Chowder.
Take either a cod or haddock; skin it, loosen the skin about the head,
and draw it down towards the tail, when it will peel off easily. Then
run your knife down the back close to the bone, which you take out. Cut
your fish in small pieces, and wash in cold water. Put the head on to
boil in about two quarts of water, and boil twenty minutes. For a fish
weighing six pounds, pare and slice _thin_ five good-sized potatoes,
and one onion. Place a layer of potatoes and onion in the pot, then a
layer of fish, dredge in a little salt, pepper, and flour. Keep putting
in alternate layers of potatoes and fish until all is used. Use about
one tablespoonful of salt, one teaspoonful of pepper, one teacup of
flour in all.
Have ready half a pound of salt pork fried blown. Pour this over the
mixture; add about two quarts of cold water, then strain on the water
in which the head has been boiled. If this is not water enough to
cover, add more cold. Cover tight, and boil gently thirty minutes. If
not seasoned enough, add what you please. When it has boiled twenty
minutes, put in six crackers which have been soaked three minutes in
cold water. If you wish to add milk and butter, you can do so about
five minutes before taking it up; but for my taste, it is much nicer
and more natural without either.
Fish Chowder, No. 2.
Four pounds of fish, half cod and half haddock, if you can get the two
kinds, two onions, six potatoes, eight white browns, one quarter of a
pound of salt pork, salt, pepper. Prepare the chowder as directed in
the preceding rule; split the crackers and lay on top, pour over the
whole hot water enough to cover, and boil fifteen minutes; then wet
two tablespoonfuls of flour with one third of a cup of cream. Stir
this into the boiling chowder, let it boil up once, and serve. When
you cannot get the white browns, pilot bread will answer. When a very
strong flavor of onion is desired, use four onions.—_Mrs. T. Leighton._
Fried Cod.
Cut the fish into squares, wash and wipe dry. Take half a cup of
flour, half a cup of sifted Indian meal, and a tablespoonful of salt.
Mix all these thoroughly. Dip the fish into the mixture. Have ready a
frying-pan with _boiling_ fat, half lard and half pork fat; drop in
your fish. Fry a dark-brown on one side, then turn and fry the same on
the other side, but be very careful not to let the fish or fat burn.
Have your dish hot, and lay your fish on it. Garnish the sides with the
fried pork.
Broiled Cod, or Scrod.
Split, wash, and wipe dry a small cod. Rub the gridiron with a piece
of fat pork, and lay the fish upon it, being careful to have the inside
downward. If the fish is very thick, cook thirty minutes; but for an
ordinary one, twenty minutes will be sufficient. Have the dish, in
which you intend serving it, warm; place it upon the fish, and turn
the dish and gridiron over simultaneously. If the fish sticks to the
gridiron, loosen it gently with a knife. Have some butter warm, but
_not melted_, with which to season it. Shake on a little pepper and
salt, and send to the table.
Baked Cod.
Scrape and wash clean a cod weighing four or five pounds. Rub into it
a heaping spoonful of salt. Make a dressing of three pounded crackers,
a little chopped salt-pork about one teaspoonful of parsley, a little
salt and pepper, and two tablespoonfuls of cold water. Stuff the belly
with this, and fasten together with a skewer. Lay thin slices of pork
on the fish, which should be placed on a tin sheet that will fit
loosely into the baking-pan; dredge with flour. Pour into the pan about
half a pint of cold water. Baste the fish often while cooking, with
the water which is in the pan. If the water cooks away, add more, but
do not have too much to begin with, or the fish will be boiled instead
of being baked. Bake one hour. When the fish is cooked, turn the gravy
into a bowl, then lift out the fish upon the tin sheet (from which you
can easily slide it into the dish upon which you serve it); now turn
your gravy into your baking-pan again, and place it on the fire; when
it comes to a boil, thicken with a tablespoonful of flour, season with
pepper and salt.
N. B. Always use a tin sheet in the baking-pan when cooking fish, as
you then can preserve the shape.
Broiled Salt Fish.
Cut a square the size you desire, from the thickest part of the fish.
Take off the skin, and wash clean; broil over clear coals ten minutes,
then dip in boiling water, butter, and serve. This is a nice relish for
breakfast or tea, and with boiled potatoes makes an excellent dinner.
Broiled Mackerel.
Split down the back, and clean. Be careful to scrape all the thin black
skin from the inside. Wipe dry, and lay on the gridiron; broil on one
side a nice brown, then turn, and brown the other side; it will not
take so long to brown the side on which the skin is. (All fish should
have the side on which the skin is, turned to the fire last, as the
skin burns easily, and coals are not so hot after you have used them
ten minutes.) Season with butter, pepper, and salt.
Fried Mackerel.
Fry brown six good-sized slices of pork. Prepare your mackerel as for
broiling. Take out your pork, sprinkle a little salt over the mackerel,
then fry a nice brown. Serve the fried pork with it.
Baked Mackerel.
Prepare as for boiling. Make a dressing as for baked cod. Stuff with
this; dredge with salt and flour. Bake thirty minutes, basting often
with water, butter, and flour. Make a gravy with the water in the pan
in which the fish is baked. Always make the gravy quite salt. The best
way to cook mackerel is to _broil_ it.
Smelts.
The only true way to cook smelts is to fry them, although they are
sometimes baked. Open them at the gills. Draw each smelt separately
between your finger and thumb, beginning at tail; this will press the
insides out. (Some persons never take out the insides, but it should
be done as much as to any other fish.) Wash them clean, and let them
drain in a cullender; then salt, and roll in a mixture of half flour
and half Indian meal. Have about two inches deep of boiling fat in the
frying-pan (drippings, if you have them; if not, lard); into this drop
the smelts, and fry brown. Do not put so many in that they will be
crowded; if you do, they will not be crisp and brown.
Brook Trout.
Brook trout are cooked the same as smelts; or you can cook them as the
angler does. They must be split nearly to the tail to clean. Wash and
drain. For a dozen good sized trout, fry six slices of salt pork; when
brown, take out the pork, and put in the trout. Fry a nice brown on all
sides. Serve the pork with them.
Eels Fried.
Skin them; then turn on boiling water, and let them stand in it a few
moments; then cut them into pieces about three inches long. Fry a nice
brown, and serve.
Baked Eels.
Prepare as for frying; then put into a baking-pan, with a little
water, flour, pepper, and salt. Bake twenty minutes. Make a gravy of
the liquor in which they were baked, adding a little butter.
Boiled Halibut.
Pour into a pan about half an inch deep of boiling water; into this lay
the side of the halibut on which is the black skin; let this stand a
few minutes; then scrape with a knife, when the black will be found to
peel off readily. Wash clean in cold water, then pin it in your fish
cloth, and drop it into boiling water. For a piece weighing four pounds
allow twenty-five minutes to boil. Serve with drawn butter.
Fried Halibut.
Take a slice of halibut, sprinkle with salt, and dredge with flour. Fry
four slices of salt pork, add to the pork fat one spoonful of lard.
When boiling hot put in the halibut. Fry a light brown on one side,
then turn and fry the same on the other. Serve the pork with it.
Broiled Halibut.
Grease the gridiron with a little butter, place the halibut upon it,
sprinkle a little salt over it, and place over clear coals. Cook one
side ten minutes, then turn and cook upon the other side ten more. Have
the dish warm; put the fish upon it, season with pepper and butter, and
send to the table.
Smoked Halibut.
Broiled the same as the fresh, omitting the pepper and salt. Smoked
salmon cooked in the same way.
Fried Salmon.
The same as halibut.
Broiled Salmon.
The same as halibut.
Salmon Trout.
When large enough, split down the back, clean and broil. Season with
butter and salt. When small, open far enough to take out the insides;
wash clean, and wipe dry. Fry the same as codfish.
Shad and Haddock.
Shad and haddock can be cooked the same as cod.