The Hotel St. Francis Cook Book

Oysters, Louis. Season two dozen oysters on the half shell with salt and pepper, sprinkle with one dozen shallots chopped fine. Put one-half teaspoonful of bread crumbs, mixed with a little paprika, on each oyster. Put a small bit of butter on top of each, and bake in oven for about ten minutes. Serve in the shells, with one-half lemon to each person.

Pimentos Suédoise. Spread the contents of a can of pimentos flat on the table, lay a fillet of anchovies in oil on each pimento, and roll up in the form of a sausage with the anchovy in the center. Lay them on a ravier dish, season with salt and pepper, one-third of vinegar and two-thirds olive oil, and sprinkle with chopped parsley.

Fried loin of lamb chops. Have your butcher cut six nice loin chops about one and one-quarter inch thick, and well trimmed. Season with salt and pepper, roll in flour, then in beaten egg, and finally in bread crumbs. Put some lard or melted butter in a sauté pan, and when hot add the chops and fry until nice and brown. Place on a platter, garnish with parsley in branches and lemons cut in half. Serve any sauce desired, separate.

Lima beans with shallots. Put one dozen chopped shallots in a casserole with two ounces of butter. When hot, add one teaspoonful of flour, one-half cup of bouillon, one quart of boiled Lima beans, and season with salt, pepper and a little chopped parsley. Boil for ten minutes.

Baked lobster, Cardinal. Boil four small lobsters. When done, split in two, remove the meat, and save the shells. Put two ounces of butter in a sauté pan, add the lobster meat cut in slices one-half inch thick, season with salt and pepper, and toss over the fire for a few minutes. Then add one-half glass of sherry wine, and reduce until nearly dry. Then add one cup of cream sauce and boil for a few minutes. Then add one spoonful of lobster butter, mix well; and then fill the shells. Sprinkle with fresh bread crumbs, place small bits of butter on top, and bake in oven until golden brown. Serve on a platter, on a folded napkin, and garnish with parsley in branches and two lemons cut in half.

Eggs Bennett. Boil six eggs until hard, remove the shells, and cut in two lengthwise. Remove the yolks, chop fine, and mix with one ounce of butter, and twelve anchovies in oil cut in small squares. Fill the whites of the eggs with this mixture, place on a buttered baking dish, cover with a well-seasoned cream sauce, sprinkle with grated cheese, put small bits of butter on top, and bake in the oven until brown.

Broiled quail on toast. Split the quail, season with salt and pepper, roll in oil, and broil. When done place each quail on a piece of buttered toast, put a spoonful of maître d'hôtel butter on top of each, and garnish with watercress and lemons cut in half.

Consommé national. Cut some plain green, and red royal in small stars, and serve in hot consommé.

Sweetbreads, royal. Parboil one pound of sweetbreads, pull off the skins, and cut in slices one-quarter inch thick. Peel twenty small heads of fresh mushrooms, wash well, and dry on a napkin. Put two ounces of butter in a sauté pan with the sweetbreads and mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and simmer slowly for ten minutes. Then add half a pint of cleaned and well-washed oyster crabs, and simmer again for five minutes. Then add one-half pint of cream, and boil. Thicken with the yolks of three eggs well-mixed with a small cup of cream, but do not let it come to a boil after the cream has been added. Taste to see if seasoning is right, add half a glass of dry amontillado sherry wine, and serve in chafing dish.

Scrambled eggs, Norwegian. Make four pieces of anchovy toast, put some plain scrambled eggs on top, and lay some fillets of anchovies crosswise over the eggs.

Honeycomb tripe sauté, aux fines herbes. Cut three pounds of boiled tripe in strips, put in a sauté pan with four ounces of butter, season with salt and pepper, and cook over a quick fire. When nearly crisp add parsley, chives and chervil, all chopped fine; and serve in a deep dish. Serve quartered lemons on a platter, on a napkin, separate.

Potage Navarraise. Heat two ounces of butter in a casserole, add a spoonful of flour, and cook until golden yellow. Then add one quart of consommé and one pint of tomato sauce, or tomato purée; season with salt and pepper, boil for ten minutes, and strain. Boil one-half pound of vermicelli in salted water until soft, and add to the soup. Serve grated cheese separate.

Oysters en brochette. Cut the beard, or gills, from two dozen large oysters. Broil twelve slices of bacon, and cut them in three pieces each. Take a silver or steel skewer and put a slice of bacon on it, then an oyster, then bacon, then an oyster, and so continue until the skewer is full. Season with salt and pepper, roll in melted butter, then in fresh bread crumbs, and broil. When done, serve on a platter with maître d'hôtel sauce, and garnish with lemons cut in four, and parsley in branches.

Oysters en brochette, à la diable. The word, brochette, means skewer. Make four skewers full of oysters and bacon as described above. Season with salt and pepper. Mix a tablespoonful of French mustard and a tablespoonful of English mustard together, and roll the skewered oysters in it, then in fresh bread crumbs, and then broil. Serve with maître d'hôtel sauce over the oysters, and devil sauce separate.

Omelet with peas. Mix a cup of boiled peas with two spoonfuls of cream sauce, and season with salt and a little sugar. Make an omelet with twelve eggs, and before turning over on platter fill with the peas. Pour a thin cream sauce around the omelet.

Shirred eggs, Brunswick. Butter a shirred egg dish, lay a slice of raw tomato about one-half inch thick in the bottom, heat through, turn it over, and break two eggs on top. Season with salt and pepper, and finish cooking.

Potage Schorestène. Chop fine, one pound of sirloin, or top sirloin, of beef. Put in a casserole with three quarts of consommé and boil slowly for one hour. Then strain through a coarse sieve. The meat must be all forced through the sieve, and served in the soup.

Small tenderloin steak, Nicholas II. Cut four small steaks, and season with salt and pepper. Put two ounces of butter in a frying pan and fry the steaks, and when nearly done remove them to a casserole. Heat eight whole truffles in sherry wine, and use them to garnish the steaks. Also lay on each steak a slice of goose liver sauté in butter. Pour a little sauce Madère over all.

Baked brown bread pudding. One quart of graham bread crumbs, one quart of milk, one gill of molasses, two ounces of butter, two ounces of sugar, three eggs, and one-half teaspoonful of cinnamon. Make the crumbs very fine. Then melt the butter in the milk, with the sugar, molasses, cinnamon, and eggs. Then stir in the crumbs, and bake in buttered moulds for about one-half hour. Serve hot, with cream sauce flavored with a little cinnamon.

Sweet grape juice. Crush twenty pounds of Concord grapes in three quarts of water, and put them in a porcelain kettle. Set the kettle on the fire, and stir well until it reaches the boiling point; then allow it to simmer for fifteen or twenty minutes. Strain through a cloth, and add three pounds of white sugar. When the sugar is dissolved strain again through a cloth, and heat to the boiling point. Pour into hot pint or quart bottles, and seal instantly with new corks, only. After the corks have been inserted dip the necks of the bottles into hot sealing wax.

Canned pumpkin or squash. Peel the squash or pumpkin, and cut in small squares. Boil, without seasoning, until soft. Mash through a fruit press. Fill hot quart glass jars, and seal tight. Keep in a cool dark place.

Eggs Castro. Cook four artichokes, clean the bottoms, lay a poached egg on each, and cover with the following sauce: Mix half a cup of cream sauce with three-quarters of a cup of Hollandaise sauce, add a few sliced canned mushrooms, and season with salt and a little Spanish or Cayenne pepper.

Strawberry whipped cream. Crush one-half pint of strawberries with one-quarter of a pound of sugar. Whip one pint of cream until stiff, then add the crushed strawberries, mix well, and serve in saucers.

Raspberry, peach or banana whipped cream. Prepare in the same manner as strawberry whipped cream.

Hazelnut macaroons. Roast some shelled hazelnuts in the oven, and as soon as brown rub them well on a coarse sieve to remove the skins. Crush three-quarters of a pound of the hazelnuts and one-quarter pound of almonds with two pounds of sugar. Add eight or ten whites of eggs, and stir to a paste. Dress on paper, and bake in the same manner as ordinary macaroons.

Consommé Georgia. Peel two tomatoes, cut in two, squeeze out the juice, and cut in small squares. Cut two pimentos in small squares. Boil two peeled green peppers in bouillon, and cut in small squares. Slice twelve heads of canned mushrooms very fine. Add all of the above, together with a cup of plain boiled rice, to two quarts of very hot and well-seasoned consommé.

Lamb chops, Beau-sejour. Make a risotto, and put in small buttered timbale moulds. Use one timbale to garnish each two broiled lamb chops. Pour some tomato sauce over the chops.

French sponge cake (Génoise legère). Put six eggs and four yolks into a basin with half a pound of sugar, and whip over a slow fire for about fifteen minutes, but do not let it become too hot. Then take off the fire, and continue beating until cold. Then mix in lightly half a pound of sifted flour, a quarter of a pound of melted butter, and some vanilla flavoring. Put in buttered moulds, and bake in a rather cool oven for over half an hour. When cold glacé with white frosting, and decorate the top with candied fruit.

Shrimp soup, family style. Add to one quart of fish broth one pound of picked shrimps, and bring to a boil. Then add one pint of boiling cream, season with salt and pepper and chopped parsley, add one-half cup of broken saltine crackers, and two ounces of sweet butter. It is ready to serve when the butter is melted.

Fillet of turbot, Bagration. Put four fillets of turbot in a buttered sauté pan, season with salt and pepper, add one-half glass of white wine and one-half cup of fish broth, cover with buttered paper, and put in oven. When done, remove the fish to a platter. With the trimmings of the turbot make a fish forcemeat. Mash the trimmings well in a mortar, pass through a sieve, add one egg, season with salt and pepper, make into small round balls, and boil in fish broth for three minutes. Put these fish balls into white wine sauce, pour over the fish, and serve hot.

American gugelhoff. One pound of flour, one-half pint of milk, one ounce of yeast, four eggs, three ounces of sugar, six ounces of butter, two ounces of Malaga raisins, and the rind of a lemon and a pinch of mace for flavoring. Have the milk luke-warm, dissolve the yeast in it, add all the other ingredients, and mix to a batter. Put into a basin, cover with a cloth, and allow to raise for about two hours. Butter the moulds well, sprinkle them with coarse-chopped almonds, fill the moulds half full with the raised dough, allow to raise until the moulds are about three-quarters full, and then bake in a medium oven.

Canapé Eldorado. Spread a leaf of lettuce with some mayonnaise sauce, lay a boiled artichoke bottom on top, and three small Mexican tomatoes stuffed with anchovies on top of the artichoke. Decorate with anchovy butter.

Poached eggs, Taft. Fry four slices of egg plant, lay a slice of boiled Virginia ham on top of each, a poached egg on top of each slice of ham, and cover with Hollandaise sauce. Cut a "T" out of a truffle and lay on top of the sauce.

Beef steak, Jusienne. Season four small steaks with salt and pepper, and fry in sauté pan with melted butter. When done place on a platter and garnish with lettuce braisé, peas in butter, and onions glacés. Pour sauce Madère over the steaks.

Consommé Frascati. Cut two potatoes in small dices, and parboil for five minutes in salted water. Drain off the water, add six heads of peeled fresh mushrooms sliced very thin, and two quarts of consommé. Cook slowly until the potatoes are soft.

Banana pie. Mash enough bananas to make two cupfuls of pulp. Force through a sieve with a potato masher, add one-half cup of sugar, two crushed and sifted soda crackers, one-half cup of milk, the juice and rind of a lemon, two spoonfuls of molasses, a pinch of powdered cinnamon, and two eggs. Mix well together, and bake in an open pie, in the same manner as a pumpkin pie.

Lamb chops, Beaugency. Broil the chops, place on a platter, and garnish with fresh artichoke bottoms filled with parboiled beef marrow cut in small dices. Serve sauce Choron separate.

Scrambled eggs, Bullit. Peel six heads of fresh mushrooms, slice very thin, and put in a sauce pan with one ounce of butter. Simmer until done, then add twelve beaten eggs, one cup of cream, two ounces of sweet butter, and a little salt and pepper. Scramble the eggs, and dish up on a platter on top of four slices of fried egg plant.

Poached eggs, Velour. Split two English muffins, toast and butter them, lay a slice of broiled ham on top of each, a poached egg on top of the ham, and cover with Béarnaise sauce.

Filet mignon, Monegasque. Broil some small tenderloin steaks, place on a platter, lay a slice of broiled tomato on top of each, and garnish with the bottoms of fresh artichokes filled with Parisian potatoes. Pour sauce Madère, to which has been added some sliced green olives, over the steaks.

Hare soup, Uncle Sam. Cut the saddle and hind legs from a large Belgian hare, and put the remainder in a roasting pan with two sliced onions, one carrot, one stalk of leek, one-half stalk of celery, a few pepper berries, two cloves, three bay leaves, two sprigs of thyme, and three ounces of butter. Season with salt and pepper, and put in oven and roast until done. Then sprinkle with three spoonfuls of flour, and roast again until the flour is brown. Then put in a casserole with two gallons of water and a little salt and one pound of lentils, and boil for four hours. Then force all that is possible through a fine sieve. Roast the legs and saddle of the hare, and cut the meat in half-inch squares. Put the strained soup back in the casserole, bring to a boil, add the cut-up hare meat and one glassful of sherry wine, and season if necessary with salt and Cayenne pepper.

Crêpes Suzette. Make some French pancakes, as thin as possible. Then make a cream with one-half pound of sweet butter, one-half pound of sugar, the grated peel of two oranges, and a dash of brandy or kirschwasser. Mix the sugar and butter to a light cream, then add the liquor and orange, and mix thoroughly. Spread some of the cream over each pancake, and then fold in the form of an English pancake. Place them in a chafing dish, pour two ponies of brandy or kirschwasser over them, and light just before serving.

Eggs, Sarah Bernhardt. Soak half a pound of salt codfish in water over night, then boil for ten minutes, and shred it. Put twelve beaten eggs in a casserole, season with a little salt and pepper, add two chopped truffles, the shredded codfish, and half a cup of thick cream; and then scramble. When done dish up in a deep china dish and lay sliced truffles heated in butter, on top.

Consommé with noodles. Boil one-half pound of noodles in salted water. When done add them to two quarts of hot consommé. Serve grated cheese separate.

Fillet of halibut, Pondicherry. Place four fillets of halibut in a sauté pan, season with salt and pepper, add one-half cup of fish broth and one-half glass of white wine, cover with buttered paper, and bake in oven for ten minutes. Heat two ounces of butter in a casserole, add one teaspoonful of flour and one of curry powder, heat through, then add the broth from the fish and a cup and a half of fish broth additional, and boil for ten minutes. Then bind the sauce with the yolks of two eggs mixed with half a cup of cream, season with salt and pepper, and strain. Then put the sauce back in the casserole, add two ounces of sweet butter, and when the butter is melted pour the sauce over the fish.

Chestnuts Boulettes. One cup of boiled and mashed chestnuts, one tablespoonful of whipped cream, one-half tablespoonful of butter, a pinch of salt, the yolks of two eggs, a little sugar, the whites of two eggs well beaten, and if desired, one teaspoonful of sherry wine. Mix well together, form into small balls, dip in beaten eggs, roll in crumbs, and fry in hot swimming fat.

Fresh artichokes à la Russe. Boil the bottoms of four artichokes in salted water, and allow them to become cold. Then fill them with fresh caviar, place on a platter on a folded napkin, and garnish with two lemons cut in half and parsley in branches.

Eggs bonne femme. Fry eight slices of bacon on both sides, in a frying pan, then add eight eggs, season with a little pepper, and cook in oven for three minutes. Serve on a platter, with mixed chopped parsley, chervil and chives sprinkled over the eggs.

Paul Stock potatoes. Bake four potatoes, remove the peels, and put the potatoes in a chafing dish. Add three ounces of sweet butter, season with salt and paprika and a spoonful of chives cut fine, and mix with a fork until the butter is melted. Serve in a chafing dish.

Onion and tomato soup. Slice four onions very fine, put in a casserole with two ounces of butter, and simmer until done. Then add four peeled and chopped tomatoes, and two quarts of bouillon, chicken broth, or consommé. Season with salt and pepper, and boil for half an hour. Serve grated cheese separate, and rolls cut in thin slices and toasted.

Sirloin steak, Braconière. Broil a sirloin steak, place on a platter, and garnish with onions glacés and broiled fresh mushrooms. Pour sauce Madère over the steak.

Roly-poly pudding. One pound of suet, one pound of flour, one cup of milk, and one pinch of salt. Chop the suet very fine, mix with the flour, salt and milk, making a rather hard dough. Roll out about one-quarter inch thick, and spread with a layer of any kind of jam. Roll up in the form of a sausage, put a wet cloth around it, and tie with a string at both ends. Steam or boil for an hour. Then unwrap, cut in individual pieces, and serve hot, with hard and brandy sauces.

Eggs, Boston style. Make four codfish cakes, put a poached egg on top of each, and cover with cream sauce.

Lamb or mutton chops, Bignon. Broil the chops, place on a platter, and garnish with one tomato stuffed with rice Créole to each person, one dozen green olives, and a small can of French mushrooms. Cut the mushrooms in small squares, put them in a sauté pan with one-half glass of sherry wine and cook until nearly dry. Then add two cups of brown sauce (sauce Madère), and pour over the chops.

Tutti frutti pudding. Sift one-quarter of a pound of flour into a sauce pan, add one pint of boiling milk and two ounces of butter, and stir over the fire with a wooden spoon, until it detaches from the pan. Then remove from the fire and add two ounces of butter, four ounces of sugar, the yolks of eight eggs, and four ounces of chopped candied fruits. Mix well. Beat the whites of six eggs very stiff and add them to the mixture, stirring them in lightly. Put in a buttered mould, and cook in bain-marie in the oven for about thirty minutes. When done unmould, and serve with apricot sauce flavored with a little kirschwasser.

Consommé Pemartin. Chop two truffles very fine, put in a casserole with one large glassful of Pemartin sherry wine and boil for two minutes. Then add two quarts of consommé, season well with salt and Cayenne pepper, and serve very hot.

Brook trout, Cambacérès. Season six brook trout with salt and pepper and place in a shallow buttered dish with one-half glass of white wine. Sprinkle with chopped tarragon, pour two pints of tomato sauce over all, lay a few bits of butter on top, and bake in the oven for twenty or thirty minutes, according to the size of the fish. Serve in the dish in which they were cooked.

Breast of squab, Eveline. Broil the breasts, and place on a platter with maître d'hôtel sauce on top. Garnish one side with spaghetti in cream and the other side with new peas in butter.

Broiled smoked Alaska black cod. Get a kippered Alaska black cod, roll in oil and broil. Serve with maître d'hôtel butter, and garnish with lemons cut in half, and parsley in branches. This fish is excellent prepared in the same manner as finnan haddie or smoked salmon, or served raw as a hors d'oeuvre.

Eggs Argenteuil. Scoop out the centers from four English muffins, toast them, and place a poached egg in each, cover with sauce Hollandaise, and lay two slices of truffle heated in butter on top of each.

Chicken hash, Italienne. Put two ounces of butter in a sauté pan with one chopped onion, or six chopped shallots. Fry, and then add one-half spoonful of flour and cook until brown. Then add one glass of sherry wine, and one cup of broth or stock, one whole boiled fowl cut in small dices, and one pound of dried mushrooms that have been previously soaked in cold water for one hour. Season with salt and pepper, and boil all together for thirty minutes. Serve toast Melba separate.

Eggs Andalouse. Make a risotto, place it on a platter, lay a poached egg on top, and cover with sauce Hollandaise. Pour tomato sauce around the rice to cover the bottom of the platter.

Cream of summer squash. Put three ounces of butter in a casserole, add two pounds of peeled summer squash cut in small pieces, and simmer for fifteen minutes. Then sprinkle with two small spoonfuls of flour, heat the flour through, and then add two quarts of chicken or other clear white broth. Boil for ten minutes, season with salt and pepper to taste, strain through a fine sieve, put back in the casserole, and before serving add one pint of boiling thick cream.

Fillet of flounder, Norvégienne. Place four fillets of flounder in a buttered pan, season with salt and pepper, add one-half glass of white wine and one-half cup of fish stock, cover, and cook for ten minutes. Place on a platter, some spinach in cream, lay the fish on top, and cover with sauce Hollandaise.

Roast tenderloin of beef, Boucicault. Put a roast tenderloin of beef on a platter, and garnish with stuffed cabbage. Pour sauce Madère over the meat.

Montmorency pudding. Butter a pudding mould very generously. Line it with stale cake, putting quartered fresh or glacé cherries on each piece. Make a custard with four eggs, a quarter of a pound of sugar and a pint of milk. Pour this over the cake, filling the mould. Bake for thirty minutes. Then remove from mould and serve hot, with brandy sauce to which has been added some fresh or glacé cherries chopped fine.

Red currant water ice. Strain one quart of ripe red currants. Canned ones may be used when the fresh are out of season. Add the juice of two lemons, and additional sugar, if necessary. Dissolve the sugar in hot water before adding. Freeze, using plenty of salt with the ice.

Hungarian soup. Sauté half a pound of lean beef that has been cut into small cubes. Add six onions, thoroughly minced, and when slightly brown add four tablespoonfuls of flour. Mix well. Add three quarts of stock and a quart of tomatoes that have been strained through a sieve. Simmer slowly for one hour. Then add a teaspoonful of caraway seeds, half as much marjoram, and a large crushed garlic clove. Cook for another half hour or longer, very slowly. The stock should be made with a knuckle of veal and beef.

Baked porterhouse. Have a thick steak. Put into a Dutch oven, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and two ounces of butter. On top place three whole peeled tomatoes, one green pepper, two tablespoonfuls of Worcestershire sauce, two of mushroom or tomato catsup and a little chopped parsley. Baste frequently.

Meat croquettes. Chop a large onion and simmer in a pan with two ounces of butter. Mince the meat, and add one raw egg and mix well. Season with pepper, salt and some chopped parsley, and add a quarter cup of brown gravy. Allow to cool, roll out and form into croquettes. Dip in a mixture made of one egg and a spoonful of cream, and roll in sifted crumbs. Fry in swimming fat. Serve with tomato or Madeira sauce.

Eggs McKenzie. Peel four tomatoes, cut off the tops and scoop out the insides. Break an egg in each tomato, season with salt and pepper, cover with a little Bordelaise sauce, sprinkle with grated cheese, put small bits of butter on top, place on a buttered dish and bake in oven.

Cucumbers on toast. Peel and quarter two good sized cucumbers, and soak in salted water for about thirty minutes. Then boil in slightly salted water until tender, but not soft. Drain, and place each piece on a round of buttered toast. Make a sauce by rubbing together a tablespoonful of butter and a tablespoonful of flour, stir in a cup of the water in which the cucumbers were boiled, add a teaspoonful of lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste, and pour over the cucumbers and toast. Garnish with strips of pimentos.

Halibut Metternich. Cut two slices of halibut, one and one-half inches thick. Put in a vessel in cold water, season with salt, bring to a boil, and skim. Add a glass of milk, boil for about twenty-five minutes, until soft. Make a sauce in a casserole with two spoonfuls of butter, and two spoonfuls of flour. When hot add two cups of the fish broth, boil for ten minutes, and strain. Then add six chopped hard-boiled eggs and salt and pepper to taste. Put the fish on a buttered baking dish, pour the sauce over same, sprinkle with grated cheese, put small bits of butter on top, and bake in the oven until brown.