Deviled Oyster Canapes

Cut slices of bread into squares, toast and remove the crusts. Remove the hard part from a pint of pickled oysters, place oysters over bread, close together and in rotation, dust thickly with red pepper; put over as a thin covering a highly seasoned sauce mayonnaise, and serve. Do not put over a second piece of bread.

Pate de Foie Gras Canapes

For twenty-four sandwiches take one tureen of foie gras. Remove the fat, and mash the foie gras to a perfectly smooth paste, adding gradually four tablespoonfuls of soft, not melted, b.u.t.ter; add a dash of cayenne and a half teaspoonful of salt and about ten drops of onion juice, and press the whole through a sieve. Cut slices of bread into fancy shapes and toast; crescents are very pretty. Cover each slice thickly with this paste; garnish with hard-boiled white of egg, cut into diamonds or tiny crescents, and olives cut into rings. Arrange neatly, and they are ready to serve.

Hot Canapes

A canape is the half of a sandwich, as it were. Minced meats of various kinds are served on one slice of bread. In many books they are called "uncovered sandwiches." The cold canapes are placed always among the appetizers and served before the soup. They are made of such materials as caviar, sardines, anchovies, pickled oysters, pickled lobster, deviled shrimps, or a mixture of one or two of these materials.

A hot canape, however, is served in the place of fish or as an entree.

If they are dressed with either fish or sh.e.l.l-fish they will take the place of that course. When made from chicken, sweetbreads or game, should be served as an entree, following the fish.

Fish Canapes

Pick apart sufficient cold cooked fish to make a half pint. Rub together two level tablespoonfuls of b.u.t.ter and two of flour, add a half pint of milk, stir until boiling, add a half teaspoonful of salt, a teaspoonful of soy, a dash of red pepper and a half saltspoonful of black pepper. When this is hot add the fish and four or five nice sliced mushrooms; stand over hot water, without stirring, until the fish is thoroughly heated. While this is heating, trim the crusts from six slices of bread; toast the one side carefully. Have ready in your pastry bag with a star tube a pint of light mashed potatoes; press in a rope-like form, or in small rosettes, around the edge of the bread on the untoasted side. Brush the bread with a little melted b.u.t.ter, put them in the oven until the potatoes and bread are a golden brown. Dish these on square paper mats on individual plates, fill the centers with the creamed fish and send at once to the table.

Canned salmon may be used in the place of fresh boiled fish.

Lobster Canapes

1 three-pound lobster The yolks of two eggs 2 level tablespoonfuls of b.u.t.ter 2 level tablespoonfuls of flour pint of milk 1 tablespoonful of chopped parsley 1 level teaspoonful of salt 1 saltspoonful of white pepper 1 pint of mashed potatoes 6 slices of bread

Toast the bread and arrange the potatoes according to the preceding recipe. Rub the b.u.t.ter and flour together, add the milk; when boiling add the seasoning and the lobster. When very hot stir in carefully the well-beaten yolks of the eggs. Stir this until it is smoking hot, but be careful not to boil, or it will curdle. Fill this on top of the toast that has been garnished with potatoes, dust with chopped parsley and send to the table.

Shrimps may be subst.i.tuted for lobster.

Sweetbread Canapes

1 pair calf's sweetbreads can of mushrooms 2 level tablespoonfuls of b.u.t.ter 2 level tablespoonfuls of flour pint of milk teaspoonful of salt 1 saltspoonful of pepper

Boil the sweetbreads carefully for three-quarters of an hour; throw them into cold water; pick them apart, rejecting the membrane. Chop the mushrooms very fine, add them to the sweetbreads. Rub the b.u.t.ter and flour together, add the milk; when boiling add the salt, pepper, sweetbreads and mushrooms; cover and stand over hot water ten to fifteen minutes. Serve them on slices of bread, garnished with mashed potatoes pressed through a star tube.

Canapes a la Trinidad

Half the white meat from one boiled chicken 1 pair of sweetbreads 6 large fresh mushrooms 2 level tablespoonfuls of b.u.t.ter 2 level tablespoonfuls of flour pint of milk 2 yolks of hard-boiled eggs 1 level teaspoonful of salt 1 saltspoonful of pepper

Cut twelve slices of bread; trim the crusts so the slices will be of even size. Cut out the centers from one-half the slices, leaving a wall of one inch. Toast the solid slices. Brush the untoasted edge of the bread with a little white of egg, lay on the rims and put them in the oven to toast on the upper side. Pick the sweetbreads apart, after they are carefully cooked, rejecting the membrane. Slice the mushrooms. Cut the chicken into dice. Put the b.u.t.ter into a saucepan, add the mushrooms, toss for a minute until the mushrooms are slightly softened, then add the flour, mix, and add the milk, salt and pepper. Cover this on the back part of the stove for ten or fifteen minutes until the mushrooms are cooked; then add the meat. Stand this over hot water ten or fifteen minutes. The toast should now be done and crisp. Arrange each canape on a square of lace paper on an individual heated dish, put the mixture in the center, garnish with the yolk of the eggs pressed through a sieve. Garnish the very top with a little chopped truffle or a little chopped parsley. These are the handsomest of all hot canapes, and while they are usually served following the soup at dinner, they may be used for the main course at a ladies' luncheon, or at a supper.

Game Canapes

Cut any pieces of left-over game into dice. Put two tablespoonfuls of b.u.t.ter and two of flour in a saucepan, add a half pint of stock. When boiling add a half can of very fine mushrooms, a tablespoonful of chopped ham, a tablespoonful of chopped parsley, a level teaspoonful of salt and a saltspoonful of pepper. Bring this to a boil, add the game; stand over hot water for fifteen or twenty minutes until the game has absorbed part of the sauce, then add two tablespoonfuls of sherry or Madeira, and fill into the square canapes made the same as in preceding recipe.

Lamb Canapes

2 cans, or one quart of cooked peas 1 blade of mace 2 level tablespoonfuls of b.u.t.ter 2 level tablespoonfuls of flour pint of stock 1 teaspoonful of kitchen bouquet teaspoonful of salt 1 tablespoonful of chopped onion 2 tablespoonfuls of claret 1 saltspoonful of pepper

Put the b.u.t.ter and onion in a saucepan, shake it over the fire, then add the cold boiled lamb, cut into blocks; you should have one pint.

When this is boiling add all the seasoning and stand the mixture over hot water on the back of the stove while you make the canapes. Press the peas through a sieve; the pulp must be quite dry; add to it a palatable seasoning of salt and pepper and one or two tablespoonfuls of melted b.u.t.ter. Put these in a pastry bag. Toast the bread on one side, put the peas around in rope-like form, or roses, on the untoasted side, making a border sufficiently high to hold the lamb. Stand in the oven until the bread is carefully toasted. Arrange them on lace papers on heated plates, fill the center with the lamb mixture and send to the table.

Club-House Sandwiches

Club-house sandwiches may be made in a number of different ways, but are served warm as a rule on bread carefully toasted at the last moment. Put on top of a square of toasted bread a thin layer of broiled ham or bacon; on top of this a thin slice of Holland pickle, on top of that a thin slice of cold roasted chicken or turkey, then a leaf of lettuce in the center of which you put a teaspoonful of mayonnaise dressing; cover this with another slice of b.u.t.tered toast. Press the two together, and cut from one corner to another making two large triangles, and send at once to the table.

People not using ham may make a palatable sandwich by putting down first a layer of cold boiled tongue, then a layer of Holland cuc.u.mber, a layer of turkey or chicken, another layer of cuc.u.mber and the slice of toast. Garnish with little pieces of water cress before putting on the last slice.

SCENTED SANDWICHES

There is a group of rather aesthetic sandwiches made from thin slices of bread and b.u.t.ter flavored or scented with flowers. Among those in common use are clover, rose and the nasturtium.

The crust is trimmed off from the outside of the loaf; the loaf placed down in a clean stone jar in a nest of clover blossoms; the b.u.t.ter is put in a piece of cheese cloth and also covered with clover, and the jar covered over night. The next morning the bread and b.u.t.ter will have the flavor of clover.

Rose Sandwiches

In making rose sandwiches cover the bread and b.u.t.ter with rose leaves over night. Put a few rose petals between the slices when making the sandwiches.

Nasturtium Sandwiches

Cover the bread and b.u.t.ter with nasturtium flowers over night. In making the sandwiches place at each corner of the slice a flower, so that in cutting from corner to corner you have a little triangular sandwich holding a nasturtium flower uncut.

Violet Sandwiches

These are made the same, covering the slice of bread and b.u.t.ter with the petals of the violet.