No. 156. Sauce A La Bonne Femme

2 tomatoes. 1 green apple.

1 leek.

2 ounces butter.

1 teaspoon lemon juice.

1/2 pint lentil or haricot bean stock. 1/2 teaspoon mixed herbs. Salt and pepper to taste.

Dissolve the butter in a small stewpan, then place in the vegetables sliced, and fry for twenty minutes, but do not allow to burn; add stock, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and simmer for half an hour. Strain before using. May be thickened if required.

Note. - This is a very suitable sauce for pouring over fried beans, lentils, potatoes, etc.

No. 157. Sauce A La Petite Cuisinière

1 pint haricot beans. 1 quart water.

1 teaspoon salt.

2 teaspoons lemon juice.

1/2 ounce brown flour. 1 ounce butter. 1 sprig parsley.

Boil the beans and parsley for two hours, add salt, strain, thicken with the flour and butter well mixed, stir until it boils, add lemon juice.

No. 158. Apple Sauce

12 apples.

12 lumps of sugar.

1 pint water.

1 ounce fresh butter. 3 or 4 cloves, according to taste.

Peel, core, and slice the apples; dissolve the sugar in the water, using an enamelled stewpan; place in the apples and cloves. Simmer gently until the apples are quite tender. Rub through a hair sieve with a wooden spoon, return to the stew-pan, stir in the butter, and continue stirring until thoroughly incorporated, when it is ready for serving.

No. 159. Asparagus Sauce

20 heads of asparagus. 1/2 pint white sauce.

Pepper and salt to taste. Spinach colouring.

Cut away the white portion of the asparagus, and tie the green into a bundle; boil in salted water for about thirty minutes or until tender, but not broken; then lift out, and place on a board and cut off the tips, rub the remainder through a hair sieve into the white sauce; then stir in the tips, also a few drops of spinach colouring, and it is ready for use.

Note. - When rubbing the asparagus through the sieve, it will be found that it adheres to the outer side, whence it must be removed with a spoon.

No. 160. Béchamel Sauce

1 shalot or small onion. 3 sprigs of parsley. 24 peppercorns. 1 pint milk. 1 ounce butter. 1 ounce flour.

1 bay leaf.

1 teaspoon sweet herbs. A very little mace.

1/2 teaspoon salt.

2 yolks of eggs.

Simmer the seasonings in the milk for three-quarters of an hour, strain, add the butter and flour, which have been previously mixed, stir until the sauce thickens, add the beaten yolks of eggs, and it is ready for use. Care must be taken not to allow the sauce to boil after the eggs have been added.

No. 164. German Sauce

1/2 pint sauce Tournée No. 182.

The yolks of 2 eggs.

Strain the yolks and add them to the sauce; stir carefully over a moderate heat until it simmers, but on no account must it boil or the eggs will curdle. When it thickens (about one minute) it is done. This is a very rich sauce.