Sauces Recipe

=Asparagus Sauce.=--Use the tender part of the stalks for the main dish,

boil the tougher part until it is as soft as it will be, then rub

through a coarse sieve. Put the pulp into a mixture of one tablespoonful

each of butter and flour and let it simmer for a few moments, add a

half-cup of water in which the asparagus was boiled, season with salt

and pepper and boil thoroughly; just before taking from the fire add a

half-cup of hot cream or one-half cup of milk and water, and a

teaspoonful of butter; a little grating of nutmeg improves the flavor.

=Bechamel Sauce.=--Bechamel sauce is a white one and needs a white stock;

if there is none at hand make it in the following manner: cut up lean

veal, free from fat into three-inch cubes and put them into a stewpan.

Add one small onion, one small carrot cut into pieces, and six ounces of

butter. Fry the vegetables in the butter ten minutes, without coloring,

then stir in three ounces of flour, and continue stirring five minutes

longer. Add three pints of stock, one pint of cream, five ounces of

mushrooms, a small sprinkling of dried herbs, one half teaspoonful of

salt and a pinch of white pepper. Stir until it comes to a boil, skim

occasionally to remove the fat, and simmer for two hours. Strain through

a cloth or fine sieve into a porcelain stewpan with a gill of cream.

Simmer over the fire till it coats the spoon, strain again through a

cloth or fine sieve into a basin, and set till the sauce is cold. This

sauce requires the cook's utmost attention.

=Butter Sauce or Drawn Butter Sauce.=--Mix one tablespoonful each of

butter and flour to a smooth paste, put in a saucepan to melt, not to

brown, and add one cupful of water, broth, or milk. Season with one

teaspoonful of salt and one saltspoonful of pepper. Stir constantly

while boiling. This is a good sauce in itself and is the foundation of

many other sauces; it is varied with different vegetable flavors,

catsups, vinegars, spices, lemon juice, leaves and the different sweet

herbs.

=Brown Sauce or Spanish Sauce.=--Brown a tablespoonful of butter, add the

same amount of flour and brown again, add a cup of boiling water, stock

or milk, and stir while it is cooking, strain if necessary; a clove, a

bay leaf, and a tablespoonful of minced onion or carrot browned in the

butter varies the flavor.

=Caper Sauce.=--Stir into some good melted butter from three to four

dessertspoonfuls of capers; add a little of the vinegar and dish the

sauce as soon as it boils.

=Celery Sauce.=--Cut half a dozen heads, or so, of celery into small

pieces; cook in a little slightly salted water until tender, and then

rub through a colander. Put a pint of white stock into a stewpan with

two blades of mace, and a small bunch of savory herbs; simmer half an

hour to extract their flavor, then strain them out, add the celery and a

thickening of flour or corn-starch; scald well, and just before serving,

pour in a teacupful of cream, or if one has not the cream, use the same

amount of scalded milk and a tablespoonful of butter, season to taste

with salt and white pepper, squeeze in a little lemon juice, if one has

it, and serve. If brown gravy is preferred thicken with browned flour,

and it is improved by a little Worcestershire sauce or mushroom catsup.

=Cream Sauce.=--Rub to a smooth paste one tablespoonful of butter and the

same of flour, put into a saucepan and melt, do not brown; have ready a

cup of hot cream, or the same amount of milk enriched by a tablespoonful

of butter and add to the butter and flour. Stir constantly until it

thickens. A dusting of grated nutmeg, grated cheese or a saltspoonful of

chopped onion lightly browned in the butter is an agreeable addition.

=Cucumber Sauce.=--Use two tablespoonfuls of olive oil, a scant

tablespoonful of vinegar or lemon juice, a half-teaspoonful of salt, a

dash of pepper, and a saltspoonful of mustard with a teaspoonful of

cucumber; rub the oil and mustard together before adding the other

ingredients, stir well and serve very soon as it spoils by standing.

=Egg Sauce.=--Boil the eggs hard, cut them into small squares, and mix

them with good butter sauce. Make hot and add a little lemon juice

before serving.

=Hollandaise Sauce.=--One half a teacupful of butter, the juice of half a

lemon, the yolks of two eggs, a speck of cayenne, one-half cupful of

boiling water, one-half teaspoonful of salt; beat the butter to a cream,

add the yolks one by one, the lemon juice, pepper and salt; place the

bowl in which these are mixed in a saucepan of boiling water; beat with

an egg-beater until the sauce begins to thicken, and add boiling water,

beating all the time; when like a soft custard, it is done; the bowl, if

thin, must be kept over the fire not more than five minutes, as if

boiled too much it spoils.

=Horseradish Sauce.=--Two teaspoonfuls of made mustard, two of white

sugar, one-half teaspoonful of salt and a gill of vinegar; mix and pour

over sufficient grated horseradish to moisten thoroughly.

=Lyonnaise Sauce.=--Brown a small onion minced in a tablespoonful of

butter and the same of flour, add a half-cupful of meat broth, a

teaspoonful of parsley, salt and pepper and cook long enough to season

well.

=Mint Sauce.=--Four dessertspoonfuls of mint, two of sugar, one gill of

vinegar; stir all together; make two or three hours before wanted.

=Mushroom Sauce.=--Mix one tablespoonful each of flour and butter, melt in

a stewpan, add a cupful of rich white stock or cream and stir until it

thickens; put in a half-cupful of freshly boiled or of canned mushrooms,

let all come to a boil again, season with a saltspoonful of salt and a

dash of cayenne pepper; serve hot.

=Mustard Sauce, French.=--Slice an onion in a bowl; cover with good

vinegar. After two days pour off the vinegar; add to it a teaspoonful of

cayenne pepper, a teaspoonful of salt, a tablespoonful of sugar, and

mustard enough to thicken; mix, set upon the stove and stir until it

boils. When cold it is ready for use.

=Mustard Sauce, German.=--Four tablespoonfuls of ground mustard, one

tablespoonful of flour, two teaspoonfuls of sugar, one of salt, two of

cinnamon, one of cloves, one of cayenne pepper, three of melted butter;

mix with one pint of boiling vinegar.

=Onion Sauce.=--Mince an onion; fry it in butter in a stewpan. Pour over

it a gill of vinegar; let it remain on the stove until it is simmered

one-third away. Add a pint of gravy, a bunch of parsley, two or three

cloves, pepper and salt. Thicken with a little flour and butter, strain,

and remove any particles of fat.

=Parsley Sauce.=--Parsley sauce is the usual cream sauce, to which is

added a tablespoonful of minced parsley and one hard boiled egg finely

chopped.

=Tartare Sauce.=--Tartare sauce is a French salad dressing to which is

added a tablespoonful each of chopped olives, parsley, and capers or

nasturtiums; instead of capers or nasturtiums chopped cucumbers or

gherkins can be used. Set on ice until used.

=Tomato Sauce.=--Boil together for one hour, a pint of tomatoes, one gill

of broth of any kind, one sprig of thyme, three whole cloves, three

pepper corns, and half an ounce of sliced onions; rub through a sieve

with a wooden spoon, and set the sauce to keep hot; mix together over

the fire one ounce of butter and half an ounce of flour, and when smooth

add to the tomato sauce.

=Vinaigrette Sauce.=--A vinaigrette sauce is a brown sauce flavored with

vinegar just before serving; it must be cider vinegar, or one of the

fancy vinegars, as tarragon, parsley, martynia and the like; or, rub a

teaspoonful of mustard into a tablespoonful of olive oil, to which add a

teaspoonful of salt and one-half teaspoonful of pepper. Lastly add very

slowly a half-cup of vinegar stirring vigorously.

=White Sauce.=--Put one tablespoon each of flour and butter in a saucepan

and stir together until they bubble; then gradually stir in a pint of

boiling water or white stock; season with salt and pepper and let boil a

moment longer. To vary it, the beaten whites of two eggs may be stirred

in just before serving.