Chapter 19

Mix cold baked flaked fish with the remnants of the stuffing. Arrange in a buttered baking-dish with alternate layers of seasoned cracker crumbs, having crumbs on top. Pour over enough cream to moisten, and bake brown.

ESCALLOPED FISH--IV

Into a well-buttered baking-dish put a layer of cold baked fish flaked. Add a layer of the stuffing, if any, sprinkle with [Page 466] crumbs, dot with butter, and repeat until the dish is full, having crumbs and butter on top. Pour over enough cream or Cream Sauce to moisten, and bake until well browned.

ESCALLOPED FISH AU GRATIN

Add one egg well-beaten to three cupfuls of seasoned mashed potato. Make a border of the potato around a stoneware platter. Put a layer of Béchamel Sauce on the bottom of the platter, then a layer of cold cooked flaked fish, cover with sauce, sprinkle with crumbs and grated cheese, dot with butter, and brown in the oven. Serve in the same dish.

ESCALLOPED FISH IN SHELLS

Allow one cupful of Cream Sauce to each cupful of cold cooked flaked fish, seasoning with salt, pepper, grated onion, and lemon-juice. Add chopped hard-boiled eggs if desired, or the yolk of one egg beaten smooth with a little hot cream. Fill buttered shells with the mixture, cover with crumbs, dot with butter, and brown in the oven. Sprinkle also with minced parsley or grated Parmesan cheese, or sweet green pepper.

FILLED FISH

Clean a fish thoroughly and take the flesh [Page 467] carefully from the skin. Do not injure the skin. Take out the bones, chop the meat fine, and mix with an equal quantity of bread-crumbs. Season with grated onion, salt, pepper, grated nutmeg, and minced parsley. Add half a cupful of butter, half a cupful of blanched and pounded almonds, three whole eggs, and the yolks of two more. Fill the skin, preserving the natural shape of the fish, and sew up. Simmer in court bouillon until done, drain, and stick the body of the fish full of blanched almonds shredded. Strain the liquid in which the fish was cooked, thicken with butter and flour cooked together, season with lemon-juice, pour around the fish, and serve.

FISH FRITTERS

Mix any cold cooked flaked fish with an equal quantity of mashed potatoes, seasoning with grated onion. Make into a paste with beaten egg, shape into balls, dredge with flour, and fry in deep fat. Dip in egg and crumbs before frying if desired.

FISH IN GREEN PEPPERS

Prepare Creamed Fish according to directions previously given. Cut a slice from the pointed ends of green peppers, and remove the seeds carefully. Stuff with the fish mixture, sprinkle with crumbs, [Page 468] and lay a bit of butter on top of each one. Put into a baking-pan with a little hot water and bake carefully, basting as required.

FISH HASH

Cut salt pork into dice, fry crisp, and skim out the pork. Mix together equal parts of cold cooked flaked fish and cooked potatoes, cut small. Season to taste and cook slowly in the pork fat until brown. Arrange the dice around the platter as a garnish.

JELLIED FISH SALAD

Mix cold flaked fish, which has been cooked in court bouillon, with Mayonnaise. Add sufficient soaked and dissolved gelatine to make the mixture very hard. One package of gelatine will solidify one quart of the mixture. Pour into a mould wet in cold water and put on the ice to harden. Turn out and serve with a garnish of hard-boiled eggs and lettuce.

KEDJEREE--I

Prepare a Cream Sauce, take from the fire, season to taste, and add two eggs well-beaten. Add cold cooked flaked fish and boiled rice in equal parts, seasoning the rice with salt, pepper, cayenne, [Page 469] mace, and melted butter. Reheat and serve.

KEDJEREE--II

Moisten cold flaked fish with one egg beaten with two tablespoonfuls of milk and a tablespoonful of melted butter. Heat thoroughly in a double-boiler, season to taste, and serve with rice which has been cooked for ten minutes in stock.

CRÉOLE KEDJEREE--I

Cook together for five minutes one cupful of cold cooked flaked fish, one cupful of cold boiled rice, one hard-boiled egg chopped fine, a tablespoonful of butter, and salt, red pepper, and curry powder to season. Serve on buttered toast.

CRÉOLE KEDJEREE--II

Prepare according to directions given above, adding chopped onion and garlic, and a little lemon-juice to the seasoning.

FISH LOAF

Line a buttered baking-dish with mashed potato that has been well seasoned with pepper and salt, and made light with well-beaten eggs. Fill the centre with Creamed Fish, seasoned to taste, cover [Page 470] with more mashed potato, rub with butter, and bake until the top is nicely browned. Serve in the same dish.

FISH WITH LEMON SAUCE

Put to boil in a wide porcelain-lined kettle sufficient water to cook the fish. Add one-half cupful of vinegar, and one-half cupful of wine. Add a heaping tablespoonful of butter, and when melted, put in the slices of fish, which have already been seasoned. Boil until the fish is tender. In the meantime, beat the yolks of four eggs until light with half a cupful of sugar, and the juice of two lemons. Remove one cupful of fish stock from the kettle with the fish. Let boil until thoroughly mixed, shaking the pan to prevent curdling. Put on a serving-dish, and garnish with slices of lemon and parsley.

BAKED FISH WITH LEMON SAUCE

Bake the fish in a pan with water and butter, taking care to add water when all in the pan has been absorbed. When the fish is done, drain off all the gravy which is in the pan, and put on the stove to boil with one cupful of white wine. Beat the yolks of four eggs with one-half cupful of sugar, stir a little wine in, add the juice of two lemons, put back on the stove to thicken, and just before [Page 471] serving, pour the sauce over the fish. Half the quantity of sauce can be used for a small family.

CREAM LEMON FISH

Boil the sliced fish until tender, in enough water to cover, to which a lump of butter, half a cupful of vinegar, and salt and pepper have been added. Beat the yolks of two eggs and two teaspoonfuls of sugar, and add the juice of one lemon. Take the fish out of the water, and put on the platter in which it is to be served. Thicken the gravy with flour that has first been dissolved in a little water. When thick, pour two cupfuls of the gravy over the eggs and lemon, stirring all the time. When cold, add one-half cupful of cream whipped stiff, and pour over the fish.

MASKED FISH

Cover the bottom of an earthen baking-dish with sliced onion, add a thick layer of sliced raw potatoes, seasoning with salt and red pepper. Cover with a layer of fish, add a layer of sliced tomatoes, cover with raw potato, and fill the bowl with stock or water in which one-half cupful of butter has been melted. Bake for two hours in a slow oven.

[Page 472] STEWED FISH À LA MARSEILLES

Cook three pounds of fish with a crab in equal parts of hot water and cider, seasoning with minced garlic, parsley, and thyme, a bay-leaf, and a clove. Cook for half an hour and thicken with a tablespoonful each of butter and flour cooked together. Add the yolks of two eggs beaten with a little cold water, and salt, pepper, and lemon-juice to season. Add a green pepper chopped fine, and two pods of okra. Simmer for fifteen minutes and serve in the dish in which it is cooked.

FISH EN MATELOTE--I

Cut any firm-fleshed fish into strips and season with salt and pepper. Parboil two sliced onions, drain, season, add a cupful of hot water and half a cupful of Sherry. Add the fish and simmer until done. Thicken with butter cooked in flour, and serve.

FISH EN MATELOTE--II

Cut three or four kinds of fish into convenient pieces for serving, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover with water and Claret in equal parts, and add parsley, thyme, and bay-leaves to season. Simmer until done. Take the fish up carefully and strain the [Page 473] cooking liquor. Fry a dozen or more small white onions brown in butter. Add two tablespoonfuls of flour and the liquid drained from the fish. Cook until thick, stirring constantly, and add boiling water or stock, if too thick. When the onions are done, take from the fire, season with lemon-juice, add a few cooked mushrooms, pour over the fish, and serve.

MATELOTE OF FISH À LA NORMANDY

Fry brown in butter with sliced onions two pounds of fresh sliced fish, using several kinds. Add two tablespoonfuls of flour, half a dozen sliced mushrooms, salt, pepper, and lemon-juice to season, a pinch of sweet herbs, and Claret and stock in equal parts to cover. Simmer for half an hour and serve in a casserole.

FISH MOUSSELINES

Mince enough uncooked white fish to make two cups, add one cupful of soft bread-crumbs and one-half cupful of cream. Press through a colander, season with salt, pepper, lemon-juice, a suspicion of mace, and Worcestershire Sauce. Fold in carefully the beaten whites of four eggs. Turn into buttered moulds (round bottomed ones) and steam one-half hour. Turn out on separate plates, surround [Page 474] with the sauce, and drop tiny balls of boiled potato in the sauce. For sauce, make a stock of the fish bones and add to it two tablespoonfuls of butter and two of flour cooked together. There should be one and one-half cupfuls of stock. Add one-half cupful of cream; and, when boiling, salt, pepper, and one tablespoonful of grated horse-radish soaked in lemon-juice.

MOULD OF FISH

Line a buttered mould with seasoned mashed potato and fill the centre with alternate layers of Creamed Fish and sliced hard-boiled eggs. Cover with the potato and steam or bake. Turn out and serve with any preferred sauce.

FISH PATTIES--I

Mix cold cooked flaked fish with Cream Sauce and put into buttered patty-shells with alternate layers of crumbs. Sprinkle with crumbs, dot with butter, and brown in the oven.

FISH PATTIES--II

Reheat cold cooked flaked fish in Béchamel Sauce, adding a few cooked mushrooms. Fill patty-shells and brown in the oven.

[Page 475] FISH AND OYSTER PIE

Butter a baking-dish and put in a layer of cold cooked fish, seasoning with pepper and salt. Sprinkle with bread-crumbs, add a layer of oysters, and season with nutmeg and minced parsley. Repeat until the dish is full. Cover with crumbs and dot with butter, or with a rich biscuit dough, and bake. If the biscuit crust is used, rub with butter, and bake until brown.

FISH PIE

Soak one cupful of stale bread-crumbs in milk, add two tablespoonfuls of melted butter, salt, pepper, minced parsley, and thyme to season, and beat until smooth. Skin and bone two medium-sized fish, using bass, cod, flounder, or mackerel. Scrape and pound half of the flesh and add it to the bread paste. Cut the rest of the fish into slices, season it, and arrange in layers in a deep baking-dish, spreading each layer with the paste and seasoning. Cover with thin slices of bacon and pour over one cupful of stock. Cover the pie with pastry, leaving a hole in the middle for the steam to escape. Cover with buttered paper and bake for three hours in a slow oven. Take off the paper, brown the crust, and pour into the hole half a cupful of stock to which a tablespoonful of Sherry or white wine [Page 476] has been added. Serve cold.

NORMANDY FISH PIE

Fill a baking-dish with any kind of fish, freed from skin, fat, and bone, and cut into small pieces. Season with minced parsley, grated nutmeg, salt, cayenne, black pepper, and mushroom catsup. Moisten with white wine and brandy in equal parts, cover, bake, and serve very hot.

FISH PIQUANT

Boil the fish whole in water seasoned well with onion, celery, salt, red pepper, and a tiny bit of garlic. When tender, drain, and put on a platter. Mix a lump of butter the size of an egg with three tablespoonfuls of flour, then add the juice of one or two lemons (according to size). Stir into this three cupfuls of the water in which the fish was boiled, put back on the stove, and stir until thickened. Remove from the fire, pour over the well-beaten yolks of two eggs, add some cut up pickles and olives, pour over the fish, and garnish with parsley or celery tops.

PICKLED FISH--I

Cut any kind of fish into pieces, dredge with flour, and fry. Cover with hot vinegar, adding a sprig of mint, and a pod of pepper. Let [Page 477] cool in the liquid, drain, and serve very cold.

PICKLED FISH--II

Cut any firm-fleshed fish into small pieces, dredge with seasoned flour, and fry brown in butter. Cover with boiling water to which half a cupful of vinegar has been added. Add a chopped onion, two tablespoonfuls of olive-oil, and a teaspoonful each of ground mace, cloves, and allspice. Simmer for an hour and serve very hot.

POTTED FISH--I

Pound cold cooked flaked fish to a paste, seasoning highly with salt, mustard, red and black pepper. Add melted butter to moisten, pack closely in small stone jars or cups and steam for half an hour. Cover with melted butter and keep in a cool place until ready to use.

POTTED FISH--II

Cut the fish into convenient pieces for serving. For every six pounds of fish allow one-fourth cupful each of salt, black pepper, and stick cinnamon, one-eighth cupful of allspice and one teaspoonful of clove. Put a layer of the fish in the bottom of an earthen pot, [Page 478] dredge with flour, sprinkle with spices, dot with butter, and continue until the dish is full. Fill the jar with equal parts of vinegar and water, cover tightly, and bake for five hours in a slow oven. Serve cold.

POTTED FISH--III

Clean, skin, split, bone, and cut in small pieces three shad or half a dozen small mackerel. Pack in layers in a small stone jar, sprinkling each layer with salt, cayenne, and whole spices. Cover with vinegar, close the jar tightly, and bake for five or six hours in a slow oven. Let stand for two or three days before using. All the small bones will be dissolved.

RÉCHAUFFÉ OF FISH--I

Take two cupfuls of cold cooked flaked fish and put into the chafing dish with two tablespoonfuls of butter, one cupful of crumbs, salt and pepper to season, and one egg beaten smooth with half a cupful of cream. Simmer for five or six minutes.

RÉCHAUFFÉ OF FISH--II

Reheat one cupful of cooked flaked fish and one cupful of cooked macaroni in butter. Season with salt, pepper, and tabasco sauce, and [Page 479] add one cupful of stewed and strained tomatoes. Heat thoroughly and serve.

RÉCHAUFFÉ OF FISH--III

Prepare a Cream Sauce, using for liquid equal parts of cream and fish stock. Add cold cooked flaked fish which has been seasoned with salt, pepper, oil, and lemon-juice. Reheat, season with anchovy paste and minced parsley, and serve.

RÉCHAUFFÉ OF FISH--IV

Allow one cupful of Egg Sauce and four cupfuls of mashed potato to each two cupfuls of cold cooked flaked fish. Put a layer of potato in a baking-dish, lay the fish upon it, add the sauce, cover with potato, spread with melted butter, and brown in the oven.

RÉCHAUFFÉ OF FISH--V

Brown a tablespoonful of flour in butter, add two cupfuls of milk, and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Season with salt, pepper, cayenne, ginger, and mace. Reheat cold cooked flaked fish in the sauce.

RÉCHAUFFÉ OF FISH--VI

Reheat one and one-half cupfuls of stewed [Page 480] and strained tomatoes, seasoning with salt and pepper. Warm cold cooked flaked fish in the sauce, take from the fire, add the yolk of an egg beaten with a little cold water, and serve. The fish may be put on a serving-dish and the sauce poured over it if desired.

FISH À LA REINE--I

Mix one pound of cold cooked flaked fish with Cream Sauce, seasoning with salt, pepper, and minced parsley. Add three chopped mushrooms and the yolk of one egg well-beaten and reheat, but do not boil. Serve in paper cases or shells.

FISH À LA REINE--II

Reheat cold cooked flaked fish in a Cream Sauce, seasoning with pepper, salt, and minced parsley. Add a cupful of chopped cooked mushrooms, and when very hot, take from the fire and stir in the beaten yolks of two eggs. Serve in patty-shells or individual dishes.

FISH RISSOLES--I

Flake cold cooked fish, add one-third the quantity of grated bread-crumbs, season with salt, pepper, grated onion, and melted butter, and add enough well-beaten yolk of egg to make a smooth [Page 481] paste. Cut pie-paste into three-inch squares. Place a teaspoonful of the minced fish in each square and cover with the paste. Wet the edges to make sure they adhere. Dip the rissoles in egg and crumbs, and fry in deep fat.

FISH RISSOLES--II

Season a cupful of cold cooked flaked fish with salt, pepper, and melted butter. Soak a French roll soft in half a cupful of milk, add the fish, and beat until smooth. Season with a little grated onion and mix with two eggs well-beaten. Bake in small buttered cups, turn out, and serve with any preferred sauce.

FISH SALAD

Cut a large fish into slices and boil the trimmings in water to cover with a chopped onion, a little butter, and pepper and salt to season. Boil for fifteen minutes, strain, and simmer the sliced fish in it until done. Take up the fish carefully and squeeze the juice of three lemons into the liquid. Season with cayenne, take from the fire and add the yolks of six eggs and the whites of three beaten with a little cold water. Reheat but do not boil; pour over the fish and let cool. Serve very cold.

[Page 482] FISH SALAD À LA TYROLIENNE

Add one cupful of cooked shrimps, cut into dice, to two cupfuls of cold cooked flaked fish. Mix with four tablespoonfuls of vinegar, two tablespoonfuls of capers, a pinch of celery seed, and a little pepper. Add one green pepper freed from seeds and shredded. Mix with Mayonnaise and serve on lettuce leaves with a garnish of hard-boiled eggs.

STEWED FISH--I

Cover the trimmings of a large fish with cold water, boil for half an hour, and strain. Add two fried onions and cover the fish with the liquid. Add the juice of half a lemon and one tablespoonful of butter and two tablespoonfuls of flour cooked to a smooth paste. Simmer until the fish is done, season with salt, pepper, minced parsley, and mushroom catsup, add one quart of parboiled oysters, and serve.

STEWED FISH--II

Boil three sliced onions in water to cover until tender, and drain. Season the onions with salt, pepper, cloves, mace, and allspice. Cover with thick slices of fish. Add white wine or Claret and water in equal parts to cover, and bring to the boil. Simmer until [Page 483] the fish is done, and thicken the liquid with butter and flour cooked together.

STEWED OR SHARP FISH

Put in a fish-kettle on the stove one tablespoonful of fresh butter, when melted add half an onion cut fine, a tiny piece of garlic, cut fine; let brown, then add a tablespoonful of flour, lightly browned, and enough water to cook the fish. To this liquor add some cut up celery or celery seed, some finely chopped parsley, two cloves, one bay-leaf, a tiny pinch of mace, a small pinch of cayenne pepper, some black pepper, a little ginger, and one tablespoonful of fresh butter. When this mixture begins to boil, add the fish, which has been cut up, and salted. Cook until done. Remove the fish to a platter, and add to the liquor one cupful of sweet milk, stirring constantly; boil for one minute, then pour over the beaten yolks of two eggs, stirring all the time. Slice a lemon over the fish, then pour the liquor over. Serve hot or cold.

SWEET SOUR FISH

First cut up and salt the fish. Shad or trout is best. Put in a fish-kettle with one and one-half cupfuls of water and one cupful of vinegar, add one onion cut in slices, one dozen raisins, one [Page 484] lemon cut in slices, two bay-leaves, and six cloves. When this mixture begins to boil, put in the fish and cook thoroughly. When done, remove the fish to a platter. Put the liquor back on the stove, add three tablespoonfuls of granulated sugar (which has been melted and browned in a frying pan), then add two tablespoonfuls of flour which has been rubbed smooth with a little water. Let boil well and pour over the fish. If not sweet enough, add more sugar. Serve cold.

SWEET SOUR FISH WITH WINE

Put to boil in a fish-kettle one cupful of water, one-half cupful of vinegar, two tablespoonfuls of brown sugar, six cloves, one-half teaspoonful of ground cinnamon, and one onion cut in slices. Boil thoroughly, then strain and add to it one lemon cut in slices, one wineglassful of red wine, one dozen raisins, and one tablespoonful of pounded almonds. Return to the fire, and when it comes to a boil, add the fish, cut up and salted. Cook until done, remove the fish to a platter, and to the liquor add a small piece of Leb-kuchen or ginger cake, and stir in the well-beaten yolks of four eggs; stir carefully or it will curdle. If not sweet enough, add more sugar. [Page 485] Pour over the fish. Shad or trout is the best fish to use.

SPICED FISH--I

Cook together for ten minutes one cupful of vinegar, one tablespoonful of sugar, and six each of whole allspice, cloves, and peppercorns. Strain over two cupfuls of cold cooked flaked fish, and serve very cold.

SPICED FISH--II

Cool five pounds of sliced fish in salted water, drain, cool, and skin. Boil together a quart of vinegar, two blades of mace, a small onion sliced, a small red pepper, two tablespoonfuls of grated horse-radish, six cloves, a bay-leaf, a tablespoonful of mustard seed, and half a cupful of water. Put the fish into an earthen jar, pour over the hot spiced vinegar and let stand in a cold place for two days before using.

FISH TIMBALES

Pound in a mortar one pound of fresh raw fish and press through a purée sieve. To every cupful of fish pulp add a tablespoonful of bread-crumbs soaked until soft in cream. Add also the beaten yolk of one egg, and salt, pepper, grated onion, and nutmeg to [Page 486] season. Beat thoroughly, and for every cupful of pulp, fold in the whites of two eggs beaten stiff. Fill a well-buttered mould three-quarters full, set it into a pan of warm water, cover with buttered paper, and bake for twenty minutes. Do not let the water boil. Turn out on a platter and serve with any preferred sauce.

FISH TIMBALE--I

Run through a meat-chopper twice half a pound of white fleshed fish. Add one cupful of soft bread-crumbs which have been boiled to a smooth paste in a little milk. Cool, add to the fish, press through a sieve, add six tablespoonfuls of cream, and salt and pepper to season. Fold in carefully the stiffly beaten whites of five eggs. Butter a small timbale mould, fill with the mixture, and put in a baking-pan half full of boiling water. Cover with buttered paper, bake for twenty minutes, and serve with Cream Sauce.

FISH TIMBALE--II

Chop cold cooked fish fine and mix to a smooth paste with bread-crumbs soaked in milk. Season with melted butter and grated onion and moisten with the beaten yolks of eggs. Bake in buttered individual moulds, turn out, and serve with a sauce made of one cupful of stewed [Page 487] and strained tomatoes mixed with a wineglassful of Sherry and half a cupful of cream, and thickened with the beaten yolks of two eggs. Add a few shrimps and cooked oysters to the sauce, pour around the timbales, and serve.

FISH TIMBALES--III

Chop fine one cupful of raw fish and rub it through a sieve. Season with salt, pepper, and grated onion, and add a dozen blanched almonds, chopped fine. Fold in one cupful of whipped cream and the whites of four eggs beaten very stiff. Fill small buttered moulds, set into a pan of hot water, and bake carefully.

FISH TIMBALE--IV

Add one cupful of cold cooked flaked fish to one cupful of very thick Cream Sauce and season with salt, cayenne, lemon-juice, and minced parsley. Take from the fire, add the yolks of three eggs, well-beaten, and cool. Fold in the whites of three eggs beaten stiff, fill buttered individual moulds two-thirds full, set into a pan of hot water, and bake for fifteen or twenty minutes. Serve with any preferred sauce.

[Page 488] TURBAN OF FISH--I