Base Sauce Preparation
- Make a colourless essence of the giblets by omitting the colouring stage.
- Strain the essence and remove the fat.
- Place the essence in a bowl.
Indian Cashu-nut Sauce Preparation
- For half a pint or so of sauce, take a coffee-cupful of Indian cashu-nuts.
- Scald the cashu-nuts to remove dirt and any adhering shell.
- Boil the scalded nuts in milk, or milk and water, with salt, pepper, and a pinch of sugar until soft.
- Drain the nuts and pound them in a mortar, moistening with some of the milk in which they were boiled.
- When pounded to a paste, put a quarter of an ounce of flour into a clean stew-pan with a quarter of an ounce of butter.
- Mix a white roux.
- Add giblet essence and nut-paste by degrees until the purée reaches a nice consistency and the paste has been expended.
- Off the fire before serving, finish the sauce with the yolk of an egg beaten up with a tablespoonful of the essence.
Pale Brown Sauce Preparation
- Cut the nuts into tiny dice.
- Fry the diced nuts in butter until browned (as you fry almonds for praline).
- Pound the fried dice.
- Finish the sauce as in the foregoing recipe (referring to the Indian Cashu-nut Sauce).
Chestnut Purée Sauce Preparation
- Prepare twelve good-sized chestnuts by peeling, scalding, and skinning them.
- Proceed in the same way as for the nut sauces to make the well-known chestnut purée sauce.
Almond Sauce Preparation
- Treat almonds in a savoury fashion, optionally frying them slightly beforehand.
- Boil a tablespoonful of ground sweet almonds in half a pint of good white sauce.
- Strain the mixture.
- Add the yolk of a raw egg in the manner already explained (referring to the method in the Indian Cashu-nut Sauce).
General Notes
- Salted almonds sold for dessert can be turned to pleasant advantage in sauces.
- A tablespoonful of cream is a decided improvement to nut sauces, as in bread sauce.
NUT SAUCES.
Excellent sauces for all birds can be made with various nuts in this manner :—Make a colourless essence of the giblets, as just explained, by omitting the colouring stage : strain it, remove the fat, and place it in a bowl. For half a pint or so of sauce take a coffee-cupful of the Indian cashu-nuts, which can be got now in several places in London, scald them to remove dirt and any shell that may adhere to them : this having been done, boil them in milk, or milk and water, with salt, pepper, and a pinch of sugar : when soft, drain and pound them in a mortar, moistening them with some of the milk in which they were boiled : when pounded to a paste put a quarter
of an ounce of flour into a clean stew-pan with a quarter of an ounce of butter, mix a white roux, and then add giblet essence and nut-paste by degrees till the purée reaches a nice consistency, and the paste has been expended. This can be finished, off the fire before serving, with the yolk of an egg beaten up with a tablespoonful of the essence.
A nice sauce of a pale brown colour can be made by cutting the nuts into tiny dice and frying them in butter till browned (as you fry almonds for praline). The dice are then pounded, and the sauce is finished as in the foregoing recipe.
With twelve good-sized chestnuts, peeled, scalded, and skinned, you can proceed in the same way and make the well-known chestnut purée sauce.
Almonds may in like manner be treated in savoury fashion, and if slightly fried beforehand are particularly nice for a change in a sauce of this description. The salted almonds, sold
for dessert and to fill the little saucers wherewith the modern dinner-table is garnished, can thus be turned to pleasant advantage. A nice almond sauce for poultry can be made by boiling a tablespoonful of ground sweet almonds in half a pint of good white sauce; strain, and add the yolk of a raw egg in the manner already explained.
I admit that in nut sauces, as in bread sauce, a tablespoonful of cream is decidedly an improvement.