Part 35 (2/2)

795. _Fondue of Parmesan and Gruyere, or any other grated Cheese._--Put a quarter of a pound of b.u.t.ter and six ounces of flour in a stewpan, mix them well together (without melting the b.u.t.ter) with a wooden spoon, then add rather more than a pint of boiling milk, stir over the fire, boil twenty minutes, then add the yolks of five eggs (stir in well), half a pound of grated Parmesan, and a quarter of a pound of grated Gruyere cheese; season with half a teaspoonful of salt, a quarter do. of pepper, and half a saltspoonful of cayenne; if too thick add two or three whole eggs to give it the consistency of a souffle, whip the five whites of egg firm, stir them gently into the mixture, have ready a croustade prepared as for the souffle (No. 784), pour in the above mixture, and bake it in a moderate oven; it will require a little longer time than the souffle; dish and serve the same.

796. _Neapolitan Fondue._--Prepare half of the mixture as in the last, but previous to adding the whites of eggs stir in a quarter of a pound of good macaroni blanched, and cut into pieces an inch in length; add the whites, bake, and serve as before.

797. _Fondue (simple method)._--Put two ounces of Gruyere and two ounces of Parmesan cheese (grated) into a basin (or, if you have not got them, use English cheese), with a little salt, pepper, and cayenne, add the yolks of six eggs, with a quarter of a pound of b.u.t.ter melted (mix well), whip the whites of the six eggs, stir gently into the other ingredients, fill small paper cases with it, bake about a quarter of an hour in a moderate oven, dress upon a napkin, and serve very hot.

798. _Fondue of Stilton Cheese._--Put six ounces of b.u.t.ter and half a pound of flour in a stewpan, rub well together with a wooden spoon, then add a quart of warm milk, stir over the fire a quarter of an hour, then add the yolks of eight eggs, three quarters of a pound of grated Parmesan, and half a pound of Stilton cheese in small dice, season rather highly with pepper, salt, and cayenne, add the white of the eggs whipped very stiff, which stir in lightly; have a dozen and a half of small paper cases, fill each one three parts full, place them in a moderate oven, bake about twenty minutes; when done dress them upon a napkin on your dish, and serve very hot.

799. _Cheese Raminole._--Put a gill of water in a stewpan, to which add two ounces of Gruyere and the same quant.i.ty of Parmesan cheese (grated), two ounces of b.u.t.ter, a little cayenne pepper, and salt if required, set it upon the fire, and when boiling stir in two or three spoonfuls of flour; keep stirring over the fire until the paste becomes dryish and the bottom of the stewpan quite white, then add three or four eggs by degrees, until forming a paste like No. 724, b.u.t.ter a baking-sheet well, and lay the paste out in pieces upon it with a tablespoon, making them long, and half the size of the bowl of the spoon; egg over, and lay a small piece of Gruyere cheese upon each, put them into the oven about twenty minutes before they are required; bake them a little crisp, and serve very hot, dressed in pyramid upon a napkin.

800. _Puff Cheesecake._--Make half a pound of paste (No. 686), which roll very thin, have ready some grated Parmesan and Gruyere cheese mixed, throw half a handful over the paste, which fold in three, roll it out to the same thickness again, cover again with cheese, proceeding thus until you have used the whole of the cheese (half a pound), then cut them into any shapes you like with pastry cutters, set on a wet baking-sheet, egg them over, bake a nice color in a moderate oven, dress in pyramid upon a napkin on a dish, and serve very hot.

801. _Cheese Souffle, or Diablotins._--Put a gill of milk in a stewpan, with two ounces of b.u.t.ter; when boiling, stir in two spoonfuls of flour, keep stirring over the fire until the bottom of the stewpan is dry, then add four eggs by degrees, half a pound of Gruyere, and half a pound of grated Parmesan cheese; mix well in, season with pepper, salt, and cayenne rather highly, mould the paste into little b.a.l.l.s with the forefinger against the side of the stewpan containing it, drop them into hot lard; fry of a nice light brown, dress in pyramid upon a napkin, and serve very hot; a quarter of that quant.i.ty may of course be made.

802. _Turban of Almond Cake Iced._--This is a very good and useful second course remove. Make half a pound of puff paste, give it nine rolls, rolling it the last time to the thickness of a penny-piece, have ready blanched and chopped half a pound of sweet almonds, which put in a basin with half a pound of powdered sugar and the whites of two eggs, or a little more if required; spread it over the paste the thickness of a s.h.i.+lling, and with a knife cut the paste into pieces two inches and a half in length and nearly one in breadth, place them upon a baking-sheet, and bake nicely a very light brown color, in a moderate oven, dress them on a stiff border of any kind of stiff jam or marmalade, so as to form a large crown according to the size you require it; then fill the interior with vanilla cream, or any other, iced, but not too hard, and bring it up to a point; the cake may be cut in any shape you fancy, but never make them too large.

803. _Turban of Pastry._--Observe that any kind of pastry fourree, as No. 712, or meringue, No. 711, will, if dished as above, with iced cream, make a very nice remove.

804. _Custard for Puddings._--Take one pint of milk, to which add the yolks of two eggs, and beat up, add a quarter of a pound of sugar, half a saltspoonful of powdered cinnamon and nutmeg, and a bay-leaf. For mould puddings, the mould should be filled first with the bread, &c., and the custard added; should it be wanted alone in gla.s.ses, it must then be put into a saucepan on the fire until it nearly boils, keep stirring it well during the time.

805. _Batter for Fritters._--Take half a pound of flour, one ounce of b.u.t.ter, which melt, the whites of three eggs well beaten, half a gla.s.s of beer, and enough water to make a thick batter.

DESSERT.

LETTER No. XVI

MA CHERE ELOISE,--Remembering your admiration of the small dessert I put on the table at my last birth-day party, you will, I am confident, feel interested in the description of desserts in general, and I will give you a few more hints and receipts, which will tend both to economize as well as gratify the palate and sight; and very different in style from some of our visitors, who, though they spend their money freely enough when they give their Christmas party, but still keep up the old style of covering their table with dry sweet stuff, and, in the way of fruits, display oranges in their original golden skin, Ribston pippins in their mournful ones, American apples with their vermilion cheeks, large winter pears in their substantial state, the whole ornamented and crowned with laurel, no doubt to signify their immortality, being present upon almost every table from year to year, especially the unsociable pear, which no teeth can ever injure, but, on the contrary, it may injure the teeth. A very comical friend a.s.sured us, as a fact, that he had met one of the before-mentioned pears in three different parties in less than a week, having, for curiosity's sake, engraved his initial with a penknife upon one he was served with at the first party. ”And, talk about pine-apples,”

said he, ”many times I have had the pleasure of meeting with the same, and even as much as twice in less than twelve hours, quite in a different direction, that is, on a dinner-table in the west-end about eight in the evening, and, at midnight, on the supper-table of a civic ball; at dinner being perched on an elevated stand in the centre of a large wide table, so much out of reach that it would almost require a small ladder to get at it; and I must say that every guest present paid due respect to his high position, and never made an a.s.sault, or even an attempt to disturb, much less to uncrown his fruity majesty, though, now and then, one of the fair guests, as a compliment, would remark to the amphitrion, that she never saw in her life a finer pine-apple. 'Very fine, very fine indeed, madam! will you allow me to offer you part of an orange?'

'Not any more, I thank you, sir,' being the reply.”

On the supper table this aristocratic and inaccessible pine still holds its kingly rank, and is still proudly perched on the top of a sideboard, surrounded by Portugal or Rhenish grapes, and to prevent its dethronement by removing the grapes the intelligent waiter has carefully tied it to the ornament that supports it. Our friend, who is a literary gentleman, has promised to write a small brochure, to be called the 'Memoirs of a Pineapple in London,' which I am confident, will not fail of being very interesting, having had the advantage of mixing in so many different societies.

<script>