Soyer's standard cookery

stars; thicken the liquor in which the fillets were cooked with an ounce of brown roux, or, failing this, with half an ounce of flour and half an ounce of butter kneaded together; add to it four ounces of previously cooked mushrooms, make very hot, and pour over and around the fillets of fowl; garnish the outer edge with a border of crisply-fried croutons, and serve as quickly as possible. A wineglassful of sherry or Marsala is an improvement to this sauce. Poulet Aux Olives. Take a chicken trussed as if for boiling; dust it lightly with spiced pepper, and reserve on a plate till needed; place two ounces of fresh butter or half a gill of oil, whichever is most convenient, in a large bag, add a tiny bit of garlic, notched in order to allow the juice to escape, a large tablespoonful of breadcrumbs, and the chicken; place the bag on the grid in the oven and cook for half an hour. Then remove the bird to a hot dish, having drained it carefully as directed. Pour off all the grease from the remaining breadcrumbs and remove the garlic. Put the residue of the gravy in a clean bag with an ounce of glaze, a teaspoonful of lemon juice, a heaped teaspoonful of red currant jelly and a large spoonful of good stock or gravy. Fold and make very hot, then open the bag and add a dozen olives farcies. Make hot on the grid for five minutes. Pour over the chicken and garnish with straw potatoes, or, if liked, spinach. If the basting and draining are carefully attended to, this dish is bound to be a success; but if the slightest portion of grease is allowed to remain behind, the flavor will be spoilt. Pheasant is excellent treated in this way, and so, too, is black game, ptarmigan, or partridge. Widgeon and teal may be cooked in this fashion, but plain olives should be used in place of the olives farcies alluded to here. To Boil Vegetables. Always clean thoroughly before cooking and use outside leaves in stock pot. All fresh vegetables should be plunged into boiling salted water, the proportions being one tablespoonful of salt to one gallon of water. Dried vegetables should be placed in lukewarm water. A piece of sugar put into the water in which green vegetables are cooked, allows steam to escape easily. Never allow vegetables to stay in the water in which they are boiled, but drain them at once and thoroughly. Green vegetables take on an average about twenty minutes to cook, though ten minutes is often long enough for young peas, while cabbages sometimes take nearly an hour. Scolloped Artichokes. Boil the artichokes until they are quite soft, and mash until they are free from lumps; season with salt and pepper; mix to a creamy consistency with some thick white sauce (made with milk). Butter a small fireproof dish; scatter some fine dry breadcrumbs, seasoned with pepper and salt, over it, fill up with the mashed artichokes, and cover thickly with more of the crumbs; pour oiled butter over the top, and bake until evenly browned in a quick oven. Artichoke Chips. Take four or five artichokes; wash, peel and cut them into dice. Throw them into cold water for a minute or two, then dry thoroughly. Have ready in a frying-pan sufficient boiling fat to cover the artichokes. Put them in, and fry a golden brown. Drain them well in front of the fire, sprinkle with salt and serve. Artichoke Fritters.