=CREAM CHICKEN FORCEMEAT=

Cut the breast from a chicken or turkey, also the white meat from the wings; remove the skin and fat, and with a knife sc.r.a.pe the meat so as to free it from the sinews. Place the sc.r.a.ped meat in a mortar and pound it to a paste; incorporate into it gradually, while pounding, the white of an egg; this will moisten it a little so it will pa.s.s more easily through the sieve. After it is thoroughly macerated, take a little at a time and with the pestle or spoon rub it through a sieve; it pa.s.ses through better when a little is worked at a time. Put the pulp in a bowl, season it with salt, pepper, and a dash of nutmeg. Set the bowl on cracked ice and stir in slowly (as you add oil to Mayonnaise) one or one and a half cupfuls of thick cream--some mixtures take more cream than others; stir continually, using a wire whip if convenient. When it is a consistent paste, try it by dropping a half teaspoonful in hot (not boiling) water and let it poach; if it is too thick add more cream, if too thin add a little beaten white of egg. The sample should poach for ten minutes, and when cut should be smooth and firm, but not tough.

=CREAM FORCEMEAT, No. 2.=

To one half pound of meat pulp add five ounces of b.u.t.ter, one whole egg, and four yolks, or the whites alone of four eggs if used with white meat; beat very thoroughly together; pa.s.s again through the sieve; place on ice and beat in slowly one pint of whipped cream--three quarters of a cupful of cream will make about the right amount after being whipped.

=FISH CREAM FORCEMEAT=

Sc.r.a.pe, pound, and pa.s.s through a sieve one pound of firm white fish.

Put the pulp in a bowl, season with salt, pepper and cayenne; whip into it the whites of two eggs, and add slowly, beating all the time, about one and a half cupfuls of cream. Poach a small piece to see if right: if too thick add more cream, if too thin add more white of egg. A pretty decoration for fish timbale, especially when made of salmon, is lobster coral, dried and pounded to powder, and sprinkled on the b.u.t.tered mold.

Fish timbale is usually made in a solid piece and served as a fish course. With white fish serve a tomato sauce; with salmon a Poulette or a cream sauce, or Mayonnaise.

=QUENELLE FORCEMEAT=

To one cupful of meat-pulp, after it is rubbed through the sieve, add one half cupful of panada, one quarter cupful of b.u.t.ter, yolks of three eggs, salt, pepper, and dash of nutmeg. Stir well together and pa.s.s again through the sieve. Place on ice and add slowly one cupful of cream. Try by poaching a small piece to see if it is of the right consistency. A good white sauce or tomato puree may be subst.i.tuted for the cream in some cases. This forcemeat is used the same as cream forcemeat.

=BREAD PANADA=

Soak the crumb of bread; express the water and place the bread in a saucepan on the fire. Stir it to a paste with milk or stock, and continue to stir until it leaves the sides of the pan.

=FLOUR PANADA=

Put a little water, milk or stock in a saucepan; add a little b.u.t.ter and salt, and stir in as much flour as will absorb the liquid. Stir constantly until it leaves the sides of the pan.

=TO MOLD AND COOK TIMBALES=

Rub the mold well with b.u.t.ter; ornament it with truffle, tongue, ham, or hard-boiled egg. Cut the truffle, or other article used for the decoration, in very thin slices and stamp it into fancy shapes with a cutter, or cut it with a knife. Arrange the pieces in some design on the mold; they will stay in place if the mold is well b.u.t.tered. Put in the forcemeat carefully with a knife, press it well against the sides to force out any air-bubbles, and have a care not to displace the decoration. If the timbale is to be filled with salpicon, make a layer of the forcemeat from a quarter to three quarters of an inch thick, according to the size of mold, using enough to give stability to the form when unmolded; make it a little thicker at the base than at the top and leave a smooth surface inside; fill it with the salpicon and cover the top with forcemeat, pressing from the sides towards the center; draw the knife across the top so it will be smooth and even, and stand straight and firm when unmolded. Stand the mold or molds in a pan of water, covering them one half or a little more. Cover them with a greased paper and let them poach in a slow oven ten to fifteen minutes for small, and twenty minutes for large molds. If the center feels firm to the touch they are done. The water must not be allowed to boil; slow cooking is necessary to have them tender. Let the molds stand a minute in the water, then invert on a cloth to let the moisture drain off, and unmold them on the dish on which they are to be served.

[Ill.u.s.tration: INDIVIDUAL TIMBALES.

TIMBALES OF ANY FORCEMEAT; DECORATION OF TRUFFLES.]

=SALPICON=

Cooked veal, chicken, game, sweetbreads, calf"s brains, livers, fish, oysters, lobster, mushrooms, truffles, tongue, etc., when cut into dice and mixed with a rich sauce is called salpicon. It is used for filling timbales, vol-au-vent, patties, croustades, etc. It may also be served in paper boxes, or sh.e.l.ls, or fontage cups. It may be made of one kind of meat, but is usually a mixture of two or more, with mushrooms and truffles. The meats are cut into small dice and warmed with a sauce which goes well with the meats used. The sauce must be reduced until quite thick, and enough of it used to make the mixture very creamy. For dark meat use an Espagnole, brown or mushroom sauce; for white meat, Bechamel, Allemande or Poulette sauce.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CHICKEN TIMBALE--FILLING OF SALPICON; DECORATION OF TRUFFLES.]

=FONTAGE CUPS=

(USED FOR OYSTER-CRABS, SALPICON, CREAMED SWEETBREADS, ETC.)

Make a batter of one half cupful of flour, yolk of one egg, one quarter teaspoonful of salt, one tablespoonful of salad oil, and enough milk or water to make the batter thin. Let it stand for an hour or two. Beat it well together, and have the batter very smooth; strain it if there are any lumps. Have a pot of hot fat; place the fontage iron in the fat until it is thoroughly hot, then dip it in the batter, and hold it there a moment until a coating of batter has adhered; place it again in the hot fat until the cup is cooked a delicate color, and can be detached from the iron. Repeat the operation until all are made, and keep them in a warm dry place until used. This amount of batter will make twelve cups.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FONTAGE IRON AND CUPS. (SEE PAGE 300.)]

=PAIN DE VOLAILLE=

Make a chicken cream forcemeat (see page 297). b.u.t.ter individual timbale molds, decorate them with truffles, fill with forcemeat, and poach ten to fifteen minutes in slow oven. Serve with an Allemande sauce.

Or, line the molds with forcemeat; fill them with salpicon made of the dark meat of the chicken and mushrooms; mix with Espagnole or a good brown sauce; cover the top well with forcemeat, and poach as directed.

Or, use a charlotte russe mold; line it a half inch thick with forcemeat, and use the same salpicon, adding small egg b.a.l.l.s or quenelles, a few pieces of tongue, and a truffle chopped very fine.

Or, use a border mold for the forcemeat, and fill the center of the ring, when unmolded, with the salpicon.

=QUENELLES=

These are quenelle forcemeat formed into small b.a.l.l.s, the b.a.l.l.s rolled in flour and poached, then used in salpicon; or, with two tablespoons, the forcemeat may be molded into egg-shaped pieces, poached in hot salted (not boiling) water, and ranged on a socle; or they may be placed on a dish in a circle. The two latter forms of quenelles are served with a sauce as an entree. Fish quenelles with tomato sauce make a very good dish. Large quenelles for decorating dishes may be made by molding the forcemeat into fancy shapes with a knife on b.u.t.tered white paper (the paper will become detached while they are poaching). The quenelles may be ornamented with truffles or tongue, using white of egg to make the decoration adhere. Use salted water for poaching them, and do not let it boil.

=PALMETTES=

Press forcemeat into rings or cutlet molds; partly poach them. Unmold, roll in egg and crumbs, and fry in hot fat. Serve with a sauce.

=CELESTINES a LA MAINTENON=

Take some quenelle forcemeat (see page 298). Add to it a little juice from a can of truffles, one truffle chopped fine, two tablespoonfuls of mushrooms chopped fine, and a few bits of ham, or tongue. Mix well together, and stir in enough cream to make it quite soft. b.u.t.ter some cutlet molds, or some rings. Fill them with the mixture; smooth them with a knife, and place them on the bottom of a large saucepan. Pour enough boiling water to cover them carefully on the sides of the pan, so it will go into the pan without defacing the forcemeat; let them poach for five minutes without the water boiling. The cutlets will leave the molds, and rise to the top. Lift them out with a skimmer, and place on an inverted pan to cool. When perfectly cold, dry them lightly with a napkin, and cover each one with Villeroi sauce (see page 280). Set aside to let the sauce harden. Sprinkle with bread-crumbs; moisten with egg and cover with fresh crumbs grated from the leaf. Use a broad knife to handle them with when crumbing. Fry in hot fat, like croquettes, to an amber color. Serve with Bechamel or Poulette sauce.

=BOUDINS ROUENNAIS=

Line well-b.u.t.tered individual molds with a cream forcemeat made of veal or chicken; fill the center with a forcemeat made of duck or any game.

Cover the top with a white forcemeat, and smooth it off even with the mold. Poach them for ten minutes. Unmold, and let them cool; then cover with egg and fresh bread-crumbs, and fry in hot fat to an amber color.

Serve with them an Espagnole or a brown sauce.

=MACARONI TIMBALE=

Cook until tender in salted water long pieces of spaghetti, or fine macaroni. Put it into the water slowly, and it can then be turned so it will not break. Lay the pieces straight on a napkin to cool. b.u.t.ter well a dome-shaped mold. Wind the spaghetti around the mold, holding it in place, as you proceed, with a layer of forcemeat. Fill the center with boiled macaroni and cheese, mixed with a well-reduced Bechamel sauce; or fill the timbale with a salpicon of sweetbreads and mushrooms. Make the layer of forcemeat thick enough to give the timbale stability. Cover it with a greased paper, stand it in a pan of hot water, and poach in a slow oven for thirty minutes. This timbale may also be made in individual molds.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MACARONI TIMBALE. (SEE PAGE 302.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: SPAGHETTI TIMBALES. (SEE PAGE 302.)]