Varenikis—Polish Side Dish
The day before the varenikis are needed for use put some pot cheese in a cloth, wrap it up and tie with a string; lay it on a colander, place a weight on top and leave it without further pressure until the next day so that all the buttermilk drains off. Take it out of the cloth, put it in a mortar, seasoning with salt, pepper and a dash of nutmeg, then pound well to have it a very smooth paste. Now add gradually two ounces of fresh butter then a heaping tablespoonful of marrow frangipane and as much cream cake paste (No. 132) and lastly four egg-yolks; continue to pound and mix until the paste is exceedingly smooth, then rub it through a sieve; lay it in a vessel and let rest in the ice-box. Prepare a raviole paste (No. 147) and after half an hour roll it very thin and from this cut out some strips; cover each band with a small part of the preparation the size and shape of a nut and form them into small rissoles the same as for ordinary rissoles (No. 161); lay each one as soon as prepared on a slightly floured tin and stand them in a cool place. Ten minutes before serving throw them into a saucepanful of lightly salted boiling water. As soon as poached drain them on a cloth and then arrange them in a silver dish; pour a few spoonsfuls of sweet cream over, serving more separately. In Russia they substitute melted butter for cream and serve sour cream apart.
MOLLUSKS and CRUSTACEANS.
THE QUAHAUG OR LITTLE NECK CLAMS (Lucines Orangees ou Clovis).
There are many kinds of these bivalves, but these of which we speak are greatly appreciated as an article of food. Small ones an inch to an inch and three-quarters in diameter are served raw, in the months of May, June, July and August, entirely replacing the oyster. Little neck clams are the most remarkable of their kind, their principal characteristic being the uniting to the hinge of cardinal and lateral teeth; beside these they possess three other teeth, two being diverging. They are far preferable to the large clams for all culinary preparations, being more tender, of a finer flavor and their taste less strong than the others.