small turbot, cleanse it thoroughly, lift up the flesh from the
backbone, insert a stuffing made of 6 oz. scraped and pounded
whiting to 4 oz. soaked breadcrumbs rubbed smooth. To this add 3
oz. fresh butter with which the flesh of 24 shrimps or 12 prawns
has been skilfully incorporated. Put in gradually 2 whole eggs and
the yolk of one more, season with nutmeg, pepper, and salt, and
after thorough pounding and mixing put the forcemeat on the ice
till wanted for use. When the fish has been carefully stuffed--not
filled to excess--prepare a stewpan by buttering it liberally, then
put in 2 tablespoonfuls finely-minced shallots, 3 glasses sherry,
Madeira, or any good white wine, salt, pepper, and a cupful of fine
white stock, lay in the turbot, and set it to boil over a slow fire.
On its reaching the boiling point, take it off the fire and put it
into a moderate oven for ½-¾ hour. Meanwhile prepare a _Normande_
sauce by putting a pint of _béchamel_ into a stewpan and giving it a
boil up. Stir it carefully, and strain through a tammy into another
stewpan. Add 2 doz. blanched oysters, 2 doz. mussels, also blanched,
and 2 doz. small mushrooms. Add a little milk and a teaspoonful of
pounded loaf sugar, and reduce to a proper consistency. Then put
in 8 tablespoonfuls cream and the juice of a lemon, stir all well
together, pour the sauce over the turbot, and group the oysters,
mussels, and mushrooms around. Although best with a combination of
oysters and mussels, these shellfish are not always to be procured at
the same time, in which case double the quantity of that in season
should be used. Many people prefer to leave out the stuffing, and
supply its place by a garnish of fish _quenelles_.
Au Gratin.--Mince finely 2 shallots and 2 or 3 mushrooms, toss
them in butter till quite cooked, add a little minced parsley, the
remnants of a boiled turbot, with pepper and salt to taste; moisten
with a cupful of stock and ½ glass white wine; shake the saucepan a
few minutes over the fire, then turn out the contents into a silver
dish, smooth them well down and sprinkle plentifully with baked
breadcrumbs. Put the dish in a quick oven 10-15 minutes, and serve.
Boiled.--The fish must be either scored across once or twice, or
cut right down to the bone lengthwise, on the black side. This
precaution is necessary in order to prevent the white side--which
is always served uppermost--from cracking when the fish begins to
swell in boiling. The next proceeding is to rub over the turbot very
thoroughly with the juice of a lemon and a little salt. Then have
ready a large turbot kettle--to every gallon of cold water put 11 oz.
salt--and put in the fish with sufficient water to cover it well. As
soon as it begins to boil draw it back and allow it to simmer till
done, which may be seen by the skin cracking very slightly. Then
remove the fish carefully, drain it over the fish-kettle, and slip it
gently on to a dish, masked with a wooden or china bottom, covered
with a napkin. Garnish with slices of lemon, laid on and around the
fish, and sprigs of fresh parsley.
Fried.--Cut some remnants of boiled turbot into neat pieces, steep
them in a marinade of lemon juice, oil, pepper, and salt for 1-2
hours, then dip them in batter and fry them a golden brown in plenty
of hot lard.
Hashed.--Take the flesh off a cold turbot, carefully preserving the
jelly and removing all the bones. Let the flakes be as large as will
look well, and warm by steaming with the remains of the sauce, and
serve with a wall of potatoes round the dish and the fish in the
centre.
Sauté.--Pick out into neat flakes the remnants of a boiled turbot.
Melt a large piece of butter in a saucepan, place the flakes of fish
in it, and toss them on the fire till they are quite hot, add pepper
and salt to taste, some finely minced parsley, and the juice of a
lemon.
With Tomato Sauce.--Slice a Spanish onion, and fry it in butter or
in olive oil till quite cooked, without being at all coloured, add
the pieces of fish, of which there should be twice as many as there
are onions, then moisten with a sufficient quantity of French tomato
sauce, put in pepper and salt according to taste, and a small pinch
of powdered sweet herbs, shake the saucepan on the fire till the fish
is quite hot, and serve.
With White Sauce.--Pick out the remnants of a boiled turbot free from
bones into flakes. Make some plain melted butter, not too thick,
using plenty of butter and very little flour; season it with pepper,
salt and nutmeg, and simmer in it 12 button mushrooms cut in two.
When these are cooked add the turbot, and as soon as this is quite
warm stir in, off the fire, the yolks of 2 eggs beaten up with the
juice of a lemon and strained. A little minced parsley may be added.
With Wine Sauce.--Lay the turbot on a shallow tin or pan plentifully
buttered, with slices of onion, some parsley, a few mushrooms,
pepper, salt, 2 bay leaves and a few cloves, and enough white wine
and water to come up to, but not over the fish; put a piece of
buttered paper over the fish, and place the tin in the oven to bake
for about 1½ hour, basting the fish frequently with the liquor. When
done strain some of the liquor, thicken it with some of the browned
butter and flour, add some grated nutmeg, and stir in, off the fire,
the yolks of 2 eggs beaten up with the juice of a lemon, slip the
fish on a dish, pour the sauce over, and serve.
_Whitebait_ (Blanchaille). Fried.--The great secret of successful
frying depends upon the fat being boiling, scrupulously clean
utensils, a clear, bright fire, and plenty of good fat. There must
be little time lost in serving any fried fish. Directly it is taken
from the fire it should be sent to table, never covered with a
dish cover; that renders it tough. It is not to be expected that
any one can perfectly succeed in cooking whitebait the first time
of trying, but if these directions are carefully carried out, two
or three trials will ensure success. Everything must be prepared.
Have a stewpan (copper is the best) that is perfectly clean, for if
there is anything sticking at the bottom of the pan, it will quickly
catch or burn, and so spoil the contents; a wire fish-basket that
fits the stewpan, and can easily be moved in or out. Have a clean,
fine cloth; some fine white flour (the finer quality is requisite,
as it is less heavy). American flour is first-rate, being fine and
dry. Place an inverted sieve before the fire on a stand, and on the
top of the sieve a double sheet of thick white blotting-paper. For
a pint of whitebait have 2 lb. pure lard. Put it in the stewpan and
let it melt; when the fat boils and all the little bubbles cease to
appear on the surface, and it begins to smoke, it is ready for use.
The fat must be very hot (some people test the heat by a frimometer);
the heat should be 345° Fahrenheit for ordinary frying, and 400° for
whitebait. The little bubbles that rise on the surface show there is
still water in the fat; this would at once spoil the fish and make
it flabby. When the lard is quite ready it is time to prepare the
fish. The whitebait is generally sent from the fishmonger’s in a
tin pot full of water. Take it from the pot and throw it into some
clean, fresh cold water. Take a handful of the fish and throw it in
the clean cloth; shake it lightly so that all the moisture may be
absorbed. Have a sheet of clean white paper with a good handful of
flour on it. Take the whitebait and sprinkle them into the flour,
fingering them as little as possible. Take up the paper and shake
the whitebait well in the flour, so that they all get well floured.
Turn the whitebait into a wire basket and sift all the loose flour
back on to the paper. Turn the whitebait a few at the time into the
frying basket, and immerse it at once in the stewpan of hot lard for
1 minute; the fish should be quite crisp. Quickly let the fat drain
from the frying basket, and turn the fish out on the blotting-paper
on the sieve. Repeat the process until all is done. Have a dish ready
with an ornamented paper, and pile up the fish pyramid fashion, and
serve as quickly as possible with a plate of thin brown bread and
butter and lemon. Place them on a plate with a caster of cayenne
pepper in the centre. 2 lb. lard seems extravagant, but, if carefully
poured into a clean basin, and when cold the sediment at the bottom
taken away, and the lard put again into a clean vessel, it will serve
10-15 times.
_Whiting_ (Merlan). À la Venetienne.--Cut a large whiting into
fillets, put them into a deep dish, with some salt, pepper, and the
juice of a large lemon; let them marinade for an hour, then drain;
flour the fillets well, and fry of a golden brown, serving them with
whatever sauce is preferred. A good white sauce, with the squeeze of
a lemon added at the last moment, is excellent with this fish.
Au Gratin.--Take a few mushrooms, 2 shallots, and some parsley, all
finely minced; mix them together. Butter a tin very plentifully,
strew in it some of the above mixture and some fine baked breadcrumbs
with a little pepper and salt. On this place the whitings (split
open), on them place the remainder of the mushrooms, &c., more
pepper and salt, and cover up the whole with a thin layer of baked
breadcrumbs. Pour in at the side a glass of white wine and a
sufficient quantity of stock to come up to the fish, and soak the
breadcrumbs without washing them off. Put the tin in the oven to bake
for 20 minutes.
Aux Fines Herbes.--Butter the bottom and sides of a pie-dish, put
into it some whitings nicely cleaned, with a sufficient quantity,
according to the number of fish, of chopped parsley, thyme, tarragon,
and shallot, very finely chopped, moisten them with a small quantity
of white wine, and put them into the oven; when the whitings are
about half cooked, turn them, and when they are quite done thicken
the sauce with a little butter and flour, pepper and salt should of
course be added. In serving them let them go to table in the same
dish, just adding a squeeze of lemon juice.
Baked.--This fish is very nice baked and served with caper sauce.
Dressed.--Take 4 or 5 whitings, according to size and number of
people, 1-2 hours before they are wanted; sprinkle them with a little
salt to make them firm, as they are apt to break. About ½ hour before
dinner put the fish into a wide enamelled stewpan, so that they may
form one layer. This stewpan should be shallow, so that the whitings
may be more easily lifted out; pour over them a little stock or gravy
(it should reach about half-way up the fish), and put with them one
moderate-sized onion, cut into quarters, and a tablespoonful of
chopped parsley. Stew the fish 20-25 minutes. Put into a saucepan 2
oz. butter and 1 tablespoonful flour, stir over the fire till the
flour is well mixed with the butter. When the fish are done, with a
slice lift them out on the dish in which they are to be served, and
pour the liquor in which they were cooked into the saucepan with the
butter and flour, stir well and boil up, then add the yolks of 2
eggs, a tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup, the same of lemon juice, a
little pepper and salt, and serve. Be careful the sauce does not boil
after the eggs are in.
Fillets.--Carefully skin and free from bones 3 or 4 small whitings.
Put the heads and bones into the stockpot. Dip the fish into a beaten
egg. Roll in finely-sifted breadcrumbs, and tie up with cotton before
frying. The fish may be rolled up wholly or divided into slices.
It may also be fried as fillets without rolling up. Serve up with
parsley and slices of lemon.
Fried.--Flour the fish, and, having shaken the flour from them, brush
them over carefully all over with egg beaten up with pepper and salt;
then breadcrumb with fine breadcrumbs, and fry in plenty of lard to a
light colour; sprinkle with fine salt; serve with fried parsley and
cut lemon.
In jelly.--See Trout.
Puddings (Boudin).--Take the raw meat of some whiting, pound it
in a mortar, and pass it through a sieve. Put ½ pint water into a
saucepan with a pinch of salt, and a small piece of butter; when it
boils stir in it enough flour to make a thick paste; when cold take
of this paste half the quantity there is of fish, and take of butter
half the quantity there is of paste; thoroughly amalgamate the whole
in the mortar, season with pepper, salt, and grated nutmeg, work in
1-2 spoonfuls of white sauce (_béchamel_), and lastly as many eggs,
in the proportion of 2 yolks to 1 white, as will bind the mixture.
Butter some small moulds, fill them with the mixture, and steam them
in a stewpan half full of water for 15-20 minutes. Then turn them
out, and serve with white sauce (_béchamel_).
=Meat.=--Before proceeding to deal with the four recognised forms of
culinary flesh, viz., beef, mutton, pork (including bacon), and veal,
some space may be devoted to recipes for cooking frozen and tinned
meats.
_Frozen Meat._--This requires special treatment, for its juices are
liquified by being first turned to ice, and then thawed that it may
cook throughout the joint. A joint would be raw in the centre if it
were roasted or boiled before it had been perfectly thawed. As an
example, take a shoulder of New Zealand mutton to roast. The first
thing to be done is to pitch 1-2 oz. of fat off it into the fire, and
hold the inside, or lean side, of it in the blaze till the tubes of
the lean become seared or hermetically sealed. This may be done by
holding the joint with a pair of tongs, or laying it on a gridiron.
Of course an absence of smoke from a coal fire is advisable during
the few minutes this operation takes. If it be required to roast a
leg, the thick end, where the cut lean is apparent, should be served
in the same way. If the leg is to be boiled, the water should be made
to boil rapidly, and the leg rested on the side of the boiler, so
that the thick end is covered about an inch up the outside. This will
require about 10 minutes. If the whole leg be put into the water, the
boiling will at once cease, when the attempt to close the ends of the
tubes will not be effectual. If a neck of New Zealand mutton is to be
boiled, the lean end should be hung in the water when it is boiling
rapidly, and the whole joint put into the water when it is at the
same heat.
Another question of importance raised here, is that frozen meat
requires to be thawed gradually to be fit to cook in the best
condition. If taken from a frozen chamber into a warm or a muggy
atmosphere, it will, of course, condense vapour as a bottle of wine
taken from a cool cellar into a warm dining room does. This makes
the outside of the meat pale from its being sopped. It needs first
to be taken from the freezing chamber to another at about 40° F.,
then to another at, say, 55° F.; then to one at about 70° F., or the
temperature of the outside air. Then the meat--if the water from the
ice outside has been properly wiped off with soft, dry clothes--will
appear in a retailer’s shop or larder as dry and fresh as home-killed
meat. Of course these thawing chambers need to be provided with dry
air by the use of ice and fans for circulating the air as above
described.
_Tinned Meats._--These having been cooked once already and deprived
of bone, can only be used in stews and the like. The following
recipes are well adapted:--
Collops.--Fry an onion to a golden colour in butter, add a
tablespoonful of flour, mix well, add ½ pint stock, a sprig of thyme,
one of parsley, a bay leaf, 6 cloves, some whole pepper, and some
salt. Let the whole simmer for ½ hour; strain, add a little walnut or
mushroom ketchup, and a little Worcester sauce. Lastly, put in the
meat cut into neat collops, and let it remain by the side of the fire
for about an hour. Serve with bread sippets round the dish.
In Batter.--Cut some pieces of beef 1 in. thick, dip them in a batter
made of 3 tablespoonfuls flour, a teacup of milk, and one egg well
beaten, pepper, salt, and grated nutmeg. Handle the pieces of beef
gently, so that they do not break. Fry a nice brown, and serve with
fried potato slices.
Irish Stew.--Simmer 6 sliced onions and 12 sliced potatoes in a
pint thin stock for ½ hour. Then add the contents of a 2 lb. tin of
Australian mutton cut in slices. Season with pepper and salt, and let
all simmer together for 15 minutes.
Mince.--(_a_) Boil 2 carrots in water, peel them, and cut in slices.
Fry 3 large onions in golden brown rings, put these into a teacupful
of gravy, and let them simmer for 10 minutes. Then thicken the gravy
with a heaping teaspoonful of cornflour, mixed in a little water.
10 minutes before serving, put in 2 lb. minced Australian beef, and
keep it quite hot, but not boiling. Serve with sippets of toast round
the dish; or make a wall of mashed potato, and put the mince in the
centre. A few slices of the red carrot can be dotted at the base of
the white potato wall.
(_b_) Mince 1 lb. Australian mutton very finely, boil ¼ lb. rice to
a pulp, mix it with the meat and add a teacupful of gravy in which
an onion has been boiled; stir over the fire, only until the meat is
heated through, turn into a dish; have ready turnips (which have been
previously parboiled and cut in dice), onions sliced, carrots sliced,
all well fried; dish up round the mince. Care should be taken not to
cook the Australian meat too long, or it loses its flavour.
Patties.--Mince finely 1 lb. tinned beef, melt 1 oz. good butter, and
mix it with the meat. Season the meat highly with pepper and salt,
and a dash of powdered mace and nutmeg. Mix all these ingredients
together, and add 2 tablespoonfuls rich beef gravy. Cut rounds
of light paste to line the patty pans, put in a tablespoonful of
minced feed, and cover with lids of paste, leaving a small hole in
the centre. Bake for 20 minutes in a hot oven. Their appearance is
improved by brushing the lids over with beaten yolk of egg.
Pie.--(_a_) Rub 6 oz. lard into 1 lb. flour and a dessertspoonful
of baking powder; add 2 well-beaten eggs, and scarcely ½ gill milk:
this should make a stiff paste. Cut off pieces, the size of an egg;
line small tin cups with the paste, and fill with the same meat as
for the raised pie, cover with a lid of paste and bake 20 minutes.
When cooked, turn them out of the tins, pour a little gravy through
the lid, and leave to get cold. This paste is very light and short;
6 of these little pies on a dish garnished with parsley, are useful
for luncheon or supper. They can also be made the same shape as
small pork pie by moulding the paste round the bottom of a bottle,
filling the case with meat, and covering with a lid. They are rather
tiresome to get into a good shape, but practice soon overcomes this
difficulty.
(_b_) Fill a pie dish with alternate layers of beef, mutton, and
bacon, all thinly sliced; season between each layer with chopped
onion (boiled), chopped apple, sage, pepper, and salt; pour in a
little good gravy, and bake with a crust over it for ½ hour. The
onion, sage, apple and seasoning should be well mixed together. This
dish is generally liked in the kitchen, and can also be covered with
potatoes, mashed smoothly with milk and butter, and seasoned to taste.
Pudding.--(_a_) Cut 1 lb. Australian mutton into thick pieces, the
length of one’s little finger, and 1 in. wide; cut up ½ lb. beef
kidney, and season it with pepper and salt. Line a greased pudding
basin with suet crust; put in the meat and kidney alternately; pour
in half a teacupful of gravy, with a tablespoonful of mushroom
ketchup; cover with the crust, and boil for 2 hours. This makes a
very savoury pudding.
(_b_) Make a crust of 1 lb. flour, a large teaspoonful of baking
powder, ½ lb. suet, and ½ teaspoonful salt; add water sufficient to
make rather a soft paste; roll out as for a roly-poly pudding; and
spread over it a mince of Australian meat, seasoned with pepper,
salt, ¼ lb. minced bacon, and 2 shallots finely chopped. Spread this
an inch thick, roll it up, pinch the ends firmly, and boil for 2
hours. Serve with thick brown gravy.
Sausage Rolls.--Put 1 lb. Australian tinned beef through a mincing
machine; mince with a chopper ¼ lb. pork; grate 1 oz. bread crumbs;
mix all together, and season well with pepper, salt, sweet marjoram,
and, if liked, a little thyme. Make some light paste, roll it thin
into square pieces, put some meat on it, and fold the paste over it,
pinch the edges and ends securely, and bake for 20 minutes. This
mixture of meat can be made into flat cakes or rissoles, egged and
bread crumbed, and fried a golden brown in Australian fat.
Shape.--Take ½ oz. gelatine previously soaked in water, an onion, a
carrot, a little thyme and marjoram, and 1 qt. good stock; boil until
reduced to 1½ pint, add a tablespoonful of ketchup, and pepper and
salt to taste. Strain the liquor into a saucepan, take 2 lb. of the
meat, and cut it into neat collops; put them also into the saucepan
and let them get warm, then pour all into a mould, put it into a cool
place until cold and firm.
Stew.--(_a_) Cook some potatoes and onions in stock, or with some of
the jelly from the tin, until thoroughly done and falling to pieces;
add salt and pepper, and about 10 minutes before serving put in some
small slices of the meat; simmer gently just long enough to warm them
through, and serve with the potatoes and onions all mixed together.
(_b_) Slice 2 large Portugal onions in thin slices, and fry them a
golden brown; simmer them in ½ pint thin gravy for 20 minutes; then
add 2 lb. tinned mutton finely minced, pepper and salt to taste.
Thicken the stew with a dessertspoonful of corn flour, and a piece of
butter the size of a walnut; add a few drops of colouring, if it is
necessary, to make the stew look a nice colour, and serve very hot on
toasted bread.
Vienna Steak.--Turn out a 2 lb. tin of Australian fresh beef, scrape
all the fat and jelly from it, melt the jelly in a saucepan, and use
the fat, if any, to fry the steak with. Mince the meat finely, and
pepper and salt it to taste; mix with it some finely-chopped onion,
fried a light brown, and form it into pats the size of the hand and
2 in. thick; brush the pats--which should be more oblong than round,
and slightly irregular in form--with egg and bread crumbs, and fry to
a dark brown in the fat. Pile them on a hot dish, and surround them
with fried onions and good gravy, in which the melted jelly forms
a part. The pats should be strewed over with chopped parsley just
before they are sent to table.
Vinaigrette.--Cut some Australian mutton in slices, lay them in
a dish, make a sauce of 2 tablespoonfuls oil, 1 dessertspoonful
vinegar, chopped parsley, a little celery cut small, sliced potatoes,
sliced cucumber (when not obtainable, beetroot), and put over the
mutton.
_Beef_ (Bœuf). A la financière.--This is simply grenadins of beef
served with a ragout _à la financière_ in the centre of the dish.
It requires some little care and taste to cook properly. The best
part of the beef for the purpose is the undercut, which should be
neatly trimmed, all fat and skin removed, and then cut up into
shapely pieces about ⅓ in. in thickness, and shaped something like a
flat pear--a long oval, rather pointed at one end. These grenadins
or fillets should then be finely larded, and afterwards braised by
putting them in a stewpan on some slices of bacon, with a carrot
and onion sliced, a little celery, if in season, some sweet herbs,
parsley, spices, salt and pepper to taste, and a little stock. When
sufficiently cooked, take them out, drain, and glaze them, then serve
round a ragout made with truffles, cockscombs, quenelles of chicken,
mushrooms, &c., all previously cooked, then tossed together in some
good brown gravy, highly flavoured with chicken or game, mushrooms,
and white wine.