Chestnut Puree

With a sharp-pointed knife cut a short slit in the shell on one side of each nut. Let cook one minute in boiling water, drain and let dry. To each pint of nuts add a teaspoonful of fat, stir and shake over the fire or in the oven until the shells absorb the fat. Insert the knife in the slit and remove skin and shell together. Keep the nuts covered, meantime, as they shell more easily when hot. Let the blanched nuts cook in water or broth until tender; drain and press through a sieve. Season with salt, pepper and butter and press through a potato ricer, or beat thoroughly and shape as desired with pastry bag and tube.

Chestnut puree is particularly good with lamb chops or small fillets of beef.

Lima Bean Puree

Green or dried beans may be used. Soak dried beans over night, drain, cover with cold water and let simmer until tender and the water has evaporated. Replenish with boiling water as needed during the cooking. Season with salt when partly cooked. A teaspoonful of salt to a cup of dried beans will be none too much. Press through a sieve, add butter or cream, black pepper and more salt if needed. Return to the fire to become hot. If the puree is to be piped around chops or other meat, stir over the fire until quite consistent, then add butter and pipe at once.

Green Pea Puree

Green pea puree may be made of peas too old to be served in the usual manner. Canned peas may also be used for the purpose. Press the drained peas through a sieve, reheat and add salt, black pepper and butter. Green pea puree is particularly good piped into nests for braised or poeled sweetbreads.

Mushroom Puree

1 pound of fresh mushrooms ¼ a cup of butter

2 cups of Bechamel Sauce Season as needed

Wash or brush the mushrooms and chop fine; melt the butter in a saucepan, add the mushrooms and stir until the moisture has evaporated; add the sauce and let simmer fifteen minutes. Pass through a puree sieve, season to taste and reheat without boiling. This may be used with almost any dish of fish or chicken where Bechamel sauce is designated. For a thicker puree beat in the yolks of two eggs, beaten and mixed with two tablespoonfuls of cream. Stir over the fire without boiling, two or three minutes. Stems and peelings of mushrooms may be used alone or with part caps.