Читать книгу The Cooking Manual of Practical Directions for Economical Every-Day Cookery - Juliet Corson - Страница 10

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When fish is rather deficient in flavor, a little vinegar rubbed over the skin; and a few sweet herbs boiled with it will greatly improve it. For boiling, large fish should be placed on the fire in cold water, and small ones in hot water; both are done when the fins pull out easily. Fish soup is the most economical of all fish dishes; baked fish the second best; broiled fish retains nearly all its nourishment; and boiled fish is the poorest of all. The following technical terms are used to denote different methods of cooking fish: to dress fish à la Hollandaise is to boil it in sea water; à l'eau de sel, in salt and water; au court bouillon, with cold water, white wine or vinegar, sweet herbs, soup vegetables, lemon, and whole spices; à la bonne eau, with sweet herbs and cold water; au bleu, in equal quantities of red wine and cold water, highly flavored with spices and aromatic herbs.

13. Boiled Cod with Oyster Sauce.—Lay two pounds of cod in enough cold water to cover it, with a tablespoonful of salt, for an hour or more before cooking; then put it to boil in three quarts of cold water, with two tablespoonfuls of salt; as soon as the fish is done, set the kettle containing it off the fire, and let the fish stand in it until you are ready to use it; meantime put a pint of oysters on the fire to boil in their own liquor; as soon as they boil drain them, and put the liquor again on the fire to boil; mix together in a sauce-pan over the fire one ounce of butter and one ounce of flour, as soon as it bubbles, gradually pour in the boiling oyster liquor, and stir with an egg whip until the sauce is quite smooth; season with half a teaspoonful of salt, an eighth of a saltspoonful of pepper, and the same of nutmeg; and add the oysters. Take up the fish, serve it on a napkin, and send it to the table with a bowl containing the oyster sauce.

14. Baked Blackfish.—Have a fish weighing from two to two and a half pounds cleaned by the fishmonger; rub it well with a handful of salt, to remove the slime peculiar to this fish, wash it well, and wipe it with a clean, dry cloth; stuff it with the following forcemeat. Put four ounces of stale bread to soak in sufficient luke-warm water to cover it; meantime fry one ounce of chopped onion in one ounce of butter until it is light brown; then wring the bread dry in a clean towel, put it into the onion with two tablespoonfuls of chopped parsley, one ounce of salt pork chopped fine, one teaspoonful of chopped capers or pickles, one teaspoonful of salt, quarter of a saltspoonful of white pepper, and one gill of broth or hot water; stir until it is scalding hot, when it will cleave from the bottom and sides of the sauce-pan; then stuff the fish with it, and lay it in a dripping pan on one ounce of carrot and one ounce of onion sliced, one bay leaf and two sprigs of parsley; cover the fish with slices of salt pork, season it with a saltspoonful of salt, and one fourth that quantity of pepper, and bake it in a moderate oven for half an hour, basting it occasionally with a little butter, or stock. When it is done, put it on a dish to keep hot while you prepare a sauce by straining the drippings in the pan, and adding to them one tablespoonful each of walnut catsup, Worcestershire sauce, chopped capers, and chopped parsley. Pour a little of this sauce in the bottom of the dish under the fish, and serve the rest with it in a bowl.

15. Broiled Shad with Maître d'hotel butter.—Choose a medium sized shad, weighing about three pounds, have it cleaned and split down the back; turn it occasionally for an hour or more, in a marinade made of one tablespoonful of salad oil, or melted butter, one of vinegar, a saltspoonful of salt, and quarter of a saltspoonful of pepper; lay it on a gridiron, rubbed with a little butter to prevent sticking, broil it slowly, doing the inside first, and, after laying it on a hot dish, spread over it some maître d'hotel butter.

16. Maître d'hotel Butter.—Mix together cold, one ounce of butter, a tablespoonful of chopped parsley, a teaspoonful of lemon juice, and quarter of a saltspoonful of pepper; and spread it over the broiled shad. This butter is excellent for any kind of broiled fish, or for steaks.

17. Fried Smelts, French Style.—Carefully wipe two pounds of cleaned smelts with a dry cloth; dip them in milk, then roll them in finely powdered cracker crumbs, next in an egg beaten with a saltspoonful of salt, and quarter of a saltspoonful of pepper, and then again in cracker crumbs; fry them in enough smoking hot fat to cover them, until they are golden brown; take them from the fat with a skimmer, lay them on a napkin, or a piece of paper to absorb all fat; and serve them laid in rows with a few quarters of lemon on the side of the dish.

18. Fillet of Sole au gratin.—Choose two flounders weighing about three pounds. Lay them on the table with the dark side uppermost; with a sharp, thin-bladed knife cut down to the back bone, following the dark line in the middle of the fish; then turn the edge of the knife outward, and cut towards the fins, keeping the blade flat against the bone, and removing one quarter of the flesh of the fish in a single piece; proceed in the same way until you have eight fillets; carefully cut the skin from them; season them with salt and pepper, lay them on a buttered dish suitable to send to table, sprinkle them thickly with sifted cracker crumbs, and a little grated Parmesan, or any rich, dry cheese; put a few bits of butter over them, using not more than an ounce in all, and brown them in a quick oven. Serve them as soon as they are nicely browned. This is a very savory and delicate dish, requiring some practice to do nicely, but comparatively inexpensive, and well worth all trouble taken in making it.

19. St. James Fish Chowder.—Put half a pound of sliced salt pork in the bottom of a deep sauce-pan and fry it brown; take it out, and put in layers of potatoes, onions and fish sliced, seasoning each layer plentifully with salt and pepper; using about three pounds of fish, and a quart each of potatoes and onions; cover with cold water, bring gradually to a boil, and cook slowly for thirty minutes; then add two pounds of sea-biscuits soaked for five minutes in warm water, and boil five minutes longer and serve. This receipt calls for the addition of half a pint of port wine, and a bottle of champagne to be added to the chowder just before serving; but it is quite good enough without, and far less expensive.

20. Club House Fish Cakes.—Wash and boil one quart of potatoes, putting them on the fire in cold water enough to cover them, and a tablespoonful of salt. Put one and a half pounds of salt codfish on the fire in plenty of cold water, and bring it slowly to a boil; as soon as it boils throw off that water, and put it again on the fire in fresh cold water; if the fish is very salt change the water a third time. Free the fish from skin and bone; peel the potatoes, mash them through a colander with a potato masher, season them with quarter of a saltspoonful of pepper and an ounce of butter; add the yolks of two eggs, and the fish; mix well, and make into cakes, using a little flour to prevent sticking to the hands. Fry them golden brown in enough smoking hot fat to nearly cover them; observe that in frying any article of food it will not soak fat if the latter be hot enough to carbonize the outside at once, and smoking hot fat will do that.

21. Sardine Sandwiches.—Butter sixteen thin slices of bread on both sides, put between each two a very thin layer of sardines, sprinkled with a little lemon juice, and brown them in a quick oven.

22. Warmed up boiled fish, with Dutch Sauce.—Put the cold fish on the fire in plenty of cold water and salt, and let it come slowly to a boil; meantime make a sauce for it as follows.

23. Dutch Sauce.—Put one ounce of butter, and one ounce of flour in a sauce-pan over the fire, and stir constantly until it bubbles; then add gradually one gill of boiling water, remove the sauce from the fire, stir in the yolks of three eggs, one at a time, add one saltspoonful of dry mustard; add one tablespoonful of vinegar and three of oil, gradually, drop by drop, stirring constantly till smooth. When the fish is warmed take it up carefully without breaking and serve with the Dutch sauce in a boat.