Handbook of Fish Cookery — Tested Recipes, part 1
PART III. _TESTED RECIPES.
_ =Anchovies= are the only fish which come under this letter.
They are usually bought in pickle from grocers and oilmen, and ought to soak in cold water before they are used.
The small, plump ones are the best--the pickle is red, the scales of the fish white.
If cut into fillets and added to sliced cucumber, hard-boiled egg, also sliced, minced parsley and herbs, and dressed with the usual salad dressing, they form an acceptable variety in the salad series.
=Anchovies, Essence of= (home-made), is made by beating to a paste half-a-pound of anchovies, bones also, then adding a pint of raisin wine to the paste and boiling both together until it is dissolved.
For seasoning add a very small quantity of cayenne pepper, two or three Jamaica peppercorns and three or four shallots.
Home-made essence is greatly superior in flavour to that which can be bought.
=Anchovy Butter= is prepared by pounding to a paste half-a-pound of anchovies with half that weight of butter.
A pinch of cayenne is an improvement.
This butter is especially useful for flavouring sauces for meat and fish, and if kept in very small pots, closely covered, it will remain good for some time.
_Anchovy Paste_, so much liked for sandwiches, is made in the same way.
=Anchovy Sauce.
=--Two ounces of butter melted, two tablespoonfuls of flour mixed smoothly with it, a tumblerful of boiling water.
When this has boiled stir in gradually three teaspoonfuls of the essence of anchovies, and add the juice of half a lemon; let all boil once more, then pour into a tureen.
=Barbel.
=--This is but a poor fish, being woolly and rather flavourless.
It may be made palatable by cutting in pieces, then steeping in a marinade of oil, pepper and salt, for half an hour, after which broil the pieces over the fire, and serve with _maître d'hôtel_ butter.
=Bloaters.
=--The smoked bloaters should be scalded with boiling water, then dried.
The bones can often be drawn off after this, before cooking.
They may either be broiled over the fire for a moment, or cooked in the oven with a morsel of butter.
Before broiling fresh bloaters split them open down the middle, remove the backbone and cleanse them.
Sprinkle with pepper and salt, and drop a morsel of butter on each before bringing to table.
=Bream= is a handsome, although not a delicate fish.
It must be thoroughly cleansed and washed out with vinegar.
Split it open and remove the bone, but do not scale it.
It is best broiled, but is excellent if stuffed with a little forcemeat, then baked in the oven for twenty minutes.
Melted butter, caper sauce, or anchovy sauce, must accompany it to table.
=Brill.
=--This fish has an excellent reputation, resembling turbot so nearly; it may be cooked in almost every way recommended for the latter.
Thick brill are the best, and a yellowish hue in the flesh denotes its freshness.
Lay it in salted water for a few minutes, then dry it and rub with the juice of a lemon.
When boiling brill allow plenty of salt in the water, and half a teacupful of lemon juice.
Let it simmer gently after reaching boiling point till just tender through.
Lay on a clean serviette, the white side uppermost, garnish with cut lemon and parsley, also a sprinkling of lobster coral.
=Carp, Baked.
=--After washing and scaling, remove the inside of the carp, squeeze over it the juice of one or two lemons and let it lie thus for an hour.
Next place it in a baking tin, sprinkle some minced parsley and shallots over it, also pepper and salt, then pour a little oiled butter over all.
Cover with white paper and bake for upwards of forty minutes--gently.
Make a little thick melted butter, enrich it further with a spoonful of cream, stir in the juice of half a lemon, and more salt and pepper--cayenne if liked.
Lift the carp on to a dish, pour this sauce over it, garnish with chopped gherkins and lobster coral.
=Carp, Fried.
=--Cut the fish into fillets after having thoroughly cleansed it.
Roll each fillet in flour seasoned with salt and cayenne.
Fry in a depth of boiling fat, serve with anchovy sauce.
=Carp, Grilled.
=--Only very small carp can be cooked this way, and they should be wrapped in buttered papers, after having been washed and emptied.
Serve with a piquant sauce of minced herbs, lemon-juice and butter.
=Carp, Stewed.
=--Carp are excellent treated this way if rather large.
After washing in vinegar and water, cut the fish into fair-sized pieces, roll each piece in seasoned flour, then lay in a covered stewpan, and pour a tumblerful of white wine over them.
Allow nearly an hour for the cooking, then when done remove the pieces of fish carefully on to a dish, stir in a tablespoonful of grated horseradish, a little cream, and the beaten yolk of an egg into the sauce, and pour it over the carp.
If boiled in "court-bouillon," carp is equally good for eating cold.
=Caveach Fish.
=--Clean some large fish, such as cod or salmon, then cut them into slices.
Rub each slice with salt, pepper and spice, and fry in boiling fat till lightly browned.
Let them drain and get quite cold, then lay in deep jars.
Boil some vinegar with a few shallots, peppercorns, a bay leaf and blade of mace; when this is cold fill the jars nearly full with this, pour a little salad oil on the top and cover closely.
They will keep for months, and when required the slices are lifted out, placed in the centre of a dish with dressed salad round them.
=Clams.
=--Clams, which are a species of cockle, were declared by the great Soyer to be superior to the oyster in flavour.
They are very nice if fried, after dipping into beaten egg and breadcrumbs.
In America they are stewed.
Put into a stewpan with a little water, they are boiled for a few minutes, then seasoned with pepper and salt.
=Cockles.
=--Cockles should be roasted on a tin laid on the top of a stove; they are eaten whilst hot with bread and butter.
They require to be well washed, and the shells scrubbed with a brush.
=Cod, Baked.
=--Take a piece weighing about three pounds out of the middle of a large fish.
Make a simple forcemeat of breadcrumbs, minced parsley, thyme, seasoning, and the yolk of an egg; put this inside the fish and sew it up.
Place in a baking-dish, and surround with a carrot sliced, and also a turnip and small onion.
Pour a spoonful of vinegar over, and place two or three lumps of butter on the top; bake for twenty minutes.
Remove the vegetables, but serve the liquor with the fish instead of sauce.
=Cod, Fried à la Maître d'Hôtel.
=--Take two or three slices of cod about an inch and a half in thickness, let them lie in salt water for half an hour, then drain and dry them.
Cover with seasoned flour, and fry in a quantity of boiling fat for a few minutes.
Pile in pyramid form on a hot dish, pouring the following sauce round them: two tablespoonsful of fresh green parsley chopped small, two ounces of butter, half an ounce of flour, a little salt, pepper, and a spoonful of vinegar; add a little water if it thickens too much.
Mix the ingredients well, let them boil up once, then serve.
=Cod, à la Crème.
=--The remains of boiled cod will do excellently well for this, or if fresh fish is used it must be first boiled till tender, then broken into flakes, all skin and bone removed.
Into a saucepan put a pint of milk with a teaspoonful of salt and the rind of a lemon.
Let this boil once, then pour off into a basin.
In the saucepan melt an ounce of butter and stir in smoothly an ounce of flour, add a pinch of cayenne pepper, then the milk, and boil all together until thick.
Put in the flakes of cod to heat through, then pour all on to a hot dish, garnish with tufts of parsley, and pass round strips of toasted bread to eat with it.
=Cod, Curried.
=--Take the remains of cold boiled cod broken into flakes, fry them a moment in butter.
Lay them aside on a hot plate and prepare the curry.
For this put an ounce of butter into a saucepan and slice into it two shallots and one small apple.
When these have frizzled brown stir in a tablespoonful of flour, half a teaspoonful of curry powder, the same of salt, and a pinch of cayenne pepper, and lastly a teacupful of stock.
Let this boil a few minutes, then put in the cod to warm up, and serve quickly.
A wall of boiled rice round the edge of the dish is an improvement.
=Cod, Salted, with Parsnips.
=--Take a couple of pounds of salted cod, let it soak for twenty-four hours, then drain, and pouring fresh cold water over it let it heat through gradually.
It should simmer until tender, but must not boil, or it will become hard.
Drain again, lay on a hot dish, garnish with boiled parsnips cut into lengths, and cover all with egg sauce, made as follows: half a pint of milk thickened with flour, a small bit of butter, salt, pepper, the juice of a lemon, and two hard-boiled eggs chopped small and stirred in.
Garnish the dish with parsley.
=Cod, Salted, en Mousse.
=--Soak and cook the cod as in the previous recipe, then drain and break into flakes.
Frizzle a slice of a Spanish onion in a small quantity of butter, but do not brown it.
Scald the soft part of a slice of white bread, break it with a fork, then add to the onion, and at the same time add gradually a cupful of new milk.
Continue to beat until all is quite smooth, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then add the flakes of cod, still continuing to beat.
If becoming too stiff add more milk.
When all is light and like a froth, pour on to a dish and dot small bits of fried or toasted crusts about the surface.
=Cod, Head and Shoulders Boiled.
=--A portion or the whole of a large fish, when intended for boiling, should be previously crimped, when it should receive some deep cuts as far as the bone on both sides.
Afterwards it should lie in vinegar and water for half an hour.
It should be plunged at once into boiling water, then allowed to simmer till just tender.
Drain, and serve on a white d'oyley, garnished with lemon and parsley.
Crimping renders the flesh firmer, and makes it easier both to cook and to serve.
=Crab.
=--The crabs which have a rough shell and claws are the best.
When choosing one shake it well; if it rattle it is sure to prove watery.
The shell should be of a bright red, and the eyes look clear.
In picking out the meat from the shell and claws leave out the part near the head, which is not fit to be eaten.
=Crab, Hot Buttered.
=--Pick the meat from the shell of a crab, mix with half its quantity of breadcrumbs, a little pepper, salt, grated nutmeg, a spoonful of salad oil and the same of vinegar.
Clean the empty shell, then refill it with this mixture, sprinkle more crumbs over the top, then a nob of butter, and bake for nearly ten minutes.
To eat with hot dry toast.
=Crab, Salad.
=--Pick the meat from the shell into flakes, make a pile in the centre of a dish, leaving the claws on the top; surround with shred lettuce and watercress, and pour a simple salad dressing over all.
=Crab Soup, or Potage Bisque.
=--This is most delicious and delicate.
Choose a nice heavy crab, pick out the meat from the claws into shreds.
The soft meat from the inside of the body is pounded in a mortar with half its quantity of boiled rice; this is thinned a little with some clear stock, then passed through a colander.
Put this into a stewpan with sufficient stock to make the required quantity (veal stock is preferable), add a cupful of thickened cream, salt to taste, and a little cayenne pepper, let it boil once only, then take from the fire and add the shredded meat from the claws.
A little lobster butter stirred in will make it a richer colour.
Make potage from lobster or crayfish in exactly the same manner.
The result will be almost as satisfactory.
=Crayfish.
=--Crayfish resemble lobsters in flavour, but they are smaller, and the flesh is more delicate.
Those which are red under the claws are the best.
Wash them well, and boil in salt water for ten minutes, after which they will become a bright red.
Drain well, then pile in pyramid form, and garnish with parsley.
A pretty dish may be made from them by preparing a clear savoury jelly, and arranging the crayfish in a fancy mould--minus the tails--filling in all spaces with the jelly.
=Crayfish, as a Breakfast Relish.
=--Remove the tails from a pint of crayfish, put the bodies to simmer gently in a saucepan with an ounce of butter, a teacupful of water, a spoonful of vinegar, grate of nutmeg, and a little salt and pepper.
Simmer for ten minutes, thicken with flour, and pour over a slice of toast.
