Consomme a la Duchess

The garnishing for this consomme is composed as follows: prepare some bread-crumb croutons half an inch thick by five-eighths in length, slit them with the tip of a small knife at one-eighth of an inch from the edge all around; stand them on a baking sheet, pour over some melted butter and brown in a hot oven, remove, lift off the covers, scoop out the inside crumbs. Fry a little finely chopped onion in butter, dilute with some bechamel and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg; add the same amount of finely chopped lobster meat, thicken with egg-yolks, cream, and a little nutmeg; with this preparation fill the crusts, cover the tops with quenelle forcemeat finished with lobster butter and poach in a slack oven, then dress. Serve some consomme in a separate soup tureen containing rice, blanched and cooked in consomme, and small green peas, cooked English style (No. 2742). The croustades to be served separately at the same time as the consomme.