The Belgian Cookbook Part 13

[_Mme. van Marcke de Lunessen_.]

POACHED EGGS, TOMATO SAUCE

Make some rounds of toast and b.u.t.ter them; place on each a slice of tongue or of ham. Keep these hot, and poach as many eggs as you require.

Slip each egg on the toasts, and cover them quickly with a highly seasoned tomato sauce.

[_Mme. van Marcke de Lunessen_.]

EGGS AND MUSHROOMS

Pick over half a pound of mushrooms, cut them in small pieces like dice, and put them to stew in the oven with plenty of b.u.t.ter, pepper, and salt. Make a thick white sauce, and you may add to it the juice from the mushrooms when they are cooked; then stir in the mushrooms. Take three hard-boiled eggs, and separate yolks from whites. Put into a shallow vegetable-dish the whites cut up in small pieces, pour over them the bechamel with the mushrooms, and finish up by sprinkling over the top the hard-boiled yolks, which you have crumbled up with a fork.

[_Mme. Braconniere_.]

BELGIAN EGGS

Make some scrambled eggs, and place them on a very hot dish, and pour round them a thick tomato sauce. Decorate the dish quickly with thick rounds of tomato.

EGGS a LA RIBEAUCOURT

b.u.t.ter some little paper cases, and let them dry in the oven. Put into each one a pat of b.u.t.ter and let it melt lightly. Break an egg into each case, taking care not to break the yolk, and put a bit of b.u.t.ter on each yolk. Place in a quick oven till the whites are half set. At the moment of serving take them out, and have ready some minced tongue or ham, to sprinkle on them, and decorate with a big bit of truffle.

TO USE UP REMAINS OF MEAT

Cut in slices the remains of any cold meat, such as pork, beef, veal, ham, or mutton. Melt in a pan a bit of salt b.u.t.ter the size of a walnut, and put in it an onion cut into fine slices; let it get brown in the hot b.u.t.ter. In another pan put a larger piece of b.u.t.ter rolled in a soup-spoonful of flour; add to it the onion and b.u.t.ter, and add enough water to prevent the sauce from getting very thick. Add, if you wish it, a teaspoonful of meat-extract and a pinch of salt. Have ready some mashed potatoes, but let them be very light. Place the slices of meat in a fireproof dish, pour the sauce on them, then the mashed potatoes, and put the dish in the oven, all well heated through. This is called in Belgium "_un philosophe_."

[_Paquerette_.]

VEAL WITH ONIONS

Take a lump of b.u.t.ter the size of an egg, and let it color in a saucepan. Slice some onions and fry them in another pan. When fried, add them to the b.u.t.ter with some sliced carrots, a few small onions, and your pieces of veal, salt, and pepper. Add a small quant.i.ty of water, and close the lid on the saucepan. When the meat is tender, you can thicken the sauce with a little flour. This is a good way to use veal that is hard, or parts that are not the best cuts.

[_Paquerette_.]

VEAL CAKE

Mince very finely three pounds of raw veal and one-fourth pound of pork.

It is better to do this at home than to have it done at the butcher's.

Put two slices of bread to soak in milk, add two yolks of eggs and the whites, pepper and salt. Mix it well, working it for ten minutes. Then let it rest for half-an-hour. Put it in a small stewpan, add a lump of b.u.t.ter the size of a pigeon's egg, and put it in the oven. It will be ready to serve when the juice has ceased to run out.

[_Paquerette_]

TO USE UP COLD MEAT

Take a fresh celery, wash it well, and remove the green leaves. Let it boil till half-cooked in salted water. Drain it on a sieve, and then cut it lengthways, and place minced meat of any kind, well seasoned, between the two pieces. Tie them together with a thread and let them cook again for a quarter of an hour, this time either in the same water and gently simmered, or in the oven in a well-b.u.t.tered dish. Other people, to avoid the trouble of tying the two halves, spread the mince on each half and cook it in the oven, laid flat in a fireproof dish. In this case put a good lump of b.u.t.ter on each portion of mince.

[_L. Verhaeghe._]

FLEMISH CARBONADE

Put two onions to color in b.u.t.ter or in hot fat. Then add to them the beef, which you have cut into pieces the size of a small cake. Let it cook for a few minutes, then add pepper, salt, a carrot sliced, and enough water to allow the meat to cook gently by the side of the fire, allowing one and one-half hours for one and one-half pounds of meat. Ten minutes before serving add to the sauce a little meat-juice or Liebig.

You may at the same time, if it is wished, cook potatoes with the meat for about twenty minutes. Serve it all in a large dish, the meat in the center and the potatoes round. The sauce is served separately, and without being pa.s.sed through the sieve.

[_L. Verhaeghe._]

A USE FOR COLD MUTTON

Cut the mutton into neat pieces, take away all fat and skin. Fry in b.u.t.ter and add all sorts of vegetables in dice, with thyme, bay-leaves, and parsley. Let all this stew very gently for two hours; you must add more stock or water to prevent it getting dry. Keep the lid of the pan on and, half-an-hour before serving, put in peeled potatoes. This dish is served very liquid.

[_Mme. Spinette_.]

FLEMISH CARBONADES

Take four pounds of beef--there is a cut near the neck that is suitable for this recipe. Cut the meat in small pieces (square) and fry them in a pan. In another pan put a piece of refined fat and fry in it five big onions that you have finely chopped. When these are well browned, add to them the meat, sprinkling in also pepper, salt, mixed herbs. Cover all with water, and let it cook for an hour with the lid on. After an hour's cooking, add half a gla.s.s of beer, a slice of crumb of bread with a light layer of mustard and three tablespoonfuls of best vinegar. Let it cook again for three quarters of an hour. If the sauce is not thick enough, add a little flour, taking care that it boils up again afterwards.