FISH SAUCE.
=Anchovy Sauce.=--POUND three anchovies smooth with three spoonfuls of
butter, add two teaspoonfuls of vinegar and a quarter of a cupful of
water. Bring to the boil and thicken with a tablespoonful of flour
rubbed smooth in a little cold water. Strain through a sieve and serve
hot.
=Quick Bearnaise Sauce.=--Beat the yolks of four eggs with four
tablespoonfuls of oil and four of water. Add a cupful of boiling water
and cook slowly until thick and smooth. Take from the fire and add
minced onion, capers, olives, pickles and parsley and a little tarragon
vinegar.
=Bearnaise Sauce.=--This calls for four small, chopped shallots, one
branch of chopped tarragon, two tablespoonfuls of wine vinegar, two raw
egg yolks, two and a half ounces of hot melted butter, half a
teaspoonful of chopped parsley and a teaspoonful of pepper. Put the
shallots, vinegar, tarragon and pepper in a saucepan and let it stand on
a slow fire until its contents are reduced to one-half their original
quantity. Squeeze the mixture through a cloth into another saucepan. Add
the egg yolks and beat the mixture four minutes without allowing it to
boil. Then add the melted butter very gradually, still keeping the pan
where there is no danger of boiling. Season with a saltspoonful of salt
and a half saltspoonful of cayenne pepper. It is well to make the last
an extremely scanty portion, as more may be added if desired, but none
can be removed. Stir all again quite thoroughly for a minute. Add the
parsley and serve.
=Brown Sauce.=--Brown two tablespoonfuls of flour in butter. Add two
cupfuls of milk or cream and cook until thick, stirring constantly.
=Curry Sauce.=--Fry a tablespoonful of chopped onion in butter and add a
tablespoonful of flour, mixed with a teaspoonful of curry powder. Mix
thoroughly, add one cupful of cold water, and cook until thick, stirring
constantly. Take from the fire, season with salt and onion juice and
serve hot.
=Egg Sauce.=--Mix a half cup of butter, a tablespoonful of flour, and a
cupful of boiling water and set the sauce pan on the stove. Stir until
thickened, seasoning with salt and pepper. Add two hard boiled eggs,
chopped fine, and serve.
=Sauce Hollandaise.=--This is really a warm mayonnaise, using butter
instead of vegetable oil. It is the best sauce for serving with salmon
or other boiled fish if you desire it hot. It requires a quarter pound
butter, half a lemon, the yolks of two eggs, a little salt and a half
teaspoonful white pepper. The secret of its successful making is to
preserve an even temperature. The sauce should not approach the boiling
point, as the eggs would cook and the sauce curdle. Put the eggs in a
small saucepan and add the butter, gradually stirring constantly with a
wooden spoon. It will soon thicken like a mayonnaise. When the butter is
all in, add salt and pepper and lastly the lemon juice, stirring until
well mixed. If the sauce becomes thick, add a little stock or hot
water. Surround the fish with parsley and slices of lemon and serve the
sauce in a bowl. A few sliced cucumbers should be served with fish.
=Egg Sauce Made From the Hollandaise.=--Egg sauce may be made from the
Hollandaise by sprinkling with two finely chopped hard boiled eggs and a
teaspoonful of parsley.
=Lobster Sauce.=--This is delicious with any white fleshed fish. Its
foundation is Hollandaise sauce, which is also the foundation of most of
the fish sauces. To make it, stir together one tablespoonful of butter,
a few drops of onion juice, a bit of bay leaf (not too much), pepper to
season, and the juice of a half lemon. Add a half cup of white stock or
hot water and set the bowl containing the mixture in a pan of hot water
and stir until the butter melts. As soon as very hot, take from the fire
and stir a little of the mixture in the well-beaten yolks of one and
one-half eggs, then add the rest of the sauce and return to the fire.
Stir constantly for five minutes or until thickened. Add a teaspoonful
of butter, half the pounded coral of a lobster and a tablespoonful of
chopped lobster meat.
=Maitre d'Hotel Butter.=--This is perhaps the simplest and best sauce to
serve on fried or broiled fish. To make it, beat a heaping tablespoonful
of butter to a cream in a warm bowl; add the juice of a lemon, a half
teaspoonful of salt and two teaspoonfuls of minced parsley. A grating of
nutmeg or bit of chives is sometimes added. If placed on the ice this
can be kept on hand a week or more. It is also excellent spread over a
juicy steak.
=Sauce for Broiled Shad à la Murray.=--Fry the milts, and while hot mash
with butter, a tablespoonful minced parsley and a teaspoonful of lemon
juice. Season lightly with salt and pepper and spread over the fish when
removed from the bag. Set in the oven one moment, then serve.
=Parsley Butter.=--To make this delectable fish sauce, mix one ounce
fresh butter with a teaspoonful each chopped parsley and lemon juice,
half teaspoonful chopped mixed tarragon and cress or chervil and salt
and pepper to season. Spread on a plate, set on the ice until cold then
shape into pats. This is nice with any fish.
=Sauce Tartare.=--This is one of the standbys that no housekeeper liable
to the unexpected appearance of guests should be without. It can be used
in an emergency for so many different things. It is delicious with fish,
cold or hot, broiled or deviled chicken, tongue, beef, cauliflower or
potato salad. It is easy to make, the only essentials being good
materials, everything cold, and the oil added very slowly at first.
After that it may be poured in in larger quantities and more frequently.
Mix in a small bowl one half teaspoonful dry mustard, the same amount
each powdered sugar and salt, and a quarter teaspoonful cayenne. Add the
yolks of two fresh eggs, and stir. Measure out a cupful of olive oil and
add a few drops at a time, stirring until it thickens. If it begins to
thicken too much to stir easily, thin with a little lemon juice, adding
oil and lemon alternately until you have used all the oil and two
tablespoonfuls of lemon juice. Lastly beat in two tablespoonfuls of
tarragon or other vinegar. This gives the regular mayonnaise, which
should be smooth and thick. Now to make it into sauce tartare, add one
teaspoonful finely chopped onion or onion juice, a tablespoonful of
chopped pickle, capers, olives and parsley, in any proportion desired.
You may use simply the sour cucumber pickle or part pickle and olives,
capers, etc. This may be kept for a number of days in cold weather by
keeping in glass and in a cool place.