Socles.—Mention has already been made of jelly
borders and bread croûtons, but beside these there
are rice borders and white-fat socles, or stands,
which, though not of general use, yet, on occasions,
are a great addition to the appearance of a supper or
ceremonial breakfast table, and are sufficiently easy to
prepare to render them available for home use. For
the rice border, boil, say, 1lb. of rice in plenty of water
(half a gallon for 1lb. of rice is none too much) till it is
perfectly soft, then drain it well, and pound it to a
smooth paste in a mortar. When well amalgamated,
turn it out on to the pastry slab, and knead it with
your hands, or work it with a wooden spoon till it is
a smooth, elastic, and workable paste; then either
shape it as it stands with a couple of wooden spoons
into a round or oval block, trimming this neatly
with a sharp knife; or press the rice into any mould
to taste, and leave it till firm and hard. The moulds
should be kept in a cold place to stiffen properly.
When required for use, turn them out, and cover
lightly with either plain or fancy butter. M. Gouffé,
who advises rice borders especially, recommends
either a maître d'hôtel or a ravigotte butter, but, of
course, this is a matter of taste. These socles are
particularly useful for sandwiches, salades mignonnes,
&c., and are also in great request for the improvement
of cold entrées, which never look so well if served flat
on their dish. For white-fat socles you require a
wooden mould on which to mount them. The plainer
these are, the better is the taste of the socle. So get
two round, or oval, blocks of smooth wood, one at
least a third smaller than the other. To prepare the
fat for covering, cut up 1lb. of kidney fat (mutton
for choice), remove every bit of skin or sinew, place
it in a bowlful of cold water, and let it stand till next
day. Now drain off the water, and put the fat into a
delicately clean pan (a fireproof casserole is as nice as
anything), and render it down very gently over a slow
fire; when melted, let it stand for a minute or two,
then strain it through a hair sieve into a basin;
after it has cooled a little, work into it 1lb. of best
white lard, then melt it all once more, and strain it
off into a basin to cool. It must now be whipped
with a very clean wire whisk till it is light and almost
creamy, and in this state it is used to cover the moulds.
First put a little of the fat on a baking sheet, and
stand the wooden mould on this to keep it firm, then
apply the fat thickly and evenly, smoothing it with
a palette knife dipped in hot water, and finishing it
off with a flat or round ruler (the latter for choice),
dipped in hot water, to get the surface perfectly level
and smooth. This block, if left to harden in a cold
place, will have all the appearance and hardness of
marble. To remove it from the baking sheet, stand
the latter over a pan of boiling water just to soften
the fat under the socle, which may then be lifted off.
If the second mould is placed on the first, cover it in
exactly the same way, affixing it to the under socle, as
you fastened the latter to the baking sheet, with a
little semi-melted fat. Of course, these wooden
blocks can be cut into any shape you please, and the
fat covering may be chiselled and mod-lled into all
sorts of shapes, but for ordinary purposes the above
are infinitely the best; the advantage of these stands
is that, once made, they last a good long time if
stored in a cold, dry place, in tins, and only need a
rub over with a moist cloth to keep them in condition.
Some cooks, however, prefer a mixture of 11oz. of
best white lard and 7oz. white wax, as being more
durable than the previously given mixture.