FOURTH COURSE
SHELL-FISH—LOBSTERS—FISH
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SHELL-FISH—LOBSTERS—FISH
Sautéd Oysters
Fried Oysters with Cold Slaw
Oysters à la Newburg
Fried Scallops
Scallops on the Shell
Creamed Lobster
Broiled Lobster
Broiled Smelts
Broiled Shad Roe
Shad Roe Croquettes
Fillets of Fish, Fried
Rolled Fillets of Flounder
Baked Fillets of Fish with Sauce
Fillets of Fish with Mushrooms
Creamed Fish Garnished with Potatoes
Fish à la Japonnaise
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SAUTÉD OYSTERS
Put two tablespoonfuls of butter into a sauté-pan; when it is hot add as
many drained oysters as will make two cupfuls. Add a little salt and
pepper and a tablespoonful of lemon juice. Shake them in the pan until
the gills are curled, then add a tablespoonful of parsley chopped very
fine. Turn them upon slices of toasted bread on a hot platter.
[Illustration: NO. 38. FRIED OYSTERS WITH COLD SLAW.]
FRIED OYSTERS WITH COLD SLAW
Use box oysters. These are large in size and cost two cents each.
Lay the oysters on a cloth to dry them. Roll them in cracker dust, then
in egg diluted with a little milk and seasoned with pepper and salt,
then again cover them with cracker dust. Lay them in a frying-basket and
fry them in smoking-hot fat just long enough to give them a light-brown
color. Oysters toughen if cooked too long. Prepare only four at a time,
as more lower the temperature of the fat too much, and if they are
rolled before the moment of frying they moisten the cracker dust. Place
them on a paper on the hot shelf until all are done.
Fold a small napkin and place it in the center of a cold platter. Pile
the oysters on the napkin and make a wreath around them of cold slaw.
COLD SLAW
Cut cabbage into fine shreds. Put in a saucepan a half cupful of weak
vinegar, the yolks of three eggs, a half teaspoonful of English mustard,
a dash of pepper, a teaspoonful of salt and of sugar. Beat them
together, then place them on the fire and stir until the mixture is
thickened. Pour it, while hot, over the cabbage and set it away to cool.
OYSTERS À LA NEWBURG
Place twenty-five large oysters in a saucepan with one and one half
tablespoonfuls of butter, half a cupful of white wine or a tablespoonful
of lemon juice, and a little pepper and salt. Cook until the oysters are
plump, then add half a cupful of mushrooms cut into quarters, and a
chopped truffle, if convenient. Beat the yolks of four eggs into a
cupful of cream, turn it into the oyster mixture, and let it get hot and
a little thickened, without boiling. Turn it into a hot dish and garnish
with croutons.
Oysters toughen if cooked too long, and cream curdles easily when added
to a mixture which has acid in it, so it is necessary to prepare this
dish quickly and to serve it at once.
SCALLOPS
Scallops are the adductor muscle of a large pecten, a mollusk commonly
known as scallop.
FRIED SCALLOPS
Marinate the scallops in a mixture of oil, lemon juice, salt, and
pepper. Roll them in cracker dust, then in egg, and again in cracker
dust or white bread crumbs. Fry them in smoking-hot fat to a golden
color.
Prepare but a few at a time so the covering will not be dampened, serve
on a napkin with quarters of lemon, and sprinkle over them parsley
chopped very fine.
SCALLOPS ON THE SHELL
Discard the black ring. Cut the scallops into quarters. Place them in
the scallop shells. Dredge them with salt, pepper, and chopped parsley,
then cover them with a layer of chopped fresh, or canned, mushrooms,
some bits of butter, a teaspoonful of white wine or of lemon juice, for
each shell, and lastly with bread crumbs moistened with butter. Place
them in a hot oven for ten or fifteen minutes.
[Illustration: NO. 39. CREAMED LOBSTER.]
CREAMED LOBSTER
Cut the meat of boiled lobster into inch dice. Put a tablespoonful of
butter in a saucepan with a teaspoonful of grated onion, let them cook a
minute, then add a tablespoonful of flour. Stir for a few minutes to
cook the flour, and then add slowly a cupful of stock and a
tablespoonful of lemon juice, or a quarter of a cupful of white wine.
When all this thickens add the lobster meat, turning it carefully so as
not to break it. When the meat is heated remove it from the fire and mix
in a quarter of a cupful of cream which has the yolk of an egg beaten in
it. Replace it on the fire for just a minute.
Serve in fontage cups or as in illustration No. 39.
For Lobster Newburg and other lobster dishes, see “Century Cook Book,”
page 136.
BROILED LOBSTER
Parboil a lobster. As soon as it begins to turn red take it out. Split
it in two down the back. Remove and discard the stomach and intestine.
Remove the green and the coral.
Broil it fifteen to twenty minutes with the shell side to the fire, but
turn the flesh side to the coals for a minute before removing it, then
at once season it with butter, pepper, and salt.
Mix the green, which is the liver, and the coral with melted butter and
use it as a sauce.
BROILED SMELTS
Select large smelts of equal size. Have them split down the back, the
head and tail left on. Dip them in melted butter and broil them until
they are tender. Lay them evenly on a hot dish and spread them with
maître d’hôtel butter (see page 103).
If convenient, arrange a wreath of watercress around the dish.
BROILED SHAD ROE
Wash and dry the roes, then broil them very slowly and keep them
moistened with butter to prevent the skin from breaking. They may also
be cooked by sautéing them in butter; or they may be baked in the oven
with a little stock or water in the pan to baste them with. Cook them
brown. Cover the top with butter, pepper, salt, and a little lemon
juice, and sprinkle them with chopped parsley. Garnish with lemon and
watercress and serve some of the watercress with each portion. Serve
them with maître d’hôtel butter.
SHAD ROE CROQUETTES
Boil shad roes in salted, acidulated water for fifteen minutes, letting
the water simmer only, so that the skin will not break. When they are
cold cut them, using a sharp knife, into slices one and one half inches
thick. Sprinkle them with salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Roll them first
in egg, then in bread crumbs or cracker dust, and fry them in
smoking-hot fat to a light brown color. Garnish with watercress and
serve them with maître d’hôtel butter.
[Illustration: NO. 40. BROILED SMELTS.]
[Illustration: NO. 41. BROILED SHAD ROE.]
[Illustration: NO. 42. SHAD ROE CROQUETTES.]
FILLETS OF FISH
Fillets of fish are the flesh of the fish freed from the skin and bones.
(See “Century Cook Book,” page 112.) The fillets of flounder are used to
imitate sole, a variety of fish much esteemed in France and England.
Sheepshead and other smaller fish also make good fillets.
FRIED FILLETS OF FISH
Marinate the fillets by letting them lie in a mixture of oil, salt,
pepper, lemon juice, and chopped parsley. Take the fillets from the
marinade, roll them first in flour, then in egg, and then in white bread
crumbs grated from the loaf. Fry them to a lemon color in smoking-hot
fat. They must not be cooked too long or they will become dry. They may
also be cooked by sautéing, using half butter and half lard. Prepare one
fillet at a time, for the covering of flour and crumbs will become damp
if it stands long, and then will not crisp. If the fillets are small,
serve them piled in crossed layers on a napkin and garnish with quarters
of lemon. If they are large, serve with maître d’hôtel butter or with
tartare sauce and garnish with watercress.
ROLLED FILLETS OF FLOUNDER
Sprinkle each fillet with salt and pepper. Spread it with a mixture made
of butter, lemon juice, and parsley cut in pieces, not chopped fine.
Fold the fillet over, roll it, and fasten it with a wooden toothpick or
small skewer. Stand the rolled fillets on end in a baking-pan, put a
piece of butter on the top of each one, and pour over the whole a half
cupful of white cooking wine (California sauterne). Bake them in a
moderate oven for twenty minutes, or until tender, and baste them
frequently. Arrange the fillets symmetrically on a platter. Put a piece
of parsley in the top of each one, and place in the center of the dish a
lemon cut into the shape of a basket. Sprinkle the exposed pulp of the
lemon with chopped parsley.
Make a sauce to serve with the fish as follows: Add to the drippings, in
the pan in which the fish was cooked, a tablespoonful of flour, stir
constantly until the flour is cooked, then add enough stock to make a
creamy sauce. Add pepper and salt if necessary.
BAKED FILLETS OF FISH WITH SAUCE
Arrange evenly on a baking-platter fillets of flounder or of sheepshead,
or slices of halibut or codfish cut one quarter of an inch thick.
Sprinkle them with salt and pepper.
Make a sauce as follows: Put a tablespoonful of butter in a saucepan,
add to it a half teaspoonful of onion juice, cook until the butter has
browned, then add a tablespoonful of flour and stir until the flour has
browned. Take it off the fire and add very slowly one and a half cupfuls
of soup stock, stirring constantly to keep the mixture smooth. Add a
tablespoonful of parsley chopped very fine, a teaspoonful of lemon
juice, a teaspoonful of salt, one half teaspoonful of pepper, and, if
convenient, a teaspoonful of mushroom catsup, or a half cupful of liquor
from a can of mushrooms, or a half cupful of juice strained from a can
of tomatoes. Pour the sauce over the fish, lifting the fillets a little
to let the sauce run under them. Place the dish in the oven and cook for
thirty minutes, or until the fish is tender. If the sauce dries away too
much, baste the fish with stock. The cooked sauce should have the
consistency of cream.
When taken from the oven sprinkle the top with bread crumbs browned in
butter and ornament with mashed potato pressed through a pastry-bag and
star tube, making a design that will cover the edges of the platter
where the sauce has stained it. Set the hot platter on a second platter
to serve.
[Illustration: NO. 43. ROLLED FILLETS OF FLOUNDER. A PIECE OF PARSLEY
PLACED IN THE TOP OF EACH ONE; A LEMON BASKET IN CENTER AND QUARTERS OF
LEMON BETWEEN THE FILLETS.]
[Illustration: NO. 44. BAKED FILLETS OF FISH WITH MUSHROOMS.]
[Illustration: NO. 45. CREAMED FISH GARNISHED WITH POTATO.]
[Illustration: NO. 46. FISH À LA JAPONNAISE, PREPARED FOR BAKING AND
SHOWING HOW IT MAY BE GARNISHED.]
[Illustration: NO. 47. SLICED CUCUMBER AROUND A MOUND OF ICE. TO SERVE
WITH FISH.]
Creamed hashed fish can be served in the same manner. After the fish has
been mixed with the sauce spread it smoothly on the baking-platter,
cover the top with buttered bread crumbs, and set it in the oven to
brown.
FILLETS OF FISH WITH MUSHROOMS
Take fillets of flounder, season them with pepper and salt. Take half a
can or more of mushrooms, a slice of onion, and a sprig of parsley, and
chop them all fine; add a cupful of stock and a tablespoonful of sherry.
Spread a part of this mixture on the bottom of a platter that can be
used in the oven. Lay the fillets of fish on the mixture. Cover them
with the rest of the mixture, then with bread crumbs and with small
pieces of butter. Bake forty minutes or until the fillets are tender.
Heat the rest of the mushrooms in a little stock. Place them around the
edges of the dish and pour the stock over the whole if the fillets are
at all dry. This dish should be very moist.
CREAMED FISH GARNISHED WITH POTATOES
Make a good white sauce, or any other sauce preferred. Cut cold boiled
fish in pieces one or two inches across and heat them in the sauce
without breaking them. Use a plentiful amount of the sauce. Turn the
fish mixture on to a platter and sprinkle over the top a little parsley
chopped very fine.
Season some mashed potato with salt, butter, and milk, and beat it until
it is light and white. Press it through a pastry-bag with star tube into
rosettes, forming a wreath around the creamed fish.
FISH À LA JAPONNAISE
Make a creamed mince of any kind of fish, or use a fish forcemeat.
Canned salmon is very good for the purpose.
Place the creamed fish on a piece of stiff paper and mold it into the
form of a fish. Roll some pie paste very thin. Lay a piece of the paste
on one end of the mince and shape it into the form of a fish’s tail. Cut
the paste into circles of half an inch diameter, using a pastry-tube if
a small vegetable-cutter is not at hand. Beginning at the tail, cover
the molded fish with little rounds of paste, placing them in even
overlapping layers to imitate scales, and mold a piece of pastry to
imitate a head and fins. Use half a cranberry or a turned vegetable to
imitate an eye. Brush the paste over lightly with yolk of egg and place
it in the oven to brown. Slip it carefully off the baking-sheet on to
the serving platter. Trim off the paper that projects and garnish.
Illustration No. 46 shows a fish ready to bake and the manner in which
it may be garnished.
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