Chapter 5

Soak over night half a pound of salt codfish. Boil for twenty minutes two ounces of broken macaroni. Melt one tablespoonful of butter, add one of flour, and cook thoroughly. Add one cupful of stewed and strained tomatoes and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Season with salt, pepper, and grated onion, add the fish and macaroni, and cook for an hour in a double-boiler.

CODFISH À LA BONNE FEMME

Soak over night three pounds of salt codfish. [Page 102] Boil for twenty-five minutes a quart of peeled potatoes, with salt, parsley, a clove, and an onion in the water. Add the fish and cook for ten minutes longer. Arrange the fish on a platter with the drained potatoes for a border. Melt one teaspoonful of butter, add one of flour, and cook thoroughly. Add two cupfuls of water in which the fish was cooked and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Take from the fire and add the yolks of two eggs beaten with a teaspoonful of vinegar and a tablespoonful of melted butter. Season with pepper, pour over the fish and the potatoes, and serve.

CODFISH À LA BEAUREGARD

Prepare according to directions given for Creamed Codfish, using fresh codfish and omitting the egg. Serve on buttered toast and cover with hard-boiled eggs rubbed through a sieve.

STEWED CODFISH À LA LINCOLN

Clean and bone four pounds of fresh codfish. Slice and scald two small onions, drain and fry soft in salt pork fat. Cut the fish into cubes and season with salt and pepper. Boil the bones in water to cover, with onion and pork fat. Put the fish into a buttered [Page 103] sauce-pan and strain the boiling liquid over it, using enough to cover. Add the juice of half a lemon, and thicken with one heaping tablespoonful of butter cooked with two of flour. Season with salt, pepper, minced parsley, and tomato or mushroom catsup. Just before the fish is done add one quart of drained oysters and cook until the oysters are plump.

BOILED CODS' TONGUES WITH EGG SAUCE

Soak the tongues over night, change the water, and boil for ten minutes. Serve with Drawn-Butter Sauce.

FRIED CODFISH TONGUES

Wash the tongues, dip in cold milk and roll in seasoned flour. Fry in butter, and serve with tomato sauce.

CODS' TONGUES À LA POULETTE

Prepare according to directions given for boiled Cods' Tongues with Egg Sauce and serve with a Poulette Sauce, using for liquid the water in which the tongues were boiled.

CODFISH TONGUES À LA BEURRE NOIR

Prepare the tongues according to directions [Page 104] given in the recipe for Boiled Cods' Tongues with Egg Sauce. Drain and serve with brown butter, seasoned with salt, pepper, minced parsley, and lemon-juice.

CODFISH FRITTERS

Cut into strips fresh boiled cod, or freshened and boiled salt cod. Dip in fritter batter and fry in deep fat.

DEVILLED CODFISH

Flake cold cooked fish. Mix with an equal quantity of bread-crumbs the yolks of two hard-boiled eggs, and melted butter, grated onion, minced parsley, and pepper and salt to season. Add milk or oyster liquor to moisten and fill buttered shells. Cover with crumbs, dot with butter, and brown in the oven.

CODFISH À LA SEVILLE

Wash and dry one cupful of rice, brown it in olive-oil, and drain. Put into a stewpan and cover with fillets of fresh cod, fried in the oil. Add a sliced onion fried, half a dozen sliced tomatoes, and salt, cayenne, and lemon-juice to season. Add two cupfuls of stock, put a buttered paper on top, cover the pan, and bake half an hour in the oven. Take out the fish carefully, mix the rice and [Page 105] seasoning together, and serve as a border around the fish.

CODFISH À LA BÉCHAMEL

Prepare according to directions given for Creamed Codfish, omitting the egg and using white stock and milk in equal parts instead of cream.

ESCALLOPED CODFISH À LA BÉCHAMEL

Prepare according to directions given for Codfish à la Béchamel, adding the yolks of three eggs. Arrange in a baking-dish with layers of seasoned crumbs, and add sufficient milk to moisten. Cover with crumbs, dot with butter, and brown in the oven.

CODFISH À LA FLAMANDE

Prepare boiled codfish according to directions previously given. Melt one tablespoonful of butter and cook in it a teaspoonful of flour. Add one cupful of boiling water and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Take from the fire, add the yolks of two eggs well beaten, four tablespoonfuls of made mustard, and pepper, vinegar, grated nutmeg, and minced parsley to season. Add gradually half a cupful of melted butter, pour over the fish, and serve.

[Page 106] STEWED CODFISH À LA SHREWSBURY

Stuff the fish with drained oysters and seasoned crumbs, adding two tablespoonfuls of butter in small bits. Sew up, put on the grating in a fish-kettle, seasoning with salt, pepper, and minced parsley. Dot with butter and add the oyster liquor, and two cupfuls each of stock and water. Simmer for forty minutes, basting as required. Take up the fish, thicken the sauce with butter and flour cooked together, and boil for ten minutes. Take from the fire, add a tablespoonful of butter, the juice of a lemon, and the yolks of two eggs well beaten. Strain over the fish and serve.

SALT CODFISH À LA BRANDADE

Cut the fish in pieces and soak in cold water for twenty-four hours. Put into fresh cold water, bring to the boil, and simmer for twenty minutes. Drain, bone, and cool. Mix to a cream with lemon-juice and olive-oil, adding a little milk if it becomes too thick. Season with salt, pepper, minced parsley, and garlic. Serve with toasted crackers and cheese.

STEWED COD WITH OYSTERS

Cut fresh cod into fillets, and put in a baking-pan, [Page 107] with salt, pepper, and chopped onion to season. Add one cupful of white wine and the liquor of two dozen parboiled oysters. Cook slowly for fifteen minutes, take out the fish, thicken the sauce with butter and flour cooked together, add two tablespoonfuls of melted butter, season with lemon-juice, and pour the sauce over the fish. Garnish with the parboiled oysters and serve.

SALTED COD WITH BROWN BUTTER

Soak the fish for twenty-four hours and prepare according to directions given for Boiled Salted Cod. Drain, wipe dry, and fry brown in butter, adding a little minced parsley.

CODFISH STEAK

Cut the fish into steaks, about two inches thick, season with salt and pepper, and let stand for two hours. Dredge with corn-meal and fry in salt pork fat. Sprinkle with lemon-juice and serve.

BROILED CODFISH STEAKS WITH BACON

Prepare the steaks according to directions previously given and serve with a border of thin slices of bacon fried crisp.

[Page 108] BROILED CODFISH STEAKS

Soak in salted water for fifteen minutes, wipe dry, and let stand for an hour in olive-oil and vinegar. Drain, season, and broil on a well-buttered gridiron. Serve with melted butter and minced parsley.

BREADED CODFISH STEAKS

Season the steaks with salt, pepper, and lemon-juice, dip in egg and crumbs, and fry in deep fat. Serve with any preferred sauce.

FRIED CODFISH STEAKS

Clean the steaks, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and dip into flour. Sauté in salt pork fat.

CODFISH STEAKS À LA NARRAGANSETT

Fry the steaks with a chopped onion in butter, seasoning with salt and pepper. Take out and put a tablespoonful of flour into the frying-pan. Cook thoroughly, add two cupfuls of water and half a cupful of wine, and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Add two tablespoonfuls of butter, season with minced parsley and lemon-juice, pour over the fish, and serve.

[Page 109] CODFISH HASH

Flake cold cooked cod, mix with an equal quantity of mashed potatoes, and season to taste. Cook until light brown in butter.

MATELOTE OF CODFISH

Mix together one cupful of oysters, two cupfuls of bread-crumbs, two tablespoonfuls of butter, one egg, and a small onion, chopped. Stuff a small boned codfish and sew up. Lay the fish on slices of bacon in a baking-pan and cover the top with bacon. Add sufficient boiling water and bake for an hour, basting as required.

STEWED CODFISH

Flake cold cooked cod and reheat with butter, pepper, salt, minced parsley, cayenne, and lemon-juice. Serve very hot on toast.

FILLETS OF CODFISH

Clean and bone the fish and cut into thick strips. Put into a buttered saucepan with a little stock, season, sprinkle with minced parsley, and set into the oven, covered with a buttered paper. Serve in a deep platter with a border of mashed potatoes.

[Page 110] FRIED COD

Prepare the fish according to directions given for Fillet of Codfish. Season, dredge with flour, dip in egg and bread-crumbs, and fry in deep fat.

FRIED CODFISH À LA MAÎTRE D'HÔTEL

Prepare according to directions given for Fried Codfish. Serve with a sauce of melted butter, lemon-juice, and minced parsley.

FRIED FILLETS OF CODFISH

Mix together one tablespoonful of olive-oil, two tablespoonfuls of lemon-juice, and salt, grated onion, and paprika to season. Soak fillets of codfish in this for an hour, then drain, dip into beaten egg, then into crumbs, and fry in deep fat. Drain on brown paper and serve with Tartar Sauce.

BROILED CODFISH

Split the tail end of the fish and broil. Serve with melted butter, lemon-juice, and minced parsley.

CODFISH PIE

Prepare Creamed Codfish according to directions previously given, seasoning with grated onion. Fill a buttered baking-dish and cover [Page 111] with mashed potato, beaten very light with an egg and a little cream. Rub with melted butter, sprinkle with grated cheese, and bake in a quick oven.

ESCALLOPED CODFISH

Prepare the fish according to directions previously given. Flake and prepare according to directions given for Creamed Codfish. Put into a buttered baking-pan with layers of seasoned crumbs between, add milk to moisten, cover with crumbs, dot with butter, and brown in the oven.

[Page 113] FORTY-FIVE WAYS TO COOK EELS

BRAISED EEL

Skin and clean an eel, cut it into two-inch pieces, sprinkle with salt, and let stand for an hour. Soak in cold water for ten minutes, drain, and dry. Put into a buttered saucepan, seasoning with grated nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Cover with sliced lemon, chopped shallot, minced parsley, and a few pepper-corns. Cover the pan and bake in the oven until the fish is brown. Take out the eel and put into a deep dish. Add to the sauce one cupful of stock, bring to the boil, and thicken with a tablespoonful each of butter and flour cooked together. Boil until thick, take from the fire, add the yolks of three eggs beaten smooth with a little stock, bring to the boil, add a little lemon-juice, strain over the fish, and serve.

BROILED EELS--I

Skin, clean and cut up a large eel. Dip into beaten egg, then into [Page 114] crumbs seasoned with grated lemon rind, nutmeg, minced parsley, sweet herbs, pepper, and salt. Broil skin side down on a buttered gridiron, turning when done. Serve with Anchovy or Tartar Sauce.

BROILED EELS--II

Clean and cut the eels into three-inch lengths. Let stand for half an hour in a marinade of oil and lemon-juice, seasoned with pepper and salt. Drain, broil, and garnish with fried parsley.

BROILED EELS WITH SOUR SAUCE

Clean the eels and cut into five-inch lengths. Boil for ten minutes in one cupful of vinegar and enough cold water to cover, seasoning with salt, pepper-corns, carrot, onion, and parsley. Cool in the water, dip in crumbs, then in eggs beaten with a tablespoonful of olive-oil for each egg, then in bread-crumbs. Broil as usual. Serve with a sauce made of two tablespoonfuls of chopped shallots, fried in two tablespoonfuls of butter, added to a wineglassful each of white wine and vinegar. Add two cupfuls of stock and thicken with browned flour cooked in butter. Boil for five minutes, add one tablespoonful each of chopped mushrooms, parsley, pickles, and capers, and two tablespoonfuls of butter. Garnish with lemons and parsley.

[Page 115] FRIED EELS--I

Prepare and cut up the fish according to directions previously given and soak for several hours in vinegar with salt, pepper, and grated lemon-peel. Drain, dip into batter, and fry in deep fat. Serve with any preferred sauce.

FRIED EELS--II

Prepare according to directions previously given and cut into two-inch pieces. Dredge with flour and sauté in hot lard, or dip into egg and bread-crumbs and fry in deep fat. They may also be dipped into corn-meal before frying.

FRIED EELS--III

Prepare the eels according to directions given for Stewed Eels à la Americaine, sprinkling with shallot and parsley also. Let stand for several hours, dip into egg and crumbs, and fry in deep fat. Serve with any preferred sauce.

FRIED EELS--IV

Clean the eels, cut into two-inch pieces, and parboil for eight minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, dip into corn-meal, and sauté in salt pork fat.

[Page 116] EELS FRIED IN BATTER

Cut a large cleaned eel into joints, and soak for several hours in cold water, to which salt, pepper, and vinegar have been added. Drain dip in batter, and fry in hot fat. Drain on brown paper and serve with Tomato Sauce.

EELS À LA LYONNAISE

Clean two large eels, cut into four-inch lengths and remove the bones. Cook in equal parts of white wine and water to cover, adding salt, pepper, a sliced onion, a clove of garlic, and a bunch of parsley. Drain the fish and strain the liquid. Thicken with two tablespoonfuls of flour rubbed smooth with two tablespoonfuls of butter. Boil for fifteen minutes and skim. Add two tablespoonfuls of butter and the juice of a lemon. Bring to the boil, pour over the fish, and serve with a garnish of small onions fried in butter and sugar.

EELS À LA VILLEROY

Clean two large eels and cut into lengths. Cover with salted and acidulated water, add a bunch of parsley, a sliced onion, and a pinch of powdered sweet herbs. Boil slowly for ten minutes, cool, and drain. Melt one tablespoonful of butter and cook in it two [Page 117] tablespoonfuls of flour. Add two cupfuls of white stock and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Take from the fire and season to taste. Add the yolks of four eggs well beaten and cool. Dip the pieces of eel in this sauce, and set on ice. Roll in cracker crumbs, dip in beaten egg, then in bread-crumbs, and fry brown in deep fat.

EELS À LA TARTAR

Cut up the eel and cook in court bouillon with wine. Drain, dip in egg and crumbs, and fry in deep fat. Serve with a stiff Mayonnaise mixed with chopped parsley, olives, pickles, and capers.

EELS À L'INDIENNE

Chop fine an onion, half a carrot, and a stalk of celery. Fry in butter, dredge with flour, and cook thoroughly. Add enough stock to make the required quantity of sauce, and cook until thick, stirring constantly, Season with mace, thyme, a bay-leaf, minced parsley, and curry powder. Strain through a sieve and pour over eels stewed in wine and seasoned with vegetables according to directions previously given. Serve with a border of boiled rice sprinkled with grated Parmesan cheese.

[Page 118] EELS À LA NORMANDY

Fry in butter a pound and a half of prepared eels. Add a wineglassful of white wine or cider, a tablespoonful of mushroom catsup, and salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg to season. Simmer for ten minutes, add one cupful of white stock, half a dozen mushrooms, a dozen oysters, and half a dozen shrimps. When cooked take from the fire, add the yolks of two eggs well beaten, and serve at once.

STUFFED EELS À L'ITALIENNE

Skin the eel but keep the head on. Remove the back-bone and stuff with seasoned crumbs, mixed with minced parsley and mushrooms. Skewer in the form of a circle; put into a saucepan with two ounces of butter, a small bunch of parsley, a chopped onion, two cupfuls of white wine, and salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg to season. Bake for an hour, basting as required. Drain, take out the parsley, and add to the sauce two cupfuls of brown stock, and one cupful of chopped mushrooms. Boil for five minutes and thicken with browned flour cooked in butter. Season with minced parsley and lemon-juice, pour the sauce around the eel, and serve.

EELS À LA LONDON

Fry four chopped onions in butter, dredge [Page 119] with flour, and cook thoroughly. Add two cupfuls of stock, half a cupful of Port wine, two bay-leaves, and salt and pepper to season. Cook until thick, stirring constantly. Add one large cleaned eel, cut into two-inch lengths, cover, and cook for fifteen minutes. Serve on toast.

EELS À LA REINE

Prepare and cut up the eels. Fry in butter with half a can of mushrooms, and dredge with flour. Add one cupful of stock and half a cupful of white wine. Bring to the boil, season with salt, pepper, and a chopped onion, and cook until the eel is tender. Skim, take from the fire, and add the juice of half a lemon, beaten smooth with the yolks of two eggs.

EELS À LA POULETTE

Stew the eels in white wine with carrot, onion, parsley, bay-leaf, thyme, pepper-corns, and salt to season. Drain and serve with Poulette Sauce.

FRICASSÉE OF EEL

Prepare the eel according to directions previously given, cook in equal parts of white wine and water, seasoning with mace, pepper, nutmeg, cloves, sweet herbs, allspice, and salt. [Page 120] Boil until the eels are tender, then skim out. Add a little anchovy paste to the sauce, with a tablespoonful of butter, bring to the boil, take from the fire, add the yolks of two eggs well beaten, pour over the fish, and serve.

FRICASSÉED EELS

Skin, clean, and cut up. Cover with cold water, add salt, and minced parsley to season, cover, and cook slowly for an hour. Thicken with a tablespoonful each of butter and flour blended together and made smooth with cold water. Season highly with pepper, and serve.

STEWED EELS WITH CUCUMBERS

Clean and skin two eels, cut into pieces and soak in cold water for an hour. Drain, cover with wine and water, seasoning with salt, pepper, onion, and parsley, and simmer for fifteen minutes. Take out the fish and add three sliced and parboiled cucumbers. Strain the sauce, thicken with flour cooked in butter, and boil for ten minutes. Skim, add the yolks of four eggs well beaten and take from the fire. Season with red pepper and lemon-juice, strain over the fish, and serve.

STEWED EELS--I

Put into a saucepan three fourths of a cupful [Page 121] of butter and fry in it four small chopped onions. Add a tablespoonful of flour, cook through, and add two cupfuls of boiling water or stock. Cook until thick, stirring constantly, then put in one large cleaned eel cut into inch pieces; cover and cook for fifteen minutes.

STEWED EELS--II

Wash and skin a pint of eels, cut them in pieces three inches long, pepper and salt them, and put them into a stewpan. Pour in one pint of good soup stock, adding one large onion, shredded, three cloves, a teaspoonful of grated lemon-peel, and a wineglassful of Port wine. Stew slowly for half an hour, and pour into a hot dish. Strain the liquor and add a wineglassful of cream thickened with flour, and boil up once. Pour over the eels and serve.

STEWED EELS--III

Clean, skin, and joint the eels. Cover with boiling water, add a tablespoonful of vinegar, and cook for ten minutes. Drain, cook together one tablespoonful of butter and two of flour. Add two cupfuls of the water in which the eels were cooked. Cook until thick, stirring constantly. Season with salt, pepper, and grated onion, then add the eels and [Page 122] reheat. Simmer for twenty minutes, add a tablespoonful of minced parsley, and serve.

STEWED EELS--IV

Prepare according to directions given above, using veal or fish stock, instead of water, and adding a bay-leaf to the seasoning.

STEWED EELS À L'ANGLAISE

Cook prepared eels in half a bottle of Port wine, seasoned with carrot, onion, parsley, bay-leaf, thyme, salt, pepper-corns, cloves, mace, and chopped mushrooms. Cover with buttered paper, simmer for half an hour and drain. Melt two tablespoonfuls of butter and cook in it two tablespoonfuls of flour. Add a chopped shallot and enough of the eel liquor to make the required quantity of sauce. Cook until thick, stirring constantly. Add half a cupful of stock, and two wineglassfuls of Port wine. Bring to the boil, strain, add a few chopped mushrooms, a tablespoonful of butter, and minced parsley, lemon-juice, and anchovy paste to season. Pour the sauce over the eels, and serve.

STEWED EELS À L'AMERICAINE

Use three pounds of cleaned and skinned eel with all the fat removed. Cut in two-inch pieces, season with pepper and salt and chopped [Page 123] onion, and put in a double-boiler with half a cupful of butter. Sprinkle with parsley, cover tightly, and cook for about an hour and a half. Serve in a deep dish.

STEWED EELS À LA POULETTE

Cut cleaned eels into two-inch pieces and cook until tender in stock. Thicken with butter and flour cooked together, add half a dozen chopped mushrooms, and salt, pepper, grated onion, and minced parsley to season. Boil for twenty minutes, add the juice of a lemon, and serve.

STEWED EELS À LA CANOTIERE

Fry a chopped onion in butter, add a pound of rice and cook brown. Add four cupfuls of fish stock, seasoning with red and white pepper, caver, and cook for twenty minutes. Take from the fire, add half a cupful each of butter and Tomato Sauce. Prepare the eels according to directions given for Eels à la Lyonnaise, adding a tablespoonful of anchovy essence to the sauce. Serve with a border of the rice.

STEWED EELS À LA GENEVOISE

Prepare two eels, cut into four-inch lengths. [Page 124] Put into a saucepan with a sliced carrot, an onion, a bunch of parsley, two cloves of garlic, and salt and pepper-corns to season. Put in enough cider to cover the fish, and simmer for fifteen minutes. Take up the fish, strain the sauce, and thicken it with two tablespoonfuls of butter. Add two tablespoonfuls of butter to the sauce, reheat, pour over the eels, and garnish with small onions fried brown in butter and sugar.

MATELOTE OF EELS--I

Prepare and cut up the fish according to directions previously given. Put into a saucepan with one cupful each of stock and Claret, a bruised clove of garlic, a whole pepper, a sliced onion, a bay-leaf, and a pinch each of thyme, cloves, parsley, and salt. Take out the fish, strain the sauce, add to it a tablespoonful each of butter and flour cooked together, and pour over the fish.

MATELOTE OF EELS--II

Cut a pound and a half of prepared eels into two-inch pieces and fry for two minutes in butter. Add a wineglassful of Claret, and three tablespoonfuls each of stock and mushroom liquor. Season with salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg, and a pinch of powdered sweet herbs. Add six small onions and six button mushrooms. Cook for half [Page 125] an hour and thicken with a tablespoonful each of butter and flour cooked together.

MATELOTE OF EELS--III

Prepare two eels and cut them into two-inch lengths. Cover with cold salted water and bring to the boil. Add an onion, a dozen cloves, and two tablespoonfuls of vinegar. Boil for fifteen minutes, drain, dry, roll in flour and fry brown in butter. Add two cupfuls of boiling water, and salt, pepper, and fine herbs to season. Add a cupful of button onions peeled and fried brown in butter and sugar. Cover and simmer for one hour. If the sauce should evaporate, add more boiling water. When done, add half a cupful of wine and serve.

MATELOTE OF EELS À LA PARISIENNE

Clean and cut the eels into four-inch pieces. Cover with white wine and season with sliced carrot and chopped mushrooms. Add also the liquor from three dozen parboiled oysters. Simmer until the eels are done and drain. Add to the liquor half a cupful of white stock, and thicken with flour cooked in butter. Add two wineglassfuls of white wine and boil until thick, stirring constantly. Take from the fire, and add the yolks of four eggs beaten [Page 126] smooth with the juice of half a lemon, a tablespoonful of butter, and a grating of nutmeg. Add the parboiled oysters, and a handful of button mushrooms. Reheat, pour over the fish, and serve.

MATELOTE OF EELS À LA GENOISE