Ragout Of Egg Plant Recipe

Boil a small egg plant until tender. Peel it thinly and set aside to get

cold. Cut in slices an inch thick and cover the bottom of a baking dish

with them. Melt a generous tablespoonful of butter in a saucepan and

stir into it two heaping tablespoonfuls of fresh mushrooms, a heaping

teaspoonful of parsley, a heaping teaspoonful of onion, all chopped very

fine, season with salt and pepper and pour over the egg plant. When it

is time to put it in the oven sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and fine

breadcrumbs and dot with small lumps of butter, and bake until brown in

a quick oven. Serve in the dish in which it is baked with the following

sauce in a sauce boat.

SAUCE.--Boil the skins and stems of the mushrooms in a cup of water;

while they are cooking, brown together in a spider a slightly heaping

tablespoonful of butter, a slightly heaping tablespoonful of flour, and

a small slice of onion cut very fine. Strain the mushroom skins and

stems and add the water they were cooked in to the browned butter and

flour, and when the sauce is thick and smooth turn it into a saucepan

and add to it a heaping tablespoonful of mushrooms, one small cucumber

pickle and two large olives, all chopped very fine. Let all simmer

together for a few minutes, season to taste with salt and pepper. If the

sauce is too thick add a little water. It should be like thick cream.