Practical household cookery

Shell the meat out of one or two cooked lobsters, cut in small dice, and pound it well in a mortar with two ounces of butter ; add four ounces of panada, three ounces of butter, three eggs well beaten, a spoonful of Allemande sauce, a small pinch of cayenne, salt, and grated nutmeg to taste, and about half a pound of mashed potatoes ; pound the lot properly, and mix it well in the mortar. Rub it through a wire sieve with a wooden spoon, in the usual way, into a basin, and put it by in a cool place till wanted. Note. — Forcemeat should be used the same day it is made, especially fish forcemeat. The proper mode of forming forcemeat into quenelles for soups is as follows : — Make a paper funnel, put some of the forcemeat in it, close the top by folding the paper down, so as to enclose the forcemeat, cut the point of the funnel to the size required to shape the quenelles, and squeeze the forcemeat out upon a sauté-pan previously buttered, taking care to keep some of the forcemeat in the funnel, in order to enable jou to put some more stuffing into it, without being compelled to make another funnel. These quenelles, however, must differ in this much, that those made for soups should be smaller and lighter than those intended for garnishing entries and other dishes. Remarks on Garnishing in General, and on Truffles AND Mushrooms in Particular. Garnishing in cookery is principally made of vegetables, prepared and cooked in different ways, and like sauces, plays a great part in high- class cookery. In my attempt, however, to give a great variety, the faict must not be lost sight of, that the majority of them are within everybody's reach, as they include vegetables in general use, cooked with the meat and served around it The most expensive item in a garnish is the truffle, a kind of tuber very highly appreciated on account of its aromatic flavour. The months in which it is at its best are November, December, and January; but it can, nevertheless, be obtained nearly all the year round. The best truffles imported fresh into this country are black, and come from Perigord (France), but unless properly surrounded by mould from which they have been dug, they are subject to lose their very fragrance which endears them so much to epicures. The white Piedmontese truffles have a very high reputation for delicacy, scent, and flavour, but (unhappily for English epicures) they cannot bear a long journey or perhaps such a change of climate. The use of preserved truffles cannot be advocated, as their original perfume is nearly all lost. There are in this country plenty of fresh mushrooms, gathered dail}- in fields and woods for about eight months in the year, that might be turned to better advantage, and be in many instances a very good substitute for tinned truffles. 278. GARNISH OF CHESTNUTS. Peel off the first skin of fifty chesnuts, boil the chesnuts in water for five or six minutes, strain off the water, remove the second skin, and fry them in a saute-pan with two ounces of butter for a few minutes ; after which, add half a pint of good broth, let them simmer till cooked, giving an occasional toss to the pan, and when glazed all round, serve with a roast turkey or goose. 279. GARNISH OF LETTUCES. Plainly cooked as well as stuffed lettuces are served as a garnish with or without being glazed. In either case cook the lettuces as directed in soups 42 and 43. 280. GARNISH OF GLAZED ONIONS. Peel a dozen small onions of a similar size ; put them in a well- buttered sauté-pan with neai-ly a pint of good broth and a little sugar, let them simmer gently by the side of the fire, taking care to often turn the onions over, so as to give them an even colour all round, and when well glazed and properly cooked, serve them with braized meat. 28L GARNISH OF MACEDOINE BJgCHAMEL.