked dress it on a hot dish, garnish with the croquets, strain and skim off the fat from the remainder of the liquor in which the fillet was cooked, pour it over the fillet, and serve with the Indian sauce apart. 609. FILLET OF BEEF A LA JARDINIÊRE. Prepare and cook a fillet of beef in the same manner as the foregoing. Meanwhile prepare and cook in broth, with a good pinch of salt and a piece of sugar, all the vegetables in season that may be had, such as carrots and turnips turned in small fancy shapes, French beans cut in diamonds, asparagus-points, buds of caulifiower, small Brussels sprouts, and peas. When the fillet is cooked and well braized dish it up, garnish with the aforesaid hot vegetables all nicely, but separately, intermixed round the meat ; strain the liquor in which the beef was cooked, and skim off the fat ; add a gill of brown sauce to the liquor; stir, and warm up ; then pour it over the fillet and serve. 510. FILLET OF BEEF WITH OLIVES. Cook a fillet of beef in the same way as the fillet of beef, Indian style. Meanwhile bone with a pointed knife a pint of nice French or Italian olives, blanch these for five minutes in plaia boiling water, and keep them hot by soaking in a gill of brown sauce or good gravy. When the fillet is cooked and nicely braized dish it up, strain, and skim off the fat from the liquor ; add this to the olives, stir and mix well on the fire, and when hot pour it round the fillet before serving. 511. FILLET OF BEEF WITH MASHED POTATOES. Procure a nice thick fillet of beef, trim and lard as for "Indian style." Put it in a deep earthenware dish, pour over it a gill of salad-oil, lay on the beef the shreds of an onion, with a few sprigs of parsley, a bay-leaf, and two good pinches of pepper; let it steep thus for at least three hours, turning over occasionally, so that the flavour of the different ingredients may be absorbed by the fillet. When properly steeped, shake off all the particles from the meat, run lengthwise a small iron skewer through it, fold the fillet with a well-oiled sheet of paper tied with string, and fix it to the roasting-spit with strong string. Put this in front of a moderate fire to roast for about two hours, taking care to baste it often with the oil in which the fillet was steeped. Half an hour before serving — that is to say, an hour and a half after the fillet was first put before the fire — remove the paper, so that the fillet may take a nice brown colour in roasting. Do not forget the basting. When the fillet is properly cooked and nicely coloured, make a good layer of mashed potatoes (No. 231) on a hot dish ; place the fillet on it ; pour a little half-glaze or good gi-avy over, and serve.