Miss Leslie's New Cookery Book Part 4

FINE CHOWDER.--This is Commodore Stovens's receipt:--Take four table-spoonfuls of minced onions that have been fried with slices of salt pork; two pilot-biscuits broken up; one table-spoonful of minced sweet marjoram, and one of sweet basil; a quarter of a bottle of mushroom catchup; half a bottle of port wine; half a nutmeg grated; a few cloves, and mace, and pepper-corns; six pounds of fresh cod, and sea-ba.s.s, cut in slices. Put the whole into a pot, with water enough to cover it about an inch. Boil it steadily for an hour, carefully stirring it. Serve it up hot in a large deep dish.

Chowder may be made as above, subst.i.tuting clams for the cod. The clams must be chopped small. You may, for variety, make chowder with oysters, or with boiled lobsters, or crabs; always beginning the mixture with pork fried with onions.

YANKEE CHOWDER.--Having sliced very thin some salt fat pork, season it with pepper, lay it in the bottom of a large iron pot, set it over the fire, and let it fry. When done, take out the pork, leaving the liquid fat in the bottom. Next, peel and slice some onions, and lay them on the fat. Pour in sufficient clam or oyster liquor to stew the onions. Have ready a sufficient quant.i.ty of sea-ba.s.s, black fish, tutaug, porgie, haddock, or fresh cod. Cut the fish in small pieces, and put it into the pot. Add plenty of potatos pared and quartered. Then some clam liquor; and lastly, some crackers, (soaked and split,) or some soda biscuit; the crackers to cover the top. If you wish to fill a large pot, repeat all these ingredients, arranging them in layers. If there is not gravy enough, add some boiling milk, poured in at the last, and enriched with bits of b.u.t.ter mixed with flour. Cover the pot closely, and let it stew half an hour, or more, till all the contents are thoroughly done. You may bake the chowder in an iron oven, over a wood fire, heaping live coals on the oven lid.

CLAM CHOWDER.--Put into boiling water from fifty to a hundred of the small sand clams; and when all their sh.e.l.ls have opened, take them out, as they are then sufficiently boiled. Extract all the hard, or tough, uneatable part, and throw it away. Slice thin as much salt pork as, when fried in the bottom of a large pot, will produce half a pint of liquid or gravy. Take out all the pork, leaving the liquid in the pot. Add to it a layer of clams. Then a layer of biscuit soaked in milk or warm water. Next another layer of clams; then another layer of soaked biscuit; then more clams. Season it with pepper and mace. If there is no objection to onions, add three or four boiled and sliced, and some minced marjoram. Also, some potatos, boiled, peeled, and quartered. Let the last layer be clams, and then cover the whole with a good paste, and bake it in an iron oven, or boil it in an iron pot.

Chowder of fresh codfish, halibut, sea-ba.s.s, or any other good fish, is made as above. Halibut requires a much larger portion of seasoning, and a little more pork. Though very large and therefore very profitable, it is in itself the most tasteless of all fish. Plain boiled halibut is not worth eating.

SALMON.--In choosing a salmon, see that the gills are a fine red, the eyes full, the scales clear, and the whole fish stiff; the flesh being of the peculiar red known as salmon-color. Between the flakes is a substance called the curd, which gives it firmness. By keeping, this substance melts down and the flesh becomes soft. A salmon can only be eaten in perfection on the sea-coast where it was caught, and on the same day. To transport it any distance, it must be enclosed in a box, and well packed in ice. In America, salmon is found in the greatest perfection on the coast of Maine, in the Kennebec. Very fine ones are brought to Boston market. They also abound on the coasts of California and Oregon. The American salmon is much larger than those of Europe. It is so fine a fish that its own flavor is better than any that can be communicated except by the most simple sauce. It requires as much boiling as meat, that is, a quarter of an hour for every pound. It is in season from May till August or September.

The lake salmon is good, but inferior to that of the ocean, in size, richness, and color.

In boiling a large fish, to judge if it is done, draw up the strainer or fish-plate, and with a thin knife try if the flesh separates easily from the bone. If you can loosen it immediately, it is cooked enough. It injures a fish to let it get cool in the water.

BOILED SALMON.--After carefully emptying the salmon, wash it very clean from the blood inside, and remove the scales. To preserve the fine color of the salmon, or to set the curd or creamy substance between the flakes, it should be put into boiling water, allowing to a gallon of water a handful of salt. After the water has been boiling a few minutes, and has been skimmed, put in the fish, (laying it on the drainer,) and let it boil moderately fast, skimming it well. It must be thoroughly boiled. Underdone fish of every kind is disgusting and unwholesome.

Before it is taken from the fish kettle ascertain if it is sufficiently cooked, by trying if the back-bone easily loosens from the flesh. A quarter of an hour may be allowed for each pound, for a large thick salmon requires as much cooking as meat. When you take it up, drain it well, and serve it up immediately. Have ready some lobster sauce, or shrimp, if more convenient. To make it, mince the meat of a boiled lobster, mas.h.i.+ng the coral with it, and mix it with melted or drawn b.u.t.ter, made very thick, and having but a very small portion of water.

For shrimp sauce, boil the shrimps, take off their heads, and squeeze out their bodies from the sh.e.l.ls. Thicken with them the drawn b.u.t.ter.

Nothing should go with salmon that will interfere with the flavor of this fine fish, or give it any taste that will overpower or weaken its own.

Many prefer salmon with nothing more than cold b.u.t.ter spread on after it is helped. We think, ourselves, that when the b.u.t.ter is very good, it is not improved (for salmon) by the addition of flour and water; and a very little is sufficient. You need use nothing from the castors except cayenne.

It is usual to eat cuc.u.mbers with salmon, and no other vegetables; the cuc.u.mbers to be pared, sliced, laid in cold water, and dressed, and served up by themselves, with a little plate for each person, that the vinegar, &c., of the cuc.u.mbers may not impart too much acid to the salmon.

In places remote from the sea, a whole salmon is seldom seen at table but at dinner parties, or at good hotels. In a very hot climate it should not be seen at all. When in season, it can be bought in any quant.i.ty by the pound, for a small family. For a small dinner company, from four to six pounds will suffice.

Cook salmon-trout in the same manner. Large fish should be helped with a silver fish trowel.

ROASTED SALMON.--Take a large piece of fine fresh salmon, cut from the middle of the fish, well cleaned and carefully scaled. Wipe it dry in a clean coa.r.s.e cloth. Then dredge it with flour, put it on the spit, and place it before a clear bright fire. Baste it with fresh b.u.t.ter, and roast it well; seeing that it is thoroughly done to the bone. Serve it up plain; garnis.h.i.+ng the dish with slices of lemon, as many persons like a little lemon-juice with salmon. This mode of cooking salmon will be found excellent. A small one, or a salmon-trout, may be roasted whole.

BAKED SALMON.--A small salmon may be baked whole. Stuff it with forcemeat made of bread-crumbs; chopped oysters, or minced lobster; b.u.t.ter, cayenne, a little salt, and powdered mace,--all mixed well, and moistened with beaten yolk of egg. Bend the salmon round, and put the tail into the mouth, fastening it with a skewer. Put it into a large deep dish; lay bits of b.u.t.ter on it at small intervals; and set it into the oven. While baking, look at it occasionally, and baste it with the b.u.t.ter. When one side is well browned, turn it carefully in the dish, and add more b.u.t.ter. Bake it till the other side is well browned. Then transfer it to another dish with the gravy that is about it, and send it to table.

If you bake salmon in slices, reserve the forcemeat for the outside. Dip each slice first in beaten yolk of egg, and then in the forcemeat, till it is well coated.

BROILED SALMON.--Wash carefully all traces of blood from the inside of the fish. Cut it into rather thick slices, or fillets. Dry them in a clean cloth, and dredge them with flour. Chalk the bars of the gridiron, or grease them with lard or suet, or the dripping of beef or veal, to prevent the fish from sticking. Let the fire be a bed of clear bright hot coals. Broil the slices well on both sides; and when done, transfer them to a hot dish, and lay a bit of fresh b.u.t.ter on each, and season them a little with cayenne.

Fresh codfish may be cut into steaks, and broiled as above.

Also halibut, or any other large fish.

Serve up shrimp or lobster sauce, with all cutlets or steaks of large fish.

FRIED SALMON CUTLETS.--Having washed, dried and floured the cutlets, put near a pound of fresh lard into a frying pan, set it over a clear brisk fire till it boils fast. Have ready a marinade or dressing made of grated bread-crumbs, chopped sweet-marjoram, beaten yolks of eggs, and powdered mace--all well mixed. Dip each cutlet into this marinade twice over, and fry them. There must be plenty of lard, so that the cutlets may float on its surface instead of sinking to the bottom, and becoming dark, heavy, and greasy. When they are done, take them up with a perforated skimmer, draining off the lard as you do so. Lay them on a hot dish, and keep them hot till wanted. Serve up with them mashed potatos made into flat cakes, and browned with a salamander or red hot shovel.

Fresh codfish cutlets may be fried in this manner.

You may broil halibut as above. Halibut is too insipid for boiling.

PICKLED SALMON.--Clean a fine fresh salmon, and remove the bones. Cut off the head, fins, and tail. Fish, to be pickled, should (instead of was.h.i.+ng) be wiped, and rubbed with a clean dry cloth. Cut it into steaks or cutlets. Put it into a stone-ware jar with a close cover. A broad low jar will be best. Sprinkle it with salt, and cayenne. Add some grains of whole black pepper, and some blades of mace, seasoning it highly to make it keep well. Fill up the jar with the best cider vinegar, set it in a moderate oven, and bake it till thoroughly done; adding more vinegar, if it seems too dry. Then cover the jar very closely, with the lid--if there is the smallest crack, paste all round a fillet of strong, white paper. Whenever you open the jar to take out some of the salmon for use, add some fresh vinegar. Keep the jar in a dry cool place. If properly done, and well seasoned, it will keep several months.

BROILED FRESH MACKEREL.--Mackerel cannot be eaten too fresh, as no fish spoils so soon; for which reason in England mackerel is permitted to be sold on Sundays. We have heard in London the fishwomen crying it about the streets on Sunday morning before church time. And even then it is far inferior to mackerel taken immediately out of the sea, at the places on the coast. It is generally broiled, as no other cooking seems to suit it, and draw forth its true flavor. Split your mackerel, remove the bone, and cut off the heads and tails. Dredge them on both sides with flour, and sprinkle the inside with black pepper and a little salt. Have your gridiron very hot, over a clear fire, and grease the bars with lard, or chalk them to prevent the fish from sticking. Broil them well on both sides, and when they are done, and very hot, lay some bits of fresh b.u.t.ter upon them. Cover to keep them warm, and send them to table as soon as possible. They are a fine breakfast fish, and good at a plain dinner. For sauce, cold b.u.t.ter is all that is necessary, but you may mix with it, chopped parsley, or minced fennel. At the best English tables, stewed _gooseberries_, pulped through a sieve and sweetened, is the fas.h.i.+onable sauce for broiled mackerel, or lemon-juice is squeezed profusely over the fish. To this the lovers of fruit with every thing, will not object.

If a mackerel is fresh, the eyes will be full and lively, the gills very red, and the stripes or bars on the back a very dark color, (nearly black,) and strongly marked; and the body thick. If thin and flat below the shoulders, the eyes sunk, the gills pale, and the dark stripes dull and indistinct, the fish is unfit to eat.

FRIED MACKEREL.--For frying, take small mackerel, as fresh as possible.

Wash them, dry them in a clean cloth, and score them deeply in the back, making several deep cuts. Season them with a little salt and pepper. Go over them with beaten egg, and then cover them thickly with grated bread-crumbs; which, for this purpose, are superior to indian meal or pounded crackers. Fry them in boiling lard, and dish them hot. Send them to table with a dish of potatos sliced and fried in b.u.t.ter.

Any fish may be fried in this manner. If large, cut it into pieces.

FRIED HALIBUT.--There is a great deal of eating in a halibut, as it is a fish of immense size, and has only the back bone. It is sold in pieces of any weight or quant.i.ty, and is exceedingly white and delicate in appearance. But it is so very insipid, that when _boiled_ it has no taste at all. Therefore it is always broiled or fried, except at tables where economy is the chief consideration. If broiled, it is done in the same manner as any other large fish, but to make it palatable requires something to give it a little taste.

To fry halibut--take a piece from the middle of the fish, wash it very carefully, and dry it in a clean cloth. Then cut it into thick fillets, extracting the bone, which is easily done with a sharp knife, loosening the flesh from the bone, and raising it as you proceed. Remove the skin.

You may also cut the fillets into slices about an inch thick. Season with cayenne, and a very little salt. Cover them slightly with nice b.u.t.ter. Have ready in one pan plenty of grated bread-crumbs; in another a sufficiency of beaten yolk of egg, seasoned with powdered mace and nutmeg. Dip the slices first into the egg, then into the pan of bread-crumbs. Do this twice over, to every slice. Have ready over the fire a hot frying pan full of _boiling_ lard. Put in the slices and fry them well. When one side is done, turn the other. When all are done, take them from the frying pan with a perforated skimmer, and drain them.

Keep them hot between two heated dishes.

Cooked in this manner, the halibut will be sufficiently flavored and is a profitable fish.

Instead of frying, the halibut steaks may be broiled over a clear fire, on a grooved gridiron. Having first b.u.t.tered it, dip each steak, as above, in bread-crumbs and egg, and lay upon each steak a large tomato opened, and stuffed with a forcemeat of bread-crumbs seasoned with b.u.t.ter, pepper, and mace. This will be found a very nice way of cooking halibut. Fresh cod may be done in the same manner.

Cold halibut is sometimes drest as salad for the tea-table.

BOILED TURBOT OR SHEEP'S-HEAD FISH.--Having cleaned and washed the fish, soak it an hour or two in salt and water to draw off the slime. Then let it lie half an hour or more in cold water. Afterwards drain, and wipe it dry. Score the back deeply with a knife. The whiteness of the fish will be improved by rubbing it over with a cut lemon. The fish kettle must be large, and nicely clean. Lay the fish with its back downward, on the strainer of the kettle. Cover it well with cold water, (milk and water in equal portions will be better still,) and add a small spoonful of salt. Do not let it come to a boil too fast, and skim it carefully. When the sc.u.m has ceased to rise, diminish the heat under the kettle, and let it simmer for about half an hour or more; not allowing it to boil hard.

When the fish is done, take it up carefully with a fish-slice; and having prepared the sauce, pour it over the fish and send it to table hot.

For the sauce, mix together very smoothly, with a broad-bladed knife, a quarter of a pound of fresh b.u.t.ter, and two table-spoonfuls of flour.

Put them into a clean sauce-pan, and hold it over the fire, and stir them till melted. Then add a large salt-spoonful of powdered mace, and as much cayenne as will lie on a sixpence. It will be much improved by the addition of some boiled lobster, chopped small. When the sauce has simmered five minutes, add very gradually half a pint of rich cream, and let it come almost to a boil, stirring all the time. After the fish is taken up, pour the sauce over it hot. Or you may send it to table in a sauce-boat. In this case ornament the fish with the coral of the lobster put on in a handsome figure.

Another way of dressing this fish is, after it has been boiled, to set it on ice to get cold; and then, having carefully removed the bones, cut the flesh into small squares, put it into a stew-pan, and having mixed the above sauce, add it to the fish, and let it stew slowly in the sauce; but do not let it come to a boil. When thoroughly hot, take it up, and send it to table in a deep dish.

BAKED TURBOT OR SHEEP'S-HEAD FISH.--Having cleaned the fish, soak it an hour or two in salt and water, and afterwards wash it well through two or three fresh waters. Then dry it in a clean towel. Score it deeply across the back; and then lay it in a deep white baking-dish. Mix together a large tea-spoonful of powdered mace and nutmeg; add a salt-spoon of cayenne; a few sprigs of sweet marjoram and sweet basil, finely minced; two large table-spoonfuls of fresh b.u.t.ter; and two table-spoonfuls of grated bread-crumbs. Stir this mixture into a pint of rich cream. Pour this marinade over the fish, cover it, and let it stand half an hour. Then bake it in the marinade; and send it hot to table.

If the fish is too large to be baked whole, cut it into fillets, extracting the bone.