HORS-D'OEUVRES, OR DISHES TO BE HANDED ROUND THE TABLE. No. 381. Petits Vol-au-Vents - la MoElle de Boeuf.

Make a pound of puff paste (No. 1132), roll it half an inch in thickness, then cut out your vol-au-vents with a fluted cutter rather larger than a five-shilling piece; have ready a baking sheet, (on which you have sprinkled some water,) and put your vol-au-vents on it, egg them over with a paste brush, and cut a top with a small plain cutter, which is done by dipping the cutter into hot water, and just marking a ring upon the top of each vol-au-vent, but do not cut it deep, then put them in a very warm oven, and pay particular attention to the baking of them, which will occupy about twenty minutes, keep the oven door shut as much as possible, take them out when done, and with the point of a knife take off the lid without breaking it, and take out the soft paste remaining inside, leaving them quite empty, they are then ready for immediate use; prepare the marrow as follows: take all the marrow from a beef marrow-bone, in as large pieces as possible, have ready on the fire a stewpan of boiling water, into which throw the marrow, and let it boil ten minutes, then take it out carefully and put it in cold water, put a pint of brown sauce (No. 1) into a stewpan, with four spoonfuls of brown gravy (No. 135) and a small piece of glaze, and reduce it till it becomes rather thick, then cut the marrow in dice about a quarter of an inch square, and two minutes before serving throw it into the sauce, with two large quenelles (No. 120) also cut in dice, whilst boiling, previously draining them upon a cloth; warm it quickly, season with a little salt and sugar if required, fill the vol-au-vents, and dress them on a napkin pyramidically; serve very hot.

No. 382. Petits Vol-au-Vents au laitance de Maquereau.

Make the vol-au-vents as in the previous article, put two ounces of butter into a sautÉ-pan, rub it over the bottom, have ready four soft roes of mackerel, then put into the sautÉ-pan with a little pepper, salt, chopped parsley, and a teaspoonful of lemon-juice; set them over a moderate fire five minutes, turn them, and when done cut them in small dice, but let them remain in the sautÉ-pan, then add eight tablespoonfuls of white sauce (No. 7), and two of light broth, a little sugar, and two or three tablespoonfuls of cream; stir it over the fire and mix it well without breaking the roes, fill your vol-au-vents, and serve very hot on a napkin; carp roes may be served in the same manner.

No. 383. Petits Vol-au-Vents au foie de Raie.

Make the vol-au-vents as above; boil the liver of a skate in salt and water an hour, let it get cold, put six tablespoonfuls of white sauce (No. 7) in a stewpan, with four of light stock, and reduce it till rather thick, then add a little chopped parsley, three tablespoonfuls of cream, a little white pepper, sugar, and salt, if required; cut the liver in small dice, with four quenelles (No. 120), put it in the stewpan, make it hot, but do not stir it much or you will break it, add a little lemon-juice, fill the vol-au-vents, and serve as before. These patties, although seldom served, are very excellent if well done and nicely seasoned.

No. 384. Petits Vol-au-Vents aux HuÎtres.

Prepare the vol-au-vents as before, put eight tablespoonfuls of white sauce in a stewpan, with a little cayenne pepper, a teaspoonful of essence of anchovies, two peppercorns, half a blade of mace, and six tablespoonfuls of liquor from the oysters, reduce it till very thick, have ready, blanched and bearded, two dozen oysters (No. 342), cut each oyster in four pieces, put them in the sauce, (previously taking out the peppercorns and mace,) with a little salt, sugar, and lemon-juice, make it hot over the fire, add a little cream, but do not let it boil, or the oysters would become tough and the sauce very thin: fill the vol-au-vents and serve on a napkin as before.

No. 385. Petits Vol-au-Vents de Homard.

Prepare the vol-au-vents as usual, put eight tablespoonfuls of white sauce (No. 7), and four of light stock, in a stewpan, with a little cayenne pepper, salt, and a teaspoonful of essence of anchovies, boil it ten minutes, then cut a small hen lobster up in large dice, pound the red spawn from it with one ounce of butter, pass it through a hair sieve and mix with the sauce; put in the lobster, make it hot, fill your vol-au-vent, and serve as before.

N. B. The last four dishes may be made maigre by substituting melted butter or oyster sauce for white sauce.

No. 386. Petites BouchÉes À la MoËlle de Boeuf.

Are made in the same manner as the petits vol-au-vents, but the paste must not be more than a quarter of an inch in thickness, and the bouchÉes must be cut with a fluted cutter not larger than half-a-crown piece, bake them in a warmer oven than the vol-au-vents, prepare the beef marrow, fill and serve the same as No. 381.

No. 387. Petites BouchÉes au laitance de Maquereau.

Make the bouchÉes as before, and prepare the mackerel roes the same as for petits vol-au-vents (No. 382).

No. 388. Petites BouchÉes au foie de Raie.

Prepare them as usual, and proceed as for No. 383.

No. 389. Petites BouchÉes aux HuÎtres.

Prepare them as before, and proceed as for vol-au-vents (No. 384).

No. 390. Petites BouchÉes de Homard.

Prepare them as before, and proceed as for vol-au-vents (No. 385).

No. 391. Petites BouchÉes À la Reine.

Prepare them as usual, pick the meat of the half of a braised chicken, and cut it in very small dice (not larger than peas), cut about the same size one ounce of cooked tongue, six blanched mushrooms, and two middling-sized French truffles; mix altogether, then put twenty tablespoonfuls of white sauce (No. 7) in a stewpan, with eight of milk, reduce it to one half, then add the minced fowl, tongue, &c., season with a little lemon-juice, pepper, salt, sugar, and two spoonfuls of cream; serve them very hot on a napkin.

No. 392. Petites BouchÉes À la purÉe de Volaille.

Prepare them as before, take about half a pound of the flesh of chicken, turkey, or any description of poultry; pound it well in a mortar, with half an ounce of lean boiled ham, then put a teaspoonful of chopped eschalots in a stewpan, with half an ounce of butter, pass them over the fire, stirring them with a wooden spoon, then add a little flour, mix it well with the butter and eschalots, then add the pounded meat, four spoonfuls of white sauce, and half a pint of good stock that the bones of the poultry have been previously boiled in, boil altogether a quarter of an hour, season with a little white pepper, salt, and sugar, pass it through a tammie by rubbing it with two wooden spoons, put it into another stewpan, boil it, finish with a tablespoonful of liaison, fill the bouchÉes, and serve on a napkin very hot.

No. 393. Petites BouchÉes de Gibier.

Prepare the bouchÉes as before, put twenty tablespoonfuls of game sauce (No. 60) in a stewpan, then cut up into small dice the flesh of a grouse, partridge, half a pheasant, or the remains of any game you might happen to have by you, put it in the stewpan with the sauce, make it hot but do not let it boil, season with a little sugar and salt, fill and serve as before.

No. 394. Petites BouchÉes À la purÉe de Gibier.

Prepare them as before, and proceed as for the petites bouchÉes À la purÉe de volaille, (No. 392) only using the flesh of game, and game sauce, instead of the flesh of poultry and white sauce.

No. 395. Petits PÂtÉs À la PÂtissiÈre.

Make one pound of puff paste (No. 1132), roll it into a sheet a quarter of an inch in thickness, then cut twenty pieces of the size of a five-shilling piece with a plain round cutter; mix the remains of the paste together, and roll them out to the thickness of the eighth of an inch, and cut twenty more pieces from it with the same cutter, sprinkle a baking sheet with water and lay them on it a little distance apart, wash them over with a little water with a paste brush, then have ready prepared in a basin half a pound of forcemeat of veal, fowl, or game (Nos. 120, 122, 123), with which mix half an ounce of beef marrow chopped very fine, one eschalot, a little parsley also chopped fine, and the yolk of an egg; mix well together with a wooden spoon, then put a little lump of the forcemeat half the size of a walnut on each piece of paste on the baking sheet, cover them over with the twenty pieces of paste you first cut, and close them well at the edges by pressing them down with the top part of a smaller cutter, egg the tops over, but be careful that the egg does not run down the sides, or it would prevent the patties from rising straight, put them in rather a hot oven and bake them about twenty minutes; dish them in pyramid on a napkin and serve; to be good they should be served directly they are taken from the oven; care should be taken not to put too much forcemeat in them, or it will upset them in baking.

No. 396. Petits PÂtÉs aux HuÎtres À la PÂtissiÈre.

Proceed as above, but instead of using forcemeat use some of the salpicon of oysters as prepared for the rissoles aux huÎtres (No. 399).

No. 397. Petits PÂtÉs de Homard À la PÂtissiÈre.

Proceed as above, using some of the salpicon as prepared for the rissoles de homard (No. 400).

No. 398. Petits PÂtÉs of Shrimps or Prawns À la PÂtissiÈre.

As before, using the salpicon of shrimps as prepared for rissoles of shrimps or prawns (No. 401).

No. 399. Rissoles aux HuÎtres.

Put half a tablespoonful of chopped onions into a stewpan, with half an ounce of butter, place it over the fire, fry the onions, but they must be kept white; then add half a teaspoonful of flour, and twelve of oyster liquor, (mix well) and eight tablespoonfuls of white sauce (No. 7), boil altogether ten minutes (or more till it becomes rather thickish), keeping it stirred the whole time, season with a little cayenne pepper, and salt, (it requires to be seasoned rather high,) then have ready blanched three dozen of oysters, cut each into four pieces, dry them on a cloth, and put them into the sauce, let them boil two minutes, add a few drops of essence of anchovies, and three yolks of eggs, stir again over the fire a minute to set the eggs, then put it out on a dish and set it to get cold; make half a pound of puff paste (No. 1132), roll it ten times, (or the trimmings of paste previously made will do,) roll it out as thin as a shilling, then cut it out with a round cutter the size of the top of a small teacup, lay a teaspoonful of the preparation of oyster on each piece, wet it round with the paste brush, turn one edge over on to the other and close it well, then egg and bread-crumb them, fry in very hot lard (enough for them to swim in), when done dish them on a napkin, garnish with fried parsley and serve very hot; it will take about five minutes to fry them.

No. 400. Rissoles de Homard.

Put a teaspoonful of chopped onions into a stewpan with half an ounce of fresh butter, fry them white, then add ten or fifteen tablespoonfuls of white sauce (according to the size of the lobster), stir over the fire and let it boil five minutes, or more, until rather thick, have a fresh lobster cut up into small dice, put it into the sauce, season with cayenne pepper, salt, a little chopped parsley, juice of a lemon, and a few drops of essence of anchovies, let it boil a minute, then add two yolks of eggs, stir it over the fire another minute, to set the eggs, and pour it out on a dish to get cold; make and serve the rissoles as in the last article.

No. 401. Rissoles of Shrimps.

Prepare the salpicon exactly the same as the lobster in the last article, but be careful that the shrimps are not too salt; prawns are better for this purpose than shrimps; they require but very little seasoning; make, fry, and serve the rissoles as before.

No. 402. Rissoles de laitances de Maquereau.

Put a quarter of a pound of butter in a sautÉ-pan, rub it over the bottom, lay in the soft roes of four mackerel, season them with a little white pepper, salt, a teaspoonful of lemon-juice, and a very little chopped parsley; place them over a moderate fire five minutes, turn them, but do not let them get the least brown; when quite done cut them into small dice without breaking, then put half a teaspoonful of chopped eschalots into a stewpan, with a few drops of salad oil; fry them quite white, then mix half a teaspoonful of flour with them, and ten tablespoonfuls of white sauce (No. 7), stir it over the fire, and boil till it becomes very thick (as the roes of mackerel are so very delicate), season with a little cayenne pepper, salt, and a little sugar if required; then put in two yolks of eggs, mix well, and add the mackerel roes, stir it very gently over the fire till the eggs become set, then put it on a dish to get cold; make, dress, and serve the rissoles as before. This delicate hors-d’oeuvre requires great attention and proper seasoning.

No. 403. Rissoles de Gibier.

Roast a grouse or any other bird rather underdone, or the remains of some game left from a previous dinner will do, pick the meat off the bones and cut it into very small dice; then put a teaspoonful of chopped eschalots in a stewpan, with a quarter of an ounce of butter, fry them rather brown, add ten tablespoonfuls of game sauce (if none, make some with the bones as directed, No. 60), and four of brown ditto (No. 1), reduce over the fire till it becomes rather thick, season with a little cayenne pepper, salt, a teaspoonful of chopped mushrooms, and a teaspoonful of wine; let it boil, then add the game, with a little sugar and two yolks of eggs, stir it gently over the fire just to set the eggs, pour it on a dish to cool; make, dress, and serve the rissoles as before.

No. 404. Rissoles de Volaille.

Cut half a roast (or boiled) fowl up into very small dice, then put a teaspoonful of chopped eschalots in a stewpan, with half an ounce of butter, fry them quite white, then add sixteen tablespoonfuls of white sauce (No. 7), put it over the fire to reduce till it is rather thick, put the fowl into the sauce, season with a little salt, white pepper, sugar, a teaspoonful of chopped mushrooms, and a little chopped parsley; let it boil a few minutes, then stir in the yolks of two eggs, let them set, and pour it on a dish to cool (a little ham or tongue may be mixed with the above, if required;) make, fry, and serve the rissoles as before.

Rissoles may also be made of turkey, pigeons, veal, lamb, sweetbread, &c., by following the above receipt, and using either one or the other of those articles instead of fowl.

No. 405. Croustade de Beurre.

Have ready a lump of fresh butter very hard and cut it into slices one inch and a half in thickness, lay them upon a table or slab in a cool place; then take a round cutter the size of half-a-crown, and with it cut twelve pieces of the butter out of the slices, beat up three or four eggs on a plate, put the pieces of butter into them, then take them out and throw them into a dish of bread-crumbs, take them out, throw them again into the eggs, and then the bread-crumbs, repeating the process three times, lay them upright upon the table, and mark a ring a little larger than a shilling on the top of each with a smaller cutter, stand them in a wire basket and fry in very hot lard, of a nice light-brown colour, and very crisp, take them out, take off the lids, empty them with care, and you will save nearly all the butter from them, turn them topsy-turvey in a dry place until wanted; when ready to serve put them in the oven a short time to get hot, and fill with any of the preparations for petites bouchÉes. You may form the croustades in diamonds, or any shape your fancy dictates; they make very beautiful hors-d’oeuvres, and very cheap, as with care you may save the butter, which when cold may be applied to any other purpose.

No. 406. Croustade de Beurre À la Duke of York.

PrÉpare the croustades as above, and make a good purÉe of fowl (as for petites bouchÉes À la purÉe de volaille, No. 392), then peel a good sized cucumber, cut it in pieces two inches long, and divide each piece into three lengthwise, take out the seeds, and stew the pieces of cucumber till very tender, with a little sugar, onion, and broth, keeping them very white; when cold cut them in small dice, mix with the purÉe of fowl, fill the croustades, and serve very hot with a plover’s egg upon the top of each.

No. 407. Croquettes de Homard.

Prepare a salpicon of lobster the same as for rissoles de homard; when quite cold cut it out in pieces two inches long and three quarters of an inch wide, beat up three or four eggs on a plate, and throw each piece into them and then into a dish of bread-crumbs, take them out, roll them lightly with the hand, beat them gently with a knife to make the crumbs stick, then throw them again into the eggs and bread-crumb, smooth them again with a knife, fry in hot lard, and dress them on a napkin garnished with fried parsley; they may be made in the form of pears or any way that fancy dictates, giving them the shape previous to bread-crumbing them. Croquettes may be made of any of the preparations for rissoles by following the above direction.

No. 408. Aiguillettes de Ris de Veau.

For these kind of hors-d’oeuvres it is necessary to have twelve small silver skewers, about four inches long and the thickness of a packing-needle, with a ring or fancy design on the top, they are not very expensive but are very novel for this description of dishes; the persons eating what is served upon them taking the head of the skewer with the fingers of their left hand and picking it off with their fork. Boil three throat sweetbreads in water ten minutes, pour off the water and add one onion, one carrot, one turnip, two bay-leaves, and a pint of white broth, let them simmer about twenty minutes till firm, then take them out of the broth, lay them on a clean cloth, cut them in pieces, with a long round cutter, about the size of a shilling, and season with pepper and salt; then chop two eschalots very fine and put them in a stewpan with an ounce of butter; fry them quite white, add ten tablespoonfuls of white sauce (No. 7), and eight of light stock, reduce until rather thick, add two yolks of eggs and the juice of half a lemon, take it off the fire, but do not let it boil after the yolks of eggs are in, then dip each piece of sweetbread into the sauce with a fork, and lay them on a dish till cold, then run the skewers through the centre of each piece, putting two pieces on each skewer, have ready four eggs well beaten on a plate, dip each skewer into the eggs and then into the bread-crumbs twice over, fry in hot lard, and serve them very hot on a napkin.

No. 409. Aiguillettes (escalopes) aux HuÎtres.

Put eighteen tablespoonfuls of good oyster sauce (No. 69) into a stewpan, reduce it until rather thick, then add two yolks of eggs, stir them well in, and take it off the fire; choose rather small oysters, have them ready blanched and bearded, dip them one by one into the sauce with a fork, and lay them on a dish to cool; when quite cold run the skewers through (placing five on each skewer), dip them in eggs and bread-crumbs twice over as before, fry them in hot lard, and serve very hot on a napkin.

No. 410. Aiguillettes (escalopes) de Homard.

Cut forty pieces of lobster the size round of a shilling, and one inch in thickness, then put a teaspoonful of chopped eschalots in a stewpan, with a very small piece of butter, fry them quite white, then add eight tablespoonfuls of oyster sauce (No. 69), reduce till rather thick, season with a little sugar, cayenne, and the juice of half a lemon, finish with the yolks of two eggs, dip the pieces of lobster into it and proceed as before; fry, dish, and serve in the same manner; the onions may be avoided if objectionable.

No. 411. Aiguillettes de filets de Sole.

Fillet a sole, butter a sautÉ-pan, lay in the fillets, season with pepper, salt, and the juice of a lemon, place them over a slow fire and when done lay them flat on a dish, place another dish on them, upon which put a four pounds weight, when cold cut them in pieces with a cutter the size of a shilling, prepare oyster sauce as above, dip each piece in the sauce and proceed exactly as before.

No. 412. Aiguillettes aux HuÎtres.

Make a preparation of oysters the same as for rissoles aux huÎtres, adding one more yolk of egg; when cold make thin croquettes two inches long, egg and bread-crumb them once, pass a silver skewer through each, then egg and bread-crumb again, fry and serve on a napkin with fried parsley.

No. 413. Aiguillettes de Homard.

Make the preparation as for croquettes de homard (No. 407), and proceed exactly as in the last.

No. 414. Aiguillettes de Sole.

Make a preparation as for croquettes de homard, only using the fillets of soles instead of lobster, and proceed as before.

No. 415. Aiguilettes de Volaille À la jolie fille.

Make a preparation as for rissoles de volaille (No. 404), but adding tongue, truffles, and pistachios cut in small fillets; when cold make them into croquettes about two inches long, but do not bread-crumb them; pass a silver skewer through, then have ready some batter for frying (No. 1285), hold each skewer by the head, pour some batter over each croquette with a spoon, covering every part of them, and fry in lard, but not too hot, as they must be quite white and crisp; dress them on a napkin and serve very hot.

For Aiguilettes de Gibier À la jolie fille proceed exactly as above, only using game in the preparation instead of fowl.

In France hors-d’oeuvres are made of tastefully dressed anchovy salads, olives, &c., to invigorate the appetite, which is unrequired at this almost the commencement of the dinner.