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Fish Pies

These are served at all of the English and French inns, and are not hard to make at home.

Dip 1/2 pound of stale bread-crumbs in enough milk to moisten, add 1 ounce of butter, a little salt and pepper, and beat until smooth over the fire. Add parsley, thyme, and a bayleaf, and take off to cool. Skin and bone 2 good flounder, cod, bass, or mackerel; scrape and pound half of the flesh and add it to the bread mixture. Season the rest, cut into slices, and arrange it in layers in a deep dish, with forcemeat of the fish and bread between, and dropping little bits of butter here and there. Have ready 1 cup of fish broth or consomme or veal stock, rather thick and well seasoned; pour it over and arrange slices of bacon on top, under a lid of fine puff paste. Leave a hole in the middle for the steam to escape, cover with a layer of buttered paper, and bake 3 hours in a slow oven. Take off the paper, and when the pie is brown, fill the hole with 1/2 cup of stock, mixed with a tablespoonful of sherry or white wine, and serve cold.