Chapter 16

Season the prepared fillets with salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg, and put into a buttered baking-pan with a tablespoonful of butter [Page 387] and half a cupful of white wine. Cover, cook for ten minutes, and drain, reserving the liquid. Arrange on a serving-dish and cover with cooked mushrooms, oysters, and lobster. Cook together two tablespoonfuls each of butter and flour, add the fish gravy and two cupfuls of white stock, and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Take from the fire, add the yolks of four eggs beaten with the juice of half a lemon, two tablespoonfuls of butter, a pinch of red pepper, and enough pounded lobster coral to tint. Pour the sauce over the fish and serve.

FILLETS OF SOLE À LA JOINVILLE--II

Butter a flat baking-dish and arrange in it, crown-shaped, the prepared and cleaned fillets of three soles. Add half a wineglassful of white wine, three tablespoonfuls of mushroom liquor, and salt and pepper to season. Cook for six minutes, take up the fish, and put on a hot dish. Cover with Allemande Sauce, garnish with broiled mushrooms and serve.

SOLE À LA MAÎTRE D'HÔTEL

Simmer fillets of sole for six minutes in salted and acidulated water to cover. Drain and serve with Maître d'Hôtel Sauce.

[Page 388] FILLETS OF SOLE À LA MAÎTRE D'HÔTEL

Put the fillets into a buttered baking-tin, sprinkle with salt and lemon-juice, cover with buttered paper, and cook in a hot oven for six minutes. Put the bones and trimmings of the fish into a saucepan with cold water to cover and simmer slowly. Cook together one tablespoonful of butter and two of flour, add the strained fish stock, and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Add one-fourth cupful of cream, reheat, take from the fire, add a tablespoonful of minced parsley, a dash of lemon-juice, and salt and pepper to season. Arrange the fillets on a hot platter, drain the liquid from the pan into the sauce, pour over the fish, and serve.

FILLETS OF SOLE À LA MARÉCHALE

Season the prepared fillets with salt, pepper, and lemon-juice, and cover with a thin coating of Béchamel Sauce. Put on ice for an hour, dip in crumbs, then in beaten egg, then in crumbs, and sauté in clarified butter, drain, and serve with Béchamel Sauce.

SOLE À LA NORMANDY--I

Make a stuffing of bread-crumbs, sweet [Page 389] herbs, oysters, mushrooms, truffles, and a quarter of a pound of ham, all chopped very fine and mixed to a paste with stock. Stuff the fish with this, sprinkle with lemon-juice, dot with butter, sprinkle with crumbs, minced parsley, and salt and pepper to season. Add half a cupful of white stock and bake slowly, basting frequently and adding more stock if required.

SOLE À LA NORMANDY--II

Butter a baking-dish and cover with sliced onions, parboiled. Lay the sale upon them, seasoning with salt, pepper, grated nutmeg, and minced parsley. Add the juice of a lemon and white wine to cover. Bake in a slow oven, basting with the gravy, and adding melted butter if necessary. Serve with a sauce made by adding half a cupful of cream to the gravy and thickening with a tablespoonful each of butter and flour cooked together.

SOLE À LA NORMANDY--III

Put the fillets from three soles in a buttered saucepan with half a wineglassful of white wine, three tablespoonfuls of mushroom liquor, and salt and pepper to season. Cover and cook for six minutes, drain, and arrange on a serving-dish. Boil the gravy for five minutes, [Page 390] add a cupful of Allemande Sauce, a dozen oysters, and six sliced mushrooms. Take from the fire, add a tablespoonful of butter and the juice of half a lemon, pour over the fish, and serve.

SOLE À LA NORMANDY--IV

Butter a baking-dish and put the fish into it with two dozen oysters, a dozen mussels, a chopped onion, a sprig each of thyme and parsley, a tablespoonful of butter, and salt and pepper to season. Add one cupful each of red wine and stock, cover, and cook until nearly done. Drain and keep warm, lay the oysters and mussels over the sole. Add to the liquid enough stock to make the required quantity of sauce, strain, and thicken with flour cooked in butter. Take from the fire, add the beaten yolks of two eggs, pour over the fish, and serve.

FILLETS OF SOLE À LA NORMANDY

Put the fillets in a buttered saucepan with salt and pepper to season, a tablespoonful of butter, a chopped onion, and half a cupful of white wine. Cover and cook for ten minutes, then take up the fish and drain carefully. Cook together without browning, two tablespoonfuls each of butter and flour, add the liquid [Page 391] drained from the pan and enough oyster liquor and white stock to make three cupfuls of sauce. Cook until thick, stirring constantly, skim, take from the fire, and add the yolks of four eggs well-beaten, two tablespoonfuls of butter in small bits, the juice of half a lemon, and a few cooked oysters, mussels, and scallops cut fine. Pour the sauce over and serve.

FILLETS OF SOLE À L'ORLY

Marinate the prepared fillets for half an hour in lemon-juice with pepper and salt to season. Put the trimmings of the fish into a saucepan with a bunch of sweet herbs and white wine to cover. Season with salt and pepper, boil rapidly for fifteen minutes and strain. Dredge the fillets with flour, fry in boiling fat, and serve the sauce separately.

FILLETS OF SOLE À LA PROVENCE

Simmer the fillets in white wine to which a little olive-oil has been added, seasoning with minced parsley and garlic, grated nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Drain, sprinkle with lemon-juice, and serve with a border of fried onions.

[Page 392] FILLETS OF SOLE À LA ROUEN

Put the prepared fillets into a buttered baking-pan and squeeze lemon-juice over them. Cover with buttered paper and bake. Cook together one tablespoonful each of butter and flour, add one cupful of fish stock and half a cupful of cream, and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Season with salt, paprika, and lemon-juice. Pour over the fish and serve.

FILLETS OF SOLE À LA TROUVILLE

Put the prepared fillets into a buttered pan with salt, pepper, grated nutmeg, half a cupful of white wine, and half a cupful of stock. Cover and cook quickly, then drain the fish and keep warm. Put into the pan in which the fish was cooked two dozen large oysters, two cupfuls of scallops, and a dozen large mushrooms. Simmer slowly until cooked, drain, and cover the fish with them. Add stock if necessary to make the required quantity of sauce, and thicken with two tablespoonfuls each of butter and flour cooked together. Pour the sauce over, sprinkle with crumbs, dot with butter, and brown in the oven.

FILLETS OF SOLE À LA VÉNITIENNE--I

Put the prepared fillets into a buttered pan [Page 393] with salt, pepper, nutmeg, a chopped onion, and half a cupful of white wine. Cover and cook for ten minutes. Add two cupfuls of stock and thicken with a tablespoonful each of butter and flour cooked together. Take from the fire, add the yolks of four eggs beaten with the juice of half a lemon, and two tablespoonfuls of butter. Pour the sauce over the fish, sprinkle with chopped parsley, and serve.

FILLETS OF SOLE À LA VÉNITIENNE--II

Simmer the fillets for ten minutes in a saucepan with clarified butter, lemon-juice, white pepper, and salt. Simmer other fillets without trimming in the same manner. Drain and cool. Cut the untrimmed fillets into dice, mix with thick Allemande Sauce, grated Parmesan cheese, and salt, white pepper, and grated nutmeg to season. Spread this preparation very thinly on an earthen dish, and when it is cool cut into pieces the size and shape of the fillets; dip in crumbs, then in egg, then in crumbs, and fry in fat to cover. Warm the fillets and arrange in a circle alternately with the breaded ones. Serve with any preferred sauce.

SOLE AU GRATIN--I

Make a paste of bread-crumbs and chopped [Page 394] mushrooms, seasoning with pepper, salt, and minced parsley, and using cream for the liquid. Butter a serving-dish, spread with a layer of the paste, lay the fish upon it, and pour over it a wineglassful of white wine and an equal quantity of veal or chicken stock. Cover with crumbs, dot with butter, and brown in the oven. Serve in the dish in which it was cooked.

SOLE AU GRATIN--II

Butter a baking-pan, sprinkle with crumbs, chopped onion, and minced parsley. Season the fish with salt, pepper, and ginger, and stuff with whole oysters, shrimps, and mushrooms. Cover with a layer of bread-crumbs, parsley, and butter, add half a wineglassful of white wine, and bake until done.

SOLE AU GRATIN--III

Put the prepared fish into a buttered baking-dish, season with salt and pepper, sprinkle with minced parsley, add enough white wine to keep from burning, and bake. Take up carefully, cover with Italian Sauce, sprinkle thickly with crumbs, and brown in the oven.

SOLE AU GRATIN--IV

Cook together in butter a chopped onion, [Page 395] half a dozen mushrooms, a tablespoonful of minced parsley, and a bean of garlic, with salt and pepper to season. Spread on the bottom of a buttered baking-dish and lay the seasoned fillets upon it. Add half a wineglassful of white wine and bake for five minutes. Cover with fresh mushrooms, pour over a cupful of Spanish Sauce, sprinkle with crumbs, dot with butter, and brown in the oven. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon over it and serve.

STEWED SOLES WITH OYSTER SAUCE

Soak the fish for two hours in seasoned vinegar and simmer until done in salted and acidulated water. Serve with Oyster Sauce.

FILLETS OF SOLE WITH ANCHOVIES

Fry the fillets in olive-oil, seasoning with salt and pepper, cool, and cut into small pieces. Add four anchovies cut into small bits, pour over a French dressing and serve with toasted crackers.

FILLETS OF SOLE IN CASES

Fry in butter one cupful of chopped mushrooms, two tablespoonfuls of chopped onion, and one tablespoonful of minced parsley, seasoning with pepper and salt. Cut the soles in fillets, spread with the [Page 396] mixture, tie with thread, put into a buttered pan, cover, and bake. Put each fillet into a small paper case, fill with Cream Sauce, lay a mushroom on the top of each, and serve.

FILLETS OF SOLE WITH FINE HERBS

Prepare according to directions given for Fillets of Sale à la Joinville--II, adding to the sauce a chopped onion and two shallots browned in butter, with twice the quantity of chopped mushrooms, and a bean of garlic. Season with salt, pepper, and minced parsley.

SOLES WITH FINE HERBS

Trim the fish and put into a buttered baking-pan, sprinkling with chopped mushrooms, parsley, and grated onion. Season with salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg, add enough white wine to keep from burning, cover with buttered paper, and bake. Take up the fish and add the drained liquid to a cupful of Allemande Sauce and reheat. Take from the fire, add a tablespoonful of butter, the juice of half a lemon, and a teaspoonful of minced parsley. Pour over the fish and serve.

FILLETS OF SOLE WITH MUSHROOMS

Bake the fillets for ten minutes and cool. [Page 397] Cook together one tablespoonful each of butter and flour, add half a cupful of stock and half a cupful of cream. Cook until thick, stirring constantly. Add a pound of fresh mushrooms chopped fine and simmer until the mushrooms are cooked. Cool the mushroom mixture and spread upon the fillets. Set the baking-pan into another of hot water, reheat in the oven, and serve with Hollandaise Sauce.

FILLETS OF SOLE WITH OYSTERS

Fry the fillets in butter and cover with Allemande Sauce to which chopped cooked oysters have been added.

FILLETS OF SOLE WITH RAVIGOTE SAUCE

Fry the fillets in seasoned butter, adding a little lemon-juice when done. Pour over Ravigote Sauce and serve.

FILLETS OF SOLE IN TURBANS

Put the bones and trimmings cut from fillets of sole in cold water to cover, simmer for half an hour, strain, and add a pinch of salt to the liquid. When it boils, put in the fillets rolled up, and fastened with a toothpick. Simmer for ten minutes and prepare [Page 398] a Cream Sauce, using for liquid half fish stock and half milk or cream. Pour over the fish and serve.

FILLETS OF SOLE WITH WINE

Butter a baking-pan, lay the fillets in it, season with salt and pepper, and spread with butter. Add half a cupful of white wine, cover with buttered paper, and bake for five or ten minutes. Take up the fish carefully and add to the liquid a teaspoonful each of butter and flour cooked together. Take from the fire, add the yolk of two eggs, beaten smooth with half a cupful of cream; pour over the fish and serve.

ROLLED FILLETS OF SOLE

Beat together until smooth two tablespoonfuls of anchovy paste, a teaspoonful of lemon-juice, a pinch of mustard, a dash of cayenne, and two tablespoonfuls of fresh butter. Spread long narrow fillets of sole with the butter, roll and fasten with wooden tooth-picks. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and lemon-juice, and bake, wrapping in buttered paper if desired. These fillets may be fried in butter with parsley and onions, or dipped in egg and crumbs, and fried in deep fat, or cooked with wine and lemon-juice in stock made [Page 399] from the bone and trimmings, and served with the strained stock thickened with butter and flour cooked together.

STUFFED FILLETS OF SOLE

Wind long, thin, narrow fillets of sole around small carrots to keep their shape, fastening with tooth-picks. Simmer the trimmings of the fish for half an hour in two cupfuls of boiling water to cover, seasoning with salt and paprika. Cover the fillets with one cupful of this stock and half a cupful of white wine. Simmer for twenty minutes. Cook together one tablespoonful each of butter and flour, add one-half cupful of fish stock and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Take from the fire, add one-half cupful of chopped shrimps and one-half cupful of chopped oysters, the yolk of one egg well beaten, and Worcestershire, salt, and Tabasco Sauce to season. Take out the carrots and replace with the cooked mixture. Cool, dip the fillets in egg and crumbs, fry in deep fat, and serve with any preferred sauce.

CHAUDFROID OF SOLES

Marinate the fillets of three soles in seasoned lemon-juice. Chop half a dozen mushrooms and cook for five minutes in butter, [Page 400] seasoned with pepper and salt. Add enough bread-crumbs to make a smooth paste, cool, and spread on the fillets. Fold each piece of fish so that the stuffing will be in the middle, arrange on a buttered baking-dish, cook in a moderate oven, and cool. Cook together one tablespoonful each of butter and flour, and add one cupful of fish stock made from the bones and trimmings of the soles. Take from the fire, add a little cream, and stir until cold. Pour the sauce over the fillets, garnish with lemon, parsley, and hard-boiled eggs, and serve very cold.

FRITTERS OF SOLE

Rub two tablespoonfuls of butter into half a pound of flour, add a pinch of salt, the beaten yolk of an egg, and enough cold water to make a very stiff paste. Roll the paste very thin and cut into pieces large enough to wrap fillets of sole, which have been seasoned with pepper and salt, and lemon-juice. Fry in deep fat and serve with Tartar Sauce.

[Page 401] TWENTY-FIVE WAYS TO COOK STURGEON

BOILED STURGEON--I

Cover a cut of sturgeon with salted and acidulated water. Add an onion, six cloves, a slice of carrot, three bay-leaves, a small bunch of parsley, and a cupful of wine. Simmer slowly until done, drain, and serve with some of the cooking liquor thickened with flour, browned in butter.

BOILED STURGEON--II

Boil the fish in court bouillon and serve with Drawn-Butter Sauce.

BROILED STURGEON STEAKS--I

Parboil sturgeon steaks for fifteen minutes, drain, wipe dry, season with salt and pepper, and broil. Serve with melted butter or Maître d'Hôtel Sauce.

BROILED STURGEON STEAKS--II

Skin and soak for an hour in cold salted [Page 402] water. Drain, wipe dry, and soak for an hour in a marinade of oil and vinegar. Drain and broil. Serve with melted butter and lemon-juice.

BROILED STURGEON STEAKS--III

Skin the steaks and soak in cold, salted water for an hour, drain, season, and broil, basting with melted butter as required. Season with melted butter and garnish with lemon quarters and parsley. Or, brown a tablespoonful of flour in butter, add half a cupful of cold water and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Season with salt, lemon-juice, and Worcestershire Sauce, or anchovy essence. Bring to the boil, pour over the fish, and serve.

FRIED STURGEON--I

Parboil slices of sturgeon in milk for fifteen minutes, drain, dip in beaten egg, then in seasoned flour, and fry brown in butter.

FRIED STURGEON--II

Cut the fish into cutlets, dredge with flour, dip into egg and crumbs, and sauté in a frying-pan. Drain off the fat, add a little flour and cook to a smooth paste. Add boiling water to make a sauce, and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Season with grated onion, [Page 403] pepper and salt and sweet herbs. Reheat the fish in the sauce, squeeze in the juice of half a lemon, and serve.

FRIED STURGEON--III

Cut sturgeon steaks into small cutlets. Dip into egg and crumbs, fry in fat to cover, and serve with any preferred sauce.

BAKED STURGEON--I

Skin a large cut of sturgeon, parboil for fifteen minutes, drain, cover with a marinade of oil and vinegar, and let stand for an hour. Gash the surface deeply and fill the incision with a force meat of bread-crumbs and minced salt pork, seasoning with lemon-juice, pepper, and minced parsley, and adding enough melted butter to make smooth. Cover, add enough boiling water to keep from burning, and bake, basting frequently.

BAKED STURGEON--II

Skin a large cut of sturgeon, parboil for fifteen minutes, drain, and cool. Rub with a marinade of oil and vinegar, cover, and bake with enough water to keep from burning. Serve with Caper Sauce.

[Page 404] BAKED STURGEON--III

Skin a six-pound cut of sturgeon and parboil for twenty minutes. Drain and put into a baking-pan on a layer of thinly sliced bacon. Add enough boiling water to keep from burning, and bake until done, basting often.

BAKED STURGEON--IV

Skin a six-pound cut of sturgeon, soak in salted water for an hour, drain, and parboil in fresh water. Make a stuffing of bread-crumbs, chopped salt pork, sweet herbs, and enough melted butter to make a smooth paste. Score the upper-side of the fish deeply and fill the gashes with the stuffing. Put in a buttered baking-pan with enough water to keep from burning, and bake for an hour, basting as required. Serve with Drawn-Butter Sauce, seasoned with capers and catsup.

BAKED STURGEON--V

Cover a buttered baking-pan with thin slices of salt pork. Sprinkle with chopped carrot, turnip, and onion, and lay a thick cut of sturgeon upon it. Season the fish with salt, pepper, and lemon-juice, and cover with thin slices of pork. Cook for ten minutes, [Page 405] then add one cupful of boiling water, and cook slowly, basting as required. Dredge with seasoned flour after each basting, and add more boiling water if necessary. After the fish has cooked for an hour, remove the pork, and drop it into the pan. Pour a wineglassful of Sherry over the fish, spread with butter, and dredge thickly with flour. Bake until the fish is a rich brown color. Take out the pork and add enough boiling water to the liquid in the pan to make the required quantity of sauce. Thicken with butter and flour cooked together, strain, and serve with the fish.

STURGEON À LA CARDINAL

Clean two pounds of sturgeon, bind into shape with tape, and put it into a buttered saucepan with acidulated water to cover. Add an onion, four cloves, a blade of mace, a sliced carrot, and a bunch of sweet herbs. Simmer gently until the fish is done and serve with Lobster Sauce.

STURGEON À LA FRANÇAISE

Skin and clean a five-pound cut of sturgeon, and tie into shape with strings. Put into a buttered saucepan with sliced carrots and onions, a bunch of parsley, three blades of mace, three cloves [Page 406] of garlic, and salt and pepper to season. Add red wine and white stock in equal parts to cover. Simmer until done, drain, and keep warm. Take enough of the strained liquid to make a sauce, and thicken with butter and flour cooked together. Take from the fire, add a tablespoonful of anchovy essence, a dash of paprika, two tablespoonfuls of butter, and the juice of a lemon. Pour over the fish and serve.

STURGEON À LA NORMANDY

Remove the skin from a five-pound cut of sturgeon, cover with thin slices of salt pork, and tie into shape with a string. Put into a saucepan with sliced vegetables, two tablespoonfuls of butter, one cupful of white wine, two cupfuls of white stock, a little oyster or mussel liquor, and salt and sweet herbs to season. Cover and cook slowly for an hour, basting with the liquid frequently. When done, drain the fish, and keep warm. Strain the liquid, skim off the fat, thicken with a tablespoonful each of butter and flour cooked together, take from the fire, add the yolks of four eggs beaten with the juice of a lemon, and two tablespoonfuls of butter in small bits. Take the pork off the sturgeon, pour the sauce over, and serve.

[Page 407] STURGEON À LA RUSSE

Soak two pounds of sturgeon in salted water to cover for ten or twelve hours. Drain and marinate in vinegar for an hour. Put it into a fish-kettle with boiling water to cover, adding two onions, a bunch of sweet herbs, and a little salt. When nearly done drain, dredge with flour, and brown in the oven, basting with melted butter. Bone and skin two anchovies and put them into a saucepan with a wineglassful of white wine, a small onion, a bit of lemon-peel, and a cupful of stock. Boil for five minutes, strain, thicken with flour and butter cooked together, take from the fire, add two tablespoonfuls of cream, and pour over the fish, or serve separately.

STEWED STURGEON--I

Marinate slices of sturgeon in vinegar for ten minutes. Drain, dry, dredge with flour, and fry brown in hot fat. Add enough veal stock to cover the fish, and a wineglassful of Madeira; cover and simmer for an hour. Add a tablespoonful of capers and serve.

STEWED STURGEON--II

Cut sturgeon steaks into small pieces and [Page 408] parboil for fifteen minutes. Drain, season with salt and pepper, and cook slowly in butter until done. Add one cupful of milk, bring to the boil, and add one tablespoonful of flour rubbed smooth in a little cold water. Cook until thick, stirring constantly, and serve.

STURGEON STEAK--I

Put a large sturgeon steak into a buttered baking-pan with salt, pepper, sliced onion, a bunch of parsley, and some sweet herbs. Add Claret and white stock to cover. Cover with a buttered paper and cook slowly until done. Drain and serve with any preferred sauce.

STURGEON STEAK--II

Cover a sturgeon steak with boiling water, let stand for five minutes, and drain. Marinate for five hours in melted butter, lemon-juice, and vinegar, seasoning with salt and pepper. Drain, dip in egg and crumbs, and fry in deep fat. Beat the yolks of two eggs, add a teaspoonful of made mustard and the marinade drained from the fish. Cook over hot water until thick, pour over the fish, and serve.

[Page 409] GRILLED STURGEON

Cut the sturgeon into slices an inch thick. Dip in flour, then into egg and crumbs, and broil, basting with oil as needed. Season with salt and pepper and serve with any preferred sauce.

PANNED STURGEON

Cut two pounds of sturgeon into squares, parboil, drain, and cool. Cook together one tablespoonful each of butter and flour, add two cupfuls of milk, and some of the liquid drained from the fish. Cook until thick, stirring constantly. Season with salt and pepper, pour over the fish and serve.

PICKLED STURGEON