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Mushroom Sauce
Make as above, substituting one-fourth a cup of mushroom liquor for a part of the chicken stock, and adding with the egg half a can of mushrooms, or a cup of fresh mushrooms sautéd in two tablespoonfuls of butter. Réchauffés and Olla-Podrida.
A variation rather than a standalone recipe: it assumes the egg-thickened chicken sauce printed just above it, so read that one first. The notes below cover what the shorthand leaves out.
- The hinge: do not let it boilThis is an egg-thickened sauce, and once the egg goes in it must be held below a simmer or it will curdle into threads. Keep the heat very low from the moment the egg is added.
- "Make as above"The base sauce is not reproduced here. From the references to chicken stock and to "the egg", it appears to be a stock-based sauce finished with beaten egg; any quantities are guesswork unless you can consult the recipe printed above.
- Mushroom liquorMost likely the liquid from the tin rather than a mushroom essence or extract, though the term was also used of liquid drawn from cooked mushrooms. A quarter cup replaces a quarter cup of the stock, so the total liquid stays the same. With fresh mushrooms, use the pan juices.
- Half a can of mushroomsThe recipe treats this as equivalent to the cup of fresh mushrooms offered as the alternative; no can size is given. Drain and rinse modern canned mushrooms if they taste tinny, but keep the liquor first.
- Sauteing the fresh mushroomsTwo tablespoons of butter to a cup of mushrooms is generous; use a hot pan and let the water cook off so the sauce is not thinned and greyed. Slice them if the sauce is to go over toast or croquettes.
- Yield and servingServing -- good over toast, chicken, sweetbreads or reheated meat. Season at the end; canned mushroom liquor is often salty on its own.
- The trailing line"Rechauffes and Olla-Podrida" is the running head of the chapter, not part of the method. It signals the section of leftovers and mixed dishes the sauce belongs to.
That this variation reaches for canned mushrooms and their liquor as the default, with fresh ones offered as the alternative, suggests something about supply at the time it was written. The chapter title, rechauffes and olla-podrida, is period kitchen French and Spanish for reheated dishes and hodgepodge respectively, and a good sauce was the standard means of making yesterday's chicken presentable again.