pounded meat; melt two ounces of butter, mix three of flour, and stir over the fire a minute; reduce with the stock, and add a glass of Sherry or Port; strain, set on the fire, boil a minute, and serve.

GREEN SPLIT PEAS SOUP.

Cover two pounds of best green split peas with cold water; let stand all night, strain them, and put into a pot with a ham bone, two carrots, two turnips, four onions, one head celery, and three quarts of good second stock; set on the fire and simmer two or three hours, and add a sprig of mint while boiling. When the peas are tender, break them with the back of a large wooden spoon, and press through a search or tammy; if too thick, add a little stock, set on the fire, and season with pepper and a little sugar. Will be much improved by adding some juice of spinach ; it will then be quite green.

SAUCES.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

THE difference between good and bad cookery can scarcely be more strikingly shown than in the manner in which Sauces are prepared and served. If well made, appropriate to the dishes they accompany, and sent to table with them as hot as possible, they not only give a heightened relish to a dinner, but they prove that both skill and taste have been exerted in its arrangements. When coarsely and carelessly prepared, on the contrary, as they too often are, they greatly discredit the cook, and are anything but acceptable to the eaters. Melted butter, the most common of all-the "one sauce" of England and America, which excites the raillery of foreigners-is frequently found to be such an intolerable compound, either oiled or lumpy, or composed principally of flour and water, that it says but little for the state of cookery amongst us. We trust that the receipts in the present chapter are so clearly given, that, if strictly followed, they will materially assist the learner in preparing tolerably palatable sauces at the least.

CURRIE SAUCE.

Pare a carrot, an onion, and half a head of young celery; cut all into shreds, and put into a stewpan, with two ounces of butter, a spoonful of flour, and a spoonful of curry powder; mix together, and add a pint of good stock, with a little piece of glaze (if handy); boil a quarter of an hour, strain, and finish as before.

LOBSTER SAUCE.

Boil a hen-lobster twenty minutes; break it to pieces with great care, and pick all the meat from the shell, which cut into small dice; rub the spawn in a mortar, with an ounce of butter, quite smooth; prepare a pint of very fine melted butter, and dissolve the spawn into it. Add the meat, with two spoonfuls of thick cream, one spoonful of anchovie essence, a little salt, and Cayenne pepper; do not boil.

CREAM SAUCE.

Take a tablespoonful of white roux, a little minced; put it into a small stewpan, with half a pint of very rich cream and half a pint of white stock; stir on the fire till it comes to the boil, and season with white pepper and a little salt.

SORREL SAUCE.

Wash well a few handfuls of sorrel; put into a stewpan, with a spoonful or two of water; keep stirring, to prevent its burning. When melted, drain it

well; mince on the table very fine. Put back into the pan, with a little butter, and fry till quite dry. Add a pint of strong brown stock, with a spoonful of brown roux. Dissolve on the fire; and, when it has boiled a few minutes, pass through a tammy; add a little glaze and a piece of sugar. If too thick, dilute with a little gravy.

GHERKIN SAUCE.

Cut six good-sized gherkins into thin slices; put them to half a pint of sharp brown sauce; set on the fire, boil, and serve.

MELTED BUTTER.

Although it may be presumed that every cook who understands her business, knows how to melt butter, it is yet constantly brought to table either too thick or too thin, and not unfrequently filled with lumps of flour, or in a state of oil; and requires more care in the management than is generally thought necessary.

The excellence of melted butter greatly depends upon the pains taken to blend it with the flour before it is put upon the fire, the best plan of doing which is to rub them together with a knife on a wooden trencher.

SAUCES FOR ROAST BEEF OR MUTTON.

Grate horseradish on a bread-grater into a basin, then add two tablespoonfuls of cream, with a little

mustard and salt, and mix them well together; then add four tablespoonfuls of best vinegar, and mix the whole thoroughly. The vinegar and cream are both to be cold. This is a very fine sauce; it may be

served in a small tureen.

Or: Scrape the horseradish thin and chop it small, or grate it, which is better; then warm it in melted butter, adding a spoonful of mushroom ketchup and one of walnut, or the vinegar from walnut pickle.

Or: Scrape very fine or grate the horseradish; add a little made mustard, and two spoonfuls of pounded white sugar to four of vinegar; mix the whole well together, and place it under the meat, when nearly done, to catch the gravy which drops from it while roasting. This sauce should be very thick.

VERY GOOD EGG SAUCE.

Boil four fresh eggs for quite fifteen minutes; then lay them into plenty of fresh water, and let them remain until they are perfectly cold. Break the shells by rolling them on a table, take them off, separate the whites from the yolks, and divide all of the latter into quarter-inch dice; mince two of the whites only, tolerably small, mix them lightly, and stir them into the third of a pint of rich melted butter, or of white sauce; serve the whole as hot as possible.

Four eggs, boiled fifteen minutes, and left till cold. The yolks of all and the whites of two; the third of