Ca.s.sEROLE AU RIZ.

Boil some rice till quite tender, make it into a firm paste with one egg and a couple of tablespoons of strong gravy; then line the inside of a mould with the paste of sufficient thickness to turn out without breaking. Some cooks fill the mould instead of lining it only, and scoop away the centre. After it is turned out the rice must stand till cold, before it is removed from the mould; then fill the rice with fricca.s.see of fowl and sweetbread, with a rich white sauce, and place it in the oven to become hot and brown. The mould used for a ca.s.serole is oval and fluted, and resembles a cake mould. It is as well to observe, it cannot be made in a jelly mould.

A FONDU.

Make into a batter one ounce and a half of potatoe flour, with the same quant.i.ty of grated cheese and of b.u.t.ter, and a quarter of a pint of milk or cream; add a little salt, very little pepper, and the well-beaten yolks of four fine fresh eggs; when all this is well mixed together, pour in the whites of the eggs, well whisked to a froth; pour the mixture into a deep soup plate or dish, used expressly for the purpose, and bake in a moderate oven. The dish should be only half filled with the _fondu_, as it will rise very high. It must be served the moment it is ready, or it will fall. It is a good plan to hold a salamander over it while being brought to table.

PEt.i.tS FONDEAUS.

Make a batter as for a fondu, but use rice flour or arrow root instead of potatoe flour; add the egg in the same manner as for a fondu, and pour the mixture into small paper trays fringed round the top. The mixture should only half fill the trays or cases.

CHAPTER VI.

Pastry.

DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING PASTE.

To make good light paste requires much practice; as it is not only from the proportions, but from the manner of mixing the various ingredients, that paste acquires its good or bad qualities.

Paste should be worked up very lightly, and no strength or pressure used; it should be rolled out _from you_, as lightly as possible. A marble slab is better than a board to make paste on.

The flour should be dried for some time before the fire previously to being used. In forming it into paste it should be wetted as little as possible, to prevent its being tough. It is a great mistake to imagine _lard_ is better adapted for pastry than b.u.t.ter or clarified fat; it may make the paste lighter, but neither the color nor the flavor will be nearly so good, and the saving is extremely trifling.

To ensure lightness, paste should be set in the oven directly it is made.

Puff paste requires a brisk oven.

b.u.t.ter should be added to the paste in small pieces.

The more times the paste is folded and rolled, if done with a light hand and the b.u.t.ter added with skill, the richer and lighter it will prove. It is no longer customary to line the dish for pies and fruit tarts.

PLAIN PUFF PASTE.

Mix a pound of flour into a stiff paste with a little water, first having rubbed into it about two ounces of b.u.t.ter, then roll it out; add by degrees the remainder of the b.u.t.ter (there should be altogether half a pound of b.u.t.ter), fold the paste and roll about two or three times.

VERY RICH PUFF PASTE.

Mix in the same manner equal quant.i.ties of b.u.t.ter and flour, taking care to have the flour dried for a short time before the fire; it may be folded and rolled five or six times. This paste is well suited to vol-au-vents and tartlets; an egg well beaten and mixed with the paste is sometimes added.

PLAIN SHORT CRUST.

Put half a pound of fresh b.u.t.ter to a pound of flour, add the yolks of two eggs and a little powdered sugar, mix into a paste with water, and roll out once.

EGG PASTE, CALLED IN MODERN COOKERY NOUILLES.

This is formed by making a paste of flour and beaten eggs, without either b.u.t.ter or water; it must be rolled out extremely thin and left to dry; it may then be cut into narrow strips or stamped with paste cutters. It is more fashionable in soups than vermicelli.

BEEF DRIPPING PASTE.

Mix half a pound of clarified dripping into one pound of flour; work it into a paste with water, and roll out twice. This is a good paste for a common meat pie.

GLAZE FOR PASTRY.

When the pastry is nearly baked, brush it over with white of egg, cover it thickly with sifted sugar, and brown it in the oven, or it may be browned with a salamander.

For savory pies beat the yolk of an egg, dip a paste-brush into it, and lay it on the crust before baking.

FRUIT TARTS OR PIES.

A fruit tart is so common a sweet that it is scarcely necessary to give any directions concerning it. Acid fruits are best stewed before putting into a pie: the usual proportions are half a pound of sugar to a quart of fruit--not quite so much if the fruit is ripe; the fruit should be laid high in the middle of the dish, to make the pie a good shape. It is the fashion to lay over the crust, when nearly baked, an icing of the whites of eggs whisked with sugar; the tart or pie is then replaced in the oven.

A VERY FINE SAVOURY PIE.

Lay a fine veal cutlet, cut in pieces and seasoned, at the bottom of the dish; lay over it a layer of smoked beef fat, then a layer of fine cold jelly made from gravy-beef and veal, then hard boiled eggs in slices, then chicken or sweetbread, and then again the jelly, and so on till the dish is filled; put no water, and season highly with lemon-juice, essence of mushroom, pepper, salt, and nutmeg; also, if approved, a blade of mace: small cakes of fine forcemeat are an improvement; cover with a fine puff paste, and brush over with egg, and bake.

TARTLETS.

Make a very rich light puff paste, and roll it out to half an inch of thickness; it should be cut with fluted paste-cutters, lightly baked, and the centre scooped out afterwards, and the sweetmeat or jam inserted; a pretty dish of pastry may be made by cutting the paste in ribbons of three inches in length, and one and a half in width; bake them lightly, and pile them one upon another, with jam between each, in the form of a cone.

CHEESECAKES.