Crayfish With Poached Eggs

"Yesterday I saw some splendid crayfish for sale, so brought one home with me. Just pepper the under part, and put it in the larder till to-morrow morning. Then set an ounce of butter, one of flour, and a gill of milk in a white enamelled saucepan; into this throw a dash of cayenne, a pinch of isinglass (or add a tablespoonful of good fish stock), white pepper, and salt to taste. Let the whole simmer till it thickens, then throw in the meat from the crayfish; this you must first chop very finely. Draw the saucepan from the fire, while you poach half a dozen eggs; lay them carefully on a dish, with toasted sippets of bread around them. Then stir half a gill of cream into the crayfish mixture; pour it over the eggs. Garnish the dish with tufts of parsley. Be sure to see that your plates are very hot"

Beefsteak Pie

"I thought to-day of having a beefsteak pie, one that can be eaten cold; so when the butcher comes, I shall want to speak to him myself."

"Here he is now, ma'am."

"Will you kindly send me about a pound of tender beefsteak? I do not care from what part, but it must be tender; also I want half a dozen kidneys.

"Isobel, put one pound of flour into a pan, and see that it is quite dry before adding half a pound of dripping, a tea-spoonful of salt, and one of baking powder; mix all with the sour milk in the pan. Do not make it too stiff, for you will require a little more flour to roll it with; now well butter the large pie-dish, line the sides and bottom with this paste, cut the edges neatly, the remains will form the cover. See, I shall cut the steak into pieces as large as the palm of my hand, and as thick as a crown-piece. You may tap each one with the flat end of the chopper, dust lightly with pepper and flour, and lay them in the dish with a small piece of butter; now cut the kidneys in halves, remove all pipe and fat, lay the flat sides uppermost, dust them well with pepper and salt. Cut me a dozen dice-shaped pieces of fat ham, scatter them over the kidneys; by this means you will prevent the steam from soddening the paste. Mince one onion so finely that you cannot see the tiny pieces, lay in one bay-leaf and a small piece of butter. Cut the paste to fit the sides of the dish, brush the edge with melted fat. I never close my pies with water, nor do I put any in the dish. For a meat pie you may make a garland of leaves in paste, but never for a fruit pie.

"There are three gallipots full of dripping in the larder; I want you to take the jelly from the bottom of each one. This I will warm in a jug, for I could not trust it to a saucepan; now notice this. I shall add a tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup, the same quantity of wine, which I have reserved from the bottom of the bottles when decanting them. I always use Australian for soup, it is very much like sherry; and if the Australians would take a hint from the French, their wine would last longer, and not many sherries would taste better. Just before leaving home I bottled a nine-gallon cask of this wine. Now I drop a pinch of isinglass into the jug, add a mustardspoonful of made mustard, a lump of sugar, pinch of salt, and dust of pepper. I will place the jug on the stove, where it will become hot; and when the pie is removed from the oven, I will place the little funnel in a hole at the top of the pie, and through it pour this gravy into the dish. When cold, the gravy will be like jelly. This pie is delicious when eaten either hot or cold."