Practical household cookery

226. MINT SAUCE. Put in a basiQ two ounces of brown sugar with two tablespoonfuls of fresh green mint, chopped fine, and half a pint of vinegar, mix well, and as soon as the sugar is dissolved, serve. 226. MAÎTRE D'HÔTEL BUTTER. Put about two ounces of butter on a plate with a little chopped parsley, pepper, salt, and the juice of half a lemon, knead the lot well together, and serve. This butter is used for kidneys, steaks, cutlets, broiled fish of all kinds, &c., &c. 227. CALF'S FOOT JELLY (PLAIN). Scrape, clean, and cut in pieces four calf's feet, put them in an ordinary saucepan with three quarts of water on a good fire, boil for about four hours, pay proper attention to the skimming, then strain through a hair sieve into an earthenware basin, remove all particles of fat with a sheet of blotting or kitchen paper, and place it on a shelf in a cool place. When cold wash the top of the jelly with a clean cloth dipped in boiling water. This plain jelly may be the foundation of all wine, fruit, and liqueur jellies when gelatine is not used, and can be kept good for a long time if boiled every day. CHAPTER IV. PUREES OF VEGETABLES FOR GARNISHING, ETC. 228. PUR£e of tomatoes. Cut a dozen fresh ripe tomatoes in slices, squeeze the water out of them and put them into a stewpan on a slow fire, with half a pint of broth, a "bouquet garni/' and two slices of gammon ; simmer till the liquid is nearly consumed, then add a gill of Velouté or Blanquette sauce, stir and mix all well together on the fire, then rub it through a sieve into a bain-marie to be kept hot till wanted. 229. PUR£e a la SOUBISE. Peel, cut, and blanch for ten minutes in boiling salt water six medium-sized onions ; strain and squeeze the water out of them ; place these afterwards in a stewpan with an ounce of butter and three small slices of gammon, fry for five minutes on a slow fire, then add a gill of chicken broth with a pinch of white pepper ; let them simmer for half an hour, pour in a gill of Béchamel sauce, stir occasionally, and simmer again for five minutes; after which, rub through a sieve into a bain-marie, and at the moment of serving throw in a lump of sugar. Note. — Should there be no B^hamel sauce made, a tablespoonful of semolina flour, diluted in a gill of cream, will be a good substitute for it. zo8 practical household cookery. 109 280. pur£e of vegetables. Slice the red part of four carrots, two turnips, one onion, two leeks, and two heads of celery ; wash and strain the lot properly, then pour them into a stewpan with three ounces of butter, fry till of a nice brown colour ; add to it half a pint of broth in which two or three slices of crumb of bread have been soaking, together with a little each of sugar, white pepper, and grated nutmeg ; boil on a good fire till the vegetables are well cooked, then pound them in a mortar, and return the pur<5e to the stewpan, with half a pint of Espagnole sauce and a tablespoonful of essence of chicken, boil again for a few minutes, and pass through a sieve in the usual way before serving. 281. pur£e of potatoes. Feel, wash, and cut in slices two pounds of potatoes; cook them in a saucepan with a little salt water. When cooked, strain off the water through a colander and return the potatoes into the saucepan with four ounces of butter, a little sugar, and half a pint of cream or milk ; stir well on the fire, and boil, then rub through a sieve into the saucepan again, add a little more butter, together with a gill of hot chicken gravy, mix well on the fire, and serve. 232. PUR^E of green PEAS. Cook in plenty of salt water with a few branches of mint one quart of fresh shelled peas in a covered stewpan. When cooked, strain off the water through a colander, thi-ow the mint away, pound the peas in a mortar or rub them through a sieve, return the pur^e to the stewpan with