Kulibiac, Russian

Dilute in a pint of warm milk, the third of an ounce of yeast; fill it up with half a pound of flour, and beat well with a spatula to form a very smooth leaven; let it rise to double in a mild temperature, then add to it half a pound of flour, half a pound of butter, six eggs, some cream and a little salt; beat it well with the spatula to obtain a smooth paste, then lay it on the table, make a hole in the middle and fill this with sufficient sifted flour that when mixing it with the hands it does not adhere, and set it away in a warm place for one hour. Break up the paste and bring it together again, and lay it aside in the ice-box. Roll it out to three-sixteenths of an inch in thickness, set this layer on a floured cloth, and place on it one inch and a quarter apart, round balls, an inch in diameter, made of the following preparation: Have a pound of salmon and bass cut in quarter inch squares; half a pound of mushrooms in three-sixteenth inch squares, fry them in butter and moisten with Madeira, then add the fish and some espagnole sauce (No. 414), two chopped hard boiled eggs, and four ounces of rice cooked in consommé (No. 189), salt, pepper, nutmeg, and chives. Dampen slightly with a brush around the forcemeat, and cover over with another layer of paste. Prepare a buttered baking sheet, cut out the kulibiacs with a small wheel if for squares, or else with a pastry cutter if for rounds, turn them over and lay them on a baking sheet and set them aside in a warm temperature, egg the surfaces twice, dredge a little bread-crumbs over, besprinkle with butter and cook. They can be made in one entire piece, turning it over on a buttered sheet, egg the surface, dredge bread-crumbs over, besprinkle with butter, and when done cut them out with a knife; in either case dress them on folded napkins.