Entrees, Rechauffes, etc.

An entrée is a dish served at dinner or luncheon between the regular courses. Some entrées are served hot and others, from preference, cold or iced. As entrées are served from the side, they are often shaped in individual portions; if not so shaped, they are separated into portions before they are passed. Meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, and, occasionally, fruit may form the foundation of an entrée. Uncooked meat or fish is often used in these dishes, but there is no place in cookery, where the cook has such an opportunity to display her skill, as in the preparation of entrées from materials left over from other dishes. As meats and fish lose flavor in recooking, broth or stock to heighten flavor is almost a sine qua non, both in the composition of the dish itself and in the sauce with which it is served. Standard broth gives the best results, but broth carefully made from odds and ends of well-selected material is not to be despised. As a means to this same end the appropriate use of celery salt or pepper, curry powder, tabasco sauce, a "faggot," onion, and marinades are to be commended. But, in reality, success in this branch of the culinary art depends largely upon the manner in which the fundamental ingredients are handled, and especially is this the case in the composition of réchauffés.

Meat or fish that has once been cooked must of necessity be treated thereafter most delicately. As for these, the process is one of reheating, further cooking needs be avoided. It is well to remember the following items:

(1st) That whenever vegetable, sauce, etc., is to be added to cooked fish or meat, it must be thoroughly cooked before being combined with these ingredients for reheating.

(2nd) That cooked proteid substance while reheating must be protected in some way from direct contact with the heat of the oven, fat or fire: as, for instance, with sauce, buttered crumbs, egg and bread crumbs, pastry cases, etc.

(3rd) That the more finely these cooked substances be divided, the shorter the time needed in reheating arid the more readily will they absorb sauce or whatever is to give them flavor.

(4th) That all bone, gristle, unsightly or unedible portions need be carefully trimmed away before cooked fish or meat is chopped or otherwise divided.

(5th) That, in chopping, the material is to be cut into tangible bits, not mashed, and, in slicing or cutting into cubes, the divisions are to be uniformly and neatly made.

For convenience and to insure a better understanding of the subject, hot entrées may be considered under four divisions, and the various cold entrées, such as chaudfroids, aspics, etc., in a class by themselves, as:

1. Simple salpicon (ragout) mixtures, or chopped mixtures (either uncooked or réchauffé). Served in borders, etc.

2. Salpicon or chopped mixtures, enclosed when cold in egg and bread crumbs, pastry, batter, etc., and fried, as croquettes, rissoles, fritters, kromeskis.

3. Purées of meat or fish mixed with different proportions of egg, cream or sauce, panard, etc., to form soufflés, creams, quenelles, mousses, etc.

4. Dishes composed of small pieces of solid meat trimmed to uniform shapes and sizes, as fillets, cutlets, suprêmes, etc.

5. Cold entrées, as chaudfroids, aspics, etc.

There are several utensils that simplify to a great extent the making of entrées. The first in importance is a sharp knife of suitable size, then follows a chopping knife, a meat chopper, a mortar and pestle, and a purée sieve and wooden spoon. But, in accordance with the bon mot of Motley, one might be inclined to do without a sharp knife or a chopping knife, to indulge in the luxury of a meat chopper, if anything so useful and saving of time and strength can be called a luxury.

In selecting sharp knives of various sizes, the best French knives are the cheapest in the end. If a knife will not take and hold an edge, it is worthless. The "quick cut" chopping knives made in Canton, Ohio, on account of their shape, are easily cleaned and have more cutting surface than those of other make. They are made of good steel. In meat choppers, one that cuts clean rather than crushes the meat is the kind to purchase. Some machines are so made that with them meat may be cut in large or small pieces. The knife of the Enterprise chopper may be resharpened or an old knife replaced by a new. Purée sieves come in different sizes; the size of mesh in the sieve cloth varies according to the use for which it is designed. A sieve with twenty-eight holes to the linear inch is needed for sifting icing sugar. A twelve-mesh sieve, or twelve holes to the linear inch, is adapted to sifting purées and marmalades, and an eight mesh for bread crumbs.