Salads, Sandwiches and Chafing-Dish Dainties — Fish Salads, part 1
"_Of what complexion?
Of the sea water green, sir.
_" FISH SALADS.
Ever, and justly, fish have taken high rank in the list of salad ingredients.
No wonder, when we consider that nothing excels in delicacy of flavor many a variety of fish; and, while fish are not necessarily expensive in any locality, in many sections of the country their cost is merely nominal.
Then, too, salad-making appeals largely to one's artistic nature, and the products of sea and fresh water are constantly furnishing opportunities for studies in many and varied shades of color.
The lobster's vivid red, the brilliant tints of the salmon and red snapper, the delicate pink of shrimps, the dull white of scallops and halibut, and the bluish gray of mackerel and bluefish, each, in its season, may be made to contrast most effectively with fresh green herbs and yellow dressings.
Oysters, scallops and little-neck clams are frequently served in salads without cooking.
These should be carefully washed, then drained and set aside in a marinade for an hour.
When cooked, they should be heated to the boiling-point in their own liquor, then drained and cut in halves.
The adductor muscle of the oyster--the white, button-shaped part that connects the animal with its shell--is often discarded.
Other fish than shellfish, when used in salads, are boiled, broiled or baked; they present the best appearance, however, when boiled.
Thudichum recommends sea water, whenever it is available, for boiling fish; lacking this, hot water, salted (an ounce of salt to a quart of water), and acidulated pleasantly with lemon juice or vinegar, is the proper medium of cooking.
The addition of a slice or two of onion and carrot, a sprig of parsley, a stalk of celery, with aromatic herbs or spices, provided they be not used so freely as to overpower the delicate savor of the fish, is thought to improve the dish.
The quantity of water should be adjusted to the size of the fish; in no case should it be larger than will suffice to produce the desired result.
At the moment the fish is immersed in the water the temperature should be at the boiling-point, and thereafter the vessel should be permitted to simmer during the process of cooking.
The fish may be cooked whole, or cut into small pieces, similar in shape and size.
In the latter case a wire basket is of service, as, by this means, the fish may be easily removed from the water and drained.
If the fish is to be served whole, remove the skin and fins, and, when thoroughly cold, mask with jelly mayonnaise or with a fancy butter.
After chilling again, the mask may be decorated with capers, olives, eggs, etc. If the fish is to be used in flakes, the flakes will separate more easily while the fish is still hot.
In marinating fish, let the proportions of oil and acid vary with the kind of fish; _i.
e. _, according to the oily nature of the flesh.
RECIPES.
=Brook-Trout Salad.
= Dress the trout without removing the heads; boil as previously indicated.
Remove the backbone without destroying the shape of the fish.
Serve, thoroughly chilled, on crisp lettuce leaves dressed with claret or French dressing.
Prepare the latter with tarragon vinegar.
=Brook Trout Moulded in Aspic.
= Pour a little chicken aspic into a pickle or other dish of suitable shape and size for a single fish; when nearly set, lay a trout, prepared as above, upon the aspic, add a few spoonfuls of aspic, let it harden so that the fish may become fixed in place, then add aspic to cover.
Slices of cucumber pickles, capers, or other ornaments, may be used.
When the aspic is thoroughly set and chilled, remove from the mould and serve on two lettuce leaves, with any dressing desired.
=Halibut Salad.
= Flake the fish and marinate with French dressing (three tablespoonfuls of oil, one tablespoonful of lemon juice or vinegar, a dash of salt and pepper, for each pint of fish); drain, and add half as much boiled potato, cut in small cubes and dressed with French dressing.
Serve on a bed of lettuce leaves.
Garnish with sardine dressing.
Shredded lettuce or peas may be used in place of the potato.
=Halibut-and-Cucumber Salad.
= INGREDIENTS.
1 pound of cooked halibut.
2 tablespoonfuls of oil.
1 tablespoonful of lemon juice.
A few drops of onion juice.
Salt and pepper.
2 pimentos.
Lettuce.
Cucumbers.
French dressing.
_Method.
_--Flake one pound of cooked halibut while hot, and marinate with the oil, lemon juice, onion juice, salt and pepper.
When cold drain and mix with the pimentos, shredded, after cutting from the same a few star-shaped or other fanciful figures.
Arrange heart leaves of lettuce in an upright position in the centre of a serving-dish, the fish and pimentos around the lettuce, and, around these, one large or two small cucumbers, cut in small cubes and mixed with French dressing.
With salmon use capers instead of pimentos.
Use enough dressing to moisten the cucumbers thoroughly.
=Halibut Salad.
= Steam a thick slice of chicken halibut, until the flesh separates easily from the bone.
Remove the skin and bones without disturbing the shape of the fish.
Marinate, while hot, with three tablespoonfuls of oil, one tablespoonful of vinegar or lemon juice, and salt and pepper.
When cold put the fish on a serving-dish, and, using endive or Boston Market lettuce, put the ends of the leaves beneath the fish, so that the tops of the leaves will fall over upon the fish.
Garnish the top with stars of mayonnaise.
Between the leaves dispose sliced pim-olas and fans cut from small gherkins.
Serve mayonnaise with the salad.
=Fillets of Halibut in Aspic, with Cucumber-and-Radish Salad.
= INGREDIENTS.
2 slices of halibut, cut half an inch or less in thickness.
1 lobster (a pound and a half).
3 tablespoonfuls of butter.
1/4 a cup of flour.
1/4 a cup of cream.
1/4 a cup of stock.
A dash of paprica.
1 tablespoonful of lemon juice.
1 teaspoonful of chopped parsley.
1/4 a tablespoonful of salt.
1 quart of aspic.
Olives.
A bunch of radishes.
2 cucumbers.
French dressing.
_Method.
_--Remove the skin and bone from the halibut, thus securing eight fillets.
Season with salt, pepper, onion and lemon juice.
Chop the lobster meat fine; melt the butter, cook in it the flour and seasonings, add the cream and lobster stock, and, when cooked, stir in the chopped lobster.
When cool spread upon one side of the fillets, roll up the fillets and fasten with wooden toothpicks that have been dipped in melted butter.
Bake on a fish-sheet about fifteen minutes, basting with butter melted in hot water.
Set a plain border-mould in ice water; decorate the bottom and sides with pim-olas or gherkins cut in slices and dipped in half-set aspic;
cover the decoration on the bottom with aspic, and, when set and the decorations on the side are "fixed" in place, arrange on the aspic the cold fillets of fish and fill the mould with more aspic.
When cold turn from the mould and fill the centre with diced cucumbers and sliced radishes dressed with French dressing.
Pass mayonnaise or French dressing in a separate dish.
Surround the aspic with shredded lettuce if desired.
=Fillets of Halibut in Aspic with Cole-Slaw.
= Use a generous half-pint of oysters in the place of the lobster, parboiling and draining before chopping, and fill in the centre of the aspic with coleslaw.
[Illustration: Miroton of Fish and Potato Salad.
] [Illustration: Cowslip and Cream Cheese Salad.
(See page 49)] =Miroton of Fish and Potato.
= Marinate one pint of cold cooked fish--salmon, cod, haddock, halibut, etc. --with three or four tablespoonfuls of oil, half a teaspoonful of salt, a dash of pepper and two tablespoonfuls of lemon juice.
Marinate, separately, one pint of cold potatoes, cooked in their skins and cut in cubes, with the same quantity of dressing, adding also one teaspoonful of onion juice.
Let stand in a cool place one hour or more.
Have ready six hard-boiled eggs; cut a thin slice from the round end of each egg, that it may stand upright, then cut in quarters lengthwise.
Dip into a little aspic jelly or melted gelatine and arrange the quarters in the form of a circle, with the yolks outside.
Toss together the fish, potato and three tablespoonfuls of capers, and fill in the centre of the circle.
Dust with fine-chopped parsley or beets; add a tuft of lettuce at the top and a few heart leaves of lettuce above the crown of eggs.
=Fish Salad Moulded in Aspic.
= Cover the bottom of a mould with aspic to the depth of one-fourth an inch.
Set the mould in ice water, and, when the aspic is set, arrange upon it a decoration of cooked vegetables cut in shapes with French cutter, or fashion a conventional design or some flower.
Dogwood blossoms provide a simple pattern, and one easily carried out.
Cut the four petals from a thin slice of cooked turnip and the centre of the blossom from carrot or lemon peel.
Fasten each piece in place with liquid jelly, and, when set, cover with more jelly.
To decorate the sides of the mould, take the figures on the point of a skewer, dip in jelly, then set in position against the _chilled_ sides of the mould, and they will remain in place.
After the jelly covering the figures on the bottom of the mould has "set," place a smaller mould in the centre of the aspic in the first, and fill this with ice and water.
Pour in aspic to fill the space about the smaller mould, and, when this aspic is firm, dip out the water and ice.
Fill with _warm_ water and quickly remove the mould.
Separate a pound of cooked fish into flakes, add half a cup of cold cooked peas, three or four gherkins, cut very fine, and three tablespoonfuls of capers.
Mix together and then mix with one cup of mayonnaise made with jelly; with this fill the vacant space in the mould.
When ready to serve, dip the mould very quickly into warm water, letting the water rise to the top of the mould, and invert over a serving-dish; remove the mould, and garnish with lettuce, tiny gherkins cut to resemble fans, blocks of aspic, or aspic moulded in shells, and mayonnaise.
=Fish Salad Moulded in Aspic, No. 2. = Decorate the mould as before; then put in a layer of the fish and dressing; when set, add a layer of aspic; alternate the layers until the materials are used or the mould is filled.
Individual moulds may be prepared in the same way.
=Salad of Mackerel or Bluefish.
= Separate a cooked fish into flakes and mix with the chopped whites and sifted yolks of three hard-boiled eggs.
Season with French dressing, mix lightly and turn on to a bed of lettuce or cress, also seasoned with the dressing.
Garnish with fans cut from small gherkins, or with pickled beet cut in fanciful shape or chopped.
=Salad of Salt Mackerel.
= Freshen the fish carefully before cooking.
Use equal parts of fish, flaked, and cold boiled potatoes.
If potatoes are specially prepared for the purpose, cut them in cubes or balls, blanch, and cook in well-seasoned beef stock; drain, and add, when cold, to the fish.
Season with French dressing.
Arrange on a bed of cress and sift the yolk of an egg over the whole.
=Salad of Shad Roe and Cucumber.
= Cook two shad roes with an onion, sliced, and a bay leaf, in salted, acidulated water twenty minutes; drain, and marinate with about two tablespoonfuls of oil, one tablespoonful of lemon juice and a dash of pepper and salt.
When cold cut in small cubes.
Rub the salad-bowl with a clove of garlic cut in halves.
Cut a thoroughly chilled cucumber in dice; put the cucumber on a bed of lettuce leaves in the bottom of the bowl, and the roe, well drained, above; mask with mayonnaise,--nearly a cup will be required,--in the top insert a few heart leaves of lettuce, and place around the centre of the mound a circle of cucumber slices overlapping one another; or alternate these with lozenges cut from pickled beet.
=Boudins-de-Saumon Salad.
= Butter four small dariole moulds, or small cups; sprinkle the butter with chopped parsley.
Select four small pieces of cooked salmon, dry on a soft cloth so as to remove all oily liquor, and put a piece in each mould.
Beat two eggs (or, better, one egg and the yolks of two) slightly, season with one-fourth a teaspoonful of salt, a dash of paprica and a few drops of anchovy essence or onion juice; add half a cup of milk, and, when well mixed, pour into the moulds around the fish.
Set the moulds in a pan of hot water and bake until the custard is set.
Do not let the water boil.
Chill thoroughly, then turn from the moulds on to lettuce leaves.
Serve with a star of mayonnaise dressing on the top of each _boudin_.
=Russian Salad.
= (BOSTON COOKING-SCHOOL.
) INGREDIENTS.
1 cup of carrots.
1 cup of potatoes.
1 cup of peas.
1 cup of beans (flageolets preferred).
6 tablespoonfuls of oil.
3 tablespoonfuls of vinegar.
1 teaspoonful of salt.
1/4 a teaspoonful of pepper.
A head of lettuce.
1 cup of mayonnaise.
1 cup of shrimps.
1/4 a lb.
of smoked salmon.
1 hard-boiled egg.
_Method.
_--Marinate the carrots and potatoes, cut in small pieces, also the peas and beans, with French dressing.
Arrange on a dish in four sections, having lettuce for the foundation of each.
Cover each vegetable with mayonnaise.
Strew the tops of two sections with small pieces of smoked salmon; on a third section strew the sifted yolk of the egg, and on the fourth, the white of the egg, cut rather coarsely.
Outline the inner side of each section with shrimps, by lightly pressing the ends of the shrimps into the mayonnaise.
Finish with a tuft of lettuce in the centre of the dish.
=Spanish Salad.
= In the centre of a flat serving-dish arrange a mound of endive.
Peel tomatoes, divide into sections or cut in slices, and arrange these around the endive.
Shell cold, hard-boiled eggs; cut in halves, crosswise, and in points; remove the yolks and pound to a paste with an equal amount of the flesh of lobster, shrimp, anchovies or salmon.
With this paste, seasoned to taste with oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, fill the cups fashioned from the whites of the eggs, and arrange them around the tomatoes.
Strew chopped shallot and sweet pepper over the endive.
Mix equal portions of oil and vinegar, add salt and pepper to taste, and pour over the salad.
Serve at once.
=Salmon Salad.
= (_For evening company, or fish course at a dinner party.
_) INGREDIENTS.
Hard-boiled eggs.
1 teaspoonful of gelatine, softened in one tablespoonful of cold water.
1 pint of string beans or asparagus tips.
1 pint of cooked peas.
French dressing.
2 slices of salmon, 2 inches thick.
Jelly mayonnaise, or fancy butter.
Capers.
_Method.
_--Cut the eggs into halves lengthwise; cut a thin slice from the round ends, that the pieces may be set upright; dip lightly in the gelatine dissolved over hot water, and arrange _miroton_ fashion around an oval serving-dish.
Set aside, that the eggs may become fixed in position.
Marinate the vegetables, separately, with French dressing;
cook the salmon by the directions previously given; remove the skin and cover the sides with jelly mayonnaise or fancy butter.
When cold decorate with whites of eggs and capers.
Use the trimmings from the eggs, and fix them in place by dipping in jelly mayonnaise.
Set aside for the decorations to become fixed.
Drain the vegetables and arrange inside the border, higher in the centre.
Lay the decorated slices of fish upon opposite sides of the mound, and serve either with or without mayonnaise.
=Halibut Salad.
= (_For evening company, or fish course at a dinner party.
_) INGREDIENTS.
A slice of chicken halibut, 3 inches thick.
3 cups of cooked peas.
French dressing.
Hard-boiled eggs.
3 slices of pickled beet.
1 teaspoonful of gelatine.
Jelly mayonnaise, or green butter.
Heart leaves of lettuce.
2 olives.
_Method.
_--Prepare the eggs and fasten to the plate as in salmon salad.
Dip diamond-shaped pieces of pickled beet in the dissolved gelatine and place upon the front and top of each half of egg.
Spread the edge of the fish, after removing the skin, with jelly mayonnaise, or green butter, and, when set, decorate with figures cut from the cooked white of an egg.
With forcing-bag and tube shape a pattern around the upper edge of the fish.
Place the fish in the centre of the crown or _miroton_ of eggs, with the peas seasoned with French dressing around it; cover the place from which the bone was taken with the centre of a head of lettuce, cut in halves, and two fine olives.
Serve with a bowl of mayonnaise.
[Illustration: Russian Salad.
] [Illustration: Halibut Salad.
