Chapter IV: Part 4

To one quart, or twenty-five oysters, add a half pint of water. Put the oysters on the fire in the liquor. The moment it begins to simmer (not _boil_, for that would shrivel the oysters), pour it through a colander into a hot dish, leaving the oysters in the colander. Now put into the saucepan two ounces of butter (size of an egg); when it bubbles, sprinkle in a table-spoonful (one ounce) of sifted flour; let the _roux_ cook a few moments, stirring it well with the egg-whisk; then add to it gradually the oyster-juice, and half a pint of good cream (which has been brought to a boil in another vessel); season carefully with Cayenne pepper and salt; skim well, then add the oysters. Do not let it boil, but serve immediately. An oyster soup is made with thickening; an oyster stew is made without it (see receipt).

Oyster crackers and pickles are often served with an oyster soup.

CLAM SOUP.

To extract the clams from the shells, wash them in cold water, and put them all into a large pot over the fire, containing half a cupful of boiling water; cover closely, and the steam will cause the clams to open; pour all into a colander over a pan, and extract the meat from the shells.

Put a quart of the clams with their liquor on the fire, with a pint of water; boil them about three minutes, during which time skim them well, then strain them. Beard them, and return the liquor to the fire, with the hard portions of the clams (keeping the soft portions aside in a warm place), half an onion (one ounce), a sprig of thyme, three or four sprigs of parsley, and one large blade of mace; cover it, and let it simmer for half an hour.

In the mean time make a _roux_, _i. e._, put three ounces of butter (size of an egg) into a stew-pan, and when it bubbles sprinkle in two ounces of flour (one heaping table-spoonful); stir it on the fire until cooked, and then stir in gradually a pint of hot cream; add this to the clam liquor (strained), with a seasoning of salt and a little Cayenne pepper; also the soft clams, without chopping them. When well mixed, and thoroughly hot (without boiling), serve immediately.

BEAN SOUP.

Soak a quart of navy beans overnight. Then put them on the fire, with three quarts of water; three onions, fried or _sautéd_ in a little butter; one little carrot; two potatoes, partly boiled in other water; a small cut of pork; a little red pepper, and salt. Let it all boil slowly for five or six hours. Pass it then through a colander or sieve. Return the pulp to the fire; season properly with salt and Cayenne pepper. Put into the tureen _croûtons_, or bread, cut in half-inch squares, and fried brown on all sides in a little butter or in boiling fat. Professor Blot adds broth, bacon, onions, celery, one or two cloves, and carrot to his bean soup. A French cook I once had added a little mustard to her bean soup, which made a pleasant change. Another cook adds cream at the last moment. Or,

A very good bean soup can be made from the remains of baked beans; the brown baked beans giving it a good color. Merely add water and a bit of onion; boil it to a pulp, and pass it through the colander.

If a little stock, or some bones or pieces of fresh meat are at hand, they add also to the flavor of bean soup.

BEAN AND TOMATO SOUP.

A pint of canned tomatoes, boiled, and passed through the sieve, with a quart of bean soup, makes a very pleasant change.

ONION SOUP (_Soupe à l’Ognon_).

A soup without meat, and delicious.

I was taught how to make this soup by a Frenchwoman; and it will be found a valuable addition to one’s culinary knowledge. It is a good Friday soup.

Put into a saucepan butter size of a pigeon’s egg. Clarified grease, or the cakes of fat saved from the top of stock, or soup (I always use the latter), answer about as well. When very hot, add two or three large onions, sliced thin; stir, and cook them well until they are red; then add a full half-tea-cupful of flour. Stir this also until it is red, watching it constantly, that it does not burn. Now pour in about a pint of boiling water, and add pepper and salt. Mix it well, and let it boil a minute; then pour it into the soup-kettle, and place it at the back of the range until almost ready to serve. Add then one and a half pints or a quart of boiling milk, and two or three well-mashed boiled potatoes. Add to the potatoes a little of the soup at first, then more, until they are smooth, and thin enough to put into the soup-kettle. Stir all well and smoothly together; taste, to see if the soup is properly seasoned with pepper and salt, as it requires plenty, especially of the latter. Let it simmer a few moments. Put pieces of toasted bread (a good way of using dry bread), cut in diamond shape, in the bottom of the tureen. Pour over the soup, and serve very hot. Or,

This soup might be made without potatoes, if more convenient, using more flour, and all milk instead of a little water. However, it is better with the potato addition; or it is much improved by adding stock instead of water; or, if one should chance to have a boiled chicken, the water in which it was boiled might be saved to make this soup.

VEGETABLE SOUP WITHOUT MEAT (_Purée aux Légumes_).

Cut up a large plateful of any and all kinds of vegetables one happens to have; for example, onions, carrots, potatoes (boiled in other water), beans (of any kind), parsnips, celery, pease, parsley, leeks, turnips, cauliflower, spinach, cabbage, etc., always having either potatoes or beans for a thickening. First put into a saucepan half a tea-cupful of butter (clarified suet or stock-pot fat is just as good). When it is very hot, put in first the cut-up onions. Stir them well, to prevent from burning. When they assume a fine red color, stir in a large table-spoonful of flour until it has the same color. Now stir in a pint of hot water, and some pepper and salt. Mind not to add pepper and salt at first, as the onions and flour would then more readily burn. Add, also, all the other vegetables. Let them simmer (adding more hot water when necessary) for two hours; then press them through a colander. Return them to the range in a soup-kettle, and let them simmer until the moment of serving.

CORN SOUP.

This is a very good soup, made with either fresh or canned corn. When it is fresh, cut the corn from the cob, and scrape off well all that sweetest part of the corn which remains on the cob. To a pint of corn add a quart of hot water. Boil it for an hour or longer; then press it through the colander. Put into the saucepan butter the size of a small egg, and when it bubbles sprinkle in a heaping table-spoonful of sifted flour, which cook a minute, stirring it well. Now add half of the corn pulp, and, when smoothly mixed, stir in the remainder of the corn: add Cayenne pepper, salt, a scant pint of boiling milk, and a cupful of cream.

This soup is very nice with no more addition, as it will have the pure taste of the corn; yet many add the yolks of two eggs just before serving, mixed with a little milk or cream, and not allowed to boil. Others add a table-spoonful of tomato catsup.

TOMATO SOUP, WITH RICE.

Cut half a small onion into rather coarse slices, and fry them in a little hot butter in a _sauté_ pan. Add to them then a quart can, or ten or eleven large tomatoes cut in pieces, after having skinned them, and also two sprigs of parsley. Let it cook about ten minutes, when remove the pieces of onion and parsley. Pass the tomato through a sieve. Put into the stew-pan butter the size of a pigeon’s egg, and when it bubbles sprinkle in a tea-spoonful of flour; when it has cooked a minute, stir in the tomato pulp: season with pepper and salt. It is an improvement to add a cupful or more of stock; however, if it is not at hand, it may be omitted.

Return the soup to the fire, and, when quite hot, add a cupful of fresh-boiled rice and half a tea-spoonful of soda.

TOMATO SOUP (_Purée aux Tomates_).--_Mrs. Corbett._

Boil a dozen or a can of tomatoes until they are very thoroughly cooked, and press them through a sieve. To a quart of tomato pulp add a tea-spoonful of soda. Put into a saucepan butter the size of a pigeon’s egg, and when it bubbles sprinkle and stir in a heaping tea-spoonful of flour. When it is cooked, stir into this a pint of hot milk, a little Cayenne pepper, salt, and a handful of cracker crumbs. When it boils, add the tomato pulp. Heat it well without boiling, and serve immediately.

The soda mixed with the tomatoes prevents the milk from curdling.

SORREL SOUP (_Soupe à la Bonne Femme_).

This is a most wholesome soup, which would be popular in America if it were better known. It is much used in France. Sorrel can be obtained, in season, at all the French markets in America.

For four quarts of soup, put into a saucepan a piece of butter the size of an egg, two or three sprigs of parsley, two or three leaves of lettuce, one onion, and a pint of sorrel (all finely chopped), a little nutmeg, pepper, and salt. Cover, and let them cook or sweat ten minutes; then add about two table-spoonfuls of flour. Mix well, and gradually add three quarts of boiling water (stock would be better). Make a _liaison_, _i. e._, beat the yolks of four eggs (one egg to a quart of soup), and mix with them a cupful of cream or rich milk.

Add a little chevril (if you have it) to the soup; let it boil ten minutes; then stir in the eggs, or _liaison_, when the soup is quite ready.

POTATO SOUP (No. 1).

Fry seven or eight potatoes and a small sliced onion in a _sauté_ pan in some butter or drippings--stock-pot fat is most excellent for this purpose. When they are a little colored, put them into two or three pints of hot water (stock would, of course, be better; yet hot water is oftenest used); add also a large heaping table-spoonful of chopped parsley. Let it boil until the potatoes are quite soft. Put all through the colander. Return the _purée_ to the fire, and let it simmer two or three minutes. When just ready to serve, take the kettle off the fire; add plenty of salt and pepper, and the beaten yolks of two or three eggs. Do not let the soup boil when the eggs are in, as they would curdle.

POTATO SOUP (No. 2).

A very good soup for one which seems to have nothing in it.

Peel and cut up four rather large potatoes. When they are nearly done, pour off the water, and add one quart of hot water. Boil two hours, or until the potatoes are thoroughly dissolved in the water. Add fresh boiling water as it boils away. When done, run it through the colander, adding three-fourths of a cupful of hot cream, a large table-spoonful of finely cut parsley, salt, and pepper. Bring it to the boiling-point, and serve.

PURÉE OF STRING-BEANS.

Make a strong stock as follows: Add to a knuckle of veal three quarts of water, a generous slice of salt pork, and two or three slices of onion. Let it simmer for five hours, then pour it through a sieve or colander into a jar. It is better to make this stock the day before it is served, as then every particle of fat may be easily scraped off the jelly.

Ten minutes before dinner, put into a saucepan two ounces of butter, and when it bubbles sprinkle in four ounces of flour (two heaping table-spoonfuls); let it cook without taking color; then add a cupful of hot cream, a pint of the heated stock, and about a pint of green string-bean pulp, _i. e._, either fresh or canned string-beans boiled tender with a little pork, then pressed through a colander, and freed from juice. After mixing all together, do not let the soup boil, or it will curdle and spoil. Stir it constantly while it is on the fire.

Just before it is sent to table, sprinkle over the top a handful of little fried fritter-beans. They are made by dropping _drops_ of fritter batter into boiling lard. They will resemble navy-beans, and give a very pleasant flavor and appearance to the soup.

If this pretty addition be considered too much trouble, little dice of fried bread (_croûtons_) may be added instead. The soup should be rather thick, and served quite hot.

BISQUE OF LOBSTERS.

This soup is made exactly like the _purée_ of string-beans, with the veal stock and thickened cream, except that, in place of the string-bean pulp, the soup is now flavored and colored with the coral of lobster, dried in the oven, and pounded fine. This gives it a beautiful pink color. Little dice of the boiled lobster are then to be added. The lobster-dice may or may not be marinated before they are added to the soup, _i. e._, sprinkled with a mixture of one table-spoonful of oil, three table-spoonfuls of vinegar, pepper, and salt, and left for two or three hours in the marinade. Season the soup with pepper and salt.

FISH.

If a fish is not perfectly fresh, perfectly cleaned, and thoroughly cooked, it is not eatable. It should be cleaned or drawn as soon as it comes from market, then put on the ice until the time of cooking. It should not be soaked, for it impairs the flavor, unless it is frozen, when it should be put into ice-cold water to thaw; or unless it is a salted fish, when it may be soaked overnight.

The greatest merit of a fish is freshness. The secret of the excellence of the fish at the Saratoga Lake House, where they have famous trout dinners, is that, as they are raised on the premises, they go almost immediately from the pond to the fish-kettle. One is to be pitied who has not tasted fish at the sea-shore, where fishermen come in just before dinner, with baskets filled with blue-fish, flounders, etc., fresh from the water.

A long, oval fish-kettle (page 52) is very convenient for frying or boiling fish. It has a strainer to fit, in which the fish is placed, enabling it to be taken from the kettle without breaking. A fish is sufficiently cooked when the meat separates easily from the bones. When the fish is quite done, it should be left no longer in the kettle; it will lose its flavor.

It makes a pleasant change to cook fish “_au gratin_.” It is a simple operation, but little attempted in America. I would recommend this mode of cooking for eels, or the Western white-fish.

A fish is most delicious fried in olive-oil. A friend told me he purchased olive-oil by the keg, for cooking purposes. It is, of course, expensive, and lard or beef drippings answer very well. I would recommend, also, frying fish by _immersion_.

If a fish is to be served whole, do not cut off the head and tail. It also presents a better appearance to stand the fish on its belly rather than lay it on its side.

TO BOIL FISH.

All fish but salmon (which is put into warm water to preserve its color) should be placed in salted _cold_ water, with a little vinegar or lemon-juice in it, to boil. It should then boil _very, very_ gently, or the outside will break before the inside is done. It requires a little experience to know exactly how long to boil a fish. It must never be underdone; yet it must be taken from the water as soon as it is thoroughly done, or it will become insipid, watery, and colorless. It will require about eight minutes to the pound for large, thick fish, and about five minutes to the pound for thin fish, after the water begins to simmer, using only enough water to cover it. When done, drain it well before the fire. The fresh-water, or any kind of fish which have no decided flavor, are much better boiled _au court bouillon_, or with onions and carrots (sliced), parsley, two or three cloves, pepper, salt, vinegar, or wine--any or all of these added to the water. The sea-fish, or such as have a flavor _prononcé_, can be boiled in simple salted and acidulated water.

If you have no fish-kettle, and wish to boil a fish, arrange it in a circle on a plate, with an old napkin around it: when it is done, it can be carefully lifted from the kettle by the cloth, so that it will not be broken. When cuts of fish are boiled, you allow the water to just come to a boil; then remove the kettle to the back of the range, so that it will only simmer.

Always serve a sauce with a boiled fish, such as drawn butter, egg, caper, pickle, shrimp, oyster, _Hollandaise_, or piquante sauce.

TO BOIL AU COURT BOUILLON.

Among professional cooks, a favorite way of boiling a fish is in water saturated with vegetables, called _court bouillon_; consequently, a fish cooked in this manner would be called, for instance, “Pike, _au court bouillon_.” It is rather a pity this way of cooking has a French name; however, if one is not unduly scared at that, one can see how simple it is.

_Dubois’s Receipt._--Mince a carrot, an onion, and a small piece of celery; fry them in a little butter, in a stew-pan; add some parsley, some pepper-corns, and three or four cloves. Now pour on two quarts of hot water and a pint of vinegar. Let it boil a quarter of an hour; skim it, salt it, and use it for boiling the fish.

It is improved by using white or red wine instead of vinegar; only use then three parts of wine to one of water. These stocks are easily preserved, and may be used several times.

To boil the fish: Rub the fish with lemon-juice and salt, put it in a kettle, and cover it with _court bouillon_. Let it only simmer, not boil hard, until thoroughly done. Serve the fish on a napkin, surrounded with parsley. Serve a caper, pickle, or any kind of fish sauce, in a sauce-boat.

TO FRY FISH.

By frying fish I mean that it is to be _immersed_ in hot lard, beef drippings, or olive-oil. Let there be a little more fat than will cover the fish; otherwise it is liable to stick to the bottom and burn. Do not put in the fish until the fat is tested, and found to be quite hot. If the fat were not hot enough, the fish would absorb some of it, making it greasy and unwholesome. If it is hot enough, the fish will absorb nothing at all.

To prepare fish for frying, dredge them first with flour; then brush them with beaten egg, and roll them in fine or sifted bread, or cracker crumbs. When they are browned on one side, turn them over in the hot fat. When done, let them drain quite dry.

Cutlets of any large fish are particularly nice egged and bread-crumbed, fried, and served with tomato sauce or slices of lemon.

FISH FRIED IN BATTER.

Cut almost any kind of fish in fillets or pieces one-fourth of an inch thick, and one or two inches square; only be careful to have them all of the same shape and size. Sprinkle them with pepper and salt, and roll each one in batter (No. 2, page 98). Fry them in boiling lard. Arrange them tastefully in a circle, one overlapping the other. Garnish with fresh or fried parsley. Potatoes _à la Parisienne_ may be piled in the centre, and _sauce Tartare_ (see page 128) served separately in a sauce-boat.

TO BROIL FISH.

The same rule applies to broiling fish as to every thing else. If the fish is small, it requires a clear, hot fire. If the fish is large, the fire must be moderate; otherwise the outside of the fish would be burned before the inside is cooked. Many rub the fish over with olive-oil; others split a large fish; still others broil it whole, and cut notches at equal distances across its sides. When you wish to turn the fish, separate carefully with a knife any part of it which sticks to the gridiron; then, holding a platter over the fish with one hand, turn the gridiron over with the other, leaving the fish on the platter: it will now be a more easy matter to turn it without breaking. As soon as the fish is done, sprinkle over pepper and salt, and spread butter all over it with a knife. Set it in the oven a moment, so that the butter may soak in the fish. This is the most common way of seasoning it. It is almost as easy to first sprinkle pepper and salt, then a few drops of lemon-juice, over the fish; then a table-spoonful of parsley, chopped fine; then some melted butter over all. Put it a moment in the oven to soak. They call this a _maître-d’hôtel_ sauce. Quite simple, is it not? It is especially nice for a broiled shad.

TO BAKE FISH.

When cleaning the fish, do not cut off the head and tail. Stuff it. Two or three receipts are given for the stuffing. Sew it, or confine the stuffing by winding the cord several times around the fish. Lay several pieces of pork, cut in strings, across the top; sprinkle over water, pepper, salt, and bread-crumbs; put some hot water into the pan; bake in a hot oven, _basting very often_. When done (the top should be nicely browned), serve a sauce with it. The best fishes to bake are white-fish, blue-fish, shad, etc. If not basted very often, a baked fish will be very dry. For this reason, an ordinary cook should never bake a fish. I believe, however, they never cook them in any other way.

STUFFINGS FOR FISH.

BREAD STUFFING.

Soak half a pound of bread-crumbs in water; when the bread is soft, press out all the water. Fry two table-spoonfuls of minced onion in some butter; add the bread, some chopped parsley, a table-spoonful of chopped suet, and pepper and salt. Let it cook a moment; take it off the fire, and add an egg.

MEAT STUFFING.

This stuffing is best made with veal, and almost an equal quantity of bacon chopped fine. Put in a quarter of its volume of white softened bread-crumbs, pressed out well; add a little chopped onion, parsley, or mushrooms; season highly.

If the fish should be baked with wine, this dressing can be used, viz.:

Soak about three slices of bread. When the water is well pressed out, season it with salt, a little cayenne, a little mace, and moisten it with port-wine or sherry; add the juice and the grated rind of half a lemon.

TO BAKE A FISH WITH WINE (_Mrs. Samuel Treat_).

Stuff a fish with the following dressing. Soak some bread in water, squeeze it dry, and add an egg well beaten. Season it with pepper, salt, and a little parsley or thyme; grease the baking-pan (one just the right size for holding the fish) with butter; season the fish on top, and put it into the pan with about two cups of boiling water; baste it well, adding more boiling water when necessary. About twenty minutes before serving, pour over it a cup of sour wine, and a small piece of butter (Mrs. Treat adds also two or three table-spoonfuls of Worcestershire sauce mixed with the wine--of course, this may be left out if more convenient); put half a lemon, sliced, into the gravy; baste the fish again well. When it is thoroughly baked, remove it from the pan; garnish the top with the slices of lemon; finish the sauce in the baking-dish by adding a little butter rubbed to a paste in some flour; strain, skim, and serve it in a sauce-boat.

TO STEW FISH, OR FISH EN MATELOTE.

Cut the fish transversely into pieces about an inch or an inch and a half long; sprinkle salt on them, and let them remain while you boil two or three onions (sliced) in a very little water; pour off this water when the onions are cooked, and add to them pepper, about a tea-cupful of hot water, and a tea-cupful of wine if it is claret or white wine, and two or three table-spoonfuls if it is sherry or port: now add the fish. When it begins to simmer, throw in some little balls of butter which have been rolled in flour. When the fish is thoroughly cooked, serve it very hot. This is a very good manner of cooking any fresh-water fish.

Fish is much better stewed with some wine. Of course, it is quite possible to stew fish without it, in which case add a little parsley.

TO COOK FISH AU GRATIN.

This is a favorite manner with the French of cooking fish. The fish is served in the same dish in which it is cooked. It is called a _gratin_ dish--generally an oval silver-plated platter, or it may be of block-tin. A fish _au gratin_ is rather expensive, on account of the mushrooms; however, the French canned mushrooms (_champignons_) are almost as good as fresh ones, and are much cheaper.

_Receipt._--First put into a saucepan butter size of an egg, then a handful of shallots, or one large onion minced fine; let it cook ten minutes, when mix in half a cupful of flour; then mince three-fourths of a cupful of mushrooms. Add a tea-cupful of hot water (or better, stock) to the saucepan, then a glass of white or red wine, salt, and pepper. After mixing them well, add the minced mushrooms and a little minced parsley. Skin the fish, cut off the head and tail, split it in two, laying bare the middle bone; slip the knife under the bone, removing it smoothly. Now cut the fish in pieces about an inch long. Moisten the _gratin_ dish with butter, arrange the cuts of fish tastefully on it, pour over the sauce, then sprinkle the whole with bread-crumbs which have been dried and grated. Put little pieces of butter over all, and bake. The dish may be garnished with little diamonds of fried or toasted and buttered bread around the edge. Or,

This is a pretty dish _au gratin_: Put mashed potatoes (which must be still hot when arranged) in a circle on the outside of the _gratin_ dish, then a row of the pieces of fish (which have been cooked as just described) around the middle of the dish, or just inside the potatoes. Put some mashed potatoes also in the middle of the dish. Garnish here and there with mushrooms. Pour the sauce just described and bread-crumbs over the fish, and bake five or ten minutes.

FISH À LA CRÈME (_Mrs. Audenreid_).

Boil a fish weighing four pounds in salted water. When done, remove the skin, and flake it, leaving out the bones. Boil one quart of rich milk. Mix butter size of a small egg with three table-spoonfuls of flour, and stir it smoothly in the milk, adding also two or three sprigs of parsley and half an onion chopped fine, a little Cayenne pepper, and salt. Stir it over the fire until it has thickened.

Butter a _gratin_ dish. Put in first a layer of fish, then of dressing, and continue in alternation until all the fish is used, with dressing on top. Sprinkle sifted bread-crumbs over the top. Bake half an hour. Garnish with parsley and slices of hard-boiled egg.

* * * * *

As the rules for boiling, broiling, frying, cooking _au gratin_, and stewing are the same for nearly all kinds of fish, I will not repeat the receipts for each particular one. I will only suggest the best manner for cooking certain kinds, and will add certain receipts not under the general rule:

SALMON

is undoubtedly best boiled. The only exception to the rule of boiling fish is in the case of salmon, which must be put in hot instead of cold water, to preserve its color. A favorite way of boiling a whole salmon is in the form of a letter S, as in plate. It is done as follows: Thread a trussing-needle with some twine; tie the end of the string around the head, fastening it tight; then pass the needle through the centre part of the body, draw the string tight, and fasten it around the tail. The fish will assume the desired form.

For parties or evening companies, salmon boiled in this form (middle cuts are also used), served cold, with a _Mayonnaise_ sauce poured over, is a favorite dish. It is then generally mounted in style, on an oval or square block pedestal, three or four inches high, made of bread (two or three days old), called a _croustade_, carved in any form with a sharp knife. It is then fried a light-brown in boiling lard. Oftener these _croustades_ are made of wood, which are covered with white paper, and brushed over with a little half-set aspic jelly. The salmon is then decorated with squares of aspic jelly. A decoration of quartered hard-boiled eggs or of cold cauliflower-blossoms is very pretty, and is palatable also with the _Mayonnaise_ sauce. The best sauces for a boiled salmon served hot are the _sauce Hollandaise_, lobster, shrimp, or oyster sauces--the _sauce Hollandaise_ being the favorite.

If lobster sauce is used, the coral of the lobster is dried, and sprinkled over the fish, reserving some with which to color the sauce, as in receipt for lobster sauce (see page 122).

If shrimp sauce is used, some whole shrimps should be saved for decorating the dish.

In decorating salmon, as well as any other kind of fish, potatoes cut in little balls, and placed like little piles of cannon-balls around the dish, are pretty. The potatoes should be simply boiled in salted water. An alternate pile of button mushrooms are pretty, and good also. Parsley or any pretty leaves around a dish always give a fresh and tasteful appearance. Or,

An exceedingly pretty garnish for a large fish is one of smelts (in rings, see receipt, page 111) fried in boiling lard. In this case, add slices of lemon. Still another pretty garnish is of fried oysters or fried parsley, or both.

It is quite appropriate to serve a middle cut of salmon at a dinner: 1st, because it is the best cut; 2d, because it is easier and cheaper to serve; and, 3d, because one never cares to supply more than is necessary. This cut is better slowly boiled, also, in the acidulated salted water.

TO BROIL SALMON.

Take two slices of salmon cut from the middle of the fish, sprinkle over a little lemon-juice, Cayenne pepper, salt, and salad-oil. Let it then remain for half an hour. Rub the gridiron well with beef-suet or pork. As it is a nice matter to broil salmon without burning, it would be well to wrap it in buttered or oiled paper just before broiling. Serve a _maître-d’hôtel_, pickle, caper, anchovy, or a horse-radish sauce.

SALMON CUTLETS.

Remove the skin and bone from some slices of salmon one-third of an inch thick; trim them into cutlet shape; sprinkle on pepper, salt, and flour, and dip them into beaten eggs mixed with a little chopped parsley or onion; then bread-crumb them. Fry them in boiling lard. This is the better way, or they may be fried or _sautéd_ in butter in a _sauté_ pan. Arrange the pieces one over the other in a circle. Pour a pickle, or _Tartare_ sauce, in the centre.

SLICES OF SALMON BOILED.

If a family is small, and it should not be advisable to buy a large middle cut of salmon, it would be preferable to buy, for instance, two slices. Boil them very slowly in acidulated salted water, or in the _court bouillon_ with wine. Serve them with parsley between, and a napkin underneath. Serve a _sauce Hollandaise_ in the sauce-boat.

CANNED SALMON.

The California canned salmon is undoubtedly one of the greatest successes in canning. By keeping a few cans in the house, one is always ready in any emergency to produce a fine dish of salmon in a few minutes. It is particularly nice for a breakfast-dish, heated, seasoned with pepper and salt, placed on thin slices of buttered toast, with a cream dressing poured over all, _i. e._, milk thickened on the fire, by stirring it into a _roux_ (see page 51) of butter and flour, and seasoned with pepper, salt, and a few pieces of fresh butter just before serving. For dinner it is excellent served with any of the fish sauces. Salmon is also nice served in shells, as for trout (see page 109).

SHAD.

This delicious fish is undoubtedly best broiled, with a _maître-d’hôtel_ sauce; but it is good also cut in slices, and _sautéd_.

TROUT.

If large, they may be broiled, boiled, or baked. If boiled or broiled, serve the _sauce Hollandaise_ with them. Professional cooks generally boil it in the _court bouillon_. Smaller trout are better egged, rolled in salted corn-meal, and thrown into boiling lard.

The trout is a very nice fish for an _au gratin_, or stewed, called then _en matelote_.

TROUT IN CASES OR IN SHELLS (_en Coquilles_).

Parboil little trout; cut the fish into pieces about an inch long, or into dice; place them in paper cases (which have been buttered or oiled, and placed in the oven a few moments to harden the paper so as to enable it to hold the sauce). After partly filling the cases with the pieces of fish, pour over them some fine herb sauce (see page 128), and sprinkle over bread-crumbs; put them into the oven twenty minutes before dinner to bake.

If shells are used, little plated-silver ones (scallop shells) are preferable. In that case, it would be better to fry the fish (seasoned with pepper, salt, and a little lemon-juice) in a _sauté_ pan; cut them in dice afterward, and put them in the shells; pour over a fine herb or a Bechamel sauce; strew the top with grated bread-crumbs; place them a few moments in the oven to brown the tops, and serve.

COD-FISH.

Fresh cod-fish is better boiled. The fish is so large that it is generally boiled in slices. After it is well salted, horse-radish and vinegar in the boiling water will improve the fish. Oyster-sauce is the favorite sauce for a boiled cod-fish. Capers might be mixed with the oyster-sauce. Some serve the fish with the sauce poured over it. Any of the fish sauces may be served with fresh cod-fish. These slices may also be broiled and served with a _maître-d’hôtel_ sauce, or they may be egged and bread-crumbed, and fried in boiling lard.

CRIMPED COD-FISH (_Rudmanii_).

Soak two slices of cod-fish one inch thick for two hours in ice-water; put them into the stew-pan, and, pouring over enough salted boiling water to cover them, let them _simmer_ for about ten minutes; place them neatly on a platter on a folded napkin, garnish with parsley, and pour into the two cavities a _Tartare_ or a pickle sauce.

SALT COD-FISH.

Soak this in water overnight; parboil it, changing the water once or twice; separate the flakes. Serve them on thin slices of toast, with an egg sauce poured over. Or,

Mince it when boiled in very little water, which should be changed once; thicken it with butter and flour mixed; cook about two minutes, then break in several eggs. When the eggs are cooked and mixed with the fish, pour all on thin slices of buttered toast.

COD-FISH BALLS.

Cut the cod-fish in pieces; soak them about an hour in lukewarm water, when the bones and skin may be easily removed; pull the fish then into fine shreds, and put it on the stove in some cold water. As soon as it begins to boil, change the water, and repeat this process a second time. It is not proper to boil it, as it renders it tough. As soon as the fish is ready, some potatoes must be cooked at the same time, _i. e._, boiled tender, and well-mashed while still hot, with a little butter added. Mix half as much cod-fish as potatoes while both are _still hot_. Form them into little balls or thick flat cakes. Fry them in a little hot butter in a _sauté_ pan, or immerse them in boiling-hot lard. It makes all the difference in the flavor of the balls if the fish and potatoes are mixed while both are _hot_. Of course, they are better fried at once, but may be made the night before serving (at breakfast), if they are only properly _mixed_.

FISH CHOWDER.

Cut three pounds of any kind of fresh fish (cod-fish is especially good), one and a half pounds of potatoes, and one large onion (three ounces) into slices; also, half a pound of salt pork into half-inch squares or dice.

Put the pork and onions into a saucepan, and fry them a light brown; then add a cupful of claret; and when it boils take it from the fire.

Butter a large stew-pan, and put in first a layer of potatoes, then a layer of fish, then a sprinkle of onions and pork (strained from the claret), pepper and salt, and continue these alternations until it is all in, having the potatoes on top. Now pour the claret over the top, and barely cover the whole with boiling water. Cover closely, and let it simmer for fifteen minutes without disturbing it.

In the mean time, bring a pint of milk (or, better, cream) to a boil, take it from the fire, and cut into it three ounces of butter, and break in three ship-crackers. Arrange the slices of fish and potatoes in the shape of a dome in the centre of a hot platter. Place the softened crackers (skimmed from the milk) over the top, and pour over the milk. Serve very hot.

SMALL PAN-FISH (_Perch, Sun-fish, etc._).

They are generally preferred peppered, salted, then rolled in salted corn-meal, and fried either in a _sauté_ pan with a little lard and some slices of pork, or in boiling lard. They make also a good stew _en matelote_, or a good _au gratin_. Their chief excellence consists in their being perfectly fresh, and served hot.

MACKEREL

should be broiled, and served _à la maître-d’hôtel_.

SMELTS

are good salted, peppered, and rolled in salted corn-meal or flour, and fried in boiling-hot lard, but better egged and bread-crumbed before frying. They should be served _immediately_, or they will lose their crispness and flavor. When served as a garnish for a large fish, they should be fried in the shape of rings. This is easily done by putting the tail of the fish into its mouth, and holding it with a pin. After it is fried, the pin is withdrawn, as the fried fish will hold its shape. Place these rings around the fish, with an additional garnish of parsley and lemon slices; or the rings may be served alone in a circle around the side of a platter, with a tomato or a _Tartare_ sauce in the centre.

There can be no prettier manner of serving them alone than one often seen in Paris. They are fried in the usual manner; then a little silver or silver-plated skewer four inches long is drawn through two or three of the smelts, running it carefully through the eyes. One skewerful, with a slice of lemon on top, is served for each person at table. If the silver-plated skewers are too extravagant, little ones of polished wire will answer.

FRIED SLICES OF FISH, WITH TOMATO SAUCE (_Fish à l’Orlay_).

Bone and skin the fish, and cut it into even slices; or if a flounder or any flat fish is used, begin at the tail, and, keeping the knife close to the bone, separate each side of the fish neatly from it; then cut each side in two, lengthwise, leaving the fish in four long pieces. Remove the skin carefully. After having sprinkled pepper and salt over them, roll each piece first in sifted cracker or bread crumbs, then in half a cupful of milk mixed with an egg, and then in the crumbs again. They are better fried in a _sauté_ pan in a little hot butter; yet they may be _sautéd_ in a little hot lard, with some neat slices of pork, or fried in boiling lard.

Pour tomato sauce No. 2 (see page 125) on a hot platter, arrange the pieces of fish symmetrically on it, and serve immediately.

TO FRY EELS.

Skin them, cut them into four-inch lengths, season them with salt and pepper, roll them in flour or salted corn-meal, and fry them in boiling lard. Some parboil eels and bull-heads, saying it removes a muddy taste. I do not think it is necessary. Fried eels are generally served with a tomato, a pickle, or a _Tartare_ sauce.

EELS STEWED (_London Cooking-school_).

Put three-quarters of a cupful of butter into a stew-pan; when hot, add four small onions minced fine, which cook to a light-brown color; add then a table-spoonful of flour; when well mixed and cooked, add two cupfuls of stock, a wine-glassful of port-wine, and two bay leaves (the bay leaves may be omitted). Now put in the eels (two small ones or one large one), cut into pieces one inch long. Cover tightly.

They will be ready to send to the table in about fifteen minutes, served on a hot platter, with a circle around them of toasted or fried slices of bread (_croûtons_), cut diamond-shaped.

SHELL-FISH.

OYSTERS.

RAW OYSTERS.

Drain them well in a colander, marinate them, _i. e._, sprinkle over plenty of pepper and salt, and let them remain in a cold place for at least half an hour before serving. This makes a great difference in their flavor. They may be served in the half-shell with quarters or halves of lemons in the same dish. I think a prettier arrangement is to serve them in a block of ice. Select a ten-pound block; melt with a hot flat-iron a symmetrical-shaped cavity in the top to hold the oysters; chip also from the sides at the base, so that the ice-block may stand in a large platter on the napkin. When the oysters are well salted and peppered, place them in the ice, and let them remain in some place where the ice will not melt until the time of serving. The salt will help to make the oysters very cold. The ice may be decorated with leaves or smilax vines, and a row of lemon quarters or halves may be placed around the platter at the base of the ice. It has an especially pretty effect served on a table by gas-light. The English often serve little thin squares of buttered brown bread (like Boston brown bread) with oysters.

FRIED OYSTERS.

Drain the oysters in the colander; sprinkle over pepper and salt, which mix well with them, and put them in a cold place for fifteen or twenty minutes before cooking. This is marinating them. When ready to cook, roll each one first in sifted cracker-crumbs, then in beaten egg mixed with a little milk and seasoned with pepper and salt, then in the cracker-crumbs again. You will please remember the routine: _first_, the crumbs before the egg, as the egg will not adhere well to the oyster without the crumbs; now throw them into boiling-hot lard (as you would fry doughnuts), first testing to see if it is hot enough. As soon as they assume a light-brown color they should be drained, and served immediately on a hot platter.

Oysters should not be fried until the persons at table are ready to eat them, as it takes only a few moments to fry them, and they are not good unless very hot.

The platter of oysters may be garnished with a table-spoonful of chopped pickles or chowchow placed at the four opposite sides; or the oysters may be served as a border around cold slaw (see receipt, page 224), when they are an especially nice course for dinner; or they may be served with celery, either plain or in salad. As the platter for the fried oysters is hot, the celery salad or cold slaw might be piled on a folded napkin in the centre.

SCALLOPED OYSTERS IN SHELLS.

They may be served cooked in their shells, or in silver scallop shells, when they present a better appearance than when cooked and served all in one dish.

If cooked in an oyster or clam shell, one large, or two or three little oysters are placed in it, with a few drops of the oyster liquor. It is sprinkled with pepper and salt, and cracker or bread crumbs. Little pieces of butter are placed over the top. When all are ready, they are put into the oven. When they are plump and hot, they are done. Brown the tops with a salamander, or with a red-hot kitchen shovel.

If they are cooked in the silver scallop shells, which are larger, several oysters are served in the one shell; one or two are put in, peppered, salted, strewed with cracker-crumbs and small pieces of butter; then more layers, until the shell is full, or until enough are used for one person. Moisten them with the oyster-juice, and strew little pieces of butter over the top. They are merely kept in the oven until they are thoroughly hot, then browned with a salamander. Serve one shell for each person at table, placed on a small plate. The oysters may be bearded or not.

SCALLOPED OYSTERS.

Ingredients: Three dozen oysters, a large tea-cupful of bread or cracker crumbs, two ounces of fresh butter, pepper and salt, half a tea-cupful of oyster-juice.

Make layers of these ingredients, as described in the last article, in the top of a chafing-dish, or in any kind of pudding or _gratin_ dish; bake in a quick oven about fifteen minutes; brown with a salamander.

OYSTER STEW.

Put a quart of oysters on the fire in their own liquor. The moment they _begin_ to boil, skim them out, and add to the liquor a half-pint of hot cream, salt, and Cayenne pepper to taste. Skim it well, take it off the fire, add to the oysters an ounce and a half of butter broken into small pieces. Serve immediately.

OYSTER SOUP (see page 93).

OYSTER OR CLAM FRITTERS.

Oysters served on buttered toast for breakfast, or in _vols-au-vent_, silver scallop-shells, or in paper boxes, are very nice made after the receipts on page 241. They or the fricasseed oysters may be served in either of the above ways.

FRICASSEE OF OYSTERS (_Oysters à la Boulette_).

Put one quart, or twenty-five, oysters on the fire in their own liquor. The moment it begins to boil, turn it into a hot dish through a colander, leaving the oysters in the colander. Put into the saucepan two ounces of butter (size of an egg), and when it bubbles sprinkle in one ounce (a table-spoonful) of sifted flour; let it cook a minute without taking color, stirring it well with a wire egg-whisk; then add, mixing well, a cupful of the oyster liquor. Take it from the fire and mix in the yolks of two eggs, a little salt, a very little Cayenne pepper, one tea-spoonful of lemon-juice, and one grating of nutmeg. Beat it well; then return it to the fire to set the eggs, without allowing it to boil. Put in the oysters.

These oysters may be served on thin slices of toast for breakfast or tea, or in papers (_en papillote_), or as a filling for patties for dinner.

TO ROAST CANNED OYSTERS.

Drain them. Put them in a spider which is very hot; turn them in a moment, so that they may cook on both sides. It only takes a few seconds to cook them. Put them on a hot plate in which there are pepper, salt, and a little hot melted butter. They should be served immediately. They have the flavor of the oyster roasted in the shell.

Some cook them in this manner at table on a chafing-dish by means of the spirit-lamp.

SPICED OYSTERS (_Miss Lestlie_).

Ingredients: Two hundred oysters, one pint of vinegar, a nutmeg grated, eight blades of whole mace, three dozen whole cloves, one tea-spoonful of salt, two tea-spoonfuls of whole allspice, and as much Cayenne pepper as will lie on the point of a knife.

Put the oysters with their liquor into a large earthen vessel; add to them the vinegar and all the other ingredients. Stir all well together and set them over a slow fire, keeping them covered. Stir them to the bottom several times. As soon as they are well scalded, they are done. To be eaten cold.

CLAMS.

CLAMS COOKED WITH CREAM (_Mrs. Audenreid_).

Chop fifty small clams not too fine, and season them with pepper and salt. Put into a stew-pan butter the size of an egg, and when it bubbles sprinkle in a tea-spoonful of flour, which cook a few moments; stir gradually into it the clam liquor, then the clams, which stew about two or three minutes; then add a cupful of boiling cream, and serve immediately. The clams may or may not be bearded.

CLAM CHOWDER.

Put fifty clams on the fire in their own liquor, with a little salt. When they have boiled about three minutes, strain them, and return the liquor to the fire. Chop a medium-sized onion (two ounces) into small pieces, and cut six ounces of pork into dice. Fry both a light color in two ounces (size of an egg) of butter; then stir in three ounces of flour (two table-spoonfuls). When thoroughly cooked, add the clam liquor, half a pint of good stock or milk, the same quantity of cream, a salt-spoonful of mace, a salt-spoonful of thyme, salt to taste, and eight ounces of potatoes cut into dice. When these are cooked, and the chowder is about to be sent to table, add the clams cut in dice, and four ounces of ship-bread or crackers broken in pieces.

TUNISON CLAM CHOWDER.

Ingredients: Two hundred soft clams, one large onion, twenty large crackers, can of tomatoes, parsley (chopped fine), half a pound of butter, one large tea-spoonful of sweet marjoram, thyme, sage, savory, half a tea-spoonful of ground cloves, and half a tea-spoonful of curry.

Boil well; then add half a pint of milk and half a pint of sherry wine.

CLAM FRITTERS (see page 230).

CLAM SOUP (see page 93).

CRABS AND LOBSTERS.

SOFT-SHELL CRABS.

Dry them; sprinkle them with pepper and salt; roll them, first in flour, then in egg (half a cupful of milk mixed in one egg), then in cracker-dust, and fry them in boiling lard.

DEVILED CRAB.

When the crabs are boiled, take out the meat and cut it into small pieces (dice); clean well the shells.

To six ounces of crab meat, mix two ounces of bread-crumbs, two hard-boiled eggs chopped, the juice of half a lemon, Cayenne pepper and salt. Mix all with cream or cream sauce, or, what is still better, a Bechamel sauce (see page 127). Fill the shells with the mixture, smooth the tops, sprinkle over sifted bread-crumbs, and color it in a quick oven.

DEVILED LOBSTER

is made in the same way as deviled crab, merely substituting the lobster for the crab, and adding a grating of nutmeg to the seasoning. In boiling lobsters and crabs, they are sufficiently cooked when they assume a bright-red color. Too much boiling renders them tough.

LOBSTER CHOPS.

Cut half a pound of the flesh of a boiled lobster into small dice. Put two ounces of butter into a stew-pan, and when it bubbles sprinkle in two ounces of flour (one table-spoonful). Cook it; then pour in a cupful of boiling cream and the lobster dice. Stir it until it is scalding hot; then take it from the fire, and, when slightly cooled, stir in the beaten yolks of three eggs, a grating of nutmeg, a little Cayenne pepper, and salt to taste. Return the mixture to the fire, and stir it long enough to well set the eggs.