RECIPES.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XIV, Issue VI, 9 February 1895, Page 142

RECIPES.

Green Sauce. — Pound together to a paste or pulp a small handful of parsley, tarragon, chervil, marjoram, and borage respectively ; add the yolks of eight or ten hard-boiled eggs ; stir well and press through a sieve. Pat this puree into a sauce boat, work it with a wooden spoon, and add gradually some oil, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper, stirring all the time. Potted Meat.—Catering is not easy in hot weather, appetites are so variable it is almost impossible to gauge the quantity of food that will be required, and it is difficult to keep food sweet. Potted meat is invaluable as an adjunct to the breakfast, luncheon, and supper-table ; or to use for sandwiches for impromptu picnics. The following is an excellent recipe :—Remove all skin and gristle from a pound and a half of fresh lean beef, cut it in small pieces, put it in a little earthenware stew jar with three or more boned anchovies, pepper and salt; slice two ounces of butter over the top, put on the lid, and leave the jar in a moderate oven, one-and-a-half to two hours (neither water nor stock to be used). When cooked, put the pieces of meat through the mincing machine, then pound it thoroughly in the mortar (a wooden bowl and the end of the rolling-pin are not to be despised as substitutes for mortar and pestle) adding the liquid which will be found in the jar by degrees, pound till perfectly smooth, then spread it on a plate, and be sure to leave it in a cool place for some hours—or all night—to set. The meat is then ready to be pressed into pots and covered with liquid batter. Eclairs.—The proper wav to make eclairs of any kind is this : Melt loz of fresh butter in half a pint of cold water over the fire, and let it boil up ; the moment it does so lift it off the fire, and stir into it gradually as much flour as will make a stiff paste— i.e., about 4to 5 ounces. Replace it on the fire, and stir it sharply all the time till it is perfectly smooth and leaves the sides of the pan. This will take a few minutes. Now turn it into a basin, and when it is perfectly cool not to say cold, break into it one egg, and mix this thoroughly into the paste ; then break in another, treating it, and also a third, in the same way as the first, by which time the paste should be a lithe workable dough, firm enough to lift easily from the pan, and coming away clear from the spoon and the sides of the pan with a slow, elastic motion. Now flour a pasteboard and drop the paste on it in finger lengths (the best way is to use a plain pipe and a pastry bag, and force out the paste in a plain roll in 2 or 3 inch lengths. Lay these on a buttered tin, brush them over with yolk of egg; let them stand for quarter of an hour, then place them in the oven, which must be a ‘ slow ’ one, and, when they are a pretty golden colour, sprinkle them with castor sugar, and replace them in the oven for this to ice over. Of course this is not necessary if the eclairs are to be iced with coffee icing. I have purposely given no flavourings, as eclairs are used both for sweets and savouries. If for the former, add 1 oz of sugar and a grate of lemon peel, or a few drops of any flavouring essence you choose, to the tiny pinch of salt which will, as a matter of course, be put with the butter and water at the initial melting. If for savoury nse, season with cayenne and more salt, and, if liked, grated Parmesan cheese. To fill these eclairs, make a small incision in the under side, and, if properly made, they will be hollow enough to hold a fair quantity of any custard, cream, etc., you may wish to use. This paste is the same as that used for petits choux, profiterolles, beignets souffles (for these, however, you add the stiffly whipped white of an egg to the paste just at the last, etc.). The great secret of all these fancy pastes lies in the working. Unless the paste is got to the right consistency at first, it is sure to be a failure ; and, unfortunately, it is not easy to describe the precise consistency the paste should arrive at. It must be perfectly workable, but not the least bit sticky ; in fact, the best way I can describe it is to say it should feel at last as if yon were kneading a lump of caoutchouc.