Boulettes

STRAIN the liquor from a pint of large oysters; add a little water and put on to boil with a slice of onion, bit of mace and a sprig of parsley; after it has boiled for five minutes put in the oysters and allow them to just come to a boil; lift them out with a fork and lay them flat to cool. Mix a half-cupful of flour with two tablespoon-fuls of butter; season highly with salt and cayenne; add a half-cupful of the white meat of a chicken, cooked and chopped fine; strain the oyster liquor in and add enough cream to make a thick batter; cook for ten minutes, then remove and cool. Dry each oyster in a napkin; cover completely with the batter and let dry for an hour or two; then dip in egg and crumbs and fry a delicate brown.

Choucroute

PLACE in a shallow baking-dish, alternate layers of cooked sauerkraut and oysters, starting and finishing with sauerkraut. On top place a few strips of fat bacon. Cook in a quick oven about half an hour.

Cutlets

USE a pint of oysters and a cupful of finely chopped cooked chicken. Strain the liquor from the oysters, wash them, pick over carefully and chop or cut into tiny pieces. To the strained liquor add two tablespoonfuls of fine cracker-crumbs, the chicken, oysters and seasoning of pepper and salt. Put a tablespoonful of butter in a pan, when melted stir in a table-spoonful of flour till smooth; add the oyster mixture and cook three minutes, then two eggs beaten with a little cold water and stir for a moment longer. Remove from the fire and spread on a buttered platter; when cool shape into cutlets. When ready to serve dip each cutlet in beaten egg then in fine cracker-crumbs and fry a light brown.

Macaroni Sandwich

BREAK a half package of macaroni into short lengths and boil in salted water twenty-five minutes, or until tender; then hold the dish under the cold water faucet and gently lift and turn the macaroni until the outer coating of paste is dissolved and the water is perfectly clear. Put a layer of macaroni in a shallow baking-dish and sprinkle with salt, pepper and bits of butter. On this put a layer of oysters, freed from all bits of shell and carefully cleaned; sprinkle with cayenne, salt and grated lemon peel; over this a second layer of macaroni. Pour over all a small cupful of cream, dot the top with bits of butter and brown in a quick oven.

Potpie

BOIL in a pint of chicken or veal broth an ounce of ham or salt pork and an onion minced fine; season with pepper, salt and butter. Add the strained liquor from a pint of oysters and drop in a half-dozen dumplings; cover closely and cook twenty minutes without removing the cover. Add the oysters and cook till the edges curl. Lift out each dumpling, lay the oysters on them and strain the gravy over all. Sprinkle a teaspoon-ful of minced parsley over the top.

Quenelles

PUT a heaping tablespoonful of fine bread-crumbs with four tablespoonfuls of cream in a saucepan and cook to a smooth paste; add the breast of a cooked fowl, ground fine through a meat chopper, a tablespoonful of butter, the beaten white of an egg, salt, white pepper and a grating of nutmeg; mix thoroughly and set away to cool. Dry two dozen oysters on a soft towel; season with salt and pepper, roll in fine crumbs and lay flat on a dish. Divide the forcemeat into twelve equal parts, spread evenly on twelve oysters; lay the other twelve oysters on the first dozen, pressing gently to make them stick. Beat the yolks of two eggs and one whole egg and season with pepper and salt; dip the prepared oysters in this, roll in breadcrumbs, being careful to cover every bit; place in a frying-basket, plunge in hot fat and brown. Serve with a brown Madeira sauce.

Rognons

HAVE fresh beef kidneys freed from skin and soak an hour in salted water. Core and cut them in thin small slices crosswise; put them in hot melted butter, seasoned with paprika, salt and lemon-juice and just heat through. Take from the fire and arrange on skewers alternately, with large oysters that have been wiped dry. Broil over a slow fire; baste with a little of the hot seasoned butter. Serve on a bed of hot Saratoga chips.

Sausages

SCALD two dozen oysters in their own liquor, cool and chop fine; mix with them five ounces of bread-crumbs and three ounces of finely chopped suet. Season with salt, pepper and a grating of nutmeg; bind with a beaten egg and set away for two hours to cool and get firm. Flour the hands and make up into little sausage cakes and fry in butter or hot olive-oil. Serve with them shredded celery and brown bread and butter.

Scalloped Pie

WASH a pint of fresh scallops in cold water; drain and dry them in a napkin. Cut a few thin slices of fat bacon in strips, insert the ends in a larding needle and lard the scallops with them; dredge with flour. Wash a quart of large selected oysters and strain the liquor. Line a baking-dish with puff paste, fill with the scallops and oysters in alternate layers, adding generous lumps of butter rolled in flour. Season with salt, pepper and a dash of mace; pour over the oyster-liquor, cover with a top crust and bake forty minutes in a moderate oven.

Villeroi

CHOP the cooked breast of a fowl and add half the quantity of uncooked fat salt pork, minced very fine. Mix with these, beating smooth, a few chopped truffles and seasoning of pepper and salt. Lay the oysters, the largest obtainable, on a cloth and with a sharp knife inserted at the edge, make an opening up and down; fill with the truffle mixture. Roll each one in flour, then dip them in beaten egg and then in the flour once more. Arrange smoothly in a frying-basket; plunge them in boiling fat and fry a golden brown. Remove, drain on a hot cloth and serve on pieces of toast.