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Fish

BOILED FISH WITH VEGETABLES. -Put a whole fish in kettle, and cover with stock made as follows: Fry in a saucepan two onions, a carrot, a piece of celery or celery-seed, a tablespoon butter, one of flour, a sprig of parsley, a teaspoon of whole black peppers, and three cloves; add two and a half quarts of water, two teacups vinegar, boil twenty minutes, salt and skim. Pour this over the fish, and boil gently until done. Serve with egg sauce. -Mrs. S. T., Mobile, Ala.

BROWN FISH SOUP.-Any kind of fish will answer, cut in small pieces, roll in flour, and brown in some olive oil or butter in a saucepan; cover with hot water. Season with salt and pepper, and boil slowly for about fifteen minutes. See that there is plenty of water. One pound will make a quart of soup. A clove of garlic may be added. -Mrs. F. H. M., Atlanta, Ga.

CRAB STEW. One peck of live crabs, steam twenty minutes, bone and pick claws and dodies, stew with one pint milk or cream the flesh and eggs of the crab fifteen minutes; flavor with salt and cayenne pepper. TO PICKLE CRABS.-Soft crabs are delicious pickled. Clean, boil in salt and water until done; take out and drain; when cold and dry put them in a jar and cover with a cold spiced vinegar (scalded with spices.) Hard crabs can be used this way.

BOILED HADDOCK WITH PARSLEY SAUCE. - Take a threepound haddock as soon as it comes from market, wash it thoroughly, and lay it in a large pan containing plenty of cold water and a handful of salt. When it is time to cook it, put it into the fish-kettle with cold water enough to cover it; a gill of vinegar; a tablespoonful of salt, the root of the parsley, six cloves, and one sprig each of thyme and marjoram. Set the kettle over the fire and bring it to a boil. By the time the kettle boils the fish is usually done, but it may be tested by pulling out a fin, if the fin comes out easily and the flesh of the fish looks clear white, it is done. Lift the kettle off the fire, and let the fish stand in the water until wanted for use. Make the sauce by stirring together over the fire one ounce or one tablespoonful each of butter and flour, until they bubble. Then stir in half a pint of boiling water, or a little more, if the flour thickens the sauce. Move the sauce to the side of the fire, chop the parsley fine and add it to the sauce with a saltspoon each of pepper and grated nutmeg; the sauce will then be ready to use. To serve the fish, take it up carefully without breaking, remove the skin by scraping it gently so as to avoid tearing the fish, pour the sauce over it, and it will be ready for the table. Haddocks are at their best in November, December, June and July. But any fish can be cooked by this recipe. Mrs. L. A., Tullahoma.

CREOLED HALIBUT. - Get a thick square piece of halibut, wash and place over a baking dish, season with salt and pepper, chop a clove of white garlic about the size of a bean, and strew over the fish, then put on a cup of fresh or canned tomatoes. Bake until the flakes separate; dish up without breaking. The combination of garlic and tomatoes gives the name of Creole to the dish.

BAKED HERRINGS. - Scale and clean two pounds of herrings carefully without washing, unless this be absolutely necessary. Split them down the back and remove the backbones. Sprinkle them inside with a little pepper, salt and powdered mace mixed together; if there are any roes enclose them in the flesh, and lay the latter in layers in a deep baking dish with half a dozen whole cloves, the same nunber of peppercorns and two bay leaves between them. Cover with vinegar and water equally mixed, salt plentifully, tie a sheet of oil paper over the dish, and bake one hour. These are in season in February, March and April.- Mrs. Capt. Howe, Nashville, Tenn.

TO PUT UP HERRINGS FOR FAMILY USE. - Mix three pecks each of fine and rock salt; take one thousand herrings, put them loosely in layers with salt between, after four days, drain well and repack in close layers on their backs covering each layer with a mixture of three pecks each of fine and rock salt, one and a half pounds brown sugar, one fourth pound of saltpeter. Leave several months until salt takes effect.

TO BOIL LOBSTER. - To a gallon of water, add a teaspoon of salt, and a teacup of vinegar; when boiling plunge lobster in head first; boil thirty minutes; remove cut off head and small claws which are never used; crack shell gently and remove meat. Lobster can be stewed as crabs, or served cold, with crab dressing and salad, or prepared according to recipe for derilled crabs.

OYSTER SALAD. - Three dozen fresh oysters, two heads of celery with part of their green tops, about half as much tender white cabbage; after washing the celery and cabbage throw them into boiling salted water, let boil five minutes, pour off the hot water and drain and chop them fine. Add an equal quantity of vinegar, some broken pepper-corns, pepper-sauce and salt; put in the oysters and keep shaking the pan while they are scalding that they may be set in round and plump shape; do not let them boil, drain and set them away on a dish to become ice cold. When to be served season the chopped celery slightly with oil and vinegar; spread part of it in a dish or in individual dishes, place the oysters in it side by side and the rest of the celery on top of them; smooth the top a little and pour mayonaise sauce, or a tartare sauce without the minced onion or gherkin, over just thin enough to run. Pickled or minced oysters answer well for salad as above instead of the fresh.

OYSTERS AND MACARONI-A third of a package of macaroni, one cup of oysters, one cup milk, one egg, one tablespoon flour, pepper and salt; boil macaroni alone in salt water twenty minutes and drain dry, butter the bottom of a three pint baking dish or pudding pan, put in half the macaroni, strew oysters over it, and dot with butter, in small pieces, dredge with salt and pepper and cover with rest of macaroni, moisten the spoonful of flour with a little milk, beat in the egg, then the rest of milk and oyster liquor, if any, pour in the pan and bake about twenty minutes or until set; the water should be at boiling point when macaroni is first put in. A PILLAU OF FISH. -Take two parts of any kind cold cooked fish, one part cold mashed potatoes; mince fish very fine and mix with potatoes and three hard boiled eggs cut fine. To one quart of this mixture, add tablespoon of butter, half a pint of water (milk is better); season with cayenne pepper and salt. Serve as soon as ingredients are well blended. SCALLOPS.-The heart is the only part used, dip them in beaten egg, then cracker crumbs and fry in hot lard; they can be stewed as oysters. .

Those sold in markets are generally ready for frying or stewing, but if bought in shell boil and take out hearts.

SHRIMP PIE. To two quarts peeled shrimps, add one cup of vinegar, one tumbler catsup and two tablespoons butter, season with salt and pepper; scald all together and pour in an earthern dish, strew top with bread crumbs and bake twenty minutes.

BAKED SHEEP'S HEAD. - When ready for cooking, salt and pepper well, gash the sides in three or four places, mince four onions fine, add one pint bread crumbs, a little finely minced fat meat, yolk of two eggs; blend all together; season with a little cayenne pepper, salt and thyme; with this stuff the fish and fill gashes on the outside; sprinkle over with flour and black pepper; bake slowly in a large pan with one quart hot water two hours. Serve with or without sauce, as liked.

SMELTS. Salt, pepper and roll in salted meal, or better, egg and bread crumb them; fry in boiling lard; serve immediately or the crispness and flavor will be lost. When designed to garnish a large fish, form them in rings by putting tails in mouth and securing with a piece of polished wire while frying, then withdraw; place these rings around fish, adding a garnish of parsley and lemon slices, or serve smelts alone around sides of platter with a tomato or tartare sauce in the center. STURGEON STEAKS. - Skin steaks carefully end place in cold salt water for an hour to remove the oily taste; wipe each steak dry, salt and broil over hot coals on a buttered gridiron. When cooked, butter and pepper, serve in a very hot dish, garnished with parsley; send to table accompanied by a small dish of sliced lemons, or sauce prepared thus: Put a tablespoon of butter into a frying pan stirring until it browns, not burns; wet with cold water a tablespoon of brown flour, then stir in a half tea cup boiling water and add to butter, season with salt, a teaspoon of Worcestershire or anchovy sauce, juice of a lemon, and when boiled pour over steaks. A simple way to prepare anchovy sauce is to add a tablespoon anchovy paste or the extract to a cup of drawn butter, mix and warm in stew pan, or soak eight anchovies in cold water for several hours; cut up and stew in very little water twenty minutes, strain into a cup of drawn butter, heat all in stew pan until boiling hot; pour in tureen, add a little cayenne pepper, tea spoon lemon juice and serve.

VIRGINIA BAKED STURGEON. - A piece of sturgeon weighing five or six pounds is enough for a handsome dish; skin and put in salt and water for thirty minutes; parboil to remove oil; prepare a dressing of bread crumbs, fine bits of fat salt pork, sweet herbs and butter; gash upper end of fish quite deeply and rub this force meat well in; place in baking dish with a little water to prevent burning and bake for an hour. Serve with a sauce of drawn butter, in which has been stirred a spoonful caper sauce and one of walnut catsup or anchovy sauce.

TURTLES.-Boil one hour, take out and remove skin from legs and feet; place in fresh boiling water and boil one and a half hours; take out and cool, when cold clean thoroughly removing the round liver which contains the gall, cut meat into small bits, and place into a stew pan adding pepper, salt and eggs found within. For four turtles use one quart water, one half pound butter, and two tablespoons of flour mixed with a little cold water; mix all thoroughly, stew about twenty minutes, as you remove from fire add one half-pint Maderia wine.

BAKED WHITE FISH. - Take out bone and then take off skin and cut fish in pieces three inches long and two inches wide. Use two soup plates or two deep earthen dishes same size; butter thickly with cold butter, place in layer of fish, season with peper and salt and a little butter, then another layer with plenty of butter on last layer; then butter inside of second soup dish very thoroughly and turn it upside down over the fish; put in oven and bake twenty minutes or till flakes break. Those who use wine can pour over fish before baking a wine glass sherry or madeira, using less butter.