The Whitehouse Cookbook (1887), Hugo Ziemann [world of reading .TXT] 📗

salt; butter a sheet of white paper, lay each slice on a separate piece, envelop them in it with their ends twisted; broil gently over a clear fire, and serve with anchovy or caper sauce. When higher seasoning is required, add a few chopped herbs and a little spice.

FRESH SALMON FRIED.

Cut the slices three-quarters of an inch thick, dredge them with flour, or dip them in egg and crumbs; fry a light brown. This mode answers for all fish cut into steaks. Season well with salt and pepper.

SALMON AND CAPER SAUCE.

Two slices of salmon, one-quarter pound butter, one-half teaspoonful of chopped parsley, one shallot; salt and pepper to taste.

Lay the salmon in a baking dish, place pieces of butter over it, and add the other ingredients, rubbing a little of the seasoning into the fish; place it in the oven and baste it frequently; when done, take it out and drain for a minute or two; lay it in a dish, pour caper sauce over it and serve. Salmon dressed in this way, with tomato sauce, is very delicious.

BROILED SALT SALMON OR OTHER SALT FISH.

Soak salmon in tepid or cold water twenty-four hours, changing water several times, or let stand under faucet of running water. If in a hurry, or desiring a very salt relish, it may do to soak a short time, having water warm, and changing, parboiling slightly. At the hour wanted, broil sharply. Season to suit taste, covering with butter. This recipe will answer for all kinds of salt fish.

PICKLED SALMON.

Take a fine, fresh salmon, and, having cleaned it, cut it into large pieces, and boil it in salted water as if for eating. Then drain it, wrap it in a dry cloth, and set it in a cold place till next day. Then make the pickle, which must be in proportion to the quantity of fish. To one quart of the water in which the salmon was boiled, allow two quarts of the best vinegar, one ounce of whole black pepper, one nutmeg grated and a dozen blades of mace. Boil all these together in a kettle closely covered to prevent the flavor from evaporating. When the vinegar thus prepared is quite cold, pour it over the salmon, and put on the top a tablespoonful of sweet oil, which will make it keep the longer.

Cover it closely, put it in a dry, cool place, and it will be good for many months. This is the nicest way of preserving salmon, and is approved by all who have tried it.

SMOKED SALMON.

Smoked salmon to be broiled should be put upon the gridiron first, with the flesh side to the fire.

Smoked salmon is very nice when shaved like smoked beef, and served with coffee or tea.

FRICASSEE SALMON.

This way of cooking fresh salmon is a pleasant change from the ordinary modes of cooking it. Cut one and one-half pounds of salmon into pieces one inch square; put the pieces in a stewpan with half a cupful of water, a little salt, a little white pepper, one clove, one blade of mace, three pieces of sugar, one shallot and a heaping teaspoonful of mustard mixed smoothly with half a teacupful of vinegar. Let this boil up once and add six tomatoes peeled and cut into tiny pieces, a few sprigs of parsley finely minced, and one wine-glassful of sherry. Let all simmer gently for three-quarters of an hour. Serve very hot, and garnish with dry toast cut in triangular pieces. This dish is good, very cold, for luncheon or breakfast.

SALMON PATTIES.

Cut cold, cooked salmon into dice. Heat about a pint of the dice in half a pint of cream. Season to taste with cayenne pepper and salt. Fill the shells and serve. Cold, cooked fish of any kind may be made into patties in this way. Use any fish sauce you choose—all are equally good.

FISH AND OYSTER PIE.

Any remains of cold fish, such as cod or haddock, 2 dozen oysters, pepper and salt to taste, bread crumbs, sufficient for the quantity of fish; ½ teaspoonful of grated nutmeg, 1 teaspoonful of finely chopped parsley.

Clear the fish from the bones, and put a layer of it in a pie-dish, which sprinkle with pepper and salt; then a layer of bread crumbs, oysters, nutmeg and chopped parsley. Repeat this till the dish is quite full. You may form a covering either of bread crumbs, which should be browned, or puff-paste, which should be cut off into long strips, and laid in cross-bars over the fish, with a line of the paste first laid round the edge. Before putting on the top, pour in some made melted butter, or a little thin white sauce, and the oyster-liquor, and bake.

Time.—If of cooked fish, ¼ hour; if made of fresh fish and puff-paste, ¾ hour.

STEAMED FISH.

Secure the tail of the fish in its mouth, the body in a circle; pour over it half a pint of vinegar, seasoned with pepper and salt; let it stand an hour in a cool place; pour off the vinegar, and put it in a steamer over boiling water, and steam twenty minutes, or longer for large fish. When the meat easily separates from the bone it is done. Drain well and serve on a very clean white napkin, neatly folded and placed on the platter; decorate the napkin around the fish with sprigs of curled parsley, or with fanciful beet cuttings, or alternately with both.

TO BROIL A SHAD.

Split and wash the shad and afterwards dry it in a cloth. Season it with salt and pepper. Have ready a bed of clear, bright coals. Grease your gridiron well, and as soon as it is hot, lay the shad upon it, the flesh side down; cover with a dripping-pan and broil it for about a quarter of an hour, or more, according to the thickness. Butter it well and send it to the table. Covering it while broiling gives it a more delicious flavor.

BAKED SHAD.

Many people are of the opinion that the very best method of cooking a shad is to bake it. Stuff it with bread crumbs, salt, pepper, butter and parsley, and mix this up with the beaten yolk of egg; fill the fish with it, and sew it up or fasten a string around it. Pour over it a little water and some butter, and bake as you would a fowl. A shad will require from an hour to an hour and a quarter to bake. Garnish with slices of lemon, water cress, etc.

Dressing for Baked Shad.—Boil up the gravy in which the shad was baked, put in a large tablespoonful of catsup, a tablespoonful of brown flour which has been wet with cold water, the juice of a lemon, and a glass of sherry or Madeira wine. Serve in a sauce boat.

TO COOK A SHAD ROE.

Drop into boiling water and cook gently for twenty minutes; then take from the fire and drain. Butter a tin plate and lay the drained roe upon it. Dredge well with salt and pepper and spread soft butter over it; then dredge thickly with flour. Cook in the oven for half an hour, basting frequently with salt, pepper, flour, butter and water.

TO COOK SHAD ROE. (Another Way.)

First partly boil them in a small covered pan, take out and season them with salt, a little pepper, dredge with flour and fry as any fish.

BOILED BASS.

After thoroughly cleaning it place in a saucepan with enough water to cover it; add two tablespoonfuls of salt; set the saucepan over the fire, and when it has boiled about five minutes try to pull out one of the fins; if it loosens easily from the body carefully take the fish out of the water, lay it on a platter, surround it with half a dozen hard-boiled eggs, and serve it with a sauce.

BOILED BLUEFISH.

Boiled the same as BASS.

BAKED BLUEFISH.

Baked the same as BAKED SHAD—see page 55.

FRIED EELS.

After cleaning the eels well, cut them in pieces two inches long; wash them and wipe them dry; roll them in wheat flour or rolled cracker, and fry, as directed for other fish, in hot lard or beef dripping, salted. They should be browned all over and thoroughly done.

Eels are sometimes dipped in batter and then fried, or into egg and bread crumbs. Serve with crisped parsley.

SHEEPSHEAD WITH DRAWN BUTTER.

Select a medium-sized fish, clean it thoroughly, and rub a little salt over it; wrap it in a cloth and put it in a steamer; place this over a pot of fast-boiling water and steam one hour; then lay it whole upon a hot side-dish, garnish with tufts of parsley and slices of lemon, and serve with drawn butter, prepared as follows: Take two ounces of butter and roll it into small balls, dredge these with flour; put one-fourth of them in a saucepan, and as they begin to melt, whisk them; add the remainder, one at a time, until thoroughly smooth; while stirring, add a tablespoonful of lemon juice, half a tablespoonful of chopped parsley; pour into a hot sauce boat and serve.

BAKED WHITE FISH.

Thoroughly clean the fish; cut off the head or not, as preferred; cut out the backbone from the head to within two inches of the tail, and stuff with the following: Soak stale bread in water, squeeze dry; cut in pieces a large onion, fry in butter, chop fine; add the bread, two ounces of butter, salt, pepper and a little parsley or sage; heat through, and when taken off the fire, add the yolks of two well-beaten eggs; stuff the fish rather full, sew up with fine twine, and wrap with several coils of white tape. Rub the fish over slightly with butter; just cover the bottom of a baking pan with hot water, and place the fish in it, standing back upward, and bent in the form of an S. Serve with the following dressing: Reduce the yolks of two hard-boiled eggs to a smooth paste with two tablespoonfuls good salad oil; stir in half a teaspoon English mustard, and add pepper and vinegar to taste.

HALIBUT BOILED.

The cut next to the tail-piece is the best to boil. Rub a little salt over it, soak it for fifteen minutes in vinegar and cold water, then wash it and scrape it until quite clean; tie it in a cloth and boil slowly over a moderate fire, allowing seven minutes' boiling to each pound of fish; when it is half-cooked, turn it over in the pot; serve with drawn butter or egg sauce.

Boiled halibut minced with boiled potatoes and a little butter and milk makes an excellent breakfast dish.

STEAMED HALIBUT.

Select a three-pound piece of white halibut, cover it with a cloth and place it in a steamer; set the steamer over a pot of fast-boiling water and steam two hours; place it on a hot dish surrounded with a border of parsley and serve with egg sauce.

FRIED HALIBUT. No. 1.

Select choice, firm slices from this large and delicate looking fish, and, after carefully washing and drying with a soft towel, with a sharp knife take off the skin. Beat up two eggs and roll out some brittle crackers upon the kneading board until they are as fine as dust. Dip each slice into the beaten egg, then into the cracker crumbs (after you have salted and peppered the fish), and place them in a hot frying pan half full of boiling lard, in which a little butter has been added to make the fish brown nicely; turn and brown both sides, remove from frying pan and drain. Serve hot.

FRIED HALIBUT. No. 2.

First fry a few thin slices of salt pork until brown in an iron frying pan; then take it up