MYTILIDiE. — MUSSEL. 79 



fire, keeping the saucepan shaking all the time till the 

 butter is melted. Season with pepper and salt ; beat 

 the yolks of the eggs and put them in, stir all the 

 time for fear of curdling, add a little grated nutmeg. 

 When it is thick and fine, fill the rolls, pour your soup 

 into the dish, place in the rolls, and lay the rest of the 

 mussels round the rim of the dish.* 



Mussels a la Poulette. — Take two quarts of mussels 

 — the smallest are the most delicate; scrape the shells 

 carefully, with a knife, and wash in water, changed 

 several times, till perfectly free from grit. Put one 

 quart of the mussels in a saute-pan, with a sliced 

 onion, four ounces, a few sprigs of parsley, say one 

 ounce, two pinches of salt, two small pinches of pepper, 

 one pint of French white wine. Cover the saute-pan ; 

 put it on the fire, and toss the mussels occasionally ; 

 when the shells open the mussels are done, then take 

 them out of the saute-pan, and take off one shell. 

 Put the second quart on the fire, and cook them in 

 the same way. It is advisable to cook only half the 

 quantity at a time, as the mussels would not be done 

 evenly, if too many were put in the pan at once. 

 Be careful not to let them be overdone, as this 

 would shrink and harden them, and impair their 

 quality. 



Strain the liquor into a basin ; put into a stew-pan 

 one ounce of butter, and one ounce of flour ; stir over the 

 fire for three minutes ; mix the liquor, and add enough 

 water to produce a pint of sauce ; thicken it with 

 two yolks of eggs and half an ounce of butter, add one 

 tablespoonful of chopped parsley. Dip the mussels in 

 plenty of hot water; drain them well, and wipe them. 



* ' The Art of Cookery made Plain arid Easy.' 



