ieve; add a teaspoonful of
finely minced tarragon and chives. Stir all into a tablespoonful of
mayonnaise and one of aspic, semi-fluid of course. When each fillet has
been well coated with the mixture and has set, line a border mould with
aspic jelly, ornament the fillets of chicken with little strips of
beet-root and cucumber arranged like a trellis-work. Place them very
carefully round the mould on the layer of aspic, then pour in a little
more aspic, until the border mould is full, and set it on ice. When
about to serve have a dish well layered with the small leaves of
lettuce. Drop the mould for one minute in warm water, and turn out on to
the lettuce. Fill the centre with a salad composed of cucumber cut into
dice, peas, string-beans cooked until tender (for this purpose the
canned French string-beans serve admirably, being beautifully cut
ready). Pour over the centre salad some thick mayonnaise.

Where mayonnaise makes too rich a dish for the digestion, bechamel sauce
may be substituted for masking, but never for salad; for instance, two
very simple chaudfroids of chicken may be made as follows:

_Chaudfroid of Chicken_, No. 1.--Cut up a young fleshy chicken into neat
joints, remove the skin, mask each piece carefully with bechamel sauce;
when quite set arrange on chopped aspic in a circle, garnish with strips
of cucumber and beet; cut the remainder of the cucumber and beet into
neat pieces, and stir into a gill of mayonnaise, and use for the centre.
This and all salads should be lightly seasoned before the mayonnaise is
added, or they are apt to taste flat.

_Chaudfroid of Chicken_, No. 2.--Prepare the chicken as in last recipe,
only before masking the joints season the bechamel well with finely
chopped tarragon; leave out the mayonnaise and aspic. Pile up the pieces
of chicken on the entree dish, and garnish with Roman lettuce, or, if
that is not to be had, the hearts of Boston lettuce.

_Chicken and Ham Cutlets._--Boil a young fowl with a good breast in
clear stock; take it out, let it get cold; cut the breast into rather
thin slices. The bones, skin, and trimmings may be thrown back in the
stock, which can be boiled down to make both the bechamel and aspic for
the dish (see recipes), or be kept for other purposes. Take the slices
of chicken and some very well cooked lean ham that is cut so thin you
can see the knife under the slices. Melt a little bechamel sauce, that
must be like blanc-mange, pour it on a