FIFTY RECIPES FOR FISH.
The consumption of fish as a daily article of food is not nearly so large as it ought to be if we studied our health. It must be admitted that it is much more expensive than meat, and cannot be bought so readily. Then again, ordinary plain cooks only know how to fry and boil it, so that very little variety can be obtained; and even these two methods are often so badly followed as to take away rather than tempt the appetite. Not one cook in a hundred knows how to boil fish properly. If a little more time and attention were given to fish-cooking we should not have so many complaints, and fish, instead of being a neglected food, would be a much desired one. It has one or two advantages over meat. It is easier of digestion, for one thing. It is therefore an invaluable food for people obliged to be indoors a great deal, or for those engaged in literary work, for it contains, besides other good things, a good proportion of phosphorus, and this is excellent food for the brain and organs of the chest. It is, however, with the cooking of fish that we have to deal. In the first place, be sure that it is perfectly fresh. The flesh should be firm and hard; if soft and leaving the mark of the finger if pressed, it must be rejected. It must also smell sweet; again, it must be thoroughly cooked. It is a matter of taste whether we like well or underdone meat, but underdone fish is the most unwholesome as it is the most repulsive food that can be offered to us, and in no process of cooking is more judgement required than in the cooking of fish. Fillets of fish of all kinds, either boiled, steamed, or baked, look transparent when raw, but are milk white when cooked sufficiently. If the French method of frying is practised, the large quantity of fat cooks it very quickly, and as soon as it is brown it is done. In boiling and steaming large fish so much depends upon the quantity of water or steam used. Never leave fish in the water after it is cooked. Put it on to a hot dish and cover with a cloth, and stand over a saucepan of hot water till required; if left in the water it soon becomes insipid and watery. In all dishes of dressed fish much depends upon the sauce served with it. Very simple directions for making several fish sauces will be found amongst the sauce recipes, and if these are carefully studied, the art will be easily acquired. In country districts where fish can be had for the catching, it should form the chief item in at least one meal during the day; and if variety in dressing it is studied, it will not be found monotonous, as it sometimes is if only fried and boiled. The ice chest will be found invaluable for keeping fish good and sweet.
FISH CAKES
1/2 lb. Cold Boiled Fish—5d.
1/2 lb. Cold Boiled Potatoes—1d.
Pepper and Salt
Frying Fat
1 oz. Butter—1d.
1 Egg—1d.
1 tablespoonful of Milk, Bread Crumbs—1d.
Total Cost—9d.
Time—5 minutes.
Free the fish from skin and bone and flake it up; mash the potatoes smoothly, mix together and season with pepper and salt. Put the milk and butter into a saucepan, and when it is quite hot put in the fish and the potatoes. Beat up the egg, and put half in, and mix together till hot through; spread on to a plate and stand away to cool. Add a teaspoonful each of water and oil to the egg. Make some bread crumbs on a sieve, and put them on to a piece of paper. Shape the fish mixture into cakes about one inch high and two inches across; brush them over with the egg, and toss them into the crumbs. Shape again and fry in very hot fat, arrange in the form of a wheel on a dish paper, garnish with fresh or fried parsley, and serve hot.
BAKED BREAM AND EGG SAUCE
1 Bream—6d.
1/2 pint White Sauce—2 1/2d.
1 Egg—1d.
Parsley, Lemon Juice—1/2d.
Total Cost—10d.
Time—20 minutes
Wash the bream, rub some dripping on to a baking sheet, lay on it the fish, squeeze over a few drops of lemon juice; cover with a piece of paper well rubbed with dripping, and bake in a moderate oven for about twenty minutes or longer, if the fish is large. Remove the skin and fins, and put them on the dish; pour over the white sauce, which should be just thick enough to coat the fish. Chop the parsley finely, and boil the egg hard, cut it in half, and either chop the yolk or rub it through a sieve, and chop the white. Arrange these in alternate rows all over the fish, and garnish with a few lemon slices.
FISH A LA MAITRE D’HOTEL
2 Bream—8d.
1/2 pint White Sauce—2 1/1d.
Lemon, Parsley, Pepper and Salt—1/2d.
Total Cost—11d.
Time—20 minutes
Fillet the fish, wash and trim them, roll them lightly up with the skin inside. Rub a baking sheet with some butter or dripping. Put on the rolls of fish close together. Squeeze over them some lemon juice, cover with a piece of buttered paper, and bake in the oven for twenty minutes or until they look milk white. Dish them carefully, make the white sauce by recipe given, season it with pepper, salt, and half a teaspoonful of lemon juice. Chop half a teaspoonful of parsley very finely and stir it in, pour over the fish, and serve.
FISH AND TOMATO SAUCE
2 Bream—8d.
1/2 pint of Tomato Sauce
Salt, Pepper, and Parsley—3d.
Total Cost—11d.
Time—20 minutes
Fillet the bream; cut each fillet into two pieces, wash and trim them. Make some tomato sauce by recipe given. Butter a pie dish, lay in the fillets, and season them; pour over the sauce, and bake in a moderate oven for twenty minutes. Garnish with a little chopped parsley, and serve in the dish in which they were cooked.
OYSTER STEW
1 bottle Oysters—1s.
1 oz. Butter—1d.
1/2 pint Milk
1/2 oz. Flour—1d.
Pepper, Salt, and Lemon Juice—1/2d.
Total Cost—1s. 2 1/2 d.
Time—5 Minutes
Make a sauce by directions given, using a little of the oyster liquor mixed with the milk; flavour with salt and pepper, and a little nutmeg and lemon juice. Stir in the oysters and simmer for five minutes, it is then ready to serve.
AMERICAN OYSTERS
1 bottle of Oysters—1s.
1/2 pint of Milk—1d.
6 Soda Biscuits
1 oz. Butter
Pepper and Salt—1 1/2d
Total Cost—1s. 2 1/2 d.
Time—5 Minutes
Put the milk and butter into a saucepan; when it boils put in the oysters and simmer for five minutes. Season with pepper and salt; break up the biscuits and throw them it. Boil up and pour into a deep dish, and it is ready to serve.
FISH AND BUTTER SAUCE
3 Whiting or Bream—1s.
1 1/2 oz. Butter
1 teaspoonful Parsley, Pepper and Salt 1 1/2d.
Total Cost—1s 1 1/2d.
Time—Three-quarters of an Hour.
Fillet the fish and cut them into strips, wash them well in cold water and dry in a cloth; twist them round, and lay in a buttered soup plate, sprinkle with white pepper and salt, and chopped parsley. Put in the rest of the butter, cover with another soup plate, and stand over a saucepan of boiling water for three-quarters of an hour; reserve the plates once while it is cooking, place in a hot dish, and pour over it the butter and parsley in which it was cooked.
This is a nice delicate way of cooking fish for an invalid.
FISH PATTIES
1 Small Bream—4d.
1 oz. Butter—1d.
1 oz. Flour
1 teaspoonful Anchovy Sauce
1 gill Milk
Pepper, Salt and Lemon Juice
Flaky Pastry—6 1/2d.
Total Cost—11 1/2 d.
Time—20 minutes
Bake the fish in the oven, unless there is cold fish in the larder, which will do just as well; take away the skin and bone, and flake it up. Make a sauce of the butter, flour, and milk; season with anchovy, pepper, salt, and lemon juice; stir in the fish and mix well. Line some small patty pans with flaky pastry, put a spoonful of the mixture in the centre, cover with a round of pastry, press the edges together, and trim into a neat shape; make a small hole in the centre with a skewer, brush over with egg or milk, put into a quick oven, and bake for about twenty minutes. Dish on a fancy paper, and garnish each patty with a tiny sprig of parsley.
FISH, TO FRY
Fish requires careful preparation for successful frying; it may be filleted or fried whole, but in either case it must be well washed in cold water, but not soaked; dry in a cloth. Mix on a plate a spoonful of flour, pepper, and salt. Beat on another plate an egg, with a spoonful each of water and oil, and have plenty of dry fine crumbs on a sheet of paper; when these things are all ready, dip the fish in the flour and dust off again; put at once into the egg and cover well; then drop into the crumbs, shake them all over it; next toss in the hands to shake all the loose crumbs off; lay on a plate separately, and either fry at once or leave in a cool place for an hour or two. Plunge into plenty of hot fat and fry till crisp and brown; drain for a few minutes on kitchen paper; pile on a dish, and garnish with either fresh or fried parsley.
CURRIED FISH
3 Bream—1s.
1/2 pint Curry Sauce—3d.
1/4 lb. Rice—1d.
Total Cost—1s 4d.
Time—One Hour
Make the curry sauce by recipe given elsewhere. Fillet the fish and cut each fillet in two pieces, butter a saucepan and lay in the fish; pour over the sauce, bring it up to the boil, and cook on the stove very slowly for an hour. Just before serving, season with salt and lemon juice to taste. Boil the rice and dry thoroughly; press into little cups or moulds. Dish the fish carefully and pour the sauce over it; garnish with the moulds of rice.
SCALLOPED FISH
1/2 lb. Cold Fish
2 oz. Bread Crumbs—4d.
1 gill Cold Fish Sauce, Pepper, and Salt—2d.
1 oz. Butter—1d.
Total Cost—7d.
Time—20 minutes.
Flake up the fish, butter a small dish, and sprinkle well with bread crumbs; put in a layer of fish, a little sauce and seasoning, and some bread crumbs. Continue this in layers until all the fish is used up. Put plenty of crumbs on top and the rest of the butter in small pieces. Bake in a moderate oven for 20 minutes. Garnish with a sprig of parsley, and serve.
FISH PUDDING
1/2 lb. Blue Cod—5d.
1 lb. Potatoes—1d.
1 oz. Butter—1d.
1 Egg
Pepper and Salt—1d.
Total Cost—8d.
Time—Half an Hour
Use cold fish and potatoes, if there are any in the larder; if not, boil a piece of blue smoked cod in some water for five minutes. Flake it up free from skin and bone and put it into a basin; mash up the potatoes and mix them in with the pepper and salt. Bind into a paste with an egg; rub some dripping on a baking sheet, turn the mixture on to it and shape into the letter S, brush over with egg or milk, and bake till brown. Slip it off on to a hot dish, and garnish with parsley.
FISH PIE
2 or 3 Bream—1s.
1 gill Milk or Melted Butter—1d.
Short Pastry, Pepper and Salt
Parsley—3d.
Total Cost—1s. 4d.
Time—Three-quarters of an Hour.
Cold fish will do very well for this dish. If fresh is used, fillet it and cut into small pieces; if cooked, flake up into small pieces. Lay in a buttered pie-dish, season with pepper, salt, and chopped parsley; pour over the sauce and cover with a short pastry made with 1/2 lb flour and 1/4 lb dripping. Brush over with egg or milk, and bake for three-quarters of an hour; garnish with parsley, and serve.
FISH IN BATTER
2 Mullet—8d.
Frying Batter
Hot Fat—2d.
Total Cost—10d.
Time—5 Minutes.
Fillet the mullet and cut into small pieces; dip in flour seasoned with salt and pepper. Cover with French frying batter, the recipe for which is given elsewhere. Plunge into plenty of hot fat and fry until a good colour; drain for a few minutes on kitchen paper. Pile high on a dish, garnish with parsley, and serve hot.
FISH AU GRATIN
1 Sole—9d.
1 teaspoonful of Parsley
4 teaspoonful Bread Crumbs—1/2d.
1/2 Small Onion
1 oz. Butter
1 gill Good Gravy
1/2 oz. Fat Bacon—1 1/2d.
Total Cost—11d.
Time—20 minutes.
Mince the onion, parsley, and bacon very finely, and put them into a basin with the seasoning and crumbs, and mix thoroughly. Butter a dish in which the fish can be both cooked and served. Spread half the seasoning on it, wash and dry the fish and lay it on this bed of seasoning; spread the rest of the seasoning on the top, pour over gently the gravy. Cover with a few raspings and put the butter on in tiny pieces. Put it into a quick oven and bake from 15 to 20 minutes, according to the thickness of the fish. Pin a paper collar round the dish, and serve at once.
FISH HASH
1/2 lb. Cold Boiled Fish—4d.
1/2 lb. Cold Boiled Potatoes
1/4 of an Onion—1d.
2 oz. Fat Bacon—1d.
1 teaspoonful Parsley
1 oz. Butter
1 gill Milk or Gravy
Pepper and Salt—1d.
Total Cost—7d
Time—10 Minutes
Flake up the fish free from skin and bone, mash the potatoes and mix them together; season with half the parsley, pepper and salt. Mince the bacon and onion very finely; put them into a frying pan with the butter and fry for a few minutes. Stir in the fish and potatoes and turn about until thoroughly hot through. Pour over the gravy or milk and again make thoroughly hot. Heap on to a dish, and garnish with the rest of the parsley. Serve very hot.
FISH BALLS
1/2 lb. Cold Fish—4d.
1 gill Thick Sauce—1 1/2d.
1 teaspoonful Anchovy—1/2d.
1/2 pint Melted Butter—1 1/2d.
2 oz. Fat Bacon
1 teaspoonful Parsley—1d.
1 Egg and Pepper and Salt—1 1/2d.
Total Cost—10d.
Time—10 Minutes
Chop the fish, bacon, and parsley finely, and mix them together with the seasoning. Make a thick sauce with 1 gill water, 1 oz flour, and 1 oz butter; flavour with anchovy and stir the fish in. Simmer for a few minutes, stir in the yolk of the egg, and turn on to a plate to cool. Make up into small balls, fill a frying pan with boiling water, put in the balls. Cover over and simmer gently for ten minutes. Dish the balls in a circle and pour over the melted butter, which has been nicely flavoured with anchovy; garnish with parsley, and serve.
FISH A LA CREME
4 Whiting or Schnapper—1s.
1 gill Milk—1d.
1 oz. Butter
1/2 oz. Flour, and Lemon Juice
Pepper and Salt—1d.
Total Cost—1s. 2d.
Time—One Hour
Fillet the fish, wash the bones, and put them into half a pint of white stock, and boil them for half an hour. Strain out and mix with 1 gill of milk. Wash the fillets and roll them up, stand them in a stewpan and cook them in this liquor, covering them with a piece of buttered paper; they will take about 20 minutes.
Dish them carefully, strain the liquor, and make a sauce of it with the butter and flour by directions given. Season and flavour this and pour it over the fillets; garnish with chopped parsley and red bread crumbs, and serve hot.
FILLETS OF FISH AND CHEESE SAUCE.
3 Mullet or Bream—1s.
1/2 pint Cheese Sauce—4d.
1 oz. Dry Cheese
1 oz. Butter
Lemon Juice
Salt and Pepper—1 1/2d.
Total Cost—1s. 51/2 d.
Time—25 Minutes.
Fillet the fish, wash and dry them; put them on to a baking sheet, sprinkle with lemon juice. Put a few little pieces of butter over them; cover with buttered paper and bake from 20 minutes to half an hour, according to the thickness of the fillets. Place them carefully on the dish in which they are to be served, pour over them the cheese sauce nicely flavoured with pepper, salt, and parsley. Sprinkle over them some dry cheese, brown in front of the fire, or under the grill if using a gas stove, and serve hot.
COLLARED EELS
2 Eels—1s. 5d.
1 Egg—1d.
1/2 oz. Gelatine—1 1/2d.
1 fagot of Herbs
1 Onion
1 Carrot
1 spoonful Vinegar
Pepper and Salt—1d.
Total Cost—1s. 81/2 d.
Time—One Hour and a Half
Clean the eels, cut them into pieces 2 inches long; put them in cold water well seasoned with salt, 2 dozen peppercorns and the vegetables, and a spoonful of vinegar. Bring to the boil, and skim well; then boil steadily for an hour, or longer if the eels are large. Take out the fish, slip out the bones, and cut the meat into small pieces. Put back the bones and boil the liquor quickly without the lid for half an hour, then strain off.
Dissolve the gelatine in a little cold water or gravy and stir in. If a very special dish is desired, the liquor can be clarified with the white of an egg in the same way as jelly. Rinse a mould in cold water, arrange in it the pieces of eel and a hard boiled egg cut into slices with a few sprigs of parsley. Strain the liquor over and stand away till cold. Turn out and serve with a salad.
STUFFED FLATHEAD
1 Flathead—9d.
2 oz. Forcemeat—2d.
1 gill Gravy
1 oz. Dripping—1d.
Total Cost—1s.
Time—Half an Hour
Take a little veal forcemeat and season nicely. Sew this into the flathead and truss it into the shape of the letter S. Rub some dripping on to a baking sheet, which should only be just large enough to take the fish. Put some dripping on the top, and bake in a moderate oven for half-an-hour, or longer if large. Slip it on to a hot dish, draw out the trussing string carefully, flavour and boil up the gravy and pour round it. Serve very hot.
OYSTERS AND BACON
1 doz. Large Oysters—6d.
3 Rashers Bacon
Pepper, Salt and Lime Juice—3d.
Total Cost—9d.
Time—10 Minutes.
Mix some pepper, salt, and lemon juice together, and lay oysters in this. The bacon should be cut very thin, and then into strips about 1 inch broad and 3 inches long. Roll these up, and thread on a skewer first a roll of bacon and then an oyster, until the skewer is full; lay on a baking sheet and cook in the oven for about ten minutes. Have ready a hot dish, slip the bacon and oysters off the skewers on to this, and serve hot.
SCALLOPED OYSTERS
1 bottle Oysters—1s.
3 oz. Bread Crumbs—1d.
2 oz. Butter
Lemon Juice, Pepper and Salt—2d.
Total Cost—1 s. 3 d.
Time—20 Minutes
Strain the liquor from the oysters, boil it up and pour over them, cover down for five minutes, and strain off again. Melt the butter, season with lemon juice, pepper, and salt.
Butter a dish, put in a layer of crumbs, then one of oysters; moisten with the butter, then more crumbs, and continue in layers till the dish is full. Pour over all the rest of the butter, and bake for a quarter of an hour. Serve at once.
TO COOK DRIED FISH
Put it into hot water, and boil gently for five minutes or longer if the fish is very thick. Take it out of water and put it on to a hot dish, rub a small piece of cold butter over it and cook for a few minutes either in the oven or in front of the fire. One or two soft boiled eggs broken over it is a nice way of serving it, or a few very thin slices of bacon well cooked may be placed round the dish as a garnish.
FRIED CRAYFISH
1 Crayfish—1s.
French Frying Batter—2d.
1 teaspoonful Anchovy
Frying Fat—1/2d.
Total Cost—1s. 21/2 d.
Time—3 Minutes
Pick all the white meat from a crayfish, and cut it into pieces about two inches long and one inch broad. Make a frying batter by recipe given elsewhere, and season with anchovy, lemon juice, pepper, and salt. Dip the pieces of crayfish into this and plunge into plenty of very hot fat; fry a good colour, drain on kitchen paper for a few minutes, pile high on a dish, and garnish with fried parsley.
BREAM PUDDING
2 Bream—8d.
1 gill Melted Butter—1d.
1/2 lb. Suet—1d.
1/2 teaspoonful Parsley
Pepper and Salt
1/2 lb. Flour—1d.
Total Cost—11 d.
Time—One Hour and a Half.
Skin and fillet the fish and cut into small pieces; make a dry crust of the suet, and flour and line a pudding basin with it. Lay the fish in lightly, and season with the parsley, pepper, and salt. Pour over the melted butter; this should be made with 1/2 oz butter, 1/2 oz flour, and 1 gill of water. Cover the top of the pudding with crust, tie down securely with a cloth and string, and plunge into plenty of boiling water. Boil for one hour and a half, turn out of the basin, and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Serve hot.
FISH RISSOLES
1/2 lb. Cold Fish—4d.
1 oz. Butter—1d.
1 gill Milk—1d.
Bread Crumbs
Hot Fat
1 oz. Flour
1 teaspoonful of Anchovy
1/2 teaspoonful of Parsley
Pepper and Salt—2d.
Total Cost—8d.
Time—5 Minutes
Pick the fish free from skin and bone, and chop it up. Make a smooth thick sauce with the flour, butter, and water, by directions given elsewhere. Flavour it with anchovy, parsley, pepper, and salt; stir in the fish, and mix well. Turn on to a plate till cold. Make up into small balls, cover with egg and bread crumbs, and fry in hot fat; drain for a few minutes on kitchen paper, arrange carefully on a dish, and garnish with parsley.
FISH A LA SAUMAREZ
2 Bream—1s.
2 Tomatoes—1/2d.
1 oz. Butter—1d.
1 fagot of Herbs
1 Carrot
1 oz. Flour
Pepper and Salt
1 Onion
1 doz. Peppercorns
Lemon Juice—1 1/2d.
Total Cost—1s. 3d.
Time—One Hour
Fillet the fish, put the bones in a saucepan, and just cover them with water. When they boil, skim well, and add the tomatoes sliced up, the peppercorns and vegetables; boil quickly without the lid for half an hour, then strain, rubbing the pulp of the tomatoes through with the liquor. Make a smooth sauce with half a pint of this liquor, the butter, and the flour; if the colour is not good add a few drops of cochineal. Fold the fillets of fish neatly, and bake in the oven with a little lemon juice, and covered with a buttered paper. Arrange them on a dish and pour the sauce over. Serve hot.
KEDGEREE.
1/2 lb. Gold Fish—4d.
1/4 lb. Boiled Rice—1d.
2 Hard Boiled Eggs—2d.
1 oz. Butter
Pepper and Salt—1d.
Total Cost—8d.
Time—5 Minutes
Flake up the fish and mix it with the rice; shell the eggs and cut them in half, put the yolks on one side. Chop the whites and mix them with the rice and fish; season nicely and put into a saucepan with the butter, and stir until thoroughly hot. Pile on a dish, and either chop the yolks and sprinkle them over, or hold a sieve over the kedgeree and rub them lightly through. Serve hot.
FISH BAKED IN VINEGAR
2 Mullet—6d.
1/2 pint Vinegar—2d.
1 gill Water
1 fagot of Herbs
1 doz. Peppercorns
Salt—1/2d.
Total Cost—81/2 d.
Time—One Hour
Wash the fish, dry them on a cloth, and rub them with a little salt. Lay them in a deep dish, put in the herbs and peppercorns, pour over the vinegar and water. Cover with a tin, and stand in a cool oven, and bake very slowly for an hour. Take them out and let them get quite cold in the vinegar, then lay them in a dish, and strain the sauce over. Garnish with sprigs of parsley.
STUFFED CONGER EEL.
1 Eel—1s.
3 oz. Veal Seasoning—2d.
1 1/2 oz. Flour
Pepper and Salt—1/2d.
1 1/2 oz. Butter—1d.
Total Cost—1s. 31/2 d.
Time—One Hour
Make the veal seasoning by recipe given elsewhere; sew it into the eel and put it into a deep dish. Just cover it with water, and bake it in a good oven for about one hour. Take it up and keep hot, strain the liquor in which it has been cooked; take about one pint and make into a brown sauce with the butter and flour. Colour it with a few drops of caramel, let it boil for a few minutes, season with salt, pepper, and lemon juice; pour over the fish, and serve very hot.
EEL AND TOMATO SAUCE.
1 Eel—1s.
6 Tomatoes—2d.
2 oz. Veal Seasoning—2d.
1 oz. Butter
1 oz. Flour
Pepper and Salt—1d.
Total Cost—1 s. 5d.
Time—One Hour
Stuff and cook the eel as in the preceding recipe, and strain off the liquor. Rub the tomatoes through a sieve; mix with half a pint of the liquor in which the fish was cooked. Make a sauce of this of this with butte and flour, season with pepper and salt, and pour it over the fish. Garnish with parsley, and serve.
FRIED ROES
3 Roes—6d.
Frying Batter
Hot Fat
Salt and Pepper—1d.
Total Cost—7d
Time—35 Minutes
Put the roes on in cold water and boil for about half an hour. Take them up and let them get quite cold, then cut into slices. Make some frying batter by recipe given elsewhere. Season it with salt and pepper, dip in the slices, and fry a good colour. Pile high on a dish and garnish with fried parsley. Roes may also be fried in egg and bread crumbs; they are prepared just in the same way, only covered with egg and crumbs instead of batter.
CODS’ ROES IN TOMATO SAUCE
2 Roes—4d.
1 gill Tomato Sauce—2d.
Cayenne
3 slices Toast
1 Egg
Nutmeg and Salt—2d.
Total Cost—8d.
Time—40 Minutes.
Cods’ roes are the best for this dish, but any roes will do. Wash them well, cover with cold water seasoned with salt, and boil for half an hour, or longer if the roes are large. Take them up and stand away till cold, then cut into slices about half an inch thick. Make some tomato sauce by recipe given elsewhere; when it is boiling, season with cayenne, nutmeg, and salt; stir in the yolk of an egg, lay in the slices of roe, cover down until hot through. Cut the toast into as many pieces as there are slices of roe, stand them in a dish, and put on each some roe. Make the sauce very hot, pour it over, and serve at once.
MULLET AND TOMATOES
2 Mullet—8d.
6 Tomatoes
Bread Crumbs
1 teaspoonful Parsley
Salt and Pepper—2d.
1 oz. Butter—1d.
Total Cost—11d.
Time—30 Minutes
Fillet and slice up the mullet, season each slice with parsley, pepper, and salt. Dip the tomatoes in boiling water, skim and slice them up. Butter a pie-dish, lay in the slices of fish and tomatoes alternately. Cover the top with bread crumbs and little pieces of butter. Cover the buttered paper and bake in a moderate oven for half an hour; take off the paper, and serve hot.
AMERICAN FISH
1 Flathead—1s.
1/2 pint Brown Sauce—1d.
3 oz. Fish Forcemeat
1 oz. Dripping—4d.
Total Cost—1s. 5d.
Time—30 Minutes.
Make a forcemeat and sew it into the fish. Rub some dripping over a baking sheet, truss the fish into shape, and lay it on. Rub the rest of the dripping on to a piece of paper, cover the fish carefully, bake in rather a hot oven for half an hour or longer, according to size; take of the paper, dish it, and pour round a nice brown sauce. A fish forcemeat is made with 2 oz cold fish, 1 oz suet, 1 oz bread crumbs well mixed together, with some seasoning and an egg.
COLD FISH AU GRATIN
Any scraps of cold fish may be served in this way. If any fish sauce is left, nothing is nicer to warm it in; if not, make a little with 1 gill of milk or water, 1 oz of butter, and 1 oz of flour. Flake the fish up, butter a plate, put the fish in and pour the sauce over. Sprinkle with brown bread crumbs, and bake in the oven for a quarter of an hour.
SMALL FISH
Any kind of small fish will do for this dish. Wash and dry them; well butter a sheet of stiff writing paper, lay the fish in, sprinkle them with a little very finely chopped onion or shallot, parsley, pepper, and salt. Squeeze over a few drops of lemon juice, and put a few little pieces of butter about them; wrap them up in the paper and bake for twenty minutes. Serve in the paper in which they were cooked.
BAKED FISH
4 Mullet or Jew-fish—1s.
2 oz. Bread Crumbs—1/2d.
1 oz. Butter—1d.
Pepper and Salt
1 teaspoonful Parsley
1 teaspoonful Sweet Herbs
1/2 lemon
2 oz. Suet—2 1/2d.
Total Cost—1 s. 4 d.
Time—30 Minutes.
Split open the fish and remove the head and backbone, wash well in cold water and dry in a cloth. Chop the parsley, herbs, and suet, and mix these together; add half the crumbs, the rind of half a lemon, and pepper and salt. Butter a baking tin, lay on a fish skin downwards. On this place a layer of seasoning, a little lemon juice, and a few pieces of butter; on this another fish with the cut part next the seasoning. Do the rest in the same way, piling one on top of another; over all put the rest of the crumbs and butter, bake in a moderate oven for half an hour. Slip into a hot dish, and serve.
CODFISH AND POTATOES—BOUILLABAISSE OF COD.
2 lbs. Murray Cod—1s.
1 lb. Potatoes—1d.
Slices of Roll
1 quart Water
1 fagot of Herbs
2 Leeks or 1 Onion
Pinch of Saffron
1 1/2 oz. Butter—3 1/2d.
Total Cost—1s. 41/2 d.
Time—One Hour.
Put the butter into a saucepan, and when it is hot add the leeks or onion chopped small, and let them get a good colour without burning; then add a quart of water, the fagot of herbs, the saffron tied in a piece of muslin, and the potatoes peeled. Bring up to the boil, and when they are nearly cooked cut the cod into slices and lay it in. Cook slowly for twenty minutes, take up the fish, and put it in a hot dish and lay the potatoes round. Season and flavour the liquor, and boil up. Cut the bread into slices, put it into a hot dish, and strain the liquor over; serve with the fish.
BUTTERED WHITING
3 Whiting—1s.
Pepper and Salt
1 1/2 oz. Butter
1 Lemon—2d.
Total Cost—1s. 2d.
Time—20 Minutes
Wash the whiting, dry them in a cloth, mix a little flour, pepper, and salt together, cover the fish thoroughly with this. Butter a thin dish, lay the whiting in and put the rest of the butter over them in small pieces, and put them into a hot oven; baste constantly with the butter. This must not be allowed to get black; it should be brown. When the whiting are done, which will be in from fifteen to twenty minutes, according to the thickness of the fish, place them in a hot dish and pour the butter in which they have been cooked over them.
BROILED FISH
2 Mullet—8d.
2 teaspoonful Oil
Pepper
Salt—1/2d.
Total Cost—81/2 d.
Time—10 Minutes.
Split the mullet open and wash away the black substance from the bones, dry on a cloth, rub with oil and sprinkle them with pepper and salt, and leave them in a cool place for an hour. Rub a gridiron with a piece of suet, and when it is quite hot put on the fish and broil it carefully, turning it two or three times whilst cooking. Lay on a hot dish and rub over with a little butter.
To broil successfully a very clear fire is required, and it should be made up some time before it is wanted. Broiling on a gas-stove is equivalent to broiling over a fire.
BOILED FISH
To boil fish properly it must never really boil; and in this lies the secret of success. If it boils it has a watery, insipid flavour, and drops of pieces very often when it is taken out of the water. The water must boil well before the fish is put in, and be seasoned with salt and a teaspoonful of vinegar or lemon juice; lay the fish carefully in, and bring the water to the boil again. Then draw it away from the fire, cover down closely, and keep it just below the boil. The time it takes to cook depends so much on the size and thickness of the fish that no hard and fast rule can be given; about ten minutes to every lb., will be sufficient. It is always done when it begins to leave the bone. Take it out of the water directly it is cooked, and if it is not wanted just at the time, cover it with a cloth and keep it hot. Any kind of fish sauce can be served with it, such as plain melted butter, parsley, or egg sauce.
SALT FISH
To cook salt fish it should be soaked in cold water for twelve hours, then well washed in fresh water, scraped and cleaned. Lay it in a fish-kettle, cover with cold water, then simmer very gently indeed for one hour and a half, according to the thickness of the fish. It should be dished on a serviette, and garnished with sprigs of parsley and slices of lemon. Send it to table with boiled parsnips and egg sauce.
DEVILLED SARDINES
1 tin Sardines—6d.
1/2 oz. Mustard—1/2d.
Buttered Toast
Cayenne—1d.
Total Cost—71/2 d.
Time—5 Minutes
Make the mustard with vinegar instead of water, and stir into it some cayenne and salt. Rub the sardines over with this, and either fry them in a little dripping or grill them. Cut the toast into fingers, lay a sardine on each piece, and serve hot. Sardines are also very good dipped in French batter and fried and served with fried parsley.
FISH A L’AURORE
1 Jew-fish—9d.
1/2 Small Onion
1/2 teaspoonful Parsley
1 Egg
1/2 pint White Sauce
Pepper and Salt—3d.
Total Cost—1s.
Time—30 Minutes.
Put some dripping on a tin dish, lay the fish in it, and cover with a buttered paper and bake in the oven for twenty minutes. Take it out, split open and take out the centre bone; sprinkle the inside of the fish with finely chopped onion and parsley, pepper, and salt. Put back the upper fillet, trim away some of the bones, pour over the melted butter or white sauce, and put back into the oven for ten minutes. Boil the egg hard, remove the shell, take out the yolk and either chop it or rub it through a sieve, cut the white into shapes. Take the fish from the oven and decorate the top with the yolk and white of egg; serve hot.
FILLETS A LA ORLY
2 Bream—8d.
Lemon Juice
Parsley
Half an Onion
1/2 pint Tomato Sauce
Pepper and Salt—3d.
Total Cost—11d.
Time—5 Minutes
Fillet the fish and lay them in a dish; sprinkle them well with lemon juice, pepper, salt and parsley. Lay over them some slices of onion and leave them for an hour, then fry them either in batter or flour. Drain them for a few moments on kitchen paper, and serve on a dish very hot with some good thick tomato sauce in a sauce-boat.
SCANDINAVIAN PUDDING
2 Bream—8d.
2 Eggs—2d.
1/2 pint Milk—1d.
1/2 lb. Flour
Pepper and Salt
1/2 pint Fish Sauce—2d.
Total Cost—1s. 1d.
Time—One Hour.
Fillet the fish, skin and chop very find; sift the flour into a basin, drop in the eggs, and make into a batter with the milk. Season with salt and pepper, and stir in the chopped fish. Butter a basin, pour in the mixture and boil for one hour; turn out of the basin and serve with melted butter sauce, flavoured with anchovy, or with any other fish-sauce that may be preferred.
OYSTERS AND POTATOES
1 bottle Oysters—1s.
4 Cold Potatoes—1d.
1 Egg—1d.
2 oz. Flour
Pepper and Salt—1/2d.
Total Cost—1s. 21/2 d.
Time—20 Minutes.
Mash the potatoes and make them into a paste with the flour and egg, roll out and cut into small pieces. Season the oysters with lemon juice, pepper, and salt; put three of four into each piece of potato crust. Roll it up, brush over with milk, and bake for twenty minutes. Pile high on a dish, and serve hot.
STEWED FISH
2 Fish—9d.
1/2 pint Stock
1 blade of Mace
2 Cloves
1/2 oz. Flour—1/2d.
2 tablespoonful Ketchup
1 Onion—1d.
1 Egg—1d.
Bread Crumbs
1 doz. Peppercorns—1/2d.
Total Cost—1s.
Time—One Hour and a Quarter
Fillet the fish and fry them in egg and bread crumbs; slice and fry the onion, lay this and the fish in a tin dish. Cover with stock, put in the cloves, peppercorns, and mace, cover over, and put into a moderate oven for an hour. Mix the flour and ketchup together and stir it in; put back into the oven for ten minutes. Dish the fish and strain the sauce over it.
OYSTERS AND MACARONI
2 oz. Macaroni—1 1/2d.
1 bottle Oysters—1s.
1 gill Milk or Melted Butter Sauce—1d.
Cayenne
Salt
Bread Crumbs—1d.
Total Cost—1s. 31/2 d.
Time—Half an Hour.
Boil the macaroni in the oyster liquor or in weak stock till quite soft. Rub a little butter on a dish, cut the macaroni into pieces two inches long and lay it at the bottom. On this place the oysters, and season them with cayenne, salt, and a little lemon juice or nutmeg. Pour over the milk or sauce, cover with bread crumbs, and brown it in a quick oven. A few little pieces of butter laid on top of the crumbs make a richer dish. It must be served very hot.