To Prepare Croutons for Soups, Roasts, Vegetables, Eggs, Etc. (pour Preparer les Croutons Pour les Soupes, Rotis, Legumes

Cut the croutons from the crumb of a stale loaf of bread; for entrees cut them half heart-shaped, three inches long by two and a half wide, and a quarter of an inch thick (see Fig. 40.); fry them in butter, and as soon as one side is browned, turn them over, and repeat until they have attained a fine color on both sides.

For Vegetables, Scrambled Eggs, Spinach, Chiccory, etc.—Cut them triangle shaped, one and a quarter inches on the sides, by one quarter of an inch thick; fry them in butter, browning them nicely on both sides.

For Soups.—Serve croutons three-sixteenths to four-sixteenths square or round shaped, three quarters of an inch in diameter, by one-eighth in thickness; either of these must be fried a fine color in butter, but do not allow them to get too dry. In order to obtain fine croutons, they must be fried in clarified butter, lard or oil, and in a sautoir, but not in the frying fat.

For Roast Game, Pheasants, Partridges, Grouse and Quail, have oblong shaped croutons; trim the edges and then cut off a quarter of an inch of the four corners; pass the knife all around the croutons a quarter of an inch from the edge, fry and cut away the centers, scoop out the crumb from this space, and lay them under the game; reed-birds or larks must be laid on oblong croutons sufficiently long to hold two or more birds, but do not scoop these out.

For Snipe, Woodcock or Plovers, have wider, oblong crusts (Fig. 41); dig out the crumb in the center to hold the bird and scoop out smaller hollows on each side, which should be garnished with a forcemeat, made of chopped up chicken livers and shallots, fried in scraped lard; mix some fine herbs with the livers. Epicures sometimes have the chopped intestines added to the forcemeat.