Sauces For Fish And Vegetables

These sauces are made by combining butter and flour and thinning with water or other liquid. A sauce should never be thickened by adding a mixture of flour and water, as in that case the flour is seldom well cooked; or by adding flour alone, as this way is certain to cause lumps. The flour should be allowed to cook before the liquid is added.

All sauces containing butter and milk should be cooked in a double boiler.

If so desired, any neutral oil--that is, vegetable or nut oil--may be substituted for the butter called for in the recipe.

Care in preparation of a sauce is of as much importance as is the preparation of the dish the sauce garnishes.

DRAWN BUTTER SAUCE

Melt two tablespoons of butter and stir in two tablespoons of flour. Add carefully one cup of boiling water, then season with one-half teaspoon of salt and a dash of pepper and paprika.

Many sauces are made with drawn butter as a foundation. For caper sauce add three tablespoons of capers.

For egg sauce add one egg, hard-boiled and chopped fine.

BEARNAISE SAUCE

There are several ways of making Bearnaise sauce. This is one very simple rule: Bring to the boil two tablespoons each of vinegar and water. Simmer in it for ten minutes a slice of onion. Take out the onion and add the yolks of three eggs beaten very light. Take from the fire, add salt and pepper to season, and four tablespoons of butter beaten to a cream, and added slowly.

*Quick Bearnaise Sauce.*--Beat the yolks of four eggs with four tablespoons of oil and four of water. Add a cup of boiling water and cook slowly until thick and smooth. Take from the fire, and add minced onion, capers, olives, pickles, and parsley and a little tarragon vinegar.

CUCUMBER SAUCE

Pare two large cucumbers; remove seeds, if large; chop fine and squeeze dry. Season with salt, vinegar, paprika and add one-half cup of cream.

SAUCE HOLLANDAISE

Mix one tablespoon of butter and one of flour in a saucepan and add gradually half a pint of boiling water. Stir until it just reaches the boiling point; take from the fire and add the yolks of two eggs. Into another saucepan put a slice of onion, a bay leaf, and a clove of garlic; add four tablespoons of vinegar, and stand this over the fire until the vinegar is reduced one-half. Turn this into the sauce, stir for a moment; strain through a fine sieve; add half a teaspoon of salt and serve. This sauce may be varied by adding lemon juice instead of vinegar, or by using the water in which the fish was boiled. It is one of the daintiest of all sauces.

MUSTARD SAUCE

Mix two tablespoons of vinegar and one of mustard, one teaspoon of oil or butter melted, pepper and salt to taste. Add this to two hard-boiled eggs chopped fine, with a small onion and about the same quantity of parsley as eggs; and mix all well together.

MAÎTRE D'HÔTEL BUTTER

Work into one-half cup of butter all the lemon juice it will take, and add a teaspoon of minced parsley.

PICKLE SAUCE

Cream two tablespoons of butter, add one teaspoon of salt and one tablespoon of chopped pickle. A speck of red pepper may be added.

SARDELLEN, OR HERRING SAUCE

Brown a spoon of flour in heated fat, add a quantity of hot fish stock and a few sardellen chopped fine, which you have previously washed in cold water, also a finely-chopped onion. Let this boil a few minutes, add a little vinegar and sugar; strain this sauce through a wire sieve and add a few capers and a wineglass of white wine and let it boil up once again and thicken with the yolk of one egg.