placing them side by side with their tails lying round the centre of
the bottom of the mould, and their opposite ends projecting above the
brim. Press them well, that they may take the shape of the mould.
Completely coat the fillets with a layer, one-half inch thick, of fish
forcemeat.
Put the mould in the front of the oven for a few minutes in order to
poach the forcemeat, which, in adhering to the fillets, gives the
required firmness to the timbale.
When the forcemeat has been poached and is stiff, withdraw the timbale
from the oven, and cut off the pieces of fillet that project above the
edges of the mould. Fill the timbale to within one-third inch of its
brim with a garnish of shrimps and poached oysters and mussels, small
button-mushrooms, and slices of truffle, all of which should be cohered
with a thick and highly-seasoned Béchamel sauce. Cover this garnish
with the projecting pieces of fillets, already cut off, and close the
timbale by means of a thin layer of that forcemeat which served in
coating the fillets. Poach for thirty minutes in a _bain-marie_ and
in a moderate oven. After taking the timbale out of the _bain-marie_,
let it stand for a few minutes; overturn it on a round dish; take off
the mould; deck it on top with a garland consisting of six little
_paupiettes_ of salmon, each stuffed with a crayfish tail, and
surmounted by an encrusted crayfish carapace.
Serve a Nantua sauce separately.
913—TIMBALE DE FILETS DE SOLES MARQUISE
For a timbale large enough for ten people, prepare:—
1. An even or fluted timbale crust.
2. A garnish consisting of twelve rolled or folded fillets of sole
poached in fish _fumet_, twelve poached oysters (cleared of their
beards), twenty-four small quenelles of salmon, and twenty slices of
truffle.
Heat this garnish after having added a few drops of fish _fumet_ to it,
and then thicken it with one-half pint of white-wine sauce prepared
with paprika.
Put the above garnish into the timbale, which should be very hot; set
the latter on a folded napkin, and serve at once.
914—The Preparation of PAUPIETTES OF FILLETS OF SOLE SALMON, &c.
The _paupiettes_ (or fillets rolled after the manner of a scroll) are
served either as entrées like fillets of sole, of which they are but
a special kind, or as a garnish. For the second purpose, not only
should they be smaller than for the first, but very small fillets are
generally selected for the preparation of the _paupiettes_.
In order to make _paupiettes_, first remove the nervous film from the
outside surfaces of the fillets, and then slightly flatten the latter
with the blade of a large knife; trim them on both sides, and coat them
on their flayed side with a thin layer of fish forcemeat, truffled or
not, in accordance with the requirements.
Now roll them into scroll-form; smooth the forcemeat that projects from
the top end, and the _paupiettes_ are done.
Stand them upright in a buttered sautépan to poach, and take care
to place them snugly together lest they lose their shape while the
operation is in progress. Moisten them with sufficient fish _fumet_
(No. 11) to cover them; poach them in a moderate oven, and remember, as
in the case of fillets of sole, not to let the poaching-liquor boil.
All the garnishes and sauces suited to fillets of sole likewise obtain
with _paupiettes_, provided the difference in their shape be taken into
account when dishing up.
For salmon _paupiettes_, cut slices two-thirds inch wide, one-half inch
thick, and the length of a fillet of sole, from a skinned fillet of
salmon. In view of the unusual fragility of salmon’s flesh, the slices
of fillets should be carefully flattened in order to give them the
width and thickness of a fillet of sole. This done, spread forcemeat on
them, and roll them as explained above.
=Soles and Fillets of Sole (Cold)=
915—ASPIC DE FILETS DE SOLES
An essential point in the making of an aspic is the clearness of the
fish jelly. For a sole aspic, take some white fish aspic, which is at
once succulent, limpid, and just sufficiently viscous to allow of its
being turned out of a mould without breaking.
For the purpose under consideration, moulds with plain or decorated
borders are generally used, and there are two modes of procedure:—
1. For a mould capable of holding one quart, fold twelve small fillets
of sole and poach them in butter and lemon juice, taking care to keep
them very white. This done, set them to cool under a light weight.
Pour a few tablespoonfuls of melted fish jelly into the mould, which
should be lying amidst broken ice. As soon as the jelly begins to set,
decorate it tastefully with pieces (lozenges, crescents, &c.) of very
black truffle and the poached white of an egg. Capers, tarragon leaves,
thin roundels of small radishes, &c., may also be used for the purpose
of decoration.
When this part of the procedure has been satisfactorily effected,
sprinkle a few drops of the same jelly over the decorating particles,
in order to fix them and prevent their shifting during the subsequent
stages of the process. Now add enough melted jelly to cover the bottom
of the mould with a layer one inch thick, and leave this to set.
On this set jelly, arrange the six fillets of sole; let their tail-ends
overlap, and cover them with jelly. Continue adding coat upon coat of
jelly until the thickness covering the fillets measures about one-half
inch.
Now arrange the remaining fillets in the reverse order, and fill up the
mould with cold, melted jelly. Leave to cool for one hour.
When about to serve, quickly dip the mould in a saucepan of hot water;
wipe it, and turn out the aspic upon a folded napkin lying on a dish.
916—Another Method of Preparing ASPICS DE FILETS DE SOLES
Coat ten fine fillets of sole with a thin layer of truffled fish
forcemeat finished with crayfish butter, and roll them round a little
rod of truffle, twice as thick as an ordinary penholder. Tie these
_paupiettes_, once or twice round, with cotton; poach them very gently
in fish _fumet_ and cool them on ice. Take a border-mould, even if
possible; pour therein a few tablespoonfuls of melted fish jelly, and
then rock it about on broken ice, with the object of evenly coating it
with a thin layer of the jelly.
This operation is technically called “clothing the mould.”
Decorate the bottom of the mould as explained above; fix the decorating
particles, and cover them with a layer one-half inch thick of fish
jelly.
After having properly trimmed the ends of the _paupiettes_, cut them
into roundels one-half inch thick; set these upright against the sides
of the mould, keeping them close together; add a few drops of melted
jelly to fix the roundels, and as soon as this has set, add a further
quantity, sufficient to completely cover them.
As soon as this jelly sets, repeat the operation with the _paupiette_
roundels and the jelly, and do so again and again until the mould is
filled. For turning out the aspic, proceed as directed above.
917—BORDURE DE FILETS DE SOLES A L’ITALIENNE
Line a border-mould with jelly; _i.e._, coat its bottom and sides with
a thin layer of fish jelly, rocking it upon ice as already explained.
Now fill it, two-thirds full, with a garnish consisting of a _julienne_
of cold, poached fillets of sole, a _julienne_ of truffles (two oz.
per two filleted soles), and a _julienne_ of capsicum (one and
one-half oz. per two filleted soles). Fill up the mould with melted
fish jelly, and leave the latter to set.
When about to serve, turn out the mould upon a little, low cushion of
rice, lying on a dish, and set an Italian salad in the centre.
Serve a Mayonnaise sauce with this dish.
918—FILETS DE SOLES CALYPSO
Flatten the fillets, and roll them into _paupiettes_ around little
rods of wood two-thirds inch thick. Lay the _paupiettes_ in a buttered
sautépan, with their joined sides undermost, and poach them in very
clear fish _fumet_ and lemon juice, taking care to keep them very white.
Let them cool, and remove the pieces of wood, whereupon they will have
the appearance of rings.
Take as many small tomatoes as there are _paupiettes_; cut them in two
at a point two-thirds of their height below their stem-end; empty, and
peel them. Set a _paupiette_, upright, in each tomato; fill the centre
with crayfish _mousse_ combined with crayfishes’ tails in dice; lay a
round piece of milt (stamped out with a cutter, poached, and cold) on
each, and, finally, the shelled tail of a crayfish on each roundel of
milt.
Arrange the tomatoes in a circle round a dish; surround them with
little triangles of white fish jelly, and garnish the centre of the
dish with the same fish jelly, chopped.
919—FILETS DE SOLES CHARLOTTE
Fold the fillets; poach them in fish _fumet_, and let them cool.
Trim them; coat them with pink chaud-froid sauce; decorate each fillet
by means of a rosette of chervil leaves, in the centre of which rests a
bit of lobster coral, and glaze them with fish jelly.
Set them, tail end uppermost, against a _mousse_ of milt with
horse-radish, moulded in a narrow dome-mould, which should have been
coated with fish jelly and besprinkled with chopped coral.
Surround with a border of regularly-cut jelly dice.
920—FILETS DE SOLES A LA MOSCOVITE
Prepare (1) some _paupiettes_ of filleted sole, in rings, as explained
under “Filets de Soles à la Calypso” (No. 918); (2) as many round,
fluted cases made from hollowed cucumber as there are _paupiettes_. The
cucumber cases should be well _blanched_ and _marinaded_ inside. Set
each paupiette in a cucumber case; garnish their centre with caviare,
and arrange them in a circle on a dish.
Send a sauce Russe to the table, separately, at the same time as the
dish.
921—DOMINOS DE FILETS DE SOLES
Select some fine, fleshy fillets; slightly flatten them; poach them
in a little of the cooking-liquor of mushrooms, some lemon juice and
butter, and set them to cool under a light weight. When the fillets
are cold, trim them and cut them into regular rectangles the size of
dominoes.
Coat the rectangles with a maigre, white, chaud-froid sauce; decorate
them in imitation of dominoes, with little spots of truffle; glaze them
with cold, melted fish jelly, and put them aside.
Pound the trimmings of the fish together with their weight of caviare,
and rub the whole through a fine sieve. Add to this preparation half
its weight of highly-coloured jelly, and leave it to set in a somewhat
deep and moderately-oiled tray, the thickness of the preparation on the
tray being not greater than that of a fillet of sole.
When the jelly is set, cut it into rectangles exactly the same size
as the prepared dominoes, and then, by means of a little melted, cold
jelly, fix the dominoes of sole to the rectangles just prepared.
Put some chopped jelly in the centre of the dish, and on this lay the
dominoes in a muddled heap.
922—FILETS DE SOLES FROIDS DRESSÉS SUR MOUSSES
What I pointed out above, I repeat here for the reader’s
guidance—namely, that fillets of sole may be prepared after all the
recipes given for trout (No. 813).
As the fillets of sole in this dish remain very conspicuous, it is
advisable to keep them very white in the poaching. Set them to cool
under a light weight, and decorate them in a way that will be in
keeping with the _mousse_ on which they are dished. This _mousse_ is
set on a special dish, as already explained, and the decorated fillets
are laid upon it and covered with melted jelly.
For the variation of _mousses_, see the table given under No. 815.
923—TURBOT
Turbot is generally served boiled, accompanied by freshly cooked,
floury potatoes, and the cases are exceptional when, cooked in this
way, it is dished with any other garnish.
All fish sauces may be served with turbot. When, for the sake of
variety, or in pursuance of the consumer’s wishes, turbot has to be
braised or garnished, it is best to select a medium-sized fish, _i.e._,
one weighing from eight to twelve lbs., thick, very fleshy, and white.
Unless expressly ordered, it is best to avoid surrounding the
piece with its garnish. Preferably, send the latter to the table in
a separate dish, as also the sauce. By this means the service is
expedited, and, more important still, the fish is quite hot when it
reaches the table. It is granted that the sight of a dish containing a
fine, richly garnished and tastefully arranged piece is flattering to
the host, but it would be a pity that the quality of the fish should
thereby suffer, more particularly as the gourmet is not satisfied with
sightliness alone.
I explained at the beginning of this chapter, under “Boiled Fish”
(No. 776 and 779), the details relating to this method of cooking,
especially with regard to its application to turbot. For the braising
and garnishing of turbot, the reader is begged to refer to the recipes
concerned with chicken-turbot. These recipes may be applied to turbot,
provided the difference in the size of the fish be taken into account
in reference to the time allowed for braising and the quantities of the
garnishing ingredients.
924—COLD TURBOT
Whether whole or sliced, cold turbot makes an excellent dish, if the
fish have not been cooked too long beforehand. It will be found that
turbot, especially when sliced, tends to harden, crumple, and lose
its flavour while cooling. It is therefore of the greatest importance
that the fish should have just cooled after cooking, and that the
cooking-liquor should have barely time to set; otherwise the evil
effects of cooling, mentioned above, will surely ensue. When served,
just cooled, with one of the cold sauces suited to fish, turbot can vie
in delicacy even with such fish as salmon or trout, which are usually
served cold.
925—TURBOTINS (CHICKEN-TURBOTS)
Turbotins (chicken-turbots) may rank among the most delicate and nicest
of fish. Their varying sizes allow of their being served either for
three, four, or ten, or twelve people; they are, moreover, tender and
white, and they lend themselves to quite a vast number of culinary
preparations.
They may be served boiled, like the turbot; grilled; à la Meunière;
fried; _au gratin_, like the soles; or braised, like the salmon and the
trout. They are most often served whole, garnished and with sauce; but,
in order to simplify the process, they may be filleted, the fillets
being poached and dished with a garnish and the selected sauce.
Whatever be the method of preparing the chicken-turbot, whether it be
boiled, poached, or braised, the spine should always be cut in one or
two places. The gash should be just in the middle of the back where
the flesh is thickest, and the fillets on either side of the gash
should be partly separated from the bone. The object of this measure
is to prevent deformation during the cooking process and, also, to
precipitate the latter.
926—TURBOTIN A L’AMIRAL
Gash the back of the fish, and partly separate the under fillets from
the bones. Lay it on a grill, and moisten, sufficiently to cover it,
with previously-cooked _court-bouillon_ with Sauterne wine. As soon
as the _court-bouillon_ boils, allow the fish to cook ten or twelve
minutes for every two lbs. of its weight.
This done, drain it; dish it, and coat it twice with melted, red butter.
Now surround it with the following garnish, which should be in
proportion to the size of the fish, viz., little heaps of large mussels
and oysters, prepared à la Villeroy, and fried at the time of dishing;
small patties of crayfish tails; large mushroom-heads grooved and
cooked, and slices of truffle.
Serve, separately, (1) a timbale of potatoes _à l’anglaise_;
(2) Normande sauce, combined with one-sixth pint of reduced
_court-bouillon_ per quart of sauce, finished with crayfish butter and
seasoned with cayenne.
927—TURBOTIN A L’ANDALOUSE
Cut it in the region of the back; season it, and lay it in a deep
earthenware dish of convenient size, liberally buttered. In the case of
a chicken-turbot weighing two and one-half lbs., moisten with one-third
pint of white wine and one-quarter pint of fish _fumet_.
Finely mince two medium-sized onions, and toss them in butter until
they have acquired a yellow colour.
Peel, press and mince three tomatoes, and add thereto three large, raw,
sliced mushrooms. Cut two mild capsicums into strips.
Spread the onion on the chicken-turbot; put the tomatoes and the sliced
mushrooms on top, and upon these arrange the grilled strips of mild
capsicum. Besprinkle moderately with raspings; lay one oz. of butter,
cut into small pieces, on the top, and set to cook gently in the oven.
Allow thirty minutes for the cooking. By reducing the moistening-liquor,
which has perforce absorbed some of the gelatinous properties of the
fish, the leason forms of itself.
928—TURBOTIN BONNE FEMME
For a chicken-turbot weighing from two to two and one-half lbs.
sprinkle on the bottom of a buttered tray one dessertspoonful of
chopped shallots, one pinch of _concassed_ parsley, and three oz. of
minced mushrooms.
Cut the chicken-turbot in the back, and partly separate the fillets
from the bone; lay it on the tray, and moisten with one-third pint of
white wine and one-third pint of fish _fumet_. Cook gently in the oven,
and baste frequently the while.
When the chicken-turbot is cooked, dish it and keep it hot. Pour the
cooking-liquor into a sautépan; reduce it to half, and add three
tablespoonfuls of fish velouté and three oz. of butter.
Cover the fish with this sauce and the garnish, and glaze quickly.
929—TURBOTIN COMMODORE
Poach the chicken-turbot in salted water.
Prepare the following garnish per one person:—Three potato balls cut
to the size of hazel-nuts and cooked _à l’anglaise_; one medium-sized,
trussed crayfish; one quenelle of fish; one small lobster _croquette_;
and one oyster prepared à la Villeroy.
All these products should be treated according to their nature, and
just in time to be ready for the dishing up. A few moments before
serving, drain the turbot; dish it, and surround it with the garnish
detailed above, arranged in alternate heaps.
Serve a Normande sauce, finished with anchovy butter, separately.
930—TURBOTIN DAUMONT
Proceed exactly as directed under “Sole Daumont” (No. 823), taking
into account the size of the fish, and increasing the sauce and the
garnishing ingredients accordingly.
931—TURBOTIN FERMIÈRE
Sprinkle on the bottom of a buttered tray two minced shallots, a few
roundels of carrot and onion, some parsley stalks, thyme, and bay.
Lay the chicken-turbot on these aromatics, and season moderately. For
a fish weighing two lbs. moisten with two-thirds pint of excellent red
wine; add one-half oz. of butter, cut into small pieces, and poach
gently, taking care to baste frequently.
Meantime toss three oz. of minced mushrooms in three oz. of butter.
When the turbot is ready, drain it; dish it; surround it with the
tossed mushrooms, and keep it hot.
Strain the cooking-liquor into a vegetable-pan, and reduce it to half.
Thicken it with a piece of _manied_ butter the size of a walnut; add
three oz. of butter; pour this sauce over the chicken-turbot and its
garnish, and set to glaze quickly.
932—TURBOTIN A LA MODE DE HOLLANDE
Poach the chicken-turbot in salted water. Drain it, dish it, and upon
it lay a lobster cooked in _court-bouillon_. The shell of the lobster
should have been opened along the top of the tail, and the meat of the
tail should have been quickly sliced and returned to its place.
Send to the table at the same time (1) a timbale of floury potatoes,
freshly cooked _à l’anglaise_; (2) a sauceboat containing egg sauce
with melted butter (No. 117).
933—TURBOTIN MIRABEAU
Poach the fish in _court-bouillon_ with Sauterne wine, as directed
under “Turbotin à l’Amiral” (No. 926).
Drain it; dish it, and coat it in alternate bands with white wine and
Genevoise sauces. Along the lines formed by the meeting of the sauces
lay thin strips of anchovy fillets placed end to end. Decorate the
bands of white sauce with slices of truffle, and the bands of brown
sauce with blanched tarragon leaves.
934—TURBOTIN PARISIENNE
Poach the fish in _court-bouillon_ with Sauterne wine. Drain it,
dish it, and round it arrange a border composed of alternate slices
of truffles and mushrooms. Coat the fish with white-wine sauce, and
surround it with trussed crayfish cooked in _court-bouillon_.
N.B.—For fish à la Parisienne, the garnish of sliced truffles and
mushrooms may be set on the dish, either conspicuously or the reverse;
_i.e._, it may be laid round the fish and covered by the sauce, or
arranged in the form of an oval on the fish after the latter has been
sauced. In either case the slices of truffles and mushrooms should be
laid alternately.
935—TURBOTIN RÉGENCE
Poach the chicken-turbot in a sufficient quantity of previously-prepared
_court-bouillon_ with Chablis wine.
For a fish weighing three lbs. (enough for ten people), prepare the
following garnish:—Twenty small spoon-moulded quenelles of whiting
forcemeat with crayfish butter; ten poached oysters (cleared of their
beards); ten small mushroom-heads (very white); ten truffles in the
shape of olives, and ten poached slices of milt.
Drain the chicken-turbot just before dishing it, and slip it on
to a dish. Surround it with the garnish detailed above, arranged
in alternate heaps, and serve a Normande sauce, finished with two
tablespoonfuls of truffle essence per pint, separately.
936—TURBOTIN SOUFFLÉ A LA REYNIÈRE
Lay the chicken-turbot on its belly, and make two gashes in its back,
on either side of the spine, from the head to the tail. Completely
separate the fillets from the bones; cut the spine at both ends;
carefully raise it from the underlying, ventral fillets, and entirely
remove it.
Season the inside of the fish, and garnish it with enough fish
_mousseline_ forcemeat to give it a rounded appearance. Close in the
forcemeat by drawing the two separated fillets over it; turn the piece
over, and lay it on a well-buttered, deep, oval dish, the size of which
should be in proportion to that of the chicken-turbot.
Poach it gently, almost dry, with lid on, in fish _fumet_ and the
cooking-liquor of mushrooms mixed, _i.e._, two-thirds pint of the one
and one-third pint of the other. This done, dish it carefully, and lay
a row of grooved and white mushroom-heads down the centre of it. On
either side put some very white, poached milt, alternating the latter
with whole anchovy fillets, in such wise as to form an oval enframing
the row of mushrooms.
Send to the table, separately, a sauce composed of Soubise cullis
and white-wine sauce, in the proportion of one-third and two-thirds
respectively, combined with the reduced cooking-liquor of the
chicken-turbot.
937—TURBOTIN FEUILLANTINE
Stuff the chicken-turbot after the method described in the preceding
recipe, but substitute lobster _mousseline_ forcemeat for that
mentioned above.
Poach as directed above, and dish.
Coat the fish with lobster butter, made as red as possible, from the
carcass of the lobster whose meat has been used for the forcemeat.
From head to tail and down the centre of the fish lay a row of fine
slices of truffle, letting them overlap each other slightly. Frame the
row of truffle with two lines of very white, poached oysters, so placed
as to form a regular oval.
Send to the table, separately, a fine Béchamel sauce seasoned with
cayenne.
938—COLD CHICKEN-TURBOT
My remarks relative to cold turbot apply here with even greater force,
for chicken-turbots are particularly well suited to cold dishing.
The chicken-turbots to be served cold should not be too small; the best
for the purpose would be those weighing four lbs. or more.
In dismissing the subject I can but recommend cold chicken-turbot as a
dish admitting of the most tasteful arrangement and decoration.
LOBSTER (HOMARD)
Whereas the ordinary lobster is a very favourite dish with English
gourmets, the spiny kind has scarcely any vogue. This is no doubt
accounted for by the fact that the former is not only very plentiful,
but also of excellent quality, while the latter is comparatively scarce.
939—HOMARD A L’AMÉRICAINE
The first essential condition is that the lobster should be alive.
Sever and slightly crush the claws, with the view of withdrawing their
meat after cooking; cut the tail into sections; split the carapace
in two lengthwise, and remove the queen (a little bag near the head
containing some gravel). Put aside, on a plate, the intestines and the
coral, which will be used in the finishing of the sauce, and season the
pieces of lobster with salt and pepper.
Put these pieces into a sautépan containing one-sixth pint of oil and
one oz. of butter, both very hot. Fry them over an open fire until the
meat has stiffened well and the carapace is of a fine red colour.
Then remove all grease by tilting the sautépan on its side with its
lid on; sprinkle the pieces of lobster with two chopped shallots
and one crushed clove of garlic; add one-third pint of white wine,
one-quarter pint of fish _fumet_, a small glassful of burnt brandy,
one tablespoonful of melted meat-glaze, three small, fresh, pressed,
and chopped tomatoes (or, failing fresh tomatoes, two tablespoonfuls
of tomato purée), a pinch of _concassed_ parsley, and a very little
cayenne. Cover the sautépan, and set to cook in the oven for eighteen
or twenty minutes.
This done, transfer the pieces of lobster to a dish; withdraw the meat
from the section of the tail and the claws, and put them in a timbale;
set upright thereon the two halves of the carapace, and let them lie
against each other. Keep the whole hot.
Now reduce the cooking-sauce of the lobster to one-third pint; add
thereto the intestines and the chopped coral, together with a piece of
butter the size of a walnut; set to cook for a moment, and pass through
a strainer.
Put this cullis into a vegetable-pan; heat it without letting it boil,
and add, away from the fire, three oz. of butter cut into small pieces.
Pour this sauce over the pieces of lobster which have been kept hot,
and sprinkle the whole with a pinch of _concassed_ and scalded parsley.
940—HOMARD A LA BORDELAISE
Section the live lobster as directed above.
Stiffen the meat and colour the carapace in a sautépan with two oz.
of clarified butter. When the meat is quite stiff and the carapace is
red, pour away two-thirds of the butter. Then add two tablespoonfuls
of chopped shallots, a crushed piece of garlic the size of a pea,
one-sixth pint of white wine, three tablespoonfuls of burnt brandy, and
reduce the whole to half. Complete with one-half pint of fish _fumet_,
one-third pint of maigre Espagnole, one-quarter pint of tomato sauce,
one small faggot, one pinch of salt, and a very little cayenne.
Put the lid on, and set to cook for one-quarter hour.
Take the meat from the sections of the tail and the claws, as in
the case of the preparation à l’américaine; put these into a small
sautépan, and keep them hot. Add the intestines and the chopped coral,
reduce the sauce to one-third pint; pass it through a strainer, and
pour it over the pieces of lobster.
Heat the whole without boiling; add a few drops of lemon juice,
two and one-half oz. of butter cut into small pieces, and one-half
tablespoonful of chopped chervil and tarragon, and stir over the stove
with the view of thoroughly mixing the whole.
Dish as directed in the preceding recipe.
941—HOMARD BOUILLI A LA HOLLANDAISE
Cook the lobster in a _court-bouillon_ (No. 163), allowing twenty
minutes for a specimen weighing two lbs.
As soon as the lobster is cooked, drain it; split it in two lengthwise
without completely severing the two halves; lay it on a long dish
covered with a napkin, and surround it with very green, curled-leaf
parsley.
Serve with it, at the same time, a timbale of floury potatoes freshly
cooked _à l’anglaise_, and a sauceboat of melted butter.
942—HOMARD A LA BROCHE
Select a lobster that seems full of life, and, after killing it, fix
it on the spit. Put into the dripping-pan six oz. of butter, one-half
bottle of champagne, salt, and peppercorns. In order to cook it to
perfection, frequently baste it with this mixture, and allow one hour
before a red fire for a specimen weighing three lbs. It may be dished
with two accompaniments:—
1. A hot ravigote sauce combined with the gravy of the lobster, from
which all grease has been removed.
2. Strain the contents of the dripping-pan (cleared of all grease)
through a fine sieve; reduce it by a quarter over a brisk fire;
add three tablespoonfuls of meat-glaze, two tablespoonfuls of
Worcestershire sauce, and a little chopped parsley, and finish this
sauce with three oz. of butter and a few drops of lemon juice.
943—HOMARD CARDINAL
Plunge the live lobster into boiling _court-bouillon_, and cook it
after the manner directed under “Homard à la Hollandaise” (No. 941).
The moment it is cooked, cut it in two lengthwise; withdraw the meat
from the tail, slice it, and keep it hot in a little Cardinal sauce.
Disconnect the claws; open them sideways, and withdraw all their meat
without breaking them. Cut the withdrawn meat into dice, as also
the creamy parts from the carapace, and add thereto their weight of
cooked mushrooms and half that quantity of truffles—both of which
products should also be in dice. Thicken this _salpicon_ with a few
tablespoonfuls of lobster sauce, and spread it in even layers on the
bottom of each half-carapace.
Reserve, however, two tablespoonfuls of it for garnishing the emptied
claws.
Upon the _salpicon_ lay the slices of lobster, kept hot, alternating
these with fine slices of truffles. Set the two half-carapaces, thus
garnished, on a dish, and wedge them upright by means of the two claws.
Coat the slices and the claws with Cardinal sauce; sprinkle with grated
cheese and melted butter; set to glaze quickly in a fierce oven or at
the salamander, and serve instantly.
944—HOMARD CLARENCE
Cook the lobster in _court-bouillon_, and drain it as soon as it is
done.
When it is only lukewarm, split it open lengthwise; take the meat from
the tail; slice it, and keep it hot in a vegetable-pan with a few drops
of fish _fumet_ or the cooking-liquor of mushrooms.
Remove the remains of meat and the creamy parts from the carapace;
pound the two former together with two tablespoonfuls of cream; strain
through a fine sieve, and add to the resulting cullis one-half pint of
Béchamel sauce with curry.
Garnish the two half-carapaces, two-thirds full, with rice à
l’Indienne; set the slices of lobster on this rice, intercalating them
with slices of truffle; coat thinly with the prepared Béchamel sauce,
and set the two garnished and sauced half-carapaces on a long, hot dish.
Send to the table, at the same time, a sauceboat containing Béchamel
with curry.
945—HOMARD A LA CRÈME
Proceed as for “Homard à la New-burg à cru” (No. 948), but swill with
brandy only, and add, immediately, four oz. of fresh, peeled truffles
cut into slices.
Moisten, almost sufficiently to cover, with very fresh, thin cream;
season with salt and cayenne, and cook the lobster. Then take the meat
from the carapaces, and put it into a timbale; reduce the cream to
one-third pint, and mix therewith three tablespoonfuls of melted, white
meat-glaze and a few drops of lemon juice.
Strain this sauce through muslin, and pour it over the pieces of
lobster.
946—HOMARD GRILLÉ
For this purpose, the lobster may be taken raw, but it is better,
first, to have it three-parts cooked in _court-bouillon_.
Now split it into two lengthwise; sprinkle it with melted butter, and
set it on the grill for its cooking to be completed.
Treated thus, the meat of the lobster does not harden as when it is
grilled raw. Dish the grilled lobster on a napkin or on a drainer,
after having broken the shell of the claws in order to facilitate the
withdrawal of the meat, and surround with curled-leaf parsley.
Serve a “Devilled sauce Escoffier,” or any other sauce suited to
grilled fish, with the lobster, but remember that the first-named sauce
is the fittest that could be found for this particular dish.
947—HOMARD A LA MORNAY, otherwise AU GRATIN
Proceed in all points as directed under “Homard Cardinal” (No. 943),
but substitute Mornay sauce for Cardinal.
=Homard à la New-burg=
This dish may be prepared in two ways—with raw lobster and with the
latter cooked some time beforehand. The second way is the more correct,
but the first, which is less troublesome to prepare, is more suited to
the work of large establishments.
948—HOMARD A LA NEW-BURG (with raw lobster)
Cut up the live lobster, and fry it in oil and butter as explained
under “Homard à l’Américaine.” When the pieces of lobster are stiffened
and coloured, clear them of all grease; swill the sautépan with one
tablespoonful of burnt brandy and one-half pint of Marsala.
Reduce by a third; season, and add two-thirds pint of cream and
one-sixth pint of fish _fumet_. Cover and set to cook for fifteen
minutes.
Take out the pieces of lobster; withdraw the meat therefrom, and keep
it hot in a covered timbale. Thicken the sauce with the reserved
intestines and coral of the lobster, which should be chopped in
combination with one oz. of butter.
Set to boil a second time; rub the sauce through tammy, and pour it
over the pieces of lobster.
949—HOMARD A LA NEW-BURG (with the lobster cooked)
Cook the lobster in _court-bouillon_. Remove the shell from the tail;
take the meat therefrom, and cut it into regular slices. Lay these
slices in a liberally-buttered sautépan, season strongly, and heat the
slices on both sides until the outside membrane acquires a fine red
colour.
Moisten with enough Madeira to almost cover the slices, and reduce the
moistening almost entirely. When dishing up, pour a leason, composed
of one and one-quarter pints of cream and two egg-yolks, over the
slices. Stir gently on the side of the fire until the thickening has
been effected by the cooking of the egg-yolks, and serve in a lukewarm
timbale.
950—HOMARD A LA PALESTINE
Cut up the live lobster and toss it in butter with a _mirepoix_
prepared in advance, as for crayfish intended for potage bisque.
Moisten with two-thirds pint of white wine, one pint of fish _fumet_,
and three tablespoonfuls of burnt brandy. Cover and cook for fifteen
minutes.
Now detach the sections of the tail and the claws; withdraw the meat
from them, and keep them hot in a small covered saucepan with a little
butter. Pound the carapace and remains of the lobster in a mortar;
fry them in four tablespoonfuls of very hot oil, and add thereto an
ordinary _mirepoix_, cut very fine. Moisten with the cooking-liquor
of the lobster, and set to cook for one-quarter hour. Strain through
muslin; leave to stand for five minutes, that the oil may rise to
the surface, and then completely remove it. Reduce this liquid to
one-quarter pint; thicken it with the reserved creamy parts of the
lobster, rubbed through tammy, and two tablespoonfuls of fish velouté,
and finish this sauce with two and one-half oz. of curry butter.
Arrange a border of pilaff rice (No. 2255) on the dish intended for
the lobster; set the pieces of lobster, kept hot, in the centre, and
coat these with a few tablespoonfuls of curry sauce.
Serve the remainder of the sauce separately.
951—MOUSSELINES DE HOMARD
In the matter of crustaceans, the term _mousse_ stands, as a rule,
for a cold preparation, whereas the term _mousseline_ is only applied
to warm dishes. The special _mousselines_ or quenelles of lobster are
made with a _mousseline_ forcemeat, the recipe for which I gave under
No. 195. This forcemeat is prepared with the raw meat of the lobster.
As with the other crustaceans, their meat produces forcemeat which is
somewhat too flimsy to be spoon-moulded, and it is preferable to poach
it in special well-buttered quenelle- or _dariole-moulds_.
_Mousselines_ are poached under cover in a moderate oven.
All the garnishes and sauces given in respect of salmon _mousselines_
may be applied here. The reader will therefore refer to:—
Mousselines de Saumon Alexandra (No. 798).
Mousselines de Saumon à la Tosca (No. 799).
952—SOUFFLÉS DE HOMARD
For lobster _soufflés_ the same forcemeat is used as for the
_mousselines_; but, unlike the latter, it is poached in the
half-carapaces of the lobster, the meat of which has served in
its preparation. The procedure is as follows:—First cook the two
half-carapaces carefully, that they may not lose their shape in the
process.
After having drained and dried them, fill them with _mousseline_
forcemeat and surround them with strong, buttered paper, which should
be tied on with string, and should overreach the edges of the carapaces
by one inch.
The object of this measure is to prevent the forcemeat from spilling
during the poaching.
Lay the two garnished carapaces on a tray containing just enough
boiling water to moisten its whole surface. Put the tray in a moderate
oven or in a steamer, and allow from fifteen to twenty minutes for the
_soufflé_ to poach.
This done, carefully drain the two carapaces; remove the paper holding
in the forcemeat; dish them on a napkin, and surround them with bunches
of very green, curled-leaf parsley. Serve separately a sauce in keeping
with the preparation; _i.e._, a Normande, a White-wine, a Diplomate, or
a Béchamel finished with lobster butter, &c.
N.B.—The above constitutes the model-recipe of lobster _soufflé_,
and I need scarcely point out that the latter may be varied almost
indefinitely in accordance with the fancy of the cook and the taste of
the consumer.
Thus the forcemeat may be garnished with truffles in dice, slices
of lobster, milt, or poached oysters, &c., which garnishes may also
be laid on the _soufflé_ when it is finished. I therefore leave to
the operator, who should now see his way quite clearly, the task of
imagining the various possible combinations, a description of which
would but unnecessarily delay the progress of this work.
953—COLD LOBSTER WITH VARIOUS SAUCES
Cook the lobster in _court-bouillon_, and let it cool in the latter.
Drain it, sever the claws, and break them open in order to withdraw
their meat. Split the lobster into two lengthwise, remove the
intestines and the queen, and dish it on a napkin. Lay the claws on
either side of it, and surround it either with curled-leaf parsley or
with a few hearts of lettuce.
Send to the table separately one of the derivative sauces of the
Mayonnaise (Nos. 122 to 132).
954—ASPIC DE HOMARD
Under “Aspic de filets de soles” (No. 915), I pointed out the
preparatory principles of an aspic; in this case, therefore, I shall
only refer to the various details very cursorily.
Let a thin coating of white fish jelly set on the bottom of an
aspic-mould incrusted in ice. The reader is reminded of the great care
that must be observed in the preparation of an aspic jelly, that the
latter be limpid, succulent, and just sufficiently firm not to break
when withdrawn from the mould. Decorate the bottom of the mould with
bits of truffle, poached white of egg, lobster coral, capers, and
tarragon leaves.
The decorative design cannot be described; it must be left to the taste
and fancy of the operator; all I can urge is that it be as regular and
symmetrical as possible.
Fix the decoration by means of a few drops of jelly; then cover the
whole with a thickness of one inch of the same jelly, and leave the
latter to set. Upon this layer of jelly arrange rows of thin slices of
lobster meat and slices of truffles placed alternately and slightly
overlapping. Now add enough jelly to cover these slices, and continue
filling up the mould with varying layers consisting respectively of
jelly (one inch thick) and the slices above described.
When about to serve, dip the mould in hot water; dry it, and turn out
the aspic upon a dish covered with a napkin.
955—CÔTELETTES DE HOMARD ARKANGEL
Prepare a _salpicon_ of lobster meat in dice combined with its weight
of caviare, the whole quantity being in proportion to the number of
_côtelettes_ required.
Thicken the _salpicon_ with an equal quantity of lobster _mousse_
(No. 956), and at once garnish some moderately oiled cutlet-moulds with
the preparation. As soon as the latter has set, turn out the cutlets;
coat them with a fish chaud-froid sauce, finished with lobster butter;
and deck each with a fine, grooved slice of truffle. Glaze them with
cold melted jelly, and keep them in the cool until required to be
served.
Arrange them in a circle on a round dish; garnish the centre with
chopped white jelly, and serve a Russian salad separately.
956—MOUSSE DE HOMARD
Cook the lobster in a few tablespoonfuls of previously-prepared fine
_mirepoix_, one half-bottle of white wine, and a small glass of burnt
brandy. Leave to cool in the cooking-liquor. Now split the lobster in
two, with the view of withdrawing its meat. Finely pound the latter
while adding thereto, little by little, one-third pint of cold fish
velouté per lb. of meat. Rub through a sieve; put the resulting purée
in a vegetable-pan lying on ice, and stir for a few minutes. This done,
add a little good fish jelly, melted and cold, and one-third pint
of barely-whipped cream. Taste; rectify the seasoning, and warm it
slightly with cayenne.
957—MOUSSE DE HOMARD MOULÉE
When the _mousse_ is intended for moulding, it is well to decorate and
“clothe” the mould with fish jelly some time in advance. I have already
explained that to “clothe” a mould with jelly, all that is needed is to
pour therein a few tablespoonfuls of melted jelly, and then to rock the
utensil on ice. By this means a thin even coating sets on the bottom
and sides of the mould, which, when the moulding is turned out, swathes
the latter in a transparent film.
This “clothing” of jelly may be made more or less thick, according
to the requirements, by simply using more or less jelly, and by
proportionately lengthening or shortening the time for rocking the
mould.
When the mould is clothed, decorate the sides with large slices of very
black truffle dipped in melted jelly, that they may stick.
This done, fill the receptacle with the prepared _mousse_ (see the
preceding recipe), and leave to set in the cool.
For the turning out of the mould and the dishing of the moulding,
proceed as for the aspic.
958—PETITES MOUSSES DE HOMARD
For these small _mousses_, use little _cassolettes_ or silver timbales.
First let a thin layer of jelly (one or two tablespoonfuls, according
to their size) set on the bottom of each utensil, and then surround
the latter with bands of white paper, the ends of which should be
stuck together, and should reach one inch above the brims of the
_cassolettes_. The preparation of _mousse_ may now be placed in the
_cassolettes_ in a sufficient quantity to overflow the brims, so that,
when the paper is removed, their appearance is that of small _soufflés_.
When the _cassolettes_ have been garnished, put them aside on ice or in
a refrigerator until they are served.
959—HOMARD A LA GRAMMONT
Split the lobster open lengthwise down the middle. Withdraw the meat
from the tail; trim it, and cut it into regular collops. Coat the
latter again and again with aspic jelly, that they may be well covered
with it; decorate each with a slice of truffle, and glaze it with the
same aspic.
Also coat with jelly as many very white poached and dried oysters as
there are collops.
Now take the creamy parts and the meat of the claws, and pound them
finely with one tablespoonful of cold Béchamel sauce; rub through a
sieve, and, with the resulting purée combined with melted fish jelly
and cream (see lobster mousse No. 956), prepare a _mousse_ “au paprika”
of a decided pink colour.
Fill the two half-carapaces to their edges with this _mousse_, and
leave it to set on ice.
When about to serve, lay the collops, glazed with jelly, upon this
_mousse_, and place an oyster between each pair. Dish the two garnished
half-carapaces, back to back, upon a napkin, and put the heart of a
lettuce in the middle, and a bunch of curled-leaf parsley at either end.
Serve a mayonnaise or other cold sauce separately.
960—HOMARD A LA PARISIENNE
Tie a lobster to a little board; stretch out its tail to the fullest
extent; cook it in _court-bouillon_, and leave it to cool in the latter.
When it is quite cold, with the help of scissors, carefully cut a strip
of the shell from the back of the head to the tail. The aperture left
by the removed strip of shell ought to be sufficiently wide to allow
of the meat of the tail being removed without breaking it. Having
emptied the tail, refill it with salad leaves, and return the strip of
shell (upside down) to its place. Cut the meat of the tail into even
collops, and lay on each a roundel of truffle stamped out with the
fancy-cutter, and dipped in half-melted jelly. Then coat these slices,
which should be on a dish, again and again, with cold melted jelly
until they are well covered with it.
Now break the claws and remove their meat, as also that remaining in
the carapace, and cut both meats into dice. Take the creamy parts, and
rub them through a sieve.
Prepare a small vegetable salad; add thereto the meat dice, and cohere
the two with a mayonnaise sauce combined with melted jelly and the
creamy parts rubbed through a sieve. When the salad begins to set,
owing to the jelly contained in the mayonnaise, garnish twelve small
artichoke-bottoms with it, arranging the salad in them in pyramid form.
Set a bit of truffle on each pyramid, and sprinkle the salad with
melted fish jelly in order to make it glossy.
_Dishing._—Dish the lobster on a cushion of buttered bread on which a
_julienne_ of lettuce has been stuck, or on one of carved rice. The
cushion should have the shape of a wedge, in order that the lobster may
lie at an angle of about 45°, with its head raised, when laid upon it.
Arrange the slices (slightly overlapping one another) along the back
of the lobster, beginning at its head with the smallest of them, and
progressing down towards the tail, gradually increasing their size.
Surround the lobster alternately with artichoke-bottoms garnished with
salad, and quartered hard-boiled eggs, or halved hard-boiled eggs (set
upright with their yolks facing outwards).
Border the dish with very clear jelly in large cubes or triangles, etc.
961—HOMARD A LA RUSSE
Proceed exactly as above with regard to the cooking of the lobster, the
extraction of the meat, and the cutting of it into slices. Coat the
slices with mayonnaise sauce combined with melted jelly; or, better
still, with a white fish chaud-froid sauce combined with the lobster’s
creamy parts rubbed through a sieve.
Decorate each slice with a bit of coral and two little chervil leaves;
coat them again and again with cold melted aspic, and put them aside in
the cool. “_Clothe_” ten _dariole-moulds_, and decorate the bottom of
each with a slice of truffle. Also prepare ten hard-boiled eggs.
Prepare a Salade Russe (without meat); add to this the remains of the
lobster meat cut into dice, and thicken with mayonnaise and melted
aspic, mixed. With this thickened salad fill the _dariole-moulds_, and
leave to set in the cool.
_Dishing._—Set the lobster on a cushion, after the manner of the
preceding recipe. Trim the slices, and lay them, as before, on the
lobster’s back, taking care to graduate their sizes. Surround the
lobster with the small moulded salads, and alternate these with the
hard-boiled eggs. The latter should be cut in two at a point one-third
of their height above their base; their yolks should be removed, the
space filled with caviare moulded to the form of a pyramid, and, this
done, the eggs should be set upright.
Border the dish with roundels of very clear fish jelly, stamped out by
a fancy-cutter, and lay a bit of truffle upon each.
N.B.—(1) The moulds of salad must, of course, be dipped in hot water
before being turned out.
(2) The lobster may also be served “à la Néva,” “à la Moscovite,” “à
la Sibérienne,” &c., but these preparations are only minor forms of
“Homard à la Russe” under different names.
Changes may be effected in the preparation by altering the constituents
of the salad and its dishing. It may, for instance, be made in small
cucumber or beetroot _barquettes_, while the caviare, instead of being
laid in hard-boiled eggs, may be served in little pleated cases.
As these preparations, however, are based neither on fixed principles
nor on classical rules, I shall refrain from giving them.
962—MAYONNAISE DE HOMARD
Proceed as for Mayonnaise de Saumon—that is to say, garnish the
bottom of a salad-bowl with _ciseled_ lettuce leaves, and season them
moderately.
Upon this salad lay the remains of the lobster, and upon the latter
place the thin slices of the tail. Cover with mayonnaise sauce, and
decorate with strips of anchovy fillets, capers, olives, hard-boiled
eggs, roundels of pink radishes, the hearts of lettuce, &c.
N.B.—I have already pointed out the futility of prescribing a
decorative design. As a rule, the matter is so intimately connected
with the taste and fancy of the individual, and the products used for
the purpose lend themselves to such indefinite variation, that I prefer
merely to enumerate these products, and to leave the question of their
arrangement to the artistic ingenuity of the operator.
963—SALADE DE HOMARD
See “Salade de Saumon” (No. 810). As the preparation and seasoning of
the latter are identical with those of the dish under consideration,
all that is needed is to replace the salmon of recipe No. 810 by the
collops of lobster.
=Spiny Lobsters. (Langouste.)=
All culinary preparations dealing with lobsters may be adapted to spiny
lobsters. There is, therefore, no need to repeat them here. Of the cold
recipes, two are much better suited to the spiny than to the ordinary
kind, though, as they are used for both specimens, I gave them earlier
in the book. The two recipes referred to are:—
964—LANGOUSTE A LA PARISIENNE; see LOBSTER, recipe 960.
965—LANGOUSTE A LA RUSSE; see LOBSTER, recipe 961.
=Crayfish. (Écrevisses.)=
When crayfish are prepared after one of the recipes most commonly used
on the Continent, _i.e._, whole, they are not much relished in England.
This is doubtless accounted for by the fact that ladies, dining in
evening dress, find them somewhat difficult to manage.
They are therefore only served in the form of an aspic, a _mousse_,
_mousselines_, timbales, &c., or as the garnish of some other fish; for
in all these cases they are shelled.
Be all this as it may, I give below the various recipes relating to
them, and from among these it ought to be possible to choose one which
will meet the requirements of any particular case.
966—ÉCREVISSES A LA BORDELAISE
N.B.—Whatever be their mode of preparation, crayfish should always be
thoroughly cleansed and cleared of their intestines, the extreme end of
which is to be found under the middle of the tail. In order to remove
the intestines, take the telson or tail-segment between the point of
a small knife and the thumb, and pull gently. If this were not done,
the intestines, especially in the breeding season, might render the
crayfish disagreeably bitter.
As soon as their intestines have been removed, the crayfish should be
set to cook, otherwise, _i.e._, if they be left to wait, their juices
escape through the anal wound, and they empty.
For twelve crayfish, after having cleaned and eviscerated them,
put them into a vegetable-pan with one tablespoonful of very fine
_mirepoix_, completely cooked beforehand, and two-thirds oz. of butter.
Toss them over an open fire until the shells have acquired a fine,
red colour. Moisten with three tablespoonfuls of burnt brandy and
one-quarter pint of white wine; reduce by a third, and complete with
one tablespoonful of Espagnole, two tablespoonfuls of fish _fumet_, the
same quantity of tomato purée, and one spoonful of special _mirepoix_
(No. 229).
Put the lid on, and set to cook for ten minutes.
Dish the crayfish in a timbale; reduce the sauce by a quarter, and
finish it with a few drops of meat glaze, one oz. of butter, a very
little cayenne, chopped chervil, and tarragon. Pour this over the
crayfish, and serve instantly.
967—ÉCREVISSES A LA MARINIÈRE
In the case of twelve crayfish, toss them in two-thirds oz. of butter
over an open fire, until the shells are of a fine red. Season with salt
and pepper; add two finely chopped shallots, a bit of thyme and a bit
of bay; moisten with one-third pint of white wine; cover; cook for ten
minutes, and dish in a timbale.
Reduce the cooking-liquor to half; thicken with two tablespoonfuls of
fish velouté; finish the sauce with one oz. of butter, and pour it over
the crayfish.
Sprinkle with a pinch of chopped parsley, and serve at once.
968—ÉCREVISSES A LA NAGE
For twelve crayfish, ten minutes beforehand prepare a _court-bouillon_
of one-half pint of white wine, one-quarter pint of fish _fumet_, a
few roundels of carrot and onion, one stalk of parsley cut into dice,
a small pinch of powdered thyme and bay, and a very little salt and
cayenne pepper.
Put the crayfish into the boiling _court-bouillon_; cover, and leave
to cook for ten minutes, taking care to toss the crayfish from time to
time.
When about to serve, pour the crayfish with the _court-bouillon_ and
the aromatics into a timbale.
969—ÉCREVISSES A LA LIÉGEOISE
Cook the crayfish in _court-bouillon_ as explained in the preceding
recipe. Dish them in a timbale, and keep them hot. Strain the
_court-bouillon_; reduce it by a quarter; add one oz. of butter, and
pour it over the crayfish.
Sprinkle with a pinch of _concassed_ parsley.
970—MOUSSELINES D’ÉCREVISSES
What I said with reference to “Mousseline de Homard” (No. 951) applies
perfectly here, and my remarks relative to the variation of the
garnishing ingredients, which are the same as those in No. 951, also
hold good.
971—TIMBALE DE QUEUES D’ÉCREVISSES A LA NANTUA
For ten people prepare (1) a shallow timbale crust, and a cover
decorated with a design of leaves or some other ornamental treatment;
(2) toss sixty crayfish in butter with two tablespoonfuls of very
fine _mirepoix_ cooked in butter beforehand. When the crayfish are
of a distinct red, moisten with one glass of white wine and three
tablespoonfuls of burned brandy; season with salt and cayenne pepper;
cover them, and keep them on the side of the fire for ten minutes,
taking care to toss them again from time to time; (3) shell the tails
and put them into a small saucepan with twenty small quenelles of
whiting forcemeat, finished with crayfish butter; fifteen small,
grooved mushrooms, cooked and very white, and three oz. of truffles in
slices. Add a few drops of the mushroom cooking-liquor to this garnish,
and keep it hot; (4) pound the remains and carcasses of the crayfish
very finely; add two-thirds pint of cream sauce to the resulting
purée; rub it through tammy, and add it to the garnish; (5) when about
to serve, pour this garnish into the timbale crust, which should be
very hot, and deck the top with a crown of fine slices of very black
truffle. Close the timbale with its cover, and dish it on a napkin.
972—SOUFFLÉ D’ÉCREVISSES A LA FLORENTINE
Make a preparation of Soufflé au Parmesan (No. 2295a) combined with two
tablespoonfuls of crayfish cream per pint. The cream is prepared after
the manner of lobster cream (No. 295).
Put this preparation in a buttered timbale in alternate layers
separated by litters of sliced truffle and crayfish tails. Cook the
_soufflé_ after the manner of an ordinary one.
973—SOUFFLÉ D’ÉCREVISSES LÉOPOLD DE ROTHSCHILD
Prepare a _soufflé_ as above, and add thereto a bare tablespoonful of
freshly-cooked asparagus and slices of truffle, and crayfish tails
placed between the layers of the _soufflé_ preparation. Cook as above.
974—SOUFFLÉ D’ÉCREVISSES A LA PIÉMONTAISE
This is identical with No. 972, except that the ordinary truffles are
replaced by shavings of Piedmont truffles.
975—ASPIC DE QUEUES D’ÉCREVISSES A LA MODERNE
Cook twelve fine crayfish in accordance with the directions under
No. 966, but substitute champagne for the white wine.
Shell the tails; trim them evenly; cut them in two lengthwise, and keep
them in the cool until they are wanted. Remove the creamy parts from
the carapaces of the crayfish; add the trimmings of the tails, the meat
from the claws, and the _mirepoix_ in which the crayfish have cooked.
Pound the whole very finely in a mortar, and rub it through a sieve.
Put the resulting purée in a receptacle; add thereto one-quarter pint
of very cold, melted aspic, and three tablespoonfuls of barely beaten
cream. Leave this preparation to settle.
Trim the crayfish carapaces; fill them with a little prepared _mousse_,
and decorate each carapace with a small roundel of truffle.
Put the remainder of the _mousse_ in the middle of a little crystal
bowl, and mould it to the shape of a cone, narrow towards the base, and
as high as possible.
Arrange the garnished crayfish carapaces on their backs in the bowl
around the cone of _mousse_, and set some crayfish tails in superposed
rings up the cone. The crayfish tails should be dipped in half-melted
jelly, that they may stick fast to the cone. Lay a small, very round
truffle on the top of the cone to complete the decoration. This done,
coat the whole again and again by means of a spoon with half-melted,
succulent, clear fish jelly, and incrust the timbale in a block of ice,
or set it amidst the latter broken up.
976—MOUSSE D’ÉCREVISSES
For ten people cook thirty crayfish as for potage Bisque. This done,
remove the tails, and reserve a dozen fine carapaces. Finely pound
the remainder, together with the _mirepoix_ in which the crayfish
have cooked, and add thereto one-half oz. of butter, one oz. of red
butter (No. 142), one-quarter pint of cold fish velouté, and six
tablespoonfuls of melted fish jelly. Rub through tammy, and put the
resulting purée in a saucepan; stir it over ice for two or three
minutes; add three-quarters pint of half-beaten cream, and the crayfish
tails cut into dice or finely sliced.
Before beginning to prepare the _mousse_, line the bottom and side of a
_Charlotte-mould_ with paper, that the _mousse_ may be moulded as soon
as ready.
Pour the preparation into the mould, taking care to reserve enough for
the twelve carapaces already put aside, and put the _mousse_ on ice or
in a refrigerator until dishing it. Fill the twelve trimmed carapaces
with the reserved _mousse_, and decorate each with a round slice of
truffle. When about to serve, turn out the _mousse_ on a small, round
cushion of semolina or rice, one-half inch thick, lying on a dish.
Remove all the paper, and decorate the top of the _mousse_ with a crown
of fine slices of truffle dipped in melted jelly, that they may be
glossy.
Surround the semolina or rice cushion with a border of chopped jelly,
and arrange the garnished carapaces upon this jelly, setting them
almost upright.
N.B.—(1) Instead of being served on a cushion, the crayfish _mousse_
may be sent to the table in a deep silver dish with a border of chopped
jelly, and surrounded by the garnished carapaces. The utensil is then
laid on a flat dish in a bed of broken ice, or it is incrusted direct
in a block of carved ice.
(2) For the moulding of crayfish _mousse_, the mould may be “_clothed_”
with fish jelly and decorated with slices of truffle, as directed under
“Mousse de Homard moulée” (No. 957).
A _mousse_ prepared in this way may be either dished on a semolina or
rice cushion, or in a deep silver entrée dish, as described above.
976a—SUPRÊMES D’ÉCREVISSES AU CHAMPAGNE
Select forty medium-sized crayfish that seem full of life; cook them
quickly in a highly-seasoned _mirepoix_, moistened with one half-bottle
of dry champagne. This done, shell them; trim their tails, and keep
them in the cool in a small bowl. Pound their shells as finely as
possible with one-quarter lb. of fresh butter, and put the resulting
purée in a saucepan, together with one-half pint of boiling velouté
containing four or five leaves of gelatine, and the cooking-liquor of
the crayfish passed through a fine strainer.
Set to boil for a few minutes, that the remains may exude all their
flavour; rub through tammy over a basin lying on ice, and whisk the
preparation in order to accelerate its cooling. As soon as it begins to
thicken, add one pint of half-whipped cream to it. Then pour the whole
into a silver or porcelain timbale, taking care that the utensil be not
more than three-quarters full.
When the _mousse_ has set, decorate the surface with the reserved
crayfish tails, to which are added, as a finish, bits of truffle
and chervil leaves. Cover the decoration with a thin coating of
easily-melting and amber-coloured fish jelly, and put the timbale on
ice. When about to serve, incrust it in a block of carved ice, or place
it on a silver dish with broken ice all round.
977—MOUSSE D’ÉCREVISSES CARDINAL
For ten people cook the crayfish as explained in No. 976, but take
forty instead of thirty. Shell the tails; trim them and cut them into
dice. Prepare the _mousse_ in the same way, but use twice as much red
butter. Garnish twelve carapaces after the same manner, and decorate
each with a slice of truffle.
_Clothe_ a dome- or Charlotte-mould somewhat thickly with jelly;
garnish its bottom and sides with crayfish tails, previously dipped
in half-melted jelly, and arranged in superposed rows; and place the
crayfish so that the tails of the first row lie to the left, those of
the second row to the right, and so on. As often as possible, do this
work before preparing the _mousse_, in order that the latter may be put
into the mould as soon as ready.
When about to fill the mould, add twenty fine slices of truffle to the
_mousse_. Dish after one of the two methods directed in the appended
note to No. 970, and take care to dip the mould quickly into hot water
before attempting to turn out its contents.
978—PETITS SOUFFLÉS FROIDS D’ÉCREVISSES
Prepare the crayfish _mousse_ as directed under No. 976, and
replace the fish velouté by cold Béchamel. The addition of sauce is
even unnecessary in this case, and the preparation may be all the
more delicate for consisting only of the crayfish cullis and two
tablespoonfuls of fish jelly.
For the moulding of these small _soufflés_ I can only repeat what I
said under “Petites Mousses de Homard” (No. 958). Let a thin coating of
jelly set on the bottom of the small _cassolettes_ or timbales used;
garnish their insides with a band of white paper, reaching one inch
above their brims; stick the end of this band with a little batter.
Now garnish the timbales with _mousse_, letting it project above their
edges to the extent of two-thirds of an inch, and leave it to set in
the cool. When about to serve, remove the band of paper, holding in
the projecting _mousse_, and the appearance of the garnished timbales
is exactly that of small, hot _soufflés_. Allow one _soufflé_ for each
person.
979—SHRIMPS AND PRAWNS (Crevettes Grises et Crevettes Roses)
Prawns are chiefly used for hors-d’œuvres, but they may, nevertheless,
be prepared in Aspics; Mousses; small cold Soufflés, &c.
As regards shrimps, their use is entirely limited to garnishes,
hors-d’œuvres, and to the preparation of soups, shrimp butters, and
creams.
OYSTERS. (HUÎTRES.)
Though oysters are nicer raw, there are so many culinary preparations
of which they form the leading constituent, and such a number of
garnishing uses to which they may be put, that I feel compelled to
mention some of these.
980—HUÎTRES A LA FAVORITE
Poach the oysters (cleared of their beards) in their own liquor, which
should have been carefully collected when opening them. Clean their
hollow shells, and place them on a tray covered with a layer of salt
one-half inch thick. Garnish them with Béchamel; upon the latter, in
each shell, lay an oyster decked with a slice of truffle; cover with
the same sauce; besprinkle with grated Parmesan and melted butter, and
set to glaze quickly. Serve immediately.
981—HUÎTRES AU GRATIN
Open the oysters; cut them free, and lay them in the hollow halves of
their shells, which should be incrusted in a layer of salt covering
a tray. On each oyster put a drop of lemon juice, a pinch of fried
bread-crumbs, a little melted butter, and a piece of fresh butter the
size of a pea.
Set the _gratin_ to form in a fierce oven or at the salamander, and
serve immediately.
982—HUÎTRES A LA MORNAY
Poach the oysters, and allow two per shell.
Set the hollow shells, thoroughly cleansed, on a tray covered with
salt. Cover the bottom of the shells with Mornay sauce; put two poached
oysters into each; cover with the same sauce; sprinkle with grated
cheese and melted butter, and set to glaze quickly. Serve instantly.
983—HUÎTRES SOUFFLÉES
Make a preparation of Soufflé au Parmesan (No. 2295a). Slightly poach
the oysters, clean their hollow shells, and set these on a tray covered
with kitchen salt. Spread a layer of the preparation on each shell; put
an oyster thereon, and cover the latter with the soufflé au Parmesan.
Heat the base of the tray on the stove, and, when the _soufflé_ begins
to rise, put the tray in the oven, that the _soufflé_ may cook and
colour at the same time. Serve at once.
984—HUÎTRES A LA FLORENTINE
Poach the oysters. Set their hollow shells on a tray as above; garnish
the bottom of each of these with shredded spinach stewed in butter; lay
an oyster on the spinach in each shell; cover with Mornay sauce, and
set to glaze quickly. Serve immediately.
985—HUÎTRES GRILLÉES
Open the oysters, and leave them in their hollow shells; lay them (very
straight) on a tray covered with salt, incrusting them in the latter;
besprinkle with a drop of lemon juice and a little mignonette pepper
and put them in a fierce oven, that their top surfaces may be speedily
poached.
Dish them on a napkin; pour a coffeespoonful of “Sauce Diable
Escoffier” over each, and serve directly.
986—QUENELLES D’HUÎTRES A LA REINE
With four oz. of chicken fillets and six raw oysters, prepare a
_mousseline_ forcemeat in accordance with the directions given under
No. 195. Mould this forcemeat, by means of a tablespoon, into large
quenelles, in the centre of which lay two cold poached oysters.
Poach these quenelles after the manner of ordinary _mousselines_. This
done, drain them on a piece of linen; arrange them in a circle on a
round dish, and cover them with highly-seasoned Suprême sauce. Decorate
each quenelle with a fine slice of truffle, and garnish the middle of
the dish with some asparagus-tops, cohered with butter.
987—BASS (Bar)
This excellent fish is very little known, and, consequently, rarely
sought after in England.
The large specimens are served, boiled, with the same kind of sauce as
for turbot. The smaller ones are chiefly served à la Meunière or fried.
988—BRILL (Barbue)
Served whole, brill may be looked upon as the understudy, as it were,
of the chicken-turbot, and all the preparations given for the latter
may be adapted to the former.
If it be preferred filleted, it may be treated after the recipes
given for fillets of sole. Hence for brill cooked whole refer to
chicken-turbot and the recipes Nos. 925 to 938, and for filleted brill
see recipes Nos. 865 to 922.
989—BLOATERS
Bloaters, or herrings partially dried in smoke, form one of the nicest
breakfast dishes. As a rule, they are simply grilled over a moderate
fire. It should be borne in mind that, as these fish are only partially
salted and smoked, they will not keep very long.
COD. (CABILLAUD.)
If cod were less common, it would be held in as high esteem as salmon;
for, when it is really fresh and of good quality, the delicacy and
delicious flavour of its flesh admit of its ranking among the finest of
fish.
990—CABILLAUD BOUILLI
Fresh cod is mostly served boiled, either whole, in sections, or
in _darnes_, and the directions given under “The Boiling of Fish”
(No. 776) apply particularly to this fish.
Boiled fresh cod is always accompanied by its liver, poached in salted
water, and very floury potatoes, boiled at the last minute, must always
be sent to the table with it.
Served thus with an oyster sauce, a Hollandaise sauce, or melted
butter, fresh cod constitutes a Relevé which would satisfy the most
exacting of gourmets.
991—CABILLAUD GRILLÉ
Cut the fish into slices one inch or two inches thick. Season these
slices; dredge them; sprinkle them copiously with melted butter, and
set them to grill, remembering to baste them frequently the while with
melted butter.
Serve them on a hot dish; garnish them with slices of lemon, and
surround with bunches of parsley.
Send a Maître-d’Hôtel or Anchovy butter, or a grilled-fish sauce to the
table with the dish.
992—CABILLAUD FRIT
Cut some slices of fresh cod, from one inch to one and one-half
inches thick. Season them, treat them _à l’anglaise_, and fry them
sufficiently to allow of their being well cooked all through. Dish
them on a napkin with fried parsley and lemon, and send a butter sauce
(No. 66), a tartare sauce, or a tomato sauce to the table at the same
time as the fish.
993—CABILLAUD CRÈME GRATIN
For ten people take two lbs. of boiled fresh cod divided into small
pieces; clear these of all bones and skin, and keep them hot in a
little of their cooking-liquor.
Now, with the necessary quantity of Duchesse potatoes (No. 221), and by
means of a piping-bag fitted with a grooved pipe, lay a border, one and
one-half inches high, round a dish, shaping it in such wise that it is
thickest at its base. The dish may be either round or oval. Carefully
_gild_ this border with egg-yolks.
This done, pour a few tablespoonfuls of Mornay sauce on the dish; lay
thereon the drained pieces of cod, and cover the latter with enough
Mornay sauce to reach within one-third of an inch of the brim of the
border. If more sauce were used, it would flow over the border during
the process of glazing.
Sprinkle with grated Parmesan and melted butter; set to glaze, and see
that the border gets evenly coloured.
Serve the moment the dish is withdrawn from the oven.
N.B.—This mode of preparation is not restricted to fresh cod. It may be
applied to all other boiled fish—turbot, chicken-turbot, brill, bass,
salmon, &c.
994—CABILLAUD A LA FLAMANDE
Cut the fresh cod into slices one inch thick; season them with
salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and put them in a sautépan or a deep,
liberally-buttered tray. Moisten with white wine to the height of the
slices; add chopped shallots and “fines herbes,” and garnish the fish
with roundels of pipped lemon, peeled to the pulp.
Set to boil, and then poach in the oven for twelve minutes. Place the
slices on a dish; thicken their cooking-liquor with crushed _biscotte_;
cook it for five minutes; pour it over the slices, and serve.
995—CABILLAUD A LA PORTUGAISE
For ten people, cut five slices of fresh cod, each weighing
one-half lb., and season them with salt and pepper. Put these slices
into a sautépan containing the following garnish, into which they
should be pressed:—Three oz. of butter and one-sixth pint of oil; one
large onion, chopped and lightly coloured in butter; a bit of crushed
garlic the size of a pea; one faggot; two pinches of _concassed_
parsley; eight medium-sized, peeled, pressed, and minced tomatoes, and
one-third pint of white wine.
Cover the sautépan, and set to boil on an open fire for five minutes.
Now take the lid off the saucepan, and leave it to cook for twelve
minutes on the side of the fire, in order that the liquid may be
reduced and the fish cooked at the same moment of time.
Set the slices on a long dish; withdraw the faggot, and pour the
garnish and the cooking-liquor over the fish.
996—LAITANCES DE CARPE (Carp’s Milt)
The milt of a carp makes a very delicate dish. It is served either as
a second fish at a dinner; as a garnish to large fish Relevés, after
having been poached in salted water; or cut while raw into slices which
are generally treated _à la Meunière_.
997—LAITANCES A LA MEUNIÈRE
Prepare them whole or in collops, in pursuance of the directions given
under “The Cooking of Fish à la Meunière” (No. 778).
998—BARQUETTES DE LAITANCES A LA FLORENTINE
Poach the milts in salted water; cut them into small, long slices, and
set them in _barquette_ crusts prepared in advance.
Cover the sliced milts with a soufflé au Parmesan (No. 2295a), and
shape the latter slightly after the manner of a dome.
Arrange the _barquettes_ on a dish, and put them in a moderate oven,
that they may cook and the _soufflé_ be glazed at the same time.
When taking them out of the oven, dish them on a napkin and serve
immediately.
999—CAISSES DE LAITANCES A LA NANTUA
Poach the milts in salted water. Drain them, and cut them into small
slices thicker than their length.
Place these slices in small pleated porcelain cases with two crayfish
tails in each. Fill up the cases with Nantua sauce, and lay a fine
slice of truffle over the centre of each case.
1000—JOHN DORY (St. Pierre)
This fish, which is in the highest degree unsightly, is possessed
of flesh whose firmness, whiteness, and delicacy are of the rarest
excellence; and, when quite fresh, its fillets are certainly equal in
quality to those of the chicken-turbot and the sole.
Albeit the dory is not as popular as it deserves to be, and this is
owing either to its unsightliness, which may prejudice the opinion of
gourmets against it, to people’s indifference with regard to it, or to
a mere trick of fashion.
While I admit its unpopularity, however, I should strongly recommend
all lovers of fish to give it a trial. Let them prepare the
dory’s fillets after the recipes given under Fillets of Sole and
Chicken-turbot, and, provided the directions be properly carried out, I
venture to believe that the prevailing aversion to dory will very soon
be found to have no warrant in fact.
1001—FRESH HADDOCK (Eglefin)
This fish is chiefly eaten smoked, under the name of haddock.
When it is fresh, it may be prepared after the recipes given for cod,
to which it is quite equal in the matter of delicacy.
1002—SMELT (Éperlans)
Owing to their small size, smelts only lend themselves to a very
limited number of preparations. They are usually served either on
little skewers or dished in a heap on a napkin, with fried parsley and
grooved half-lemons; those on skewers are dished flat with the same
garnish.
Large smelts may be treated after the recipes immediately following.
1003—ÉPERLANS A L’ANGLAISE
Open the smelts down the back and carefully bone, without disfiguring
them. Treat them _à l’anglaise_ with fine bread-crumbs, and pat them
lightly with the flat of a knife, that the bread-crumbs may adhere well.
Cook them in clarified butter; set them on a long hot dish, and
besprinkle them with half-melted butter à la Maître-d’Hôtel (No. 150).
1004—ÉPERLANS AU GRATIN
Proceed as for “Merlans au Gratin” (No. 1018), but allowing for the
difference between the sizes of the two fish, put the smelts in a
fiercer oven than the whiting, in order that they may be cooked
simultaneously with the formation of the _gratin_.
1005—ÉPERLANS GRILLÉS
Open them down the back, and remove the bulk of their spine, leaving
a small piece only in the region of the tail, and another small piece
at the head. Season, dredge, and sprinkle them with melted butter, and
grill them quickly.
Set them on a long, hot dish; surround them with slices of lemon and
bunches of fried parsley, and serve separately either some half-melted
butter à la Maître-d’Hôtel, or a sauce suited to grilled fish.
1006—MOUSSELINES D’ÉPERLANS
Proceed exactly as for Mousselines de Saumon (No. 797). To prepare the
forcemeat, follow the directions under No. 195; but note the following
changes:—Of the whole quantity of the meat of fish, that of the smelt
should only measure one-third; the other two-thirds should be supplied
by the sole, dory, or whiting.
The object of this disproportion has already been explained under
“Velouté d’Éperlans” (No. 680). The flesh of the smelt is of a much too
decided flavour to be used alone, and when this flavour dominates, it
becomes positively disagreeable; hence the need of a fish whose flesh
is almost neutral in so far as taste is concerned. But this addition of
a fish foreign to the base of the preparation fulfils a double purpose;
for, while it effectually weakens the pungency of the smelt’s flesh, it
also enables the whole preparation to absorb a much larger quantity of
cream, and this last circumstance can only allow of the _mousselines_
being lighter and mellower.
1007—MOUSSE CHAUDE D’ÉPERLANS A LA ROYALE
Take a Charlotte-mould, of a size in proportion to the number of people
to be served, and butter its bottom and sides. Cover the bottom of the
mould with a round piece of buttered kitchen paper, and do the same on
the sides.
Prepare the required quantity of smelts’ fillets; slightly flatten them
in order to break their fibres, and trim them all to the same length
and width.
Then garnish the bottom of the mould with the fillets of smelt, placing
them so that their skin-sides are against the mould. Between each of
the fillets set a small strip of truffle, one quarter of the width of
the former.
Garnish the sides in the same way, putting a strip of truffle between
each; but take care to place the fillets aslant instead of upright.
Having thus lined the mould with fillets of smelt and truffle, cover
the whole with a layer of _mousseline_ forcemeat, one-half inch thick.
Now fill the mould in the following way:—On the layer of forcemeat
covering the fillets at the bottom of the mould set as many slices of
truffle as will cover it; spread another layer of forcemeat on the
truffle, and over that lay, alternately, a sufficient quantity of
fillets of smelt and anchovy. Follow with a fresh layer of forcemeat,
slices of truffle, &c., until the mould is full, and finish with a
layer of forcemeat.
Poach the _mousse_ (covered) in a moderate oven, and allow fifty
minutes for one prepared in a quart-mould. It is very easy, however, to
tell when the _mousse_ is done, by simply thrusting a small knife into
it; if the blade of the knife withdraws quite clean, the _mousse_ is
cooked.
As soon as it is ready, turn the mould upside-down on a dish, and raise
it a little in order to allow the liquid, which always accumulates in
more or less large quantities, to drain away. Soak up this liquid;
gently draw off the mould; take off the paper, and remove the froth
which may have formed on the fillets by means of a wet brush.
Lay a fine, grooved mushroom on the top of the _mousse_; surround it
with _mousseline_ sauce (No. 92), finished with crayfish butter, and
send a sauceboat of the same _mousseline_ sauce to the table with the
dish.
N.B.—This _mousse_ may also be prepared with fillets of sole, of
salmon, or of trout, &c.
1008—HADDOCK
Sometimes the fish is grilled, but, after having boned it and removed
its fins and the greater part of its belly, it is more often cooked in
water or milk, either of which moistening is usually short.
It is plunged in slightly salted boiling water, and then it is moved to
the side of the fire to poach, with lid on. Allow about fifteen minutes
for a fish weighing one and one-half lbs.
Dish it with a few tablespoonfuls of its cooking-liquor, and, subject
to the consumer’s taste, serve some fresh or melted butter separately.
When haddock is served at lunch, send to the table with it an egg-sauce
and a timbale of potatoes, freshly cooked _à l’anglaise_.
=Mackerel (Maquereau)=
1009—MAQUEREAU BOUILLI, SAUCE AUX GROSEILLES
Cut the mackerels into three, crosswise, and poach them in
_court-bouillon_ with vinegar (No. 163), seasoned with a pinch of
fennel per pint. Drain them on a napkin; skin them, and dish them with
curled-leaf parsley all round.
With the mackerels serve a gooseberry sauce prepared as follows:—
_Green Gooseberry Sauce proper to Mackerel._—Cook one lb. of green
gooseberries in a copper sugar boiler with three oz. of sugar and
enough water to cover them, and then rub them through tammy.
1010—MAQUEREAU GRILLÉ
Cut off the extremity of the mackerels’ mouths; open them down the
back, without dividing them into two.
Season them; sprinkle them with melted butter, and grill them gently,
taking care to baste them by means of a brush with melted butter while
they are cooking.
Set them on a round, hot dish, and sprinkle them with half-melted
butter à la Maître-d’Hôtel, after having drawn their halves together,
that they may seem natural and untouched.
Or surround them with grooved slices of lemon, and send a “Sauce Diable
Escoffier” to the table separately. This sauce constitutes an excellent
adjunct to grilled mackerel.
1011—FILETS DE MAQUEREAU AUX FINES HERBES
Raise some mackerels’ fillets in such wise as to leave the bones quite
clean. Arrange the fillets on a buttered dish, and poach them in white
wine and the cooking-liquor of mushrooms in equal quantities. Take care
to cover them while they are being poached.
This done, drain them; skin them; set them on a long dish, and cover
them with a herb sauce (No. 83), combined with their cooking-liquor
strained through linen and reduced.
1012—FILETS DE MAQUEREAU AU PERSIL
Raise the fillets as before, and poach them in a white-wine
_court-bouillon_ with one-half oz. of parsley leaves per pint. Drain
them; skin them; set them on a long dish, and cover them with a
parsley sauce. This latter is a butter sauce (No. 66) to which some
freshly-chopped parsley is added at the last moment.
1013—FILETS DE MAQUEREAU A LA VÉNITIENNE
Poach the fillets in a _court-bouillon_ with white wine. Drain them;
skin them; set them on a long dish, and cover them with a Venetian
sauce (No. 107).
=Whiting (Merlan)=
1014—MERLAN A L’ANGLAISE
Open the whitings down the back; loosen the spine, and completely
remove it. Season them inside, and treat them _à l’anglaise_ with very
fresh and fine bread-crumbs.
Cook the whitings very quickly in clarified butter; set them on a long
dish, and sprinkle them with half-melted butter à la Maître-d’Hôtel.
N.B.—Whitings à l’anglaise may also be grilled, but it is preferable to
cook them in clarified butter.
1015—MERLAN A LA BERCY
Slightly open the whitings down the back, with the view of promoting
their cooking process. Lay them on a buttered dish sprinkled with
finely-chopped shallots, and moisten them with white wine and fish
_fumet_. Add one-half oz. of butter per whiting, and cook in the
oven, basting often the while. The moment when the whitings are quite
done should be coincident with the almost complete reduction of their
cooking-liquor.
Set to glaze at the last moment.
When taking the whitings out of the oven, sprinkle them with a few
drops of lemon juice and a little chopped parsley.
1016—MERLAN A LA COLBERT
Open the whitings down the back, and bone them. Season them; dip them
in milk; roll them in flour; and treat them _à l’anglaise_. Fry them;
drain them; set them on a long dish; garnish the openings in their
backs with butter à la Maître-d’Hôtel and border the dish with grooved
slices of lemon.
1017—MOUSSELINES DE MERLAN
For the preparation of the _mousseline_ forcemeat, refer to No. 195.
The moulding and poaching of these _mousselines_ are the same as for
salmon _mousselines_, and the preparations suited to the latter may
likewise be applied to mousselines de merlans. (See Mousselines de
Saumon, Nos. 797 to 799.)
1018—FILETS DE MERLAN AU GRATIN
Raise the fillets from some whitings, and leave the bones quite clean.
Lay them on a buttered dish besprinkled with chopped shallots, the
bottom of which should have been covered with a few tablespoonfuls of
_gratin_ sauce. Surround the fillets with slices of raw mushrooms; set
two small, cooked mushrooms upon each fillet; pour a few tablespoonfuls
of white wine into the dish, and cover the whole with gratin sauce.
Sprinkle with fine raspings and melted butter, and put the dish in
a sufficiently fierce oven to (1) reduce the sauce; (2) allow the
_gratin_ to form; and (3) cook the fillets at the same moment of time.
In respect of this operation, refer to Complete Gratin, No. 269.
When taking the dish from the oven, sprinkle a little chopped parsley
and a few drops of lemon juice over it.
N.B.—If the whiting be treated whole, the procedure remains the same.
1019—PAUPIETTES DE MERLAN AU GRATIN
Raise some fillets of whiting; coat them with a fish forcemeat combined
with fine herbs, and roll them into scrolls. Set these rolled fillets
on a round, buttered _gratin_ dish sprinkled with chopped shallots, the
bottom of which should have been covered with _gratin_ sauce.
Surround them with a border of sliced, raw mushrooms; place a small,
cooked mushroom on each fillet, and proceed for the rest of the
operation exactly as explained under “Filets de Merlan au Gratin.”
1020—MERLAN EN LORGNETTE AU GRATIN
Separate the fillets from the bones, proceeding from the tail to the
head, and completely remove the spine near the head. Cover the fillets
with fish forcemeat “aux fines herbes,” and roll them into scrolls with
their tail-ends inside.
Set them on a round dish sprinkled with chopped shallots and covered
with _gratin_ sauce, placing them side by side, all round the dish,
with the whitings’ heads in the centre; and proceed for the rest of the
operation as explained under No. 1018.
N.B.—Whitings prepared in this way may be treated with white wine,
Dieppoise, Bercy, fried, &c.
1021—FILETS DE MERLAN ORLY
Raise the fillets and proceed as for “Filets de Soles Olga,” No. 893.
1022—MERLAN SUR LE PLAT
Proceed as for “Sole sur le Plat,” No. 837.
1023—MERLAN A LA RICHELIEU
Prepare six “Merlans à l’anglaise,” No. 1014. Lay thereon a few slices
of truffle. Or dish them simply on their sides; garnish their top
surfaces with the butter prescribed above, and put a row of truffle
slices on the butter.
1024—MORUE AND SALTED COD (Morue et Cabillaud Salé)
Salted cod bought in England has generally been fished somewhere along
the English coast, and is, as a rule, of recent salting. It has not the
peculiar flavour of the Icelandic _morue_, or that of the Newfoundland
specimens, and it does not lend itself to such a large variety of
preparations as these two.
At the end of each of the following recipes, I indicate the kind of cod
to which the procedure may be applied.
_Morue_, especially the Newfoundland kind, should be set to soak at
least twelve hours before being used, and the water during that time
should be frequently changed.
When about to cook it, suppress its fins, and cut it up in a way
befitting the selected mode of preparation.
Allow four oz. gross of the fish for each person.
1024a—SALTED COD AND MORUE A L’ANGLAISE
Put the fish into cold water; set to boil, and as soon as this point is
reached, leave the fish to poach on the side of the fire for fifteen
minutes.
Drain, skin, dish on a napkin, and serve, separately, a timbale of
parsnips and an egg-sauce à l’Écossaise.
Both kinds of cod may be used for this dish.
1025—MORUE A LA BÉNÉDICTINE
Poach one and one-half lbs. of _morue_ as above; drain it and cut into
small pieces, cleared of all skin and bone. Pound it quickly while it
is still hot, and add to it half its weight of potatoes cooked as for
a purée, drained, and dried in the oven for a few minutes. When the
whole has been reduced to a fine paste, add one-sixth pint of oil, and
one-quarter pint of boiled milk. The oil and the milk should be added
little by little, and the paste should be more mellow than stiff.
Serve in a buttered _gratin_ dish; arrange the preparation in the form
of a dome; sprinkle with melted butter, and set to colour in the oven.
Icelandic and Newfoundland _morue_.
1026—MORUE AU BEURRE NOIR OU AU BEURRE NOISETTE
Cut the _morue_ into squares or rectangles; roll these into
_paupiettes_ or scrolls, and bind these with a piece of string. Poach
them in the usual way; drain them; scrape their skins, and dish them.
Sprinkle with _concassed_ parsley; add lemon juice, and cover with
brown or lightly-browned butter. Either kind of cod may be used.
1027—BRANDADE DE MORUE
Cut one lb. of _morue_ into pieces, and poach these for eight minutes.
The eight minutes should be counted from the time the water begins to
boil.
Drain on a sieve, and clear the pieces of all skin and bones. Heat in
a sautépan one-sixth pint of oil until the latter smokes; throw the
cleaned pieces of _morue_ into the oil; add a piece of crushed garlic
the size of a haricot-bean, and stir over a brisk fire with a wooden
spoon until the _morue_ is reduced to shreds.
Then take the saucepan off the fire, and, without ceasing to stir
the paste, add thereto, little by little, as for a mayonnaise, about
one-half pint of oil. When the paste begins to stiffen through the
addition of the oil, now and again add a tablespoonful of milk. For the
amount of _morue_ used, one-quarter pint of boiling milk should thus be
added by degrees.
When the Brandade is finished, it should have the consistence of an
ordinary potato purée. When about to serve, taste the preparation, and
rectify its seasoning.
Dish the Brandade in a hot timbale, building it up in the shape of a
pyramid, and set thereon a crown of bread-crumb triangles fried in
butter just before dishing up.
N.B.—The triangles of fried bread may, with advantage, be replaced by
lozenges made from puff-paste, which are baked without colouration. For
the Brandade use only well-soaked Icelandic or Newfoundland _morue_.
1028—BRANDADE DE MORUE A LA CRÈME
Follow the directions given above, but instead of oil and milk, use
two-thirds pint of cream, which should be added to the _morue_ paste by
spoonfuls.
1029—MORUE A LA CRÉOLE
Finely mince an onion, and cook it gently in butter until it is
of a nice golden colour. Spread it on the bottom of a little oval
earthenware dish, and set three tomatoes prepared à la Provençale
(No. 2268) upon it.
Poach one lb. of _morue_; drain it as soon as ready, and flake it
while clearing it of all skin and bones. Lay this flaked _morue_ on
the slices of tomato; cover it with three mild capsicums, split and
broiled; sprinkle the whole with a few drops of lemon juice and one oz.
of lightly-browned butter, and put the dish in the oven for a few
minutes. Serve very hot.
Icelandic or Newfoundland _morue_ may be used.
1030—CABILLAUD SALE, OR MORUE A LA HOLLANDAISE
Proceed exactly as for “Sole à la Hollandaise” (No. 829). Both kinds
suit this preparation.
1031—CABILLAUD SALE, OR MORUE A L’INDIENNE
Poach one lb. of salted cod or _morue_, and flake it while clearing it
of all skin and bones. Mix this flaked fish with two-thirds pint of
Indienne sauce, and dish it in a hot timbale.
Serve some rice à l’Indienne separately.
Both kinds of fish are suited to this dish.
1032—MORUE A LA LYONNAISE
Poach one lb. of _morue_, and flake it as explained above. Finely
mince a medium-sized onion, and toss it in butter. Also toss three
medium-sized potatoes cut into roundels. Heat one oz. of butter and two
tablespoonfuls of oil in a frying-pan; put therein the flaked _morue_
and the potatoes, and toss the whole over a brisk fire for a few
minutes.
When about to dish up, add a few drops of vinegar.
Dish in a hot timbale, and sprinkle the _morue_ with a pinch of chopped
parsley. Use either the Icelandic or the Newfoundland fish for this
preparation.
1033—SOUFFLÉ DE MORUE
Finely pound one-quarter lb. of freshly poached and flaked _morue_, and
add thereto, little by little, two tablespoonfuls of hot and very thick
Béchamel sauce. When the paste is very smooth, season it; put into a
saucepan, heat it, and add the yolks of three eggs, and four whites
beaten to a stiff froth.
Put the whole into a buttered soufflé-saucepan, and cook after the
manner of an ordinary soufflé. Take either Icelandic or Newfoundland
_morue_ for this dish.
1034—CHAR (Ombre-Chevalier)
The char is a fish of the salmon family, which is culinarily treated in
exactly the same way as the trout. When it is large, the recipes given
for salmon trout may be adapted to it, but it is mostly used small—that
is to say, from five inches to ten inches long. The fishing of char is
restricted chiefly to lake countries, such as Scotland and Switzerland,
and it is only in season during two months of the year. Moreover, as
this fish loses much of its quality in transit, its scarcity on the
market will be easily understood. The lake of Zug, in Switzerland,
supplies the most famous specimens, which are called Rothel by the
people of the locality. The delicacy of the fish is remarkable, and in
this it may vie even with the best river trout.
The char of the Scotch lakes may be treated after the same recipes as
the Swiss specimens, but they are more often used in the preparation of
potted char, the recipe for which is as follows:—
1035—POTTED CHAR
Cook the chars in a fine _mirepoix_ with white wine, exactly after
the manner of trout. When the fish are cooked, leave them to cool
completely in their cooking-liquor. Drain them; skin them; separate
their fillets, and thoroughly bone them. Set the fillets in a special
earthenware pot; entirely cover them with clarified butter, and put
them in a moderate oven for one quarter of an hour.
Leave them to cool until the next day, and add sufficient clarified
butter to cover them with a layer one-third inch thick.
If Potted Char be left in the cool, it will keep for some considerable
time.
RED MULLETS (ROUGETS)
Red mullet, especially the Mediterranean rock kind, is one of the
greatest fish delicacies known; and the surname “Sea Woodcock,” which
gourmets sometimes give it, is quite justified, not only by its
quality, but by the fact that, except for its gills, it is generally
left whole, and not even emptied.
It is best grilled.
1035a—GRILLED RED MULLET
Carefully wipe the mullet; _cisel_ it on either side to a depth in
proportion to the thickness of its flesh and at closer intervals the
thicker the latter is, in order to facilitate the cooking; season it
with salt and pepper; sprinkle it with a little oil and a few drops of
lemon juice; spread a few slices of lemon and a few parsley stalks upon
and beneath it; and let it _marinade_ for an hour or two, turning it
over frequently the while.
Twenty minutes before serving, set the red mullet on a double fish
grill, and cook it over a rather fierce fire, sprinkling it often the
while with its _marinade_. Dish and serve it as soon as it is ready,
and serve a little half-melted maître-d’hôtel butter separately.
1035b—ROUGET A LA BORDELAISE
Grill or _sauté_ the red mullet. At the same time serve a sauce
Bordelaise Bonnefoy (No. 67).
1035c—ROUGET AU FENOUIL
_Cisel_ and _marinade_ the red mullet as directed under No. 1035a,
and add a certain quantity of chopped fennel to the aromatics. Twenty
minutes before serving, add two oz. of roughly-chopped raw pork fat and
a little parsley to the _marinade_; wrap the red mullets in strong,
oiled paper, together with its _marinade_, grill it gently, and serve
it as it stands.
1035d—ROUGET A LA NIÇOISE
Grill it as directed above, and serve it with the garnish given under
“Sole à la Niçoise.”
1035e—ROUGET EN PAPILLOTE
Grill and wrap it in strong, oiled paper between two layers of
somewhat thick Duxelle sauce. When about to serve, put the _papillote_
for five minutes in the oven, that it may be _souffléd_.
1036—WHITEBAIT
Thames whitebait, which has many points in common with the “Nonat” of
the Mediterranean, is one of the riddles of ichthyology; for, while it
is generally admitted that it is the fry of one of the many species of
fish, its real parentage is quite unknown.
At dinners in London it usually stands as a second fish-course, and,
fried after the customary manner, it constitutes a dish the delicacy
of which is incomparable. Whitebait, like the nonat, are extremely
fragile, and ought to be cooked as soon as they are caught. They are
always served fried, and the frying-medium used in their preparation
should be fresh, abundant, and just smoking when the fish are plunged
into it. Previous to this operation, however, the whitebait ought to be
thoroughly dredged with flour and placed in a special sieve or frying
basket, either of which should be well shaken, in order to rid the fish
of any superfluous flour.
They are then plunged into the smoking frying-medium, in small
quantities at a time, and one minute’s stay therein suffices to render
them sufficiently crisp.
Draining is the next operation, effected upon a spread piece of linen,
that the fish may be easily seasoned with table-salt and cayenne,
mixed. This done, the whitebait are dished upon a napkin and sent to
the table with very green, fried parsley.
VARIOUS PREPARATIONS OF FISH
1037—MATELOTE AU VIN ROUGE
The fish used for the Matelote are eel, carp, tench, bream, perch, &c.
It may be prepared from one or many kinds of fish.
Put the fish, cut into sections, into a sautépan. For two lbs. of it,
add one minced onion, one faggot, two cloves of garlic, one pint of red
wine, a pinch of salt, and another of pepper or four peppercorns.
Set to boil; add three tablespoonfuls of heated and burnt brandy; cover
the sautépan, and complete the cooking of the fish.
This done, transfer the pieces to another saucepan; strain the
cooking-liquor, reduce it by a third, and thicken it with _manied_
butter (consisting of one and one-half oz. of butter and one
tablespoonful of flour), cut into small pieces.
When the leason has been properly effected, pour the resulting sauce
over the pieces of fish; heat, and dish in a timbale.
1038—MATELOTE AU VIN BLANC
Prepare the fish as above, but use white wine instead of red, and burn
the brandy as before. When the pieces of fish are cooked, transfer them
to another saucepan with small onions, previously cooked in butter,
and small, cooked mushrooms. Strain the cooking-liquor, reduce it to a
little less than half, thicken it with fish velouté, and finish with
one oz. of butter.
Pour this sauce over the fish and the garnish; dish the whole in
a timbale or a deep dish, and surround with crayfish, cooked in
_court-bouillon_, and little crusts in the shape of hearts, fried in
butter.
1039—BOUILLABAISSE A LA MARSEILLAISE
The fish for Bouillabaisse are rascasse, chapon, dory, whiting, fiélas,
boudreuil, spiny lobster, red mullet, gurnet, &c.
Cut the larger fish into slices; leave the smaller ones whole, and
with the exception of the whiting and the red mullet, which cook more
speedily than the others, put them all into a saucepan.
For two lbs. of fish, add one small onion, the chopped white of one
leek, one small, peeled, pressed and chopped tomato, two crushed
cloves of garlic, a large pinch of _concassed_ parsley, a pinch of
powdered saffron, a bit of bay, a little savory and fennel, and two
tablespoonfuls of oil.
Moisten the fish with just enough cold water to cover it, and season
with one-third oz. of salt and a pinch of pepper per quart of water.
Set to boil, and cook over a brisk fire. At the end of eight minutes
add the pieces of whiting and red mullet, and leave to cook for a
further seven minutes.
Pour the liquor of the bouillabaisse over some slices of household
bread lying on the bottom of a deep dish; set the fish on another dish
with the sections of spiny lobster all round, and serve.
1040—QUENELLES DE BROCHET A LA LYONNAISE
Pound separately one lb. of the meat of pike, cleared of all skin and
bones, and one lb. of the fat of kidney of beef, very dry, cleaned, and
cut into small pieces. If desired, half of the weight of the fat of
kidney of beef may be replaced by one-half lb. of beef marrow.
Put the pounded meat of the pike and the kidney fat on separate plates.
Now pound one lb. of frangipan Panada (No. 192) and add thereto, little
by little, the white of four little eggs. Put the pike meat and the fat
back into the mortar, and finely pound the whole until a fine, smooth
paste is obtained. Rub the latter through a sieve; put the resulting
purée into a basin, and work it well with a wooden spoon in order to
smooth it.
With this forcemeat mould some quenelles with a spoon, and poach them
in salted water.
If these quenelles are to be served with an ordinary fish sauce, put
them into it as soon as they are poached and drained, and simmer them
in it for ten minutes that they may swell.
If the sauce intended for them is to be thickened with egg-yolks,
and buttered at the last moment, put them into a saucepan with a few
tablespoonfuls of _fumet_, and simmer them as directed in the case of
an ordinary fish sauce, taking care to keep the saucepan well covered
that the concentrated steam may assist the swelling of the quenelles.
In this case they are added to the sauce at the last moment.
N.B.—Slices of truffle may always be added to the sauce. The quenelles
are dished either in a silver timbale, in a shallow timbale-crust, or
in a fine vol-au-vent crust, in accordance with the arrangement of the
menu.
1041—FISH CAKES
Fish cakes or balls, which are greatly appreciated in both England and
America, are made from any boiled fish. Salted cod, however, is best
suited to their preparation, and is therefore used much more often than
other kinds of fish.
Flake one lb. of cooked cod, and clear it of all skin and bones;
pound it with one-half lb. of freshly-cooked, floury potatoes, two
tablespoonfuls of reduced Béchamel sauce, and two whole eggs. Season
with salt and pepper. When the paste has been well beaten and is
smooth, take it out of the mortar and divide it into portions weighing
about two oz. Roll these portions into balls upon a flour-dusted
mixing-board, flatten them out to the shape of thick quoits, and treat
them _à l’anglaise_.
Fry them at the last moment in very hot fat, and dish them on a napkin
with fried parsley all round.
1042—WATERZOI
In order to prepare Waterzoi, it is best, when possible, to have live
fish at one’s disposal, not only because these are better able to
resist the cooking process, but also owing to the fact that they are
richer in gelatine in the live state.
The fish more generally used are the eel, the perch, the tench, the
carp, the pike, &c.
After having scaled and emptied them, trim them and cut off their heads
and tails. Cut the fish into sections; moisten these with just enough
cold water to cover them; add a piece of butter, sufficient parsley
roots or stalks to produce a decided taste, a few peppercorns, and some
salt.
Set to cook on a brisk fire, and take care that the cooking-liquor be
reduced and sufficiently thickened when the fish are cooked.
Serve in a timbale or on a dish, and send some slices of bread and
butter to the table at the same time.