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Lobster, Manhattan

Procure two fine live lobsters of two and a half pounds each, place in a saucepan just big enough to hold them, add a sliced carrot, half a sliced onion, a branch parsley, bay leaf, gill white wine, pint water, teaspoon salt and three saltspoons paprika. Cover top of pan with a coarse damp towel, place lid on, set pan on brisk fire for five minutes, then shift pan beside fire and let steam for twenty-five minutes. Lift up lobsters, detach tails and claws, cut bodies in small pieces and add again to pan, then let liquor reduce on fire to half the quantity.

Mix in a saucepan a tablespoon melted butter and one and a half ounces flour, strain lobster broth into pan, briskly stir on fire until it comes to a boil and let boil for five minutes. Pick meat off tails and claws, cut it in half inch pieces, then add to sauce with twelve sliced, canned mushrooms, a tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, half gill thick cream, half saltspoon grated nutmeg, mix well and let slowly cook ten minutes, stirring once in a while. Prepare a green butter, add it little by little to lobster, continually mixing with wooden spoon while adding, dress lobster in a deep dish and serve with six freshly prepared, lightly buttered toasts separately.