 Kent Coast Sea Fishing Compendium |
Fish and how to cook it |
"Fish and how to cook it" (1915) Department of the Naval Service, Ottawa at pages 29 to 72
Recipes for cooking fish and information regarding different kinds of fish
COD, HAKE AND POLLOCK
Cod and the other fish named in this class are of the same family, and provide some of our best fish foods, either fresh or salted. The quantity of cod taken by Canadian fishermen in an average year amounts to over 100,000 tons. The bulk of this great catch is salted and dried, while about 7,000 tons are consumed fresh. About 13,000 tons of hake are taken annually, most of which is dried, while of pollock 12,000 tons is an average annual catch. This also is chiefly dried. Many more of these fine nourishing fishes could be consumed fresh in this country, with beneficial results to both the producer and consumer. The most popular ways of cooking fresh cod, hake, and pollock are boiling, baking, and frying.
Boiled Cod
Put the fish into a large pan with enough tepid water to cover. Add salt and enough vinegar to flavour the water, boil gently till the fin or tail bone will come out if lightly pulled. When fish is boiled too fast the skin will break. A medium-sized piece of fish usually takes from fifteen to twenty minutes to cook. When done lift the fish carefully out of the water, drain it, and dish up. Serve with melted butter, anchovy or parsley sauce.
Broiled Cod
Procure two or three slices of cod, about three-quarters of an inch thick, wipe the fish, and season with salt and pepper; broil the slices over or in front of a good fire, for about fifteen minutes, with a little butter spread on each slice. Use a gridiron, or else cook the fish on a hot dish; garnish with parsley and slices of lemon and serve quickly.
Baked Cod Steak with Bacon
Procure a slice of cod weighing from one-half to three-quarters of a pound. Wipe it, and place on a buttered baking-tin. Prepare a mixture of bread-crumbs, savoury herbs, and parsley, and bind it with a little beaten egg. Place this upon the fish, and season. On top put one or two thin slices of bacon, and bake for about twenty minutes in a moderate oven. Dish up, pour around some anchovy sauce, and serve.
Cod Steak with Macaroni
Two slices of cod, one ounce bread-crumbs, one teaspoonful of chopped parsley and mixed herbs, a little egg, two ounces boiled macaroni, one ounce butter, one-half ounce flour, one-half pint fish stock or milk, one-half tablespoonful anchovy essence, and a little grated cheese. Wipe the fish, and place on a buttered baking-tin. Prepare a stuffing of the bread-crumbs, savoury herbs, and parsley, and bind it with a little beaten egg. Place this upon the fish. On the top put the cooked macaroni, besprinkle with grated cheese, and bake for about twenty minutes in a moderate oven. Prepare the anchovy sauce. Dish up the fish when cooked, pour over the sauce, and serve.
Curried Cod
Two slices large cod, or remains of any codfish, three ounces butter, one onion sliced, a teacup of white stock, thickening of butter and flour, one tablespoonful of curry powder, one-quarter pint of cream, salt and cayenne to taste. Flake the fish and fry to a nice brown, color with the butter and onions; put this in a stewpan, add the stock and thickening, simmer for ten minutes. Stir the curry powder into the cream; put it with the seasoning into the other ingredients; give one boil and serve. Time, three-quarters of an hour. Sufficient for four persons.
Shredded Cod baked with Cream Sauce
Boil four or five pounds of fresh cod. When cooked, drain and shred in fine pieces and set away to cool. Make the following sauce for a five-pound piece of fish: Boil one quart of milk with one onion and a little finely chopped parsley. Set it aside. Mix one cup of butter with enough flour to absorb it. Add this to the milk and boil until it is the consistency of custard. Season with a dash of cayenne and salt to taste. Put a layer of shredded fish in a baking dish, cover with a layer of sauce, then a layer of fish and so on until the dish is filled. Have the last layer of cream. Cover with fine bread-crumbs. Sprinkle with pieces of butter and bake in the oven until the top is a nice brown. Small boiled potato balls covered with cream sauce should be served with this.
Codfish Balls
Boil one cup codfish with four good-sized potatoes; when done mash potatoes and fish together, add good-sized piece of butter, a little pepper and one egg beaten; roll in a little flour to form balls and place in frying-pan; fry brown on one side in butter, turn and brown the other side.
Hake Steak with Fried Onions
Proceed as directed for cod steak, using a thick slice of hake in place of cod. Skin and slice thinly one large onion, or two small ones; fry this, in one ounce of butter or dripping, to a golden brown. When the fish is cooked, dish it up, and surround with the fried onions, then serve.
HALIBUT
Of this excellent food fish over 12,000 tons are brought to land annually in Canada; almost five-sixths of the catch is secured in the waters of the Pacific, and largely finds its way to table in eastern Canada. This fish may be cooked in the same way as directed for cod, haddock, etc.
Broiled Halibut
Season the slices with salt and pepper and fry them in melted butter for half an hour, having them well covered on both sides, roll in flour and broil for ten minutes over a clear fire. Serve on a hot dish, garnishing with parsley and slices of lemon. The slices of halibut should be about an inch thick, and for every pound there should be three tablespoonfuls of butter.
Baked Halibut
Arrange six thin slices of fat salt pork (about two and one-half inches square) in a baking pan. Wipe a two-pound (or as much as you happen to have) piece of halibut with a damp cloth and place it in the pan. Mask the fish with three tablespoonfuls of butter creamed and mixed with three tablespoonfuls of flour; then cover the top with three-quarters of a cupful of buttered cracker crumbs and arrange five thin strips of fat salt pork over the crumbs. Cover with buttered paper and bake fifty minutes in a moderate oven, removing the paper during the last fifteen minutes to brown the crumbs and pork. Garnish with thin slices of lemon (cut in fancy shapes if desired) then sprinkle with finely chopped parsley. Serve with the following sauce: Melt three tablespoonfuls of butter, add three tablespoonfuls of fiour; stir until well blended, then pour on gradually, while stirring constantly, one and one-half cups of hot water. Bring to the boiling point; add three tablespoonfuls of butter and season with one-half teaspoonful of salt and one-eighth teaspoonful of pepper.
Halibut Cutlets
Cut your halibut steaks an inch thick, wipe them with a dry cloth, and season with salt and cayenne pepper. Have ready a pan of yolk of eggs well beaten and a dish of grated bread-crumbs. Put some fresh lard or beef drippings in a frying pan and hold it over the fire till it boils. Dip your cutlets in the egg, and then in the bread-crumbs. Fry a light brown; serve up hot. Salmon or any large fish may be fried in the same manner.
Fried Fillets of Halibut
Remove the skin and bones from a slice of halibut weighing one and one-quarter pounds. Cut each of the four pieces thus made, in halves lengthwise, making eight fillets. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Roll and fasten with small wooden skewers. Dip in crumbs, egg, and crumbs, and fry in deep fat.
Halibut Rabbit
Melt one teaspoonful butter, add a few drops of onion juice and one tablespoonful corn-starch mixed with one-half teaspoonful salt and one-quarter teaspoonful paprika, then pour on gradually one cup milk, add three-quarters cup of soft cheese, cut fine, and one cup of cold, flaked, cooked halibut. When cheese is melted add one egg slightly beaten and one tablespoonful lemon juice. Serve on crackers.
Scalloped Halibut
Shred one cupful of cold boiled halibut; pour in the food pan one and one-half cups milk and let come to a boil; add butter size of an egg, salt and pepper, then the crumbs of four crackers, add lastly the halibut; let it cook five minutes, then add two hard-boiled eggs chopped fine, and serve on a hot platter with bits of buttered toast.
HADDOCK
This favorite fish is taken in large quantities on the Atlantic coast. No less than 26,000 tons are landed annually by Canadian fishermen; while the greater proportion of the catch is consumed fresh a very large part is smoked and presented to the consumer in the form of the toothsome "Finnan Haddie".
Baked Stuffed Haddock
Wash, scale, and wipe a large fresh haddock, and remove the eyes. Prepare a stuffing with one ounce chopped suet, two ounces of bread-crumbs, one teaspoonful herbs and parsley, and season with salt and pepper. Mix the stuffing with half an egg. Stuff the body of the fish with this, and sew up the opening. Pass a trussing needle, threaded with string, through the tail of the fish, centre of body and the eyes, draw the fish up into the shape of the letter S, brush over with beaten egg, and sprinkle over some bread-crumbs and a few pieces of dripping. Bake in a brisk oven for about half an hour or longer, basting frequently. Dish up and serve with brown sauce or melted butter or a little gravy.
Baked Haddock
Clean a four-pound haddock. Sprinkle with salt inside and stuff and sew. Cut gashes on each side of backbone and insert narrow strips of salt pork. Place on a greased fish sheet or something to raise it from the bottom. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, dredge with flour, and place around fish small pieces of salt pork. Bake one hour in a hot oven, basting often. Serve with drawn butter sauce or egg sauce.
Smoked or Finnan Haddock
The following methods for cooking smoked haddock are especially recommended:
- Put a smoked haddock into a flat saucepan or frying-pan with a pint of milk, or half milk and half water; sprinkle over a grate of nutmeg, and cover the fish with a plate. Cook in front of a fire or in the oven for about 20 minutes; then take up the haddock, place it on a hot dish and serve.
- Cook one or two haddocks in a Yorkshire pudding tin, with a little water, in the oven for about thirty to thirty-five minutes, according to the size of the fish. When done, take up, drain, and place on a hot dish. Put a few small pieces of fresh butter over the top and serve.
- Cook the fish as directed in one of the foregoing ways; remove the bones carefully, and place it on a hot dish. Spread over with fresh butter, and put a few nicely poached and trimmed eggs on top, and serve.
FLOUNDER
This is a fish that is not so generally used as it should be. When properly cooked it provides a light and easily digestible food. The flounder is plentiful on all parts of our coast, but not more than 500 tons are brought to land in the course of a year. This fish may be fried in the usual way or baked as follows:
Baked Flounder
Fillet a flounder, cut the bones into small pieces, and put in a sauce pan with sufficient water to well cover them. Add a little salt, half an onion, one clove, and cook for fifteen or twenty minutes. (This will make fish stock). Place the fillets neatly on a well-greased dish or tin, sprinkle over some finely chopped parsley, and a pinch of powdered sweet herbs (if handy), season with salt and pepper, add a dash of vinegar and just enough fish stock to half cover the fish. Sprinkle over with bread-crumbs to well cover the fish, place a tiny piece of lard or butter here and there, and bake in a hot oven for about a quarter of an hour. If a dish is used, send it to table in the same dish; otherwise, lift the fish carefully out on to a hot dish. The remainder of the stock can be used for sauce or other purposes.
SKATE OR RAYS
These fish are extremely plentiful around our shores, but for some reason they are scarcely used as food in any form. It is a favourite dish with those who know its fine flavour, and the twenty tons annually taken to land should be many times increased. Skate may be cooked as follows:
Boiled Skate
Take one and one-half pound of fish, one bay leaf, one or two slices of onion, one dessertspoonful vinegar, one dessert-spoonful salt, and one and one-half ounce butter. Procure the fish skinned; cut into strips, and twist into rings. Skinning fish is rather a tedious operation; it is therefore advisable to get it skinned and dressed from the fishdealer. Put the fish into a stew-pan or fish-kettle, with enough salted water to well cover it; add a bay leaf, the onion slices, and the vinegar. Bring it to the boil, remove the scum, and cook till tender. Take up the fish, drain well, and put it on a hot dish. Melt the butter in a frying pan, allow it to get brown, then pour it quickly over the fish ; sprinkle over a little chopped parsley, and serve. Also fry in ordinary way.
HERRING
This never-failing part of our sources of fish supply yields over 100,000 tons annually. It is to be regretted that only a very small proportion of the great annual catch of this wholesome fish is used as food in this country. Not more than about 4,000 tons are consumed fresh.
Baked Herring
Six fresh herring, one-third teacupful vinegar, one-half teaspoonful salt, one bay leaf, one-half teaspoonful pepper, one-half teacupful water. Fresh herring should not be washed, unless in exceptional circumstances. They should be emptied, the heads taken off, the scales scraped off, and then the herring well wiped. With a sharp knife split the herring up the back and lay it open; cut it in half; lift the bone out, beginning at the head; now roll each half up into a nice firm roll, beginning at the head. From six herring you will have twelve of these rolls. Stand them in a small pudding dish with the back uppermost - they will quite fill the dish. Now pour in half a teacupful of water and one-third of a teacupful of vinegar, mixed, a bay leaf slipped in at the side, and the pepper and salt. Cover the dish with a plate, and cook at the side of the fire or in the oven, for half an hour. The herring may be served in the dish in which they are cooked. They are good either hot or cold.
Fried Fresh Herring
Prepare as above, namely, empty the herring, take off the heads, scrape the scales off and wipe them quite clean; then split them open from the back and lay them flat. Dust over them a little pepper and salt. Have a clean frying-pan, quite hot; place the herring in it, the skin next the pan, and fry them for five minutes; then fry the other side about the same time. Fry the skin side first. Good herring need no dripping, as they contain sufficient oil in themselves to fry in.
Kippered Herring
Place the herring between a greased gridiron, and cook before or over a bright fire for about ten minutes. Dish up, spread a little butter over the top, and serve. Another way is to fry the fish over the fire in a frying-pan with a little butter or dripping, but the former method is preferred by most.
Canned Herring in Tomato Sauce
This will be found a particularly appetising and piquant dish, and quite ready for the table.
MACKEREL
In an average year there are 8,000 tons of mackerel caught and landed in Canada by our fishermen. Many of these fish are cured in salt, but the greater part of the catch is sent to the consumer in a fresh state.
Salt Mackerel
Keep mackerel and other pickled fish under the salt and pickle by putting a weight on them. They must be soaked in plenty of water for ten or twelve hours before cooking, having the flesh side of the fish down and, if possible, raised from the bottom of the vessel so that the water can circulate freely and draw out the salt. It is well to leave the vessel beneath the faucet and allow the water to drip continuously, thus providing a constant supply of fresh water. One trial will show you just how long to soak them. By some it is considered better to leave a little salt in them.
Mackerel à la Crème
Soak the salted fish forty-eight hours. Place in a shallow pan, barely cover with milk; place on the top of the stove and let it boil about fifteen minutes. Carefully remove the fish to the platter, skin side down; sprinkle with pepper and pour the milk over it; garnish with parsley and slices of lemon. Prepared thus, the fish contains the least amount of salt.
Boiled Mackerel
Freshen the fish and place in cold water. Boil gently thirty minutes and serve with drawn butter, made as follows: One-quarter cup butter; two tablespoonfuls flour; one pint boiling water; little salt and pepper. Mix in the order given. Melt half the butter, add flour and stir until smooth. Pour on the boiling water gradually, stirring all the time until the sauce is thick and smooth. Then add the seasoning and rest of the butter, and stir until well blended.
Fresh Mackerel
Take four to six fresh mackerel, twelve pepper-corns, one blade mace, one gill vinegar, one-half gill water, one-quarter teaspoonful salt. Wash and clean the mackerel, cut off the heads and fins, remove the backbones carefully. Roll up the fish, place them in a pie-dish. Mix all the ingredients together, and pour over the fish. Cover the dish closely with paper, and bake in a cool oven about thirty minutes. Serve cold, and garnish with parsley.
Fresh Mackerel Boiled
If not cleaned, open them at the gills, take out the insides, wash clean, and pin in a fishcloth. (Do not use the cloth that you use to boil mackerel for any other fish.) Drop into boiling water, and boil fifteen minutes. Serve with drawn butter.
Broiled Mackerel
Split down the back and clean. Be careful to scrape all the thin black skin from the inside. Wipe dry and lay on the gridiron; broil on one side a nice brown, then turn and brown the other side; it will not take so long to brown the side on which the skin is. (All fish should have the side on which the skin is turned to the fire last, as the skin burns easily and coals are not so hot after you have used them ten minutes.) Season with butter, pepper and salt.
Fried Mackerel
Fry brown six good-sized slices of pork. Prepare your mackerel as for broiling. Take out your pork, sprinkle a little salt over the mackerel, then fry a nice brown. Serve the fried pork with it.
Baked Mackerel
Split fish, clean and remove head and tail. Put in buttered dripping pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper and dot over with butter (allowing one tablespoonful to a medium sized fish), and pour over two-thirds cup milk. Bake twenty-five minutes in hot oven.
Mackerel will not keep fresh as long as other fish; it is therefore necessary that is should be consumed whilst perfectly fresh.
SALMON
There are about 60,000 tons of salmon taken on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts in an average year. The bulk of this catch reaches the consumer prepared for use in the familiar can, but no less than over 5,000 tons are consumed annually in a fresh condition.
Boiled Salmon
A piece weighing six pounds should be rubbed with salt, tied carefully in a cloth, and boiled slowly for three-quarters of an hour. It should be eaten with egg or caper sauce. If any remain after dinner it may be placed in a deep dish, a little salt sprinkled over, and a teacupful of boiling vinegar poured over it. Cover it closely and it will make a nice breakfast dish.
Salmon, Boiled Plain
Have ready a fish kettle with enough boiling soft water to cover the fish; wash off the water from the fish and let it come rather slowly to the boil again. Simmer very gently till done, allowing about fifteen minutes to each pound. Throw in one tablespoonful salt just before it is done. Serve with plain drawn butter sauce.
Salmon Croquettes
One can salmon, one-half cup of milk, one tablespoonful of flour, one egg; come to a boil until thick; a little lemon juice; roll in crumbs and fry in hot lard.
Salmon and Rice
Form freshly-boiled rice into flat cakes, brown slightly in butter on both sides and place on a warmed platter. Warm a can of salmon and dip over the rice. Over this pour a white sauce into which has been stirred the whites of two hard-boiled eggs, cut in dice. Garnish with the yolks cut into slices.
Salmon Salad
Flake 1 can of salmon fine, 1 cup of cabbage cut fine, 1 cup of celery cut fine, sprinkle a pinch of salt, dash of paprika; mix lightly and chill them. Mix with mayonnaise dressing. Serve on lettuce leaves.
Salmon Salad
One large can of red salmon, 1 cup chopped celery, 1 cup chopped English walnuts, 4 or 5 sweet pickles (gherkins). Mix well with cream mayonnaise.
Salmon Cream Salad
Beat 4 egg yolks; add slowly while stirring one-quarter cup of olive oil, 4 tablespoonfuls of vinegar, and 1 tablespoonful of lemon juice; cook in a double boiler until it thickens; when cool add one-quarter cupful of olive oil, 1 tablespoonful of pulverized sugar, 2 level teaspoonfuls of salt, 3 tablespoonfuls of finely minced pimentoes, and 1 cupful of double cream; mix well with 1 can of salmon (drained, and with skin and bones removed), garnish with finely chopped whites of hard-boiled eggs, and the hard-boiled yolks forced through a potato ricer; heap in a salad bowl and encircle with slices of hard-boiled eggs and sprays of watercress or parsley.
Salmon Salad Sandwiches
One pound can of salmon, 1 tablespoonful of any preferred salad dressing, 2 tablespoonfuls of finely chopped cucumber pickles (sour), 1 teaspoonful of grated onion or onion juice, one-half teaspoonful mixed salt and papper. Mix thoroughly and spread between thin slices of bread.
Salmon and Pea Salad
Prepare 1 quart of aspic jelly (made with gelatine after the regulation recipe) , half fill a mold with it, and allow to set; arrange in it 1 can of minced salmon (drained and with skin and bones removed), pour over it a little more of the liquid jelly which has been kept in a warm place, add a few slices of hard-boiled eggs; let set again until it stiffens, then pour over all the remainder of the quart of liquid jelly. Set in a cold place; when ready to serve, turn out and decorate with cold boiled peas (or canned peas which have been washed in cold water and drained). Serve with mayonnaise dressing.
Salmon à la Deutsch
Remove the skin and bone from 1 can of salmon; cut into half-inch cubes enough cold potatoes to make 1 cupful; chop fine one-half cupful of hard boiled eggs and add to the salmon and potatoes; marinate with a French dressing; when ready to serve, moisten with any good boiled salad dressing, and garnish with chopped pimentoes, slices of hard-boiled eggs, and sprays of parsley.
STEAMED DISHES
Salmon en Casserole
Cook one cup of rice; when cold line baking dish. Take one can of salmon and flake, beat two eggs, one-third cup of milk, one tablespoonful of butter, pinch of salt, dash of paprika. Stir into the salmon lightly, cover lightly with rice. Steam one hour, serve with white sauce.
Salmon in Mold
One can of salmon; three eggs beaten light; one-half cup of fine bread-crumbs; salt, cayenne, parsley; four tablespoonfuls melted butter; remove oil, bones, and skin from the fish; mince fish fine; rub in butter until smooth; add crumbs to the beaten eggs; season fish; add eggs and crumbs; put in a buttered mold and steam one hour; serve with sauce.
Salmon Supreme
Drain liquor from one can of salmon; remove bones and skin; chop fine; rub into it until smooth four tablespoonfuls of melted butter; season with salt, pepper, one tablespoonful minced parsley, and three tablespoonfuls chopped celery; beat four eggs well, and add one-half cup rolled cracker crumbs; mix all well together; pack into buttered mold; steam one hour. When done turn out on a heated platter, surround with peas (seasoned and drained), and serve with following sauce: Melt 1 tablespoonful butter; rub into it one tablespoonful of corn starch; add slowly one cup hot milk, the salmon liquor, salt, pepper, and tomato catsup to suit taste ; stir until smooth and thoroughly cooked; serve in separate dish.
BAKED DISHES
Timbales of Salmon
One can of salmon; four hard-boiled eggs; three eggs; salt; pepper; lemon juice; white sauce; parsley; flake canned salmon into bits, removing all bones and skin; rub the yolks of four hard-boiled eggs to a paste, and stir them into the minced fish; mince the white of the eggs as fine as possible, and stir them into the salmon mixture; season with salt, white pepper, and lemon juice, with a dash of cayenne; beat the mixture into the well-beaten yolks of three eggs; add the whites of eggs beaten stiff; pour into buttered nappies or timbale cases; set these in pan of boiling water and bake about twenty-five minutes; turn out on hot platter; pour about the timbales a white sauce, into which chopped parsley has been stirred.
Salmon Loaf
One small can of salmon; one cup of cracker crumbs; one egg; two tablespoonfuls of sweet milk; small amounts of nutmeg, paprika, salt; remove bones from salmon, break into small pieces, add well-beaten egg, seasoning, and cracker crumbs; bake in a well-buttered dish for fifteen minutes; serve hot for lunch. (For Dressing, see ''Fish Sauces.")
Salmon Loaf with Rice
One can of salmon; two cups hot boiled rice (one cup before being cooked); two eggs beaten; two tablespoonfuls melted butter; juice of half a small lemon; salt and pepper to taste; add liquor from salmon can and mix ingredients lightly with a fork; bake in a covered pan set in water one hour in a moderate oven; serve with tomato sauce made by straining and slightly thickening a cup of canned tomatoes well seasoned. Peas, either fresh or canned, may be used instead of the rice, in which case serve with a cream sauce.
Baked Salmon Loaf
One can salmon, one pint of mashed potatoes, one cup browned cracker crumbs, two cups of parsley sauce. Grease a good-sized mold with butter, sprinkle with cracker crumbs, and line with mashed potatoes. Drain oil from salmon and remove skin and bones. Season with pepper and salt and pack in mold. Cover with potatoes and then cracker crumbs, put a few pieces of butter on top, and bake one-half hour in fairly hot oven. Turn out and pour parsley sauce over.
Baked Canned Salmon
Take off skin from a fine canned salmon steak. Lay in a small granite baking pan and sprinkle with a little pepper and salt and minced parsley. Over the salmon place an inch-thick layer of well-seasoned and beaten mashed potato, shaping to conform to a slice of fish. On top put buttered and seasoned fine bread-crumbs. Bake half an hour in a hot oven, basting once in a while with a little butter and cream that the salmon may not dry out. Place carefully on a platter and pour around the steak a cream gravy.
Salmon Cakes (German)
To one small can of salmon add one pint of mashed potatoes, prepared as for table use; add one beaten egg, 1 tablespoonful of melted butter, salt, and pepper to taste (if too dry add a little milk); make into flake cakes; place in buttered pan. Brown in hot oven.
Salmon Patties
Line individual patty pans with a rich paste; put alternate layers of salmon forcemeat and mashed potatoes into them until the pans are filled, having the mashed potatoes on top; bake one-half hour and serve hot. Prepare the forcemeat for the above as follows: Take one can of salmon, one cupful of fine bread-crumbs, the beaten yolks of two eggs, one tablespoonful of butter, one teaspoonful of salt, one tablespoonful of chopped parsley, one tablespoonful of grated onion, and one cupful of milk; cook together for five minutes, stirring carefully.
Baked Salmon in Pepper Cases
One can of salmon, eight green peppers, crackers, butter, etc. Remove skin and bones from one can of salmon, season with salt and pepper and onion juice. Mix with an equal quantity of cracker crumbs moistened with butter, or left-over stuffing can be used instead. The mixture should be quite moist; if not, add a little milk. Cut lengthwise eight sweet green peppers, remove seeds, parboil five minutes and fill with fish. Put in baking pan, surround pan with hot water, and cook until cases are soft but not broken.
Baked Creamed Salmon with Spaghetti
One can of salmon, one-half pound of spaghetti broken fine, butter size of egg, one pint of milk, two eggs. Boil spaghetti in salted water until tender, drain in a colander, and pour cold water through it; grease baking dish and put layer of spaghetti, layer of salmon, bits of butter and pepper; continue until all is used. Beat eggs, add milk, and pour over and bake forty-five minutes. Serve with or without white sauce.
Deviled Salmon
One can of salmon, two eggs, flour, milk, butter, spices, potatoes. Mince one can of salmon after removing skin and bones, add the yolks of two hard-boiled eggs finely mashed, a little minced parsley, season with salt and pepper and one tablespoonful of lemon juice. Make a thick sauce of one tablespoonful of butter, one tablespoonful of flour, and two-thirds cup of milk. Pour sauce over salmon, and mix. Butter baking dish, fill with mixture, and cover with meringue of mashed potatoes; dot with bits of butter and brown in oven.
Potted Salmon à la Hebrew
Scald and drain three cans of salmon; remove the skin and bones; rub together in a bowl one-half saltspoonful of paprika, one-half teaspoonful of mace, and one level teaspoonful of salt; mix half of this spice mixture with the salmon and place it in an earthen baking dish. Wash free from salt one-half pound of butter; put half of it over the salmon, and one clove of garlic sliced thinly; cover and bake one-half hour. Remove the salmon on to a platter; now put the remainder of the washed butter into the baking dish and set aside until the salmon is cold; then add the remainder of the spice mixture to the salmon, and another clove of garlic, peeled and mashed; rub the salmon until smooth, then pour the contents of the baking dish over it and mix well. Pack into small jars, and it will be ready for use in twenty-four hours. Covered with melted parafiin or suet, it will keep in a cool place for weeks.
Salmon Turnovers
Make a light dough as for shortcake. Take one can of salmon and remove liquid and bones, one can of green peas. Roll out a disk of dough about six inches across. Fill with one tablespoonful of salmon, one tablespoonful of peas, a little salt and pepper, bits of butter. Moisten the edges with cold water, turn over, and press together with a fork. Bake in moderate oven until delicate brown.
Salmon Soufflé, No. 1
Separate one can of salmon into flakes; season with salt, paprika, and lemon juice. Cook one-half cup of soft stale bread-crumbs in one-half cup of milk ten minutes and add to salmon; then add the yolks of three eggs beaten until thick and lemon-colored, and cut and fold in the whites beaten stiff and dry. Turn into a buttered baking dish and bake until firm.
Salmon Soufflé, No. 2
Drain and remove the skin and bones from one can of salmon; dissolve two tablespoonfuls of cornstarch in three-fourths cup of cold milk; add one tablespoonful of butter to the milk; season with salt and pepper, and stir over fire until thick and smooth; add the yolks of two eggs and one teaspoonful each of lemon and onion juice; now add one teaspoonful of chopped parsley, one-half cupful of bread-crumbs, and the beaten whites of two eggs; stir well together, add the salmon, mix thoroughly and put into a buttered baking dish; set the baking dish in pan of boiling water and place in hot oven to brown. Garnish with parsley.
Scalloped Salmon, No. 1
One pound can of salmon, one-half cup of fine dry bread-crumbs; one tablespoonful butter; one heaping tablespoonful flour; one pint good rich milk, salt, pepper, and paprika. Melt butter in a saucepan and add flour and stir until melted and mixed but not browned. Remove from the fire and slowly add milk until smooth. Then return to fire to thicken like cream. Add a little salt, pepper, and paprika to suit taste. Remove salmon from the can, remove any bits of bone and skin, and separate the flakes of salmon with a fork. Now butter a pudding dish, add a layer of bread-crumbs, then a layer of salmon, and cover with the dressing. Lastly cover top with crumbs and bits of butter and place in the oven about 20 minutes to heat through thoroughly and brown on top. The size of the baking dish will regulate the number of layers of salmon, etc.
Scalloped Salmon, No. 2
One can of salmon; remove all bone and bits of skin; mince fine. Roll one dozen crackers fine. Put in a buttered baking dish in alternate layers, adding bits of butter and a sprinkling of salt and pepper to taste. Have the top layer of crackers, and add sufficient milk to moisten the whole mass (about one pint). Bake thirty minutes and serve hot.
Scalloped Salmon, No. 3
One can of salmon, one pint of milk, one egg, one heaping tablespoonful butter, two rounding tablespoonfuls flour. Put the milk on stove in double boiler, keeping out one-half cup. Mix butter and flour to a smooth paste, and add the egg well beaten, then the one-half cup of cold milk. Mix well and then stir into the milk, which should be scalding. Stir until smooth and thick like gravy. Season with salt and pepper and set aside to cool. Butter a baking dish and fill with alternate layers of flaked salmon and the cream dressing. The top layer should be of the dressing. Sprinkle with cracker crumbs and bake one-half hour in moderate oven.
Scalloped Salmon, No. 4
One can of salmon, four tablespoonfuls of butter, two tablespoonfuls of flour, 1½ pints of milk, one teaspoonful salt. Mix cream, butter, and flour together, add the milk, and cook until thick. Butter the baking dish, cover the bottom with fine cracker crumbs (or flaked hominy), add a layer of salmon picked apart and bones removed. Then add a layer of cracker crumbs (or hominy), alternating with salmon. Pour the hot dressing over it. Place in the oven and bake twenty minutes.
BOILED DISHES
Salmon and Tongue en Casserole
One can salmon, one veal tongue, butter, sherry wine or vinegar. Cook veal tongue in salted water until tender. Cut tongue into small pieces, place in casserole with one can of salmon freed from skin and bones, dot well with butter, add one-fourth cup boiling water. Pour over whole a wineglassful of sherry wine or two tablespoonfuls tarragon vinegar. Boil slowly about three-quarters of an hour and do not open until ready to serve.
Salmon in Potato Border
While potatoes are boiling prepare the salmon as follows: To one can add two tablespoonfuls of butter, one teaspoonful of salt, a little paprika, two cups of milk, and one cup of fine bread-crumbs. Boil together in a saucepan and rub until smooth; keep in a warm place while you mash the potatoes and arrange them in a border on a platter. Heap the hot salmon in the centre; dot the potato border with butter. An extra touch may be added by pouring a cup of white sauce over the salmon and garnishing with slices of hard-boiled eggs.
Salmon à la Créole
Cook in two heaping tablespoonfuls of butter one finely chopped green pepper, one minced onion, and one chopped tomato (or one-half cup of canned tomatoes); add one cup of milk; stir until the pepper and onion are soft, add one can of salmon, drained and minced; simmer; serve hot.
FOR CHAFING DISH
Barbecue of Salmon
Marinate one can of salmon in one tablespoonful of pure olive oil, one tablespoonful of minced onion, one teaspoonful of cider vinegar, one teaspoonful of salt, and one tablespoonful of Worcestershire sauce. Into the upper part of the chafing dish put one-fourth teacupful of tomato catsup, one tablespoonful of butter, a few capers, and one-fourth cup of hot water; stir until hot and add the marinated salmon; stir well; add one-half can of peas (drained and washed); cover and let stand over the hot water pan until quite hot. Serve hot from the chafing dish, accompanied by sandwiches of thinly sliced brown bread.
Salmon à la Newberg
Dissolve one dessertspoonful of cornstarch in one pint of cold milk; add one tablespoonful of butter, one beaten egg, and cook until thick; season with salt and paprika to taste; add one can of drained salmon, one teaspoonful of lemon juice, and three tablespoonfuls of double cream. Serve on toasted bread or crackers.
Salmon Hollandaise
Melt two tablespoonfuls of butter in the upper pan, add one can salmon (drained), one can of peas (drained and washed in cold water), one level teaspoonful of salt, and a little paprika; add the juice of one lemon and stir until hot; serve on toasted crackers.
Creamed Salmon in Chafing Dish
Three large tablespoonfuls of butter; melt; stir in a large tablespoonful of flour and one-half teaspoonful of dry mustard; one cup of milk; stir until a thick gravy; then stir into this one cup of flaked salmon; season well with salt, pepper, and paprika; one-fourth teaspoonful of Tabasco sauce, and, the last thing, pour into this one-half cup of catsup; serve on hot toast or on toasted crackers.
Salmon in Chafing Dish
Put into the blazer two tablespoonfuls of butter, a finely minced onion, a sweet green pepper, minced and seeded; and a cup of tomatoes; let it cook 2 or 3 minutes; then add one-half cup of boiling water and one-half pint of canned salmon; salt to taste; serve as soon as fish is heated.
CREAMED SALMON
Creamed Salmon, No. 1
One can of salmon; one quart sweet milk; three ounces butter; three eggs; two ounces flour; one ounce chopped onion; salt, pepper; melt together butter and flour, and when creamy add one quart hot milk; add onion, salt, and pepper; break in three raw eggs, and draw to back of stove till eggs set and will remain in chunks when stirred; add salmon after removing skin and bones; put back on fire and let boil up once.
Creamed Salmon, No. 2
Make a good white sauce by rubbing a tablespoonful of flour into a tablespoonful of melted butter; when smooth add one cup of cold milk, and stir while it is cooking; add one can of salmon separated into small pieces; if the sauce seems too thick, add a little of the liquor from the fish; serve this on soft buttered toast or square soda crackers; this may be varied by adding one-half teaspoonful of curry powder to the sauce, rubbing it in with the flour and butter; serve for breakfast, dinner, or supper. It can be prepared in ten minutes.
Creamed Salmon, No. 3
One can of salmon; one cup milk; two level tablespoonfuls flour; two level tablespoonfuls butter; one teaspoonful chopped parsley; melt butter; add flour, rubbing together over blaze until flour begins to cook; add milk, stirring constantly; boil till smooth; add parsley and salmon; keep on stove till salmon heats through; serve on squares of buttered toast or in pastry cups.
Curried Salmon
Melt two tablespoonfuls of butter in a saucepan, add one-third cup of flour, and one teaspoonful of curry powder; rub smooth in one pint of milk; stir until it boils; season with salt; add one can of salmon, and heat thoroughly while stirring; place in centre of a platter, and border with hot boiled rice seasoned with salt and dotted with butter.
Salmon Fritters
One and one-third cupfuls of pastry flour, two level teaspoonfuls baking powder, one-fourth teaspoonful of salt, 1 egg, two-thirds cup of milk. Mix and sift dry ingredients, add milk gradually, then egg well beaten. Season three-fourths of a cup of minced salmon with salt, cayenne pepper, and lemon juice, if desired. Add to the batter and drop by spoonfuls into deep fat and brown. Drain on brown paper and serve hot with Tartar sauce.
Salmon Stuffed Hot Rolls
Bake ordinary full crust rolls. Use one roll for each person; cut off the tops of the rolls, scoop out the crumbs, brush inside and outside with melted butter, and put into hot oven until they are a delicate brown. Make a creamed salmon with chopped parsley and the whites of hard-boiled eggs in it. Heat the cases, fill with the creamed salmon, cover, and serve.
Salmon Croquettes
One pint of chopped salmon, two-thirds cup of cream, one large tablespoonful of butter, small tablespoonful of flour, two eggs, two-thirds pint of bread-crumbs; salt and pepper to taste. Mix the flour and butter, let cream come to boiling point, stir in butter and salmon and seasoning. Boil two minutes, let get cold. Form into croquettes and fry in hot lard.
Salmon with White Sauce
One large-sized can of salmon. Heat the salmon and put on platter in one piece if possible. Make white sauce and pour over the salmon. Have three eggs hard boiled and slice over top. Garnish with parsley.
Salmon Patties
One can of salmon. Pour off oil and remove all skin and bones and break into flakes. Melt one tablespoonful of butter in a saucepan, mix smoothly with it two tablespoonfuls of flour; then add slowly two cups of milk and season with one teaspoonful of salt, one-half teaspoonful of pepper, a dash of mace, one teaspoonful parsley minced very fine. Add flaked salmon, cook four minutes, stirring constantly. Put in patty shells and serve.
Salmon Omelette
One-half can of salmon, four eggs, nutmeg, salt and pepper, four tablespoonfuls of boiling water. Beat eggs light (the whites separately), add salmon minced and drained, seasoning, and lastly add hot water. Put in well-buttered omelette pan, cook till firm. Serve with toast for breakfast.
Salmon Hash
One can salmon flaked coarse; one cup rolled cracker crumbs; one cup milk. Have a skillet hot; place two tablespoonfuls of butter; when melted, put in the cracker crumbs, stir; then the flaked salmon; stir these together, season well with pepper, salt, a dash of cayenne, and then mix one-fourth teaspoonful of dry mustard with the oil that was on the salmon and stir in the mixture, then one cup of milk. When the whole is thoroughly heated through and thick it is ready to serve. This makes an excellent dish to prepare on short notice.
Salmon Eggs
Three hard-boiled eggs, one-half cup shredded salmon, two tablespoonfuls mustard pickles, four chopped green olives, salt and pepper to taste, three tablespoonfuls of mayonnaise (thin with lemon juice or vinegar). Cut eggs in half, remove yolks. Mix together yolks, salmon, pickles, olives, mayonnaise, salt, and pepper. Put this mixture into the halved whites of eggs. Serve on lettuce leaves, with a teaspoonful of thick mayonnaise on each egg.
Salmon Soup
One can of salmon; bring one quart of milk to boil in double boiler, season with pinch of salt, pepper, and Spanish saffron, also a dash of nutmeg, if liked; then thicken with three tablespoonfuls of flour rubbed into three ounces of butter. Add contents of a can of salmon carefully freed from bones and skin and rubbed to a paste. Blend all carefully, and just before taking up add one-half teaspoonful onion juice and sprinkle with shredded parsley.
SMELTS
About 5,000 tons of these dainty little fish are caught annually on the Atlantic coast. They are always sold fresh.
Smelts
The only way to cook smelts is to fry them, although they are sometimes baked. Open them at the gills. Draw each smelt separately between your finger and thumb, beginning at the tail; this will press the insides out. (Some persons never take out the insides, but it should be done as much as in any other fish.) Wash them clean, and let them drain in a colander, then salt and roll iu a mixture half flour and half Indian meal. Have about two inches deep of boiling fat in the frying-pan (drippings if you have them; if not lard); into this drop the smelts, and fry brown. Do not put so many in that they will be crowded; if you do, they will not be crisp and brown.
SARDINES
These fish are caught in enormous quantities in weirs in Charlotte and St. John Counties, New Brunswick. The greater quantity is sold at the weirs to buyers from United States' sardine canneries; but there is a rapidly growing canning industry in Canada. About 100,000 cases are now being canned annually in Charlotte County. They are ready to serve as they come from the can.
WHITEFISH
From our inland waters there are taken annually nearly 7,000 tons of an excellent food fish known as whitefish. This fish may be cooked by frying in the usual manner, or by baking according to the recipe for baked stuffed haddock given on page 35.
FRESH-WATER HERRING
This variety of whitefish, generally known as herring, is a delicious fish. It is taken in considerable quantities from the great lakes bordering the province of Ontario. The average annual catch amounts to nearly 5,000 tons. It may be cooked in the manner prescribed for whitefish.
Lake Trout may be baked, broiled or fried. The meat is very white and particularly sweet.
Pickerel may be baked, broiled or fried.
Perch are best when fried.
Pike is a white-fleshed, wholesome fish and is best when baked or boiled.
Cat-fish should be skinned and fried.
Tullibee is very similar to Whitefish and should be cooked in the same manner.
Goldeyes are a little larger, but otherwise similar, to herring and are very tasty when fried. To cook, they should be placed in a shallow pan which has been covered with brown paper. Heat thoroughly in the oven with a moderate fire until the fish spread open. When cooked the heads and skin are easily removed. Serve whole on a hot platter and garnish with lettuce or parsley.
MISCELLANEOUS
Frying
Procure slices about three-quarters of an inch thick, wipe and season with salt and pepper; fry in the ordinary way; place the cooked fish on a hot dish; garnish with parsley and slices of lemon and serve quickly.
Panned Fish
This is suitable for any small fish or such as can be cut in slices. Have the fish well cleaned, seasoned with pepper and salt and dried with a little flour or, better still, very fine bread-crumbs. Have a large frying-pan smoking hot with as little grease in it as will keep the fish from sticking. Dripping from good, sweet salt pork is the best, but any sweet dripping will do. When the fat begins to smoke blue lay in the fish and brown quickly on both sides, then cover closely and set back to cook more slowly, from ten to twenty minutes, according to size of the fish. Bass in all its varieties is suitable to cook in this way, so are butter-fish, cisco, perch, herring, trout, bream, etc.
Steamed Fish
Clean carefully, but without removing head or fins. Rub inside and out with salt, pepper, and lemon juice, laying slices of onion inside, if liked. Lay on a buttered paper and steam till the flesh parts easily from the bones. Lay on a folded napkin, dress with lemon and parsley and send to the table with Poulette sauce.
Baked Fish (fresh-water)
The best fresh-water fish to bake are Whitefish, Bass, Pickerel, Pike, etc., all having v/hite flesh. They should be basted often and a stuffing also serves to keep the fish moist, as well as to season it. Clean, wash and wipe dry the fish. If fish is slimy, like Muskalonge, scald with hot water before attempting to clean. Rub with salt inside and out, stuff and sew with soft cotton, leaving knot at one end, so cotton can easily be removed when fish is cooked. Put fish on a sheet and rub all over with soft butter, salt and pepper, cut gashes about two inches apart and place narrow strips of salt pork in them. Dredge with flour, if desired, and put in hot oven, without water, basting with hot water and butter as soon as it begins to brown, and repeat every ten minutes. Remove it carefully from the fish sheet and place it on a hot platter, remove string, wipe ofl all water or fat which runs from the fish and remove the pork. Pour drawn butter sauce around (not over) the fish. Flavour sauce with lemon, piling potato chips lightly around fish. Garnish the head with parsley or water-cress.
Broiled Fish
Clean, wash and dry the fish. Split so that the backbone will be in the middle when the fish is lying flat, or remove the backbone. Sprinkle with salt and lay, inside down, upon a buttered gridiron over a clear fire until it is nicely coloured, then turn. When done put upon a hot dish, buttered plentifully, and pepper. Serve hot.
Creamed Fish for Breakfast
Soak the required amount of fish overnight. In the morning turn off the water, tear the fish into small pieces, cover with fresh water, bring to a boil, drain, and cook one minute in a rich cream sauce. The addition of a beaten egg makes it very delicious. Serve on buttered toast.
Creamed Fish with Cheese
Prepare the fish as in the preceding recipe, turn into a buttered baidng-dish, sprinkle grated cheese thickly over the top and bake a delicate brown.
Fish Salad
Shred some boiled salmon, halibut, or other fish, mix with it half as much boiled potato cut in small cubes; serve on lettuce leaves with salad cream. Shredded lettuce or peas may be used in place of potatoes. Garnish with sliced lemon and boiled beets cut in fancy shapes.
Stuffing for Baked Fish, No. 1
For a fish weighing four to six pounds take one cup of cracker crumbs, one saltspoonful of salt, one saltspoonful of pepper, one teaspoonful of chopped onions, one teaspoonful of chopped parsley, one teaspoonful of capers, one teaspoonful of chopped pickles.
Stuffing for Baked Fish, No. 2
Take about half a pound of stale bread and soak in water, and when soft press out the water; add a very little chopped suet, pepper, salt, a large tablespoonful of onion minced and fried, and, if prepared, a little minced parsley; cook a trifle, and after removing from the fire add a beaten egg.
Stuffing for Baked Trout
To enough breadcrumbs add a little onion and anchovy sauce. Crumble a small piece of cooked salmon into the dressing. Add butter, pepper, salt and savoury. Mix thoroughly.
Fish Balls, No. 1
Take the fish left from the dinner, put it in your chopping tray, being careful that there are no bones in it; chop fine. Pare and boil potatoes enough to have twice the quantity of potatoes that you have of fish. When cooked turn them into the tray with the fish, mash fine, and make into balls about the size of an egg. Flour the outside lightly; have the fat boiling hot, and fry a light brown. The fat should be half lard and half salt pork. Have the sHces of pork a nice brown, and serve with the fish balls.
Fish Balls, No. 2
One cup salt fish freshened and stripped; two cups potatoes cut in cubes; one teaspoonful butter; pepper, one egg, well beaten. Boil the fish and potato together about fifteen minutes, or until the potato is done; drain off the water and mash together until fish and potatoes are perfectly blended. Add the butter and pepper, and beat with a fork until light. Let it cool a little and then add the egg. Shape lightly in a spoon, slip into a frying basket and fry one minute in smoking hot lard. Do not fry more than five at a time, as more cools the fat. Drain on a paper, garnish with parsley, and serve hot. These may be served with a tomato sauce. (See under "Fish Sauces").
Fish Cakes
Wash salt codfish and separate in pieces; there should be one cupful. Wash, pare and soak potatoes and cut in pieces of uniform size; there should be two cupfuls (heaping). Put fish and potatoes in kettle with a generous supply of boiling water, and cook until potatoes are soft. Drain, return to kettle, mash, add one egg, well beaten, one teaspoonful butter, one-eighth teaspoonful pepper, and a few drops of onion juice. Shape in flat cakes, roll in flour and saute in pork fat.
Fish Toast
One cup flaked cold fish, free from skin and bones. Heat in water sufficient to moisten, add butter; pepper and salt. When hot pour on slices of buttered toast; garnish with eggs poached in muffin rings.
Fish Chowder, No. 1
Take a fresh haddock of three or four pounds, clean it well and cut in pieces of three inches square. Place in bottom of your dinner pot five or six slices of salt pork, fry brown, then add three onions, sliced thin, and fry these brown. Remove the kettle from the fire, and place on the onions and pork a layer of fish. Sprinkle over a little pepper and salt, then a layer of pared and sliced potatoes, a layer of fish and potatoes, till the fish is all used up. Cover with water, and let it boil for half-hour. Pound six biscuits or crackers fine as meal and pour into the pot and lastly add one pint milk. Let it scald well and serve.
Fish Chowder, No. 2
Skin a four-pound haddock, wash thoroughly, and cut the fish from the bones in pieces about two inches square. Cover the head and bones with cold water and boil one-half hour. Slice two small white onions in a pan with four slices of thin, fat, salt pork. When tender, skim out the pork and onions and add the strained bone liquor and one quart of sliced raw potato. Cook ten minutes, then add the fish, one tablespoonful of salt, one-half teaspoonful of white pepper, when the potatoes are tender, add one quart of hot milk which has been thickened with two ounces of butter and flour mixed together. Do not break the fish by needless stirring. Split six crackers, arrange in a tureen, and pour the fish chowder over them.
FISH SAUCES
Dressing for Salmon Loaf
One cup sweet milk (added to the juice of salmon), one tablespoonful butter, one tablespoonful of flour; cook till thick. Add one egg beaten light and pour over loaf.
Sauce for Salmon
Thicken one cup of boiling milk with one teaspoonful of cornstarch (or flour), and one tablespoonful of butter rubbed together. Add liquor from the salmon, season with salt, cayenne, and one tablespoonful of tomato catsup. Just before taking from the fire add one beaten egg.
omato Sauce
One-half can tomatoes; one-half onion, minced; three peppers. Stew these together ten minutes. Melt one tablespoonful butter, add one heaping tablespoonful flour, strain the tomato on to this. Cook till it thickens, and pour around fish.
Cream Sauce
Two tablespoonfuls butter; two tablespoonfuls flour; one-half teaspoonful salt; one-half saltspoonful pepper; one pint milk. Melt the butter, add the flour, and stir until the lumps disappear. Pour the milk on gradually, stirring constantly, add the salt and pepper and cook until it thickens.
White Fish Sauce
One half ounce cornflour, one-quarter ounce ordinary flour, one and one-half ounces butter, one-half pint fish stock, one gill milk, salt, and pepper. Boil the stock and milk with a bay leaf and a slice of onion for five minutes. Melt the butter in a small sauce or stew-pan; when hot, put in the flour and cornflour, and stir over the fire for a few seconds, taking care that the flour does not brown, then slowly pour on the boiled stock and milk. Stir the whole till it boils, and let it simmer for about ten minutes. Strain, season to taste with salt, pepper, and a few drops of lemon-juice.
Oyster Sauce
Blanch six large-sized oysters, remove the beards, and cut the oysters into quarters or eights. Have ready about one-half pint whitefish sauce, to which add the strained liquor of the oysters, boil up and add the oysters. Reheat and add a few drops of lemon-juice.
Melted Butter Sauce
One and one-half ounces of butter, one ounce of flour, about one-half pint of cold water, a pinch of grated nutmeg, salt. Put the butter in the saucepan, let it melt, stir in the flour, now add the water gradually (if it is to be served with fish, use fish stock in place of water), stir, and bring it gently to a boil. Add a pinch of salt and rather less than a pinch of grated nutmeg. This sauce is served with all kinds of fried, boiled, or grilled fish, etc.
Egg Sauce
Remove the shell from a hard-boiled egg, separate the yolk from the white, and chop the latter rather finely. Mix this with one-half pint whitefish sauce, heat up, and pour over boiled fish so as to completely cover it. Rub the yolks through a strainer or sieve, and with it decorate the surface of the fish.
Tartare Sauce
Put two yolks of eggs in a basin, place it in a shallow pan containing some crushed ice, add one-half teaspoonful of salt, a good pinch of white pepper, a pinch of cayenne, and one-half teaspoonful of mustard; stir well together and gradually add one-half pint of salad oil, and about one-quarter of a gill of vinegar; when the sauce is smooth and creamy, stir in a good tablespoonful of cold white sauce, one teaspoonful of chopped gherkins, one of chopped capers, one-half of chopped parsley, and about one-quarter of a teaspoonful of finely chopped tarragon and chervil. Do not mix the gherkins, capers, etc., until the sauce is finished, as it is likely to cause the sauce to turn if put in too soon. A few drops of lemon-juice may be added if the sauce is found too thick.
SALT FISH
All salted fish must be rinsed thoroughly to remove the outside salt before being put to soak. Always tear it in pieces, never cut with a knife.
SHELL-FISH
Lobsters and Oysters
To inland dwellers the lobster and oyster are well known, and it is unnecessary to say more of these than that the annual average catch of the former amounts to about 30,000 tons, most of which reaches the consumer preserved in cans, while the catch of the latter is 3,000 tons annually.
To Prepare Oysters for Cooking
Pour half a cup of cold water over one quart of oysters; take out each oyster separately with fingers and free from any bits of shell. The oyster liquor may be strained and used in soup, stew, or escallop if desired. Fried and broiled oysters are much better and cook easier if parboiled slightly before crumbing. Place one pint of cleaned oysters in a frying basket and keep it for one-half minute in a kettle of boiling water deep enough to cover them. Drain, dry on a soft towel and proceed as usual.
Fried Oysters, No. 1
Select large oysters, clean, and parboil slightly to draw out some of the water. Drain and dry on a towel. Roll in fine bread and cracker crumbs, dip in mayonnaise dressing, then in crumbs again. Let them stand five minutes, and if they seem moist, dip again in crumbs, and cook in deep hot fat for one minute. Being already cooked, they only need to be thoroughly heated and the crumbs browned.
Fried Oysters, No. 2
Select the largest oysters, drain and dry between towels; dip in beaten egg, then in dry sifted bread-crumbs which have been seasoned with salt and pepper, and fry in a wire basket in deep fat. These may be prepared some hours before cooking and the breading process repeated after the first coat is dry.
Oysters Fried in Batter
One cup of milk, two eggs well beaten, pepper, salt, and flour to make a moderately stiff batter. Add one cup of oysters with their liquor, season with grated nutmeg, and drop by spoonfuls into deep fat and fry. One-half a teaspoonful of baking powder sifted into the flour will make a light and puffy batter. If preferred the oysters may be dipped in the batter one at a time, but small oysters are better when mixed with the batter.
Baked Oysters
Put a round of toasted bread into a small baking cup or dish; spread with butter and fill with oyster; season with salt, pepper, and butter. Fill as many cups as required, place them in a baking pan in oven, cover with a pan and bake about ten minutes.
Pigs in Blankets
Have at hand oysters, salt, pepper, sliced fat bacon. Clean and season some nice large oysters, with salt and pepper. Wrap each oyster in a slice of thin bacon, pinning it with a toothpick. Cook them until the bacon is crisp.
Creamed Oysters
Prepare cream sauce, taking one-half the quantity of butter; scald the oysters until the edges begin to curl, drain and drop them into the cream sauce; let all stand in bain marie for five minutes to season thoroughly. Serve in Swedish timbales or in pâté shells. It is very nice used as a filling for shortcake, croustade, or on toast.
Oyster Salad
First bring to a boil one pint of oysters, drain from liquor, and when cold mix with two stalks of celery cut in fine pieces; place on a bed of lettuce leaves or watercress and serve with mayonnaise dressing and crisped crackers.
Scalloped Oysters
Clean one pint of medium-sized oysters. Moisten one teacup of cracker crumbs with one-third of a cup of melted butter. Spread one-quarter of the crumbs in a baking dish, over them put one-half of the oysters, season with salt, white pepper, and lemon-juice. Then spread another quarter of a cup of the crumbs, then the remaining oysters. Season again with salt, pepper, and lemon-juice, and cover with the remaining crumbs. Bake in quick oven until the liquor bubbles and the crumbs are brown.
Oyster Patties, No. 1
One quart oysters, minced fine with a sharp knife; one cup rich drawn butter based upon milk; cayenne and black pepper to taste. Stir minced oysters in drawn butter and cook five minutes. Have ready some shapes of pastry, baked in pattie-pans, then slipped out. Fill these with the mixture; set in oven two minutes to heat, and send to table.
Oyster Patties, No. 2
Work one ounce of butter and one tablespoonful of flour into a smooth paste. When warm, add a little ground mace, salt, and cayenne. Gradually stir in three tablespoonfuls of cream. Boil for three or four minutes, then pour in the strained liquor of two dozen small oysters. Lastly, add the oysters. Stir for a few minutes and fill patties prepared as follows: Line some patty pans with thin puff paste, fill with rice so they will keep their shape, cover the top with another piece of pastry. Bake in brisk oven. When baked, take off the top, empty out the rice, fill with the oysters, which have been kept warm, replace cover, and serve.
CLAMS
There is another shell-fish, however, which is not so well known inland, but of which there is a plentiful supply on both the east and west coasts of this country. It is the clam, of several varieties. In an average year over 10,000 tons of clams are brought to land. A large part of these is used by deep-sea fishermen for bait. Probably a third of the catch is preserved and presented to consumers in cans. The following modes of cooking this common but delicious bivalve will be found to produce an excellent dish. When the liquor is not used in the recipe it may be served as broth, or in a soup.
Chowder
Three slices salt pork, cut in small pieces; four potatoes, sliced; three onions, sliced; one can clams; pepper and salt. Fry out the pork and remove the scraps. Put in the kettle a layer of potatoes, etc., until all are in. Add pepper and salt and cook ten minutes in just enough water to cover. Add the clam liquor and clams and one cup milk and cook five minutes longer, or until the potatoes are done. If the clams are very large, cut them in pieces. Lastly, add three or four common crackers, and serve.
Fried Clams
Remove clams from can, dip each one in cornmeal, beaten egg, and meal again, and fry in smoking-hot deep fat until brown. Bread-crumbs may be substituted for cornmeal if you prefer it.
Clam Fritters
Make a fritter batter as for griddle cakes, stir into it the clams cut in small pieces and drop by the spoonful into smoking-hot deep lard. Fry brown, drain on paper and serve with slices of lemon. The clam liquor may be used instead of milk in making the batter and they may be fried in a spider, like griddle cakes.
Clam Stew
To a can of clams add three cups of milk and three cups of water, scalded together. Add three crackers rolled, a tablespoonful of butter, pepper and salt, and bring the whole to a boil. Serve immediately.
Clam Escalops
Wash and chop clams quite fine, butter a baking dish first, put in a layer of cracker crumbs, one tablespoonful of the liquor, add bits of butter, salt and pepper and a layer of clams. Proceed until dish is full, having crumbs on tops, moisten with half a cup of milk. Bake about twenty minutes. Salmon baked this way instead of clams is nice.
An Inexpensive Supper Dish
Take one pint clams, remove the black, chop clams into small pieces. Butter baking dish, put clams, peppered and salted, into bottom of dish. Cream four large potatoes and lay in on top of clams. Mash three large carrots and season with pepper, salt and butter. Put carrots on top of potatoes and press down well. Sprinkle crkcker crumbs and grated cheese on top. Lastly, pour on one-half cup of milk and bake until a golden brown. This dish can be gotten up for twenty-five cents and will serve five people.
SEA-MUSSEL
Sea-Mussel Stew
One-half peck of mussels steamed and cleaned as usual. Remove the meats from the shells and place in a soup tureen with their own liquor. Add a pint of boiling milk, four ounces of butter, salt and pepper to taste, and serve piping hot with oyster crackers.
Mussel Chowder, New England Style
Clean and cook the mussels as usual. Remove the meat; take out the beard, preserving the broth or liquor in another dish. To a half peck of mussels take three ounces of salt pork, cut in small dice, and fry in a kettle; add two onions, sliced, and cook well, but do not let brown; add a teaspoonful of flour; stir well. Then add the liquor with the same amount of water. Let it come to a boil, and add three potatoes sliced thin. Boil slowly until they are done, then add the mussels and a pint of boiling milk. Season well, and serve with pilot or soft crackers.
WHEN NOT TO USE SEA MUSSELS
Sea mussels are wholesome, but, as in the case of all animal foods, there are conditions under which they should not be gathered or eaten. Dead or stale mussels are apt to contain the same dangerous decomposition products, ptomaines, as are found in other stale or putrefying animal foods. They should be alive when purchased, and this can be determined by observing if the shells be closed. If the shells gape, the mussels are either dead or weak and possibly dying, and should not be used.
SPECIAL NOTICE TO HOUSEWIVES
In buying fresh fish, see that the eyes are bright and prominent and the flesh firm, not flabby.