Chapter 8

Trim the steaks, lay them in a baking-pan, season with salt and pepper, dredge with flour, dot with butter, pour over one cupful of cream and bake for fifteen minutes in a quick oven, basting with cream.

BAKED CHICKEN HALIBUT

Prepare a dressing according to directions given in the preceding recipe. Stuff a chicken halibut, sew up and bake in a buttered pan, basting with melted butter and salted hot water. Serve with Hollandaise Sauce.

BAKED HALIBUT STEAKS WITH TOMATOES

Soak the steaks for an hour in olive-oil and lemon-juice. Cook together for fifteen minutes a can of tomatoes and a seeded chopped green pepper, half an onion, a teaspoonful of sugar, and pepper and salt to season. Rub through a colander and cool. Put the drained fish in a buttered baking-pan, pour the sauce over, and bake.

DEVILLED HALIBUT--I

Flake cold cooked halibut. Make a forcemeat of bread-crumbs, the yolks of two eggs, a tablespoonful of melted butter, and salt, [Page 179] paprika, grated onion, and minced parsley to season. Mix the fish, moisten with oyster liquor, and fill buttered individual shells. Cover with crumbs, season with salt and pepper, dot with butter, and brown in the oven.

DEVILLED HALIBUT--II

Flake a pound of cooked halibut. Mix together the pounded yolks of three hard-boiled eggs, one tablespoonful of olive-oil, two teaspoonfuls of sugar, a teaspoonful of made mustard, a pinch of cayenne, a teaspoonful of salt, a teaspoonful of Worcestershire sauce, half a teaspoonful of anchovy paste, and enough vinegar to make a smooth paste. Mix thoroughly with the fish, and garnish with hard-boiled eggs sliced or quartered.

MOULDED HALIBUT WITH GREEN PEAS

Chop a pound of raw halibut very fine. Add to it the yolk of an egg well beaten, and salt, red and white pepper to season. Add a teaspoonful of corn-starch rubbed smooth with two thirds of a cupful of milk and one third of a cupful of cream, whipped solid. Fill buttered individual moulds, put into a pan of hot [Page 180] water, and bake in a slow oven for twenty minutes. Turn out on a platter and surround with cooked peas, reheated in Cream Sauce.

SANDWICHES OF CHICKEN HALIBUT

Cut chicken halibut into thin fillets. Put together in pairs with chopped oysters between, rubbed to a paste with seasoned crumbs and cream. Rub with melted butter, sprinkle with lemon-juice, and season with salt and pepper. Put into a shallow pan with half a cupful of white wine, and bake for twenty minutes. Arrange on a platter, sprinkle with minced parsley, and serve with Hollandaise Sauce.

TURBANS OF HALIBUT

Have a slice of halibut cut two inches thick. Take off the skin and cut into cylinders with a small tin baking-powder box. Steam until firm and serve with a Cream Sauce flavored with parsley and lemon. Or, bake in milk and serve with Cream Sauce, using stewed and strained tomato for half of the liquid.

HALIBUT AND LOBSTER À LA HOLLANDAISE

Reheat equal quantities of boiled and flaked lobster and halibut in Hollandaise Sauce.

[Page 181] HALIBUT STEAK À LA JARDINIÈRE--I

Soak halibut steaks for an hour in salt and water. Wipe dry and rub with melted butter. Butter a china baking-dish, sprinkle chopped onion on the bottom and put in the steaks. On top put a boiled carrot cut into dice, half a dozen sliced tomatoes, a shredded green pepper, and half a cupful of green peas. Add enough salted boiling water to keep the fish from scorching, put a tablespoonful of butter on top, cover, and bake until done. Drain the liquor carefully from the pan, add three tablespoonfuls of white wine, and thicken with a teaspoonful of butter rolled in browned flour. Serve separately as a sauce.

HALIBUT À LA JARDINIÈRE--II

Cover two slices of halibut with a chopped onion, two tomatoes sliced, a shredded and seeded green pepper, a dozen chopped almonds, a tablespoonful of melted butter, and salt to season. Bake for half an hour, pour over the sauce from the pan, and serve.

HALIBUT IN CUCUMBERS

Cook the halibut until tender in court bouillon, drain, and flake with a fork. Make a Cream Sauce, seasoning with curry powder. Pare, cut in halves, and parboil in beef stock [Page 182] as many cucumbers as are required. Scoop out the inside of each half, fill with the creamed fish, cover with crumbs, dot with butter, and bake in the oven until the cucumbers are soft. Serve with a garnish of lemon and parsley.

HALIBUT WITH ANCHOVY SAUCE

Four tablespoonfuls of butter, four tablespoonfuls of flour, one eighth teaspoonful of pepper, one half teaspoonful of salt, two hard-boiled eggs chopped, two cupfuls of cream, two drops of tabasco, one teaspoonful of anchovy essence, one and one half cupfuls of cold cooked halibut, flaked. Mix the ingredients in the order given and cook for ten minutes. Serve with brown bread spread with cheese and chopped olives.

HALIBUT AU GRATIN

Flake cold cooked halibut and mix with an equal quantity of Cream Sauce. Put into buttered individual shells, sprinkle with crumbs, dot with butter, and brown in the oven.

ESCALLOPED HALIBUT

Prepare the fish according to directions given in the preceding recipe, and add the yolks of two eggs well beaten. Fill a baking-dish, [Page 183] using alternate layers of fish and grated cheese. Cover with crumbs, dot with butter, and brown in the oven.

HALIBUT STEAK À LA FLAMANDE

Butter a baking-pan, sprinkle with chopped onion, and lay a halibut steak upon it. Pour over the beaten yolk of an egg, season with salt and pepper, add the juice of half a lemon, and one tablespoonful of butter cut into small pieces. Bake for thirty minutes. Add to the liquid remaining in the pan enough boiling water to make the required quantity of sauce, and thicken it with browned flour.

CREAMED HALIBUT

Flake cold cooked halibut and mix with Cream Sauce. Add a tablespoonful of minced parsley, the juice of half a lemon, and three tablespoonfuls of grated Parmesan cheese. Spread on buttered toast, sprinkle with minced parsley and serve.

HALIBUT SALAD

Take cold cooked halibut cut small, salt and pepper lightly, and sprinkle with lemon-juice. For the dressing boil three large peeled potatoes until mealy. Drain, let dry, and [Page 184] beat to a dry powder with a fork. Add one saltspoonful of salt, the same of mustard and pepper, one rounding teaspoonful of powdered sugar, and two tablespoonfuls of vinegar beaten in gradually. Pour over the halibut and decorate with lettuce or green tops.

TURKISH HALIBUT

Place on the bottom of a baking-pan two or three slices of onion, then a cutlet of halibut, and put a tablespoonful of butter cut into small bits over the top of the fish. Cut three skinned tomatoes into quarters, slice a sweet green pepper into ribbons, and put the tomatoes and pepper on the fish. Put the pan on the shelf of the oven to cook first the vegetables, but do not let it remain there long enough to discolor or change their shape; then remove it to the bottom of the oven, baste it well, and finish the cooking. When done place it carefully on a hot dish, and pour over it the juice from the pan.

HALIBUT PIE

Butter a china baking-dish and sprinkle with chopped shallots and parsley. Add a layer of chopped halibut, and salt, pepper, grated nutmeg, chopped shallots, and parsley [Page 185] to season. Dot with butter and cover with sliced hard-boiled eggs. Add a cupful of Cream Sauce, and two wineglassfuls of white wine. Wet the edge, cover with pastry, gash, brush with egg and bake for an hour and a half in a moderate oven. Make a hole in the centre and moisten the pie with milk if it becomes too dry.

STEAMED HALIBUT

Put the prepared fish on a plate, cover with a cloth, and put in a steamer. Steam for two hours and pour over an Egg Sauce.

HALIBUT MOUSSELINES

Mince enough uncooked halibut to make two cupfuls, 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 with sauce, make a stock of the fish bones and water, and add it to two tablespoonfuls of butter and two of flour cooked together. There should be one and one half cupfuls of stock. Add one half [Page 186] cupful of cream, and when boiling add salt, pepper, and one tablespoonful of grated horseradish soaked in lemon-juice.

HALIBUT STEAKS À LA MAÎTRE D'HÔTEL

Season the steaks with salt and pepper, and rub thoroughly with oil. Broil in a double-broiler, and serve with melted butter, minced parsley, and lemon-juice.

TIMBALE OF HALIBUT

Chop half a pound of raw halibut and press it through a sieve. Mix a cupful of bread-crumbs to a smooth paste with half a cupful of milk, and cook until it thickens. Take from the fire, add the fish pulp and the stiffly beaten whites of five eggs. Fill buttered timbale moulds with the mixture and cook in a pan of hot water in a moderate oven for twenty minutes. Serve with Cream or Tomato Sauce.

FILLETS OF HALIBUT À LA POULETTE

Free the fish of skin and bones and cut it into fillets. Sprinkle with lemon-juice, salt, and pepper. Cover with sliced onion and let stand for half an hour. Remove the onion, dip into melted butter, roll up each piece, and fasten with a wooden toothpick. Dip once [Page 187] more into the butter, dredge thickly with flour and bake for twenty minutes in a moderate oven. Cut the whites of three hard-boiled eggs into rings, and arrange around the fillets after taking up. Sprinkle the grated yolks over the fish and serve with Cream Sauce.

COLD HALIBUT FILLET

Prepare half a dozen fillets of halibut, remove the skin and bone, and boil in court bouillon. Drain and sprinkle with olive-oil, lemon-juice, minced parsley, and chopped onion. Serve with Tartar Sauce.

FILLETS OF HALIBUT WITH TOMATO SAUCE

Prepare the fillets according to directions previously given, and bake, basting with tomato-juice and melted butter. Serve with Tomato Sauce.

FILLETS OF HALIBUT STUFFED WITH OYSTERS

Prepare the fillets according to directions given for Fillets of Halibut à la Poulette. Roll each one around an oyster, fasten with a wooden toothpick, and bake as usual.

[Page 188] FILLETS OF HALIBUT WITH BROWN SAUCE

Put the seasoned fillets into a buttered pan with sufficient boiling water, and bake, basting as required. Drain off the water, add to it a teaspoonful of beef extract, and thicken with browned flour. Pour the sauce over the fish, cover with buttered crumbs, and bake until the crumbs are brown.

FILLETS OF HALIBUT WITH POTATO BALLS

Cut the solid meat into fillets, seasoning with salt, pepper, onion- and lemon-juice. Brown slightly in pork fat, then place in a baking-dish. Prepare a Cream Sauce, adding to it a slice each of carrot and onion, a bay-leaf, and minced parsley and grated nutmeg to season. Strain over the fish and bake for twelve minutes. Serve with a border of steamed potato balls.

FRIED FILLETS OF HALIBUT--I

Prepare the fillets according to directions previously given and soak for an hour in a marinade of oil, vinegar, and minced onion. Drain, dip in batter, then in crumbs, and fry in deep fat.

[Page 189] FRIED FILLETS OF HALIBUT--II

Clean and fillet the fish. Dip into beaten egg, then into crumbs, and fry in deep fat. Serve with melted butter, lemon-juice, and minced parsley.

MAYONNAISE OF HALIBUT WITH CUCUMBERS

Boil or steam halibut steaks according to directions previously given. Remove the skin, cover with thinly sliced cucumbers, and pour over a Mayonnaise dressing.

HALIBUT LOAF

Cook together two tablespoonfuls of butter and one tablespoonful of flour. Add half a can of chopped mushrooms, two cupfuls of chopped cooked halibut, pepper, salt, onion-juice, and anchovy paste to season, and two eggs beaten smooth with four tablespoonfuls of cream. Pour into a buttered mould, cover set into a pan of hot water and cook steadily for an hour. Turn out and garnish with potato balls.

HALIBUT AND EGGS

Flake a pound of cooked halibut and mix with six eggs well beaten. [Page 190] Season with salt and pepper and cook in butter, stirring constantly until the eggs set. Serve on buttered toast.

HALIBUT IN RAMEKINS

Prepare the fish according to directions given for Halibut in Cucumbers. Fill buttered individual dishes, cover with crumbs, dot with butter, and bake in the oven.

HALIBUT FISH BALLS

Flake cold cooked halibut and mix with an equal quantity of mashed potatoes beaten very light with egg. Season with salt, pepper, and melted butter. Shape into balls, dip into melted butter, dredge with flour, and fry in deep fat.

BREADED HALIBUT

Prepare according to directions given for Halibut à la Creole--I, sprinkling with minced parsley as well as garlic. Cover with crumbs, dot with butter, and bake in the oven.

COQUILLES OF HALIBUT

Flake cold cooked halibut, and mix with Cream Sauce. Season with mushroom catsup, fill buttered individual shells, cover with fried [Page 191] bread-crumbs and heat thoroughly in the oven.

HALIBUT WITH CAPER SAUCE

Boil the halibut in salted and acidulated water. Pour over a Caper Sauce.

HALIBUT PUDDING

Three pounds of halibut, six eggs, one quarter pound butter, one quart sweet milk, two tablespoonfuls of corn-starch, one tablespoonful of flour. Skin and bone the fish and run through a meat-chopper. Add flour and corn-starch, mixing well. Add butter, rubbing all to a cream; next the eggs, one at a time, thoroughly beating after each one. Add milk gradually, one quarter teaspoonful pepper and one and one half teaspoonfuls of salt. Beat until it thickens. Grease and line a deep baking-pan with browned bread-crumbs. Fill with the fish mixture and sprinkle crumbs on top. Bake for an hour and a half in a moderate oven; cover at first, then remove the cover and let it brown well.

BOILED HALIBUT--I

Put two pounds of halibut into a saucepan and cover it with fresh water. Add a sliced onion, half a carrot sliced, two tablespoonfuls of vinegar, a small bunch of parsley, a pinch [Page 192] of powdered sweet herbs, and two tablespoonfuls of salt. Simmer until done, drain, and serve with melted butter to which a little anchovy paste has been added.

BOILED HALIBUT--II

Rub the fish with salt, sprinkle with lemon-juice, and keep in a cool place for an hour. Cover with cold water, bring quickly to the boil, and simmer until done. Serve with Egg Sauce.

BOILED HALIBUT STEAKS AU GRATIN

Soak the steaks in salted water for an hour, drain, and sprinkle with oil and lemon-juice. Put into a covered baking-pan, sprinkle with chopped onion and a tablespoonful of melted butter, and add a cupful of boiling water. Cover and cook until nearly done, then uncover, sprinkle with crumbs, dot with butter, and bake brown. Serve with Tartar Sauce.

BOILED HALIBUT STEAKS

Cover the steaks with court bouillon or hot water, and add a slice each of carrot, onion, and celery, a bay-leaf, four cloves, six peppercorns, and the juice of half a lemon. Simmer until done, drain and serve with any preferred sauce.

[Page 193] BOILED HALIBUT À LA BECHAMEL

Prepare Boiled Halibut according to directions previously given, and serve with Bechamel Sauce, seasoning with salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg. Add four tablespoonfuls of butter and a pinch of sugar, and strain over the fish.

BOILED HALIBUT WITH PARSLEY SAUCE

Boil the halibut in salted and acidulated water. For the sauce boil a cupful of chopped parsley for five minutes in a cupful of water. Strain the water through a sieve, and thicken with a tablespoonful of butter blended with a tablespoonful of flour. Take from the fire, season with salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg, add the yolks of two eggs well beaten, a little minced parsley, two tablespoonfuls of butter, and a few drops of lemon-juice or vinegar. Strain over the fish and serve.

CARBONADE OF HALIBUT

Skin the halibut and cut into large cubes. Dip into melted butter, seasoned with salt, pepper, and onion-juice, then into beaten egg, then into crumbs. Put into a buttered [Page 194] baking-pan, spread with egg and butter, and cook in a hot oven for twelve minutes. Serve with Hollandaise Sauce.

FRIED HALIBUT--I

Cut into steaks, and sauté in butter in a frying-pan, or dip in egg and crumbs and fry in deep fat.

FRIED HALIBUT--II

Season halibut steaks with salt and pepper, dredge with flour, and sauté in salt pork fat. Serve the pork with the fish.

FRIED HALIBUT--III

Soak halibut steaks for an hour in a marinade of oil and vinegar. Drain, dredge with seasoned flour, dip in beaten egg, then in seasoned crumbs. Fry in deep fat.

[Page 195] FRIED HALIBUT WITH TOMATO SAUCE

Remove the skin and bones from small halibut steaks, dip in milk, roll in seasoned flour, and fry light brown. Serve with a sauce of stewed, strained, and seasoned tomatoes thickened with butter and flour, cooked together.

ESCALLOPED HALIBUT AU PARMESAN

Cut in thin slices four pounds of halibut meat. Put into a buttered pan with salt, pepper, grated nutmeg, and chopped onions to season. Cover, cook slowly, and then drain. Cook together two tablespoonfuls each of butter and flour, add a quart of milk and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Take from the fire, add the yolks of four eggs well beaten and half a cupful of grated cheese. Put into a buttered baking-dish a layer of fish, cover it with sauce, and repeat until the dish is full, having sauce on top. Sprinkle thickly with crumbs and grated cheese, dot with butter, and bake in a moderate oven.

BREADED HALIBUT STEAKS

Dip halibut steaks into egg and bread crumbs, and broil on a buttered gridiron, basting with melted butter or olive-oil.

HALIBUT TIMBALES

Chop fine a slice of raw halibut, and rub it through a sieve. Season one cupful of the pulp with salt, red pepper, and onion-juice, then add gradually the stiffly beaten whites of four eggs, and one cupful of whipped cream. Fill buttered timbale moulds, cover [Page 196] with buttered paper, and bake for fifteen minutes in a pan of hot water. Turn out and serve with any preferred sauce.

HALIBUT à LA POULETTE

Melt one fourth of a cupful of butter, and season it with salt, pepper, grated onion, and lemon-juice. Dip prepared fillets of halibut into it, roll up, and fasten with a wooden toothpick. Dredge with flour and bake, basting with melted butter. Arrange on a platter, pour over a Cream Sauce and sprinkle thickly with chopped hard-boiled eggs.

[Page 197] TWENTY-FIVE WAYS TO COOK HERRING

STEWED HERRING

Clean the fish and cut off the heads. Pack in layers in an earthen pot, and sprinkle salt and pepper over each layer. Chop together carrots and onions, enough to cover the fish, and fry in butter with parsley, a few peppercorns, and a minced clove of garlic. Pour over the vegetables enough white wine to cover the fish, and bring to the boil. Simmer for half an hour, then strain over the fish and cook over a slow fire until done.

MATELOTE OF HERRING

Cut off the heads and tails and divide each herring lengthwise into two fillets. Put a small amount of butter into a frying-pan and add enough flour to absorb nearly all of it, then add a little chopped parsley and a few chopped shallots. Lay the fish in the pan, add enough red wine to cover, and cook over [Page 198] a hot fire. Garnish with small onions fried in butter and sugar, and sautéd mushrooms.

BROILED HERRING

Clean and split the fish. Let stand for an hour in olive-oil, seasoned with minced parsley. Broil over a slow fire and serve with melted butter, lemon-juice and minced parsley.

BROILED HERRING WITH MUSTARD SAUCE

Clean and cut off the heads of the fish, but do not split. Dip in seasoned oil and let stand for an hour. Broil over a slow fire. Mix together one teaspoonful of flour and one tablespoonful of mustard. Add one cupful of white stock and bring to the boil. Add one tablespoonful of butter, a teaspoonful of minced parsley, and pepper and salt to taste. Pour over the fish and serve.

BROILED SMOKED HERRING

Put the cleaned herring into a bowl, cover with boiling water, let stand for ten minutes, skin, wipe dry, broil, and serve with melted butter.

[Page 199] BROILED HERRING WITH CREAM SAUCE

Soak for an hour in a marinade of oil and lemon-juice, seasoned with salt and pepper. Broil and serve with a Cream Sauce. Add to the sauce a teaspoonful of minced parsley, and a few drops of vinegar.

FRIED HERRING--I

Clean and cut up the fish, dip in milk, roll in flour and fry in hot fat. Serve with a Cream Sauce, to which four tablespoonfuls of prepared mustard have been added.

FRIED HERRING--II

Clean and cut up the fish, dredge with salt, pepper, and flour, and put into a frying-pan with hot lard.

FRIED HERRING--III

Remove the head and tail, clean, gash down to the bone, roll in corn-meal, and fry in salt pork fat. Garnish with lemon and parsley.

HERRING À LA NORMANDY

Chop a large onion fine and fry it. When brown, fry half a dozen prepared herrings in the same fat. When brown add salt, pepper, [Page 200] and two tablespoonfuls of vinegar. Bring to the boil and pour over the herring. Serve with mustard.

SMOKED HERRING À LA MARINE

Cut off the heads of smoked herrings and put the rest in a bowl. Cover with hot water and soak for two hours. Take them out, skin, bone, and soak for two weeks in enough oil to cover, with sliced onions, pepper-corns, and bay-leaves. Keep in a cool place.

BOILED HERRING

Clean the fish thoroughly, and rub with salt and vinegar. Skewer their tails in their mouths and boil for ten or twelve minutes. Drain and serve with melted butter and parsley.

HERRING RELISH

Soak six Holland herrings over night. Remove the backbones, cut up into inch pieces, and add three onions sliced thin. Cover with vinegar and serve the next day.

HERRING SALAD

Soak four salt herrings in water over night. [Page 201] Drain and chop fine. Mix with four boiled beets, three heads of celery boiled, four peeled sour apples, two onions, three pickles, and two pounds of lean roast veal. Chop very fine, season with salt and pepper, and pour over enough oil to moisten, and enough vinegar to suit the taste. Serve very cold with a garnish of hard-boiled eggs.

HERRING SALAD À LA BRENOISE

Peel and cut into dice a quart of cold boiled potatoes, four peeled and cored sour apples, the fillets of four salt herrings, a cucumber pickle and two boiled beets. Add salt, pepper, chopped onion, vinegar, mustard and Mayonnaise dressing. Sprinkle with minced parsley before serving.

SWEDISH HERRING SALAD

Soak two salted Holland herrings for twenty-four hours. Remove the bones and cut into dice. Add an equal amount of cooked meat cut into dice and half the quantity each of boiled potatoes, sour apples, and beets chopped fine. Chop one tablespoonful of capers and four hard-boiled eggs. Add to the salad with three tablespoonfuls of cream, two of olive-oil, two of vinegar, and pepper, sugar, and mustard to taste. Press in a mould, and serve on platter with a [Page 202] garnish of parsley. Serve with the same kind of dressing that was mixed with the salad.

SMOKED HERRING SALAD

Put the crisp leaves of a head of lettuce into a salad bowl. Skin and remove the bone from two smoked herrings, chop fine and mix with the lettuce. Pour over a French dressing to which a chopped hard-boiled egg has been added.

PICKLED HERRING

Soak in milk and water over night. Next day put the herring into a stone jar with alternate layers of sliced onion, a few slices of lemon, a few cloves, bay-leaves, and whole peppers, and enough mustard seed to season. Rub the roe through a sieve, add a tablespoonful of brown sugar and add it to the herring. Pour over enough vinegar to cover the fish and let stand three or four days before using.

HERRING BALLS