The foundation for a large proportion of sauces is in what the French cook
knows as a _roux_, and we as “drawn butter.” As our drawn butter is often
lumpy, or with the taste of the raw flour, I give the French method as a
security against such disaster.

TO MAKE A ROUX.

Melt in a saucepan a piece of butter the size of an egg, and add two even
tablespoonfuls of sifted flour; one ounce of butter to two of flour being
a safe rule. Stir till smooth, and pour in slowly one pint of milk, or
milk and water, or water alone. With milk it is called _cream roux_, and
is used for boiled fish and poultry. Where the butter and flour are
allowed to brown, it is called a _brown roux_, and is thinned with the
soup or stew which it is designed to thicken. Capers added to a _white
roux_–which is the butter and flour, with water added–give _caper
sauce_, for use with boiled mutton. Pickled nasturtiums are a good
substitute for capers. Two hard-boiled eggs cut fine give egg sauce.
Chopped parsley or pickle, and the variety of catchups and sauces, make an
endless variety; the _white roux_ being the basis for all of them.

BREAD SAUCE.

For this sauce boil one point of milk, with one onion cut in pieces. When
it has boiled five minutes, take out the onion, and thicken the milk with
half a pint of sifted bread-crumbs. Melt a teaspoonful of butter in a
frying-pan; put in half a pint of coarser crumbs, stirring them till a
light brown. Flavor the sauce with half a teaspoonful of salt, a
saltspoonful of pepper, and a grate of nutmeg; and serve with game,
helping a spoonful of the sauce, and one of the browned crumbs. The boiled
onion may be minced fine and added, and the browned crumbs omitted.

CELERY SAUCE.

Wash and boil a small head of celery, which has been cut up fine, in one
pint of water, with half a teaspoonful of salt. Boil till tender, which
will require about half an hour. Make a _cream roux_, using half a pint of
milk, and adding quarter of a saltspoonful of white pepper. Stir into the
celery; boil a moment, and serve. A teaspoonful of celery salt can be
used, if celery is out of season, adding it to the full rule for _cream
roux_. Cauliflower may be used in the same way as celery, cutting it very
fine, and adding a large cupful to the sauce. Use either with boiled
meats.

MINT SAUCE.

Look over and strip off the leaves, and cut them as fine as possible with
a sharp knife. Use none of the stalk but the tender tips. To a cupful of
chopped mint allow an equal quantity of sugar, and half a cup of good
vinegar. It should stand an hour before using.

CRANBERRY SAUCE.

Wash one quart of cranberries in warm water, and pick them over carefully.
Put them in a porcelain-lined kettle, with one pint of cold water and one
pint of sugar, and cook without stirring for half an hour, turning then
into molds. This is the simplest method. They can be strained through a
sieve, and put in bowls, forming a marmalade, which can be cut in slices
when cold; or the berries can be crushed with a spoon while boiling, but
left unstrained.

APPLE SAUCE.

Pare, core, and quarter some apples (sour being best), and stew till
tender in just enough water to cover them. Rub them through a sieve,
allowing a teacupful of sugar to a quart of strained apple, or even less,
where intended to eat with roast pork or goose. Where intended for lunch
or tea, do not strain, but treat as follows: Make a sirup of one large
cupful of sugar and one of water for every dozen good-sized apples. Add
half a lemon, cut in very thin slices. Put in the apple; cover closely,
and stew till tender, keeping the quarters as whole as possible. The lemon
may be omitted.

PLAIN PUDDING SAUCE.

Make a _white roux_, with a pint of either water or milk; but water will
be very good. Add to it a large cup of sugar, a teaspoonful of lemon or
any essence liked, and a wine-glass of wine. Vinegar can be substituted.
Grate in a little nutmeg, and serve hot.

MOLASSES SAUCE.

This sauce is intended especially for apple dumplings and puddings. One
pint of molasses; one tablespoonful of butter; the juice of one lemon, or
a large spoonful of vinegar. Boil twenty minutes. It may be thickened with
a tablespoonful of corn-starch dissolved in a little cold water, but is
good in either case.

FOAMING SAUCE.

Cream half a cup of butter till very light, and add a heaping cup of
sugar, beating both till white. Set the bowl in which it was beaten into a
pan of boiling water, and allow it to melt slowly. Just before serving
but _not before_, pour into it slowly half a cup or four spoonfuls of
boiling water, stirring to a thick foam. Grate in nutmeg, or use a
teaspoonful of lemon essence, and if wine is liked, add a glass of sherry
or a tablespoonful of brandy. For a pudding having a decided flavor of its
own, a sauce without wine is preferable.

HARD SAUCE

Beat together the same proportions of butter and sugar as in the preceding
receipt; add a tablespoonful of wine if desired; pile lightly on a pretty
dish; grate nutmeg over the top, and set in a cold place till used.

FRUIT SAUCES.

The sirup of any nice canned fruit may be used cold as sauce for cold
puddings and blancmanges, or heated and thickened for hot, allowing to a
pint of juice a heaping teaspoonful of corn-starch dissolved in a little
cold water, and boiling it five minutes. Strawberry or raspberry sirup is
especially nice.

PLAIN SALAD DRESSING.

Three tablespoonfuls of best olive-oil; one tablespoonful of vinegar; one
saltspoonful each of salt and pepper mixed together; and then, with three
tablespoonfuls of best olive-oil, adding last the tablespoonful of
vinegar. This is the simplest form of dressing. The lettuce, or other
salad material, must be fresh and crisp, and should not be mixed till the
moment of eating.

SPANISH TOMATO SAUCE.

One can of tomatoes or six large fresh ones; two minced onions fried brown
in a large tablespoonful of butter. Add to the tomatoes with three sprigs
of parsley and thyme, one teaspoonful of salt, and half a one of pepper;
three cloves and two allspice, with a small blade of mace and a bit of
lemon peel, and two lumps of sugar. Stew very slowly for two hours, then
rub through a sieve, and return to the fire. Add two tablespoonfuls of
flour, browned with a tablespoonful of butter, and boil up once. It should
be smooth and thick. Keep on ice, and it will keep a week. Excellent.

MAYONNAISE SAUCE.

For this sauce use the yolks of three raw eggs; one even tablespoonful of
mustard; one of sugar; one teaspoonful of salt; and a saltspoonful of
cayenne.

Break the egg yolks into a bowl; beat a few strokes, and gradually add the
mustard, sugar, salt, and pepper. Now take a pint bottle of best
olive-oil, and stir in a few drops at a time. The sauce will thicken like
a firm jelly. When the oil is half in, add the juice of one lemon by
degrees with the remainder of the oil; and last, add quarter of a cup of
good vinegar. This will keep for weeks, and can be used with either
chicken, salmon, or vegetable salad.

A simpler form can be made with the yolk of one egg, half a pint of oil,
and half the ingredients given above. It can be colored red with the juice
of a boiled beet, or with the coral of a lobster, and is very nice as a
dressing for raw tomatoes, cutting them in thick slices, and putting a
little of it on each slice.

Mayonnaise may be varied in many ways, _sauce tartare_ being a favorite
one. This is simply two even tablespoonfuls of capers, half a small onion,
and a tablespoonful of parsley, and two gherkins or a small cucumber, all
minced fine and added to half a pint of mayonnaise. This keeps a long
time, and is very nice for fried fish or plain boiled tongue.

DRESSING WITHOUT OIL.

Cream a small cup of butter, and stir into it the yolks of three eggs. Mix
together one teaspoonful of mustard, one teaspoonful of salt, and quarter
of a saltspoonful of cayenne, and add to the butter and egg. Stir in
slowly, instead of oil, one cup of cream, and add the juice of one lemon
and half a cup of vinegar.

BOILED DRESSING FOR COLD SLAW.

This is good also for vegetable salads. One small cup of good vinegar; two
tablespoonfuls of sugar; half a teaspoonful each of salt and mustard; a
saltspoonful of pepper; a piece of butter the size of a walnut; and two
beaten eggs. Put these all in a small saucepan over the fire, and stir
till it becomes a smooth paste. Have a firm, white cabbage, very cold, and
chopped fine; and mix the dressing well through it. It will keep several
days in a cold place.

CHICKEN SALAD.

Boil a tender chicken, and when cold, cut all the meat in dice. Cut up
white tender celery enough to make the same amount, and mix with the meat.
Stir into it a tablespoonful of oil with three of vinegar, and a
saltspoonful each of mustard and salt, and let it stand an hour or two.
When ready to serve, mix the whole with a mayonnaise sauce, leaving part
to mask the top; or use the mayonnaise alone, without the first dressing
of vinegar and oil. Lettuce can be substituted for celery; and where
neither is obtainable, a crisp white cabbage may be chopped fine, and the
meat of the chicken also, and either a teaspoonful of extract of celery or
celery-seed used to flavor it The fat of the chicken, taken from the water
in which it was boiled, carefully melted and strained, and cooled again,
is often used by Southern housekeepers.

SALMON MAYONNAISE.

Carefully remove all the skin and bones from a pound of boiled salmon, or
use a small can of the sealed, draining away all the liquid. Cut in small
pieces, and season with two tablespoonfuls of vinegar, half a small onion
minced fine, and half a teaspoonful each of salt and pepper. Cover the
bottom of the salad dish with crisp lettuce-leaves; lay the salmon on it,
and pour on the sauce. The meat of a lobster can be treated in the same
way.