Cannelons

Mince down 2⅓lb. of underdone roast beef freed from skin, sinew, etc., and mix it with a pound of cooked and minced, or pounded ham, half the rind of a lemon grated, and some parsley, thyme, etc., well powdered or minced; season to taste with pepper, salt, and a dash of nutmeg, work in two eggs, and shape it into a roll (like a roly-poly pudding), wrap this in well oiled or buttered paper, and bake half an hour in a moderate oven. Now remove the paper, and serve on a very hot dish with any nice rich gravy or sauce poured over it, and if liked a garnish of forcemeat balls and tiny sausages. This dish is a capital and appetizing way of using up any kind of meat, white or brown, only being careful to vary the flavouring and the sauce, to suit the foundation meat.

Cassolettes Meringuees

Prepare some little cassolettes of fried bread, about 2in. deep, and when crisp and of a pretty gold colour, brush the tops over with warm butter, and dip them in minced parsley and coralline pepper; have ready any kind of meat, fish, flesh, or fowl, cut into very tiny dice, and heat these in any suitable and rather thick sauce till hot, fill up the cases with the mixture, and pile them up rockily with stiffly whipped egg-white either plain, or seasoned with minced parsley, cheese, coralline pepper, etc., to taste, and bake in a moderate oven till delicately browned. In this, as in every case of rechauffe, the excellence of the dish depends on the delicacy of the sauce, and the daintiness of the service.

Cones

Mince finely l½lb. of veal or any white-meat, with a good slice of ham, and pound it in the mortar with 2oz. of fresh butter; now mix in four or five good tablespoonsful of cream (or new milk), or stock, white pepper, salt, and a little grated lemon rind to taste. Shape this mixture into neat cones about 3in. high, brush them over with beaten egg, and strew them with breadcrumbs; fry them in plenty of hot fat to a delicate golden brown, drain, and serve very hot, either dry with a garnish of baked crumbs, or with any nice gravy or sauce to taste. These are called veal, chicken, beef, or game cones according to the meat used.

Croquettes De Boeuf A La Milanaise

Prepare some beef croquettes according to the recipe given for croquette farce in the previous chapter, only using brown instead of white stock, and adding a little finely minced onion, a drop or two of essence of anchovy, and a little fat bacon to the mixture. Boll this in egg and breadcrumbs, fry, and serve on a bed of boiled macaroni, tossed in a little butter, and seasoned well with black pepper, and grated cheese.

Curries

The meat for curry should properly be freshly cooked for the purpose, but very palatable dishes of this kind may be made with cooked meat, granted a little care. For the ordinary form prepare a nice curry sauce (see sauces), and when ready lay in the meat cut into neat pieces, with some hard-boiled eggs, either sliced or quartered, and leave it to soak in this for as long a time as you can afford; when wanted heat very gently without allowing it actually to cook, and serve very hot with a dish of boiled rice. Few people realise how easy it is to reserve curry. Let the curry left over stand in its -dish, in its own gravy, till wanted, then stir in half an ounce each of butter and delicately fried onion, a teaspoonful of curry fried in the pan in which the -onions were cooked, and a gill or so of milk, reheat gently, and you will be astonished to find what a tempting 'dish it will make. Another way of utilising the remains of a curry is the dry curry. For this lift the pieces of meat out of the curry with just so much sauce as will stick to them; melt half an ounce or so of butter (or even clarified dripping) in a pan, and lay in the meat, rather wide apart so that the pieces do not touch, and let them evaporate over a very slow fire, stirring them gently with a delicately clean wooden spoon, till the sauce becomes dry and powdery, when the meat will be ready.