CHAPTER III

FISH

FOR convenience’ sake we divide fish into two classes—vertebrate and shellfish.

The freshness of fish is best determined by the odor. If the flesh of the fish is soft and flabby, the fish has been frozen, or has been kept too long.

Fish Fillets

Fish fillets are the flesh of vertebrate fish separated from the bone and cut into large or small pieces.

Fish Forcemeat

Is the flesh of fish finely chopped and pressed through a fine sieve before being cooked.

Fish Stock

Is the seasoned liquid in which fish has been cooked.

Garnishings for Fish

Parsley, lemon slices, lemon baskets, lemon slices sprinkled with finely chopped parsley, chopped red or green pepper, potato balls, olives, hard-cooked eggs, capers, and pickles cut lengthwise and spread to resemble a fan; mashed potato and mushrooms, cucumbers and tomatoes; maître d’hôtel butter and water cress.

Boiled Fish

a 4-pound cod 2 tablespoons chopped onion 2 tablespoons chopped carrot 1 sprig parsley 2 quarts water 1 tablespoon salt bay leaf and clove ½ cup vinegar

Wash and wipe fish. Cover with boiling water and add remaining ingredients; bring quickly to the boiling point, and keep just below the boiling point until fish separates slightly in flakes—about thirty minutes.

A fish kettle is the most convenient receptacle for cooking fish whole. If one is not available, use a piece of cheese cloth just large enough to cover fish and tie loosely with string.

All other boiled fish may be cooked in the same way as boiled cod.

STEAMED FISH

Steamed Salmon

Wrap four pounds of salmon in a piece of cheese cloth. Set in a plate in a steamer and cook until fish separates from bone—from forty-five to sixty minutes, according to thickness of fish.

All other fish may be steamed in the same way.

BROILED FISH

Broiled Mackerel

Wash and wipe fish; grease a wire broiler with clarified butter, lard, or pork fat. Season fish with salt and pepper, place on greased broiler and broil over clear fire, turning every five seconds. If the fish is a thick one, hold at quite a distance from fire until fish is cooked through, then hold nearer embers to brown. Separate, first skin side, then flesh side, with sharp knife from the broiler. Remove to hot platter, butter, garnish and serve.

FRIED FISH

Fried Smelts

Wash, dry thoroughly, and sprinkle smelts with salt, pepper and flour; dip in beaten egg which has also been seasoned with salt and pepper; drain and dip in flour, meal, or sifted bread crumbs.

The fish must be completely covered with egg and crumbs. Fry in deep fat, first testing fat with a crumb of bread, which should brown delicately in one minute.

Smelts may be cooked with their heads on, or the backbone may be removed and the fish rolled up in the shape of a muff, or they may be skewered in the shape of a ring.

When fried, drain on brown paper and serve on hot platter; garnish with lemon baskets filled with Mayonnaise Dressing and parsley.

Any small fish may be fried in the same way; large fish are generally cut in fillets, prepared and fried in the same way.

BAKED FISH

Baked Bluefish

STUFFING

2 tablespoons butter 1 cup cracker crumbs or dried bread crumbs 1 teaspoon finely chopped parsley 1 tablespoon chopped pickles 1 teaspoon salt, few drops onion juice ¼ to ½ cup milk or water

Melt butter, add remaining ingredients, and stir lightly with a fork until heated through. If a dry stuffing is preferred, omit liquid.

Wash and wipe bluefish, stuff, and sew. Cut three gashes on either side of fish and insert a slice of salt pork in each gash (if desired fancy, pink the edges of the salt pork). Season with salt and pepper, brush with melted butter, and dredge with flour. Place on a greased fish sheet, or on two four-inch-wide pieces of cheese cloth. Set in dripping pan, surround with finely chopped pork; bake, allowing fifteen minutes to the pound; baste with salt pork fat. There should be sufficient in the pan; if not, try out an additional quantity of pork.

When the fish is browned on one side, it should be turned, basted and browned on the other. To avoid this turning, many prefer to skewer the fish in the shape of the letter S, and place as if swimming in the pan.

BAKED HADDOCK WITH OYSTER STUFFING

Oyster Stuffing

2 cups oysters ¼ cup butter 1 tablespoon chopped parsley 1 cup cracker crumbs salt pepper

Drain oysters; mix crumbs, melted butter and parsley. Season highly with salt and pepper. Sprinkle oysters with salt and pepper and mix with crumbs.

Remove head, tail and bone from haddock. Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Stuff with oyster stuffing and sew. Place on fish sheet or strips of cheese cloth in baking pan, dot with butter, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake, allowing twelve minutes to the pound, basting with melted butter, or after fish is stuffed, place in pan; cover with buttered cracker crumbs and baste.

Remove from pan to hot platter; garnish with parsley and pickles, and serve with Tomato, Hollandaise Sauce, or Egg Sauce.

BAKED FILLET OF FISH

Baked Fillet of Halibut

2 slices of halibut cut from middle of fish salt, pepper, lemon juice, melted butter 2 cups oyster stuffing

Wash and wipe fish. Place one slice on a buttered fish sheet, brush with melted butter, sprinkle with salt and pepper, cover with oyster stuffing. Place second slice on top of oysters, season, and brush with butter. Bake forty minutes, basting frequently with melted butter, turning pan often in order that the fish may be uniformly browned.

Remove to hot platter; garnish with potato balls, parsley, and lemon; Hollandaise, Tomato, or Béchamel Sauce.

Finnan Haddie Baked

Wash the fish, put flesh side down in dripping pan, cover with cold water, let stand on back of range ten minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Place on platter, cover with milk, and bake twenty minutes.

SAUTÉD FISH

Sautéd Trout

6 medium-sized trout olive oil or melted butter cornmeal, salt and pepper 2 tablespoons lard or butter

Wash and wipe fish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, dip in olive oil, roll in cornmeal, and sauté until brown, and crisp in butter or lard. Drain on brown paper. Serve on hot platter, and garnish with lemon and cress. All kinds of small fish may be cooked in the same manner.

Deviled Fillets of Fish

6 fish fillets 1 teaspoon mustard 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 tablespoon hot water 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce ½ teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon paprika ½ cup cracker crumbs seasoned

Mix mustard, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, salt and paprika. Wipe and broil the fish, spread with mustard mixture, roll in crumbs, and broil until crumbs are brown. Serve hot, with Sauce Tartare or Tomato Tartare.

Fried Fillet of Sole

6 fillets of sole 4 anchovies boned and skinned 2 teaspoons lemon juice 2 teaspoons butter ¼ teaspoon mustard salt, cayenne pepper

Prepare the fillets, sprinkle with salt and pepper; spread with remaining ingredients blended. Roll fillets, dip in crumbs, egg and crumbs, fry in deep fat, and drain on brown paper. Serve on a napkin and garnish with lemon and water cress.

Fillets prepared in this way may also be baked in the oven with white wine, and served garnished with French fried potatoes and parsley.

Finnan Haddie Croquettes

Prepare fish as for Baked Finnan Haddie. Flake the fish, moisten with thick White Sauce, season with Worcestershire Sauce. Shape in croquettes, dip in crumbs, egg and crumbs, and fry in deep fat.

Planked Shad

1 shad with backbone removed 4 tablespoons butter few drops onion juice 1 tablespoon salt 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley 2 tablespoons Tomato Catsup or 2 tablespoons white wine few grains cayenne

Wipe shad; place skin side down on oak plank. Sprinkle with salt and pepper; spread with butter. Cook in hot oven twenty to thirty minutes. Brown with a salamander. Spread with parsley and catsup or white wine. Garnish with highly seasoned hot mashed potato pressed through a pastry bag and tube. Also radishes cut in shape of roses, lemons cut in shape of crescents and dipped in chopped parsley, and sprigs of parsley.

Fried Whitebait

2 pounds whitebait salt, pepper flour lemon slices

Dry whitebait in towel; sprinkle with salt and pepper; dredge napkin with flour. Shake whitebait in napkin until each little fish is covered with flour. Dip frying basket in hot fat; cover bottom of frying basket with floured whitebait; plunge into hot fat; fry until a golden brown; drain on brown paper. Serve on napkin. Garnish with lemon and parsley. Brown bread is served with these fish.

SHELLFISH

Scalloped Oysters

1 quart oysters 1 cup fine bread crumbs 1 teaspoon salt ¼ cup butter 2 tablespoons parsley 2 tablespoons celery ½ teaspoon paprika 1 cup cream ¼ cup wine

Clean oysters. Butter a baking dish; arrange a layer of oysters in the bottom of the dish. Mix butter and bread crumbs; sprinkle oysters with crumbs, parsley, celery, paprika, salt and two tablespoons of cream. Continue arranging in layers until dish is filled, having crumbs for the last layer. Just before baking, add wine and bake twenty minutes. Oysters are best baked in a shallow dish so as to have two layers of oysters only.

Scalloped Fish and Oysters

2 cups cold cooked fish 2 cups oysters 2 cups White Sauce 1 cup buttered crumbs

Arrange fish, oysters and White Sauce in alternate layers. Cover with buttered crumbs and bake until crumbs are brown.

Oyster Stew

1 quart oysters 1 quart milk 4 tablespoons butter salt and pepper 4 tablespoons cracker crumbs

Drain oysters from liquor; heat liquor to boiling point. Skim. Scald milk in double boiler; add liquor and oysters; cook until edges of the oysters shrivel; add butter, salt and pepper. Serve at once.

If cracker crumbs are used, combine butter and cracker crumbs and add to oyster mixture.

Oysters and oyster liquor must not be added to milk until just before serving, as the mixture is apt to curdle if the oysters are allowed to stand in the milk.

Spindled Oysters

1 quart oysters 12 slices bacon salt, pepper 6 squares buttered toast

Drain oysters from their liquor and dry between towels. Cut the bacon in pieces half the size of the oysters. Arrange the oysters and bacon in alternate layers on wooden skewers, being careful to pierce the hard muscle. Place in a hot pan and bake in a hot oven until bacon is done. Ten minutes should suffice.

Serve one skewerful on each slice of buttered toast. Many persons like the liquor of the oysters heated, strained, and poured over the toast just before serving.

Broiled Oysters

Look over oysters, reject shells, and dry oysters between towels. Dip in melted butter or olive oil seasoned with salt and pepper. Heat broiler; grease; arrange oysters on broiler; broil over a clear fire four to six minutes, turning often. Serve on squares or rounds of toasted bread spread with butter and slightly moistened with oyster liquor. Garnish with a sprig of parsley and one quarter slice of lemon.

Panned Oysters

Melt two tablespoons of butter in hot frying pan, add one pint of cleaned and drained oysters, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook in hot oven until edges shrivel. Serve on hot buttered squares of toast with strained liquor from oysters. Garnish with finely chopped parsley.

Sautéd Oysters

Pick over, drain, and dry oysters; dip in crumbs, egg and crumbs, season with salt and pepper. Melt one tablespoon each of lard and butter in frying pan. When hissing hot, cover bottom of pan with prepared oysters and sauté until a golden brown on both sides. Drain on brown paper; reheat in oven if necessary. Serve on hot platter and garnish with parsley, lemon and Sauce Tartare.

Fried Oysters

Fried oysters are prepared same as Sautéd Oysters except they are fried in deep fat.

Suprême Oysters

1 pint oysters 2 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons onion 4 tablespoons flour ½ cup cream ½ cup finely cut chicken ½ cup chicken stock ½ cup oyster liquor salt, cayenne, nutmeg 3 egg yolks parsley

Melt butter; add onion; when yellow, add flour; when well blended, add liquids and seasonings. Cook five minutes; add chicken, yolks of eggs beaten until thick and cream beaten until stiff. When thick, cool. Parboil oysters; drain and dry. Cover oysters with chicken mixture, dip in crumbs, egg and crumbs, and fry in hot fat. Drain. Serve on hot dish and garnish with lemon and Mayonnaise Dressing.

Clams

Clams may be cooked and served in all ways like oysters.

Steamed Clams

Wash and scrub clam shells; place in kettle; add water, allowing one half cup of water for each peck of clams. Cover kettle and cook until shells open. Serve hot with melted butter.

Kettle should be removed from the range as soon as shells open, otherwise clams will be overcooked.

Clam Fritters

2 egg yolks well beaten ½ cup milk 1 tablespoon olive oil ⅞ cup flour salt, pepper, cayenne 2 egg whites stiffly beaten 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Combine ingredients in order given; let stand ten minutes. Remove clams from shell, cut off heads, cover with batter, and fry until golden brown in hot fat. Drain on brown paper. As clams contain so much water, only a few should be put into the fat at once.

Oysters in batter may be prepared in the same way as Clam Fritters.

Fried Scallops

1 quart scallops salt and pepper, 1 egg flour crumbs

Wash, drain, and parboil scallops. Season; dip in flour, egg and crumbs and fry in deep fat. Drain and serve with Sauce Tartare. Garnish with parsley and lemon.

Fried Scallops in Batter

Parboil scallops, and proceed as with Clam Fritters.

Scalloped Scallops

1 pint scallops 1 cup mushrooms, chopped 2 tablespoons onion 4 tablespoons butter 4 tablespoons flour 1 cup cream ½ cup scallop liquor salt, pepper, cayenne

Parboil scallops. Drain and cut in slices. Melt butter; add onion and mushrooms, cook five minutes; add scallops, cook five minutes; add liquids, cook until thick.

Place mixture in buttered baking dish or scallop shells; dot with butter; cover with buttered and seasoned crumbs; bake until crumbs are brown.

Lobster

To open a lobster: wipe lobster, break or sever small and large claws from the body. Separate tail from body portion by twisting and pulling at the same time. Remove meat from body portion carefully, picking edible portion from small bones. Reserve liver and coral if there is any; discard stomach, or “lady.” Meat from the body of the lobster is the sweetest and tenderest, but is often thrown away because of the difficulty in removing it.

Break the large claws, or if the shell is tender, cut with scissors and remove meat whole.

Crush the tail shell and remove the meat in one piece. Cut entire length of the tail meat and remove the intestinal canal.

The small claws are attractive for garnishing, and should be reserved.

Creamed Lobster

1 pint lobster meat 4 tablespoons butter 4 tablespoons flour parsley salt, pepper, cayenne 2 cups cream 1 red pepper cut in ribbons 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Make a White Sauce of butter, flour, seasonings and cream. Parboil red pepper, add to sauce with lobster meat, reheat, and serve on rounds of buttered toast.

Scalloped Lobster

Use receipt for Creamed Lobster and bake in lobster shell, scallop shells, ramekins, or baking dishes, covered with buttered and seasoned cracker crumbs. Garnish with small lobster claws and parsley.

Deviled Lobster

Prepared same as Creamed Lobster, with addition of one teaspoon each of onion juice, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, few grains of cayenne and a few drops of Tabasco.

Shrimps and Crabs

Shrimps and crabs may be creamed, scalloped, or deviled, like lobster, garnished and served in the same way.

Deviled Crabs

1 cup crab meat 1 teaspoon chopped chives 1 teaspoon mustard 2 egg yolks salt, pepper 2 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons flour ¾ cup stock or milk 1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce buttered bread crumbs

Melt butter, add flour, mustard, salt and pepper; when blended, add stock; cook five minutes; add egg yolks, crab meat and chives. Arrange in crab shells or in ramekin dishes. Cover with Worcestershire Sauce and bread crumbs. Bake until crumbs are brown.

Crabs in Red Peppers

8 red peppers 1 pint crab meat 4 tablespoons butter 4 tablespoons flour 1 tablespoon onion salt, pepper, paprika mustard, cayenne, nutmeg 1 cup cream

Parboil red peppers. Make a White Sauce with butter, flour, cream and seasonings. Add crab meat, fill peppers with crab mixture, cover with buttered and seasoned soft bread crumbs, and bake until crumbs are brown.

Broiled Live Lobster

Select a heavy lobster. Cut with a quick, sharp thrust the whole length of the body from the mouth down. Remove the stomach and intestinal canal; reserve the liver or tomalley and coral, if there is any. Crack large claws and place on greased broiler, inserting skewers between the sides of the lobster to keep it open. Place in oven for twenty minutes, then broil over hot coals about five minutes. Serve immediately, plain or with Deviled Sauce.

Curried Lobster

a 4-pound lobster 4 tablespoons butter 1 tablespoon chopped onion 4 tablespoons flour 2 cups cooked rice 1 cup cream 1 cup stock 1 tablespoon Curry 2 eggs salt, paprika

Melt butter; add onion; cook until yellow; add flour, curry, liquid; cook until thickened; add eggs, salt and pepper, and coral, if you have it; strain over lobster meat.

Serve on a bed of rice garnished with parsley.

Lobster Suprême

Prepare the sauce as for Suprême Oysters, substituting two cups of chopped lobster for oysters.

Lobster in Red Peppers

Prepared same as Crabs in Red Peppers, substituting one pint lobster meat for crab meat.

Fried Soft-shell Crabs

Prepare crabs by removing sand bags. Raise apron; cut from crab; remove spongy substance surrounding apron. Wipe; season with salt and pepper; dip in crumbs, egg and crumbs; fry in hot fat about three minutes. Serve immediately with Tartare Sauce.