gotte" or Montpellier butter.

Take one pound in equal quantities of chervil, tarragon, burnet
(pimpernel), chives, and garden cress (peppergrass); scald _two_
minutes, drain quite dry; pound in a mortar three hard eggs, three
anchovies, and one scant ounce of pickled cucumbers, and same quantity
of capers well pressed to extract the vinegar; add salt, pepper, and a
bit of garlic half as large as a pea, rub all through a sieve; then put
a pound of fine butter into the mortar, which must be well cleansed from
the herbs, add the herbs, with two tablespoonfuls of oil and one of
tarragon vinegar, mix perfectly, and if not of a fine green, add the
juice of some pounded spinach.

This is the celebrated "_beurre de Montpellier_" sold in Paris in tiny
jars at a high price. Ravigotte is the same thing, only in place of the
eggs, anchovies, pickles, and capers, put half a pound more butter; it
is good, but less piquant.

Pack in a jar, and keep cool. This butter is excellent for many
purposes. For salad, beaten with oil, vinegar, and yolks of eggs, as for
mayonnaise, it makes a delicious dressing. For cold meat or fish it is
excellent, and also for chops.

Two or three other articles serve to simplify the art of cooking in its
especially difficult branches, and in the branches a lady finds
difficult to attend to herself without remaining in the kitchen until
the last minute before dinner; but with the aid of blanc and roux a
fairly intelligent girl can make excellent sauces.

For roux melt slowly half a pound of butter over the fire, skim it, let
it settle, then dredge in eight ounces of fine flour, stir it till it is
of a bright brown, then put away in a jar for use.

Blanc is the same thing, only it is not allowed to brown; it should be
stirred only enough to make all hot through, then put away in a jar.

If you need thickening for a white sauce and do not wish to stand over
it yourself, having taught your cook the simple fact that a piece of
blanc put into the milk _before it boils_ (or it will harden instead of
melt) and allowed to dissolve, stirring constantly, will make the sauce
you wish, she will be able at all times to produce a white sauce that
you need not be ashamed of. When the sauce is nearly ready to serve,
stir in a good piece of butter--a large spoonful to half a pint; when
mixed, the sauce is ready. Brown sauce can always be made by taking a
cup of broth or soup and dissolving in the same way a piece of t