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Oysters, Poulets And

Roast a couple of chickens in the usual way. Open two dozen oysters, and scald them in their own liquid for two minutes. Beard them, and put them aside to cool. Dissolve two ounces of fresh butter in a stewpan, and mix an ounce of flour smoothly with it. Add the oyster liquor, three table-spoonfuls of cream or milk, a pinch of cayenne, a pinch of salt, and a pinch of white pepper. Stir the sauce gently over the fire until it boils, take it off the fire, add six drops of lemon-juice and the oysters, and either pour the sauce over the fowls, or serve it separately in a tureen. Time, twenty minutes to prepare the sauce. Probable cost, 3s. 6d. Sufficient for six or eight persons. OYSTERS, POWDER OF (for flavouring Sauces, etc., when Oysters are not in season).

Open a dozen fresh oysters, and pound them thoroughly in a mortar with half a tea-spoonful of salt, then press them through a hair sieve. Mix with them as much dried flour as will make them into a smooth paste; this will be a little more than two ounces. Roll the mixture out three or four times, and the last time leave it one eighth of an inch thick. Stamp it into small cakes, dredge these with flour, dry them gradually in a cool oven, and be very careful that they do not burn. To prevent this they should be turned every twenty minutes. When the cakes are quite dry, crush them to powder, and put this into small bottles, cork and seal them securely, and store in a dry place. When sauce is wanted mix a tea-spoonful of the powder smoothly with an ounce of butter and six table-spoonfuls of milk. Stir the sauce over a gentle fire until it boils, season it with a pinch of cayenne, add a squeeze of lemon-juice, and serve. Time, four or five hours to dry the cakes. Probable cost of oysters, 1s. 6d. to 3s. per dozen. Allow a tea-spoonful of powder for half a pint of sauce.