Piquante Sauce

The almost universal fault with sauce piquante is, that it is too acid. Take a dessertspoonful of chopped shalot, or Spanish onion, another of capers, and another of pickled gherkins. Place this in a frying-pan or saucepan with a tablespoonful of vinegar, and let it simmer gently till the vinegar has simmered away all but a few drops; then add a quarter of a pint of good gravy. If the gravy is not thick, add some brown thickening. (See No. 12.) Add a saltspoonful of salt. Skim the sauce, so as to get rid of any grease. A pinch of thyme and a powdered bay-leaf will be found an improvement. Unless the vinegar is allowed to evaporate almost entirely, this sauce will be too acid.

This is a nice appetising sauce with mutton cutlets.

Plaice

This is a cheap fish, very plentiful as a rule; but avoid getting one that is watery and flabby: the firmer they are the better. Plaice can be plain-boiled (see No. 1), and served with butter sauce (see Butter Sauce), anchovy sauce (see Anchovy), or shrimp sauce (see Shrimp).

Perhaps the nicest way to cook plaice is to cut it in slices and fry it in batter. (See Batter; also No. 6.) Serve some fried parsley with it. The bones should be removed to make fish sauce. (See Fish Sauce).

Roast Plovers

Pluck the plovers, but do not draw them. Place each each bird on a slice of toast, and cook in a Dutch oven, or in an ordinary oven. Baste plentifully with butter, and serve each bird on the toast. Should any of the inside have run out, spread it over the toast. Time, about fifteen minutes. They require a brisk oven or fire. They should look red inside, not blue, when cut, and a rich brown outside.

Gravy is not necessary with plovers. They require, however, plenty of butter, which will be sucked up by the toast. A little cut lemon and cayenne can be served with them.

Pork Chops

Pork chops are best grilled (see No. 5), but can be cooked in a frying-pan. The best chops are those that have a slice of the kidney in the undercut. Pork chops must be thoroughly done, and they require nearly double the time of mutton chops.

Potato Pie

Potato pie is generally made from the remains of cold meat and potatoes, baked in the oven. (See Mutton Pie.) Sometimes the pie is covered with a paste, sometimes the top layer is potatoes. Thin slices of onion mixed with the potatoes are a great improvement. The potatoes, as much as possible, should be kept moist with fat. In -breaking up the cold meat bone to make stock for gravy for the pie (see No. 10) take care of whatever marrow there is, and add it to the potatoes. Small pieces of suet or dripping can also be placed on the top of the potatoes.

One nice way of using up the remains of paste when there is not enough to cover the pie is to line the edges of the pie-dish only, and pile up the potatoes in the middle. Never let any meat be at the top. There should always be enough stock to keep the meat moist.

The potatoes can soak up the grease and get browned. Chopped parsley may be added to the pie as well as ketchup. Add plenty of black pepper.