Page:Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management.djvu/403

Rh the shell, which must be nicely cleaned, and have a border of puff-paste. Cover it with breadcrumbs, place small pieces of butter over, and brown before the fire, or with a salamander. If tinned lobster is used, a shallow pie-dish replaces the shell.

Time.—¼ of an hour. Average Cost, 2s. 6d. Sufficient for 4 persons. Seasonable at any time.

Ingredients.—1 large lobster, 4 filleted Gorgona anchovies, 1 hard-boiled egg, 6 stoned olives, 4 gherkins, a few slices of pickled beetroot, a tablespoonful of capers, 1 large or 2 small lettuces, Mayonnaise sauce.

Method.—Cut the lobster in two lengthwise, break the claws carefully, remove the meat intact, if possible, and cut the remainder of the lobster into small pieces. Wash and dry the lettuce, tear it into small pieces, put it into a bowl with the small pieces of lobster, and add gradually sufficient Mayonnaise to moisten the whole. Arrange this in the centre of a round dish in the form of a dome, mask it with very stiff Mayonnaise sauce, and surround it with pieces of hard-boiled egg. Garnish tastefully with strips of anchovy, strips or slices of gherkin, fancifully-cut pieces of beetroot, olives, and capers. Keep until required, and serve as cool as possible.

Time.—Half an hour. Average Cost, 3s. 6d. to 4s. Sufficient for 6 to 8 persons. Seasonable from April to October.

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Ingredients.—1 lb. of puff-paste, 1 small lobster, 1½ ozs. of butter, ½ of an oz. of flour, the yolks of 3 eggs, ¼ of a pint of fish stock or milk (about), ½ a gill of cream, ½ a teaspoonful of lemon-juice, a few drops of anchovy-essence, cayenne, salt, parsley.

Method.—When giving the paste its last turn, roll it out to a thickness of ½ an inch, and with a hot wet cutter of 2½ inches diameter stamp out 8 or 9 rounds of paste. Brush them over with a beaten egg, then make an inner ring to about ½ the depth of the paste with a 1-inch diameter cutter, previously dipped in hot water. Bake them in a hot oven from 20 to 25 minutes, then remove and take care of the tops, scoop out the soft inside, and keep the patty-cases warm. Melt the butter in a stewpan, add the flour, and cook a few minutes, then pour in the fish stock or milk, and stir until the sauce boils. Simmer for 10 minutes, add the cream, yolks of eggs, lemon-juice, anchovy-essence, and seasoning to taste, simmer gently until the yolks of the eggs thicken, then pass through a cloth or fine sieve. Return to the stewpan, put in the lobster (cut into dice); when thoroughly hot put into the cases, put on the covers, garnish with parsley, and serve.