FISH AND OYSTERS.

FISH, to scale readily, should be dipped in boiling water, for a second only. Clean thoroughly, not forgetting to remove the eyes and ears, but in so doing try not to destroy the shape of the head, which not only adds to the looks of the boiled fish but to its flavor as well. Salt your fish the day previous to cooking, this applies to both baked and fried fish. Heat the salt; this little extra trouble will pay you, for then the salt will penetrate through the flesh to the bone. Rub with salt inside and outside. Remember--heat the salt, this is easily done by putting the salt in a tin plate and setting in the oven a minute.

To cook fish properly is very important, as no food, perhaps, is so insipid as fish if carelessly cooked. It must be well done and properly salted. A good rule to cook fish by is the following: Allow ten minutes to the first pound and five minutes for each additional pound; for example: Say you have a fish weighing five pounds--boil it thirty minutes. By pulling out a fin you may ascertain whether your fish is done; if it comes out easily and the meat is an opaque white, your fish has boiled long enough. Nothing is so disgusting to the palate as a piece of raw or underdone fish. Always set your fish on to boil in hot water, hot from the teakettle, adding salt and a dash of vinegar to keep the meat firm; an onion, a head of celery and parsley roots are always an acceptable flavor to any kind of boiled fish, no matter what kind of sauce you intend to serve it with. If you wish to serve the fish whole, tie it in a napkin and lay it on an old plate at the bottom of the kettle; if you have a regular "fish kettle" this is not necessary. I prefer carving, or rather cutting up, the fish before boiling, and then arranging the fish on the platter as though it were whole--head first and so on, it is then much more convenient to serve. In boiling fish this way, always lay the head at the bottom of the kettle. In boiling fish, avoid adding too much water--I have heard a great many complaints about getting the sauce too thin, or too thick, especially the former. A good way to thicken sauces, where flour is used, is an even teaspoonful of flour to a cupful of sauce, or the yelk of one egg to a cupful of sauce. When boiling fish, allow the water to just reach the top, but not to cover it.

In frying fish do not leave the fish lie in the spider in which it has been fried, for this absorbs the fat and destroys the delicate flavor. Be sure that the fish is done. Fried fish should be nicely browned, then removed at once to a platter. Persons who say they can not eat fried fish, on account of its oily, indigestible qualities, do not know that in most cases it is not the mode of cooking that is to blame, but the careless cook, who allows it to spoil after it is cooked.

WHEN TO EAT VARIOUS KINDS OF FISH.

Fresh Salmon is best in May.

Pickerel is best from September to January.

Black Bass is best from September to January.

Pike is best from January until April.

Carp is best from October until April.

Shad is best from March until May.

Trout all the year round.

Lobster is best from May until September.

Oysters are best from September until April.

Prepare trout, pickerel, or pike in the following manner: After the fish has been scaled and thoroughly cleaned, remove all the meat that adheres to the skin, being careful not to injure the skin; take out all the meat from head to tail, cut open along the back bone, removing it also; but do not disfigure the head and tail. Still another way is to pull off the whole skin of the fish, then remove all the meat, being very careful not to have any bones mixed with it; chop the meat in a chopping bowl, then heat
about a quarter of a pound of butter in a spider, throw in a handful of chopped parsley, and some soaked white bread; remove from the fire and add an onion grated, salt, pepper, pounded almonds, three whole eggs and the yelks of two also a very little nutmeg grated. Mix all thoroughly and fill the skin until it looks natural. Boil in salt water, containing a piece of butter, celery root and parsley and an onion; when done remove from the fire and lay on a platter. Have some almonds blanched, cut each almond lengthwise into four strips, and stick them into the body of the fish, until it looks as though it were all bristles. Thicken the fish sauce with yelks of eggs, adding a few slices of lemon. To bake this fish first roll it in flour, then lay it in plenty of fresh butter.

I take it for granted that you have cleaned and salted the trout the day previous; line a kettle with an onion cut up, also some celery root and parsley, if you have it; tie the fish in a napkin and lay it on this bed of roots; pour in enough water to just cover it and add a dash of vinegar--the vinegar keeps the meat firm--then boil over a quick fire and add more salt to the water the fish has been boiled in. Lay your dish on a hot platter and prepare the following sauce: Set a cup of sweet cream in a kettle, heat it, add a lump of fresh butter, salt and pepper and thicken with a dessertspoonful of flour (wet the flour with a little cold milk before adding), stir the flour into the cream and boil about one minute, stirring constantly; pour over the fish. Now boil two eggs, and while they are boiling blanche about a dozen or more almonds and stick them into the fish, points up, now dash the eggs into cold water, peel them, separate the whites from the yelks, chop up each separately in a saucer, with a knife; chop up some nice fresh parsley. Garnish the fish, first with a row of chopped yelks, then white, until all is used up; lay chopped parsley all around the platter. Eat hot.

Clean well, be very particular about getting off all the scales; remove the head, split open and clean inside as thoroughly as out; wash and wipe dry; sprinkle with salt inside and outside, and dredge with flour. Have ready a frying pan of boiling hot butter; put in the fish and fry a nice brown, turning at the end of five minutes. Lay on a hot platter and garnish with parsley and slices of lemon.

After having carefully cleaned, salt well and lay it in the baking pan with a small cupful of water, and strew flakes of butter on top, also salt, pepper and a little chopped parsley. Bake about one hour, basting often until brown. Serve on a heated platter; garnish with parsley and lemon and make a nice sauce by adding a glass of sherry and a little catsup and thicken with a teaspoonful of flour, adding this to fish gravy. Serve potatoes with fish, boiled in the usual way, making a sauce of two tablespoonfuls of butter put into a saucepan, to heat. Throw in a bunch of parsley chopped very fine and salt and pepper to taste, adding a small cup of sweet cream, thickened with a spoonful of flour. Pour over potatoes.

Salt the fish the day previous; line the kettle with slices of onions and celery root and lay the fish upon this, adding water to barely cover; add a piece of fresh butter, a few slices of lemon and a dash of vinegar, also a few cloves. Let the fish boil, uncovered, and in the meantime soak half a "lebkuchen," the finest you can get, in a very little vinegar; add a handful of raisins, also a handful of pounded almonds and some ground cinnamon; sweeten with a handful of brown sugar and a tablespoonful of syrup; add also a small crust of rye bread. By this time your fish will be ready to turn, then add the sauce and allow the fish to boil a few minutes longer. Taste, and if too sour add more sugar. Take up the fish carefully, lay it on a platter and let the sauce boil until it coats the spoon, then pour over the fish. Eat warm or cold.

Clean the fish thoroughly, and wash it in hot water, wipe dry and salt inside and out. If you heat the salt it will penetrate through the meat of the fish in less time. Now take a porcelain-lined kettle, lay in it a piece of butter about the size of an egg; cut up an onion, some celery root and parsley root and a few slices of lemon, and lay the fish in, either whole or cut up in slices; boil in enough water to just cover the fish, and add more salt if required, and throw in about a dozen whole peppers, black or white; season also with ground white pepper. Let the fish boil quickly. In the meantime beat up the yelks of two eggs, and pound a handful of almonds to a paste, and add to the beaten yelks, together with a tablespoonful of cold water. When done remove the fish to a larger platter; but to ascertain whether the fish has cooked long enough, take hold of the fins, if they come out readily your fish has cooked enough. Strain the sauce through a sieve, taking out the slices of lemon and with them garnish the top of the fish; add the strained sauce to the beaten egg, stirring constantly as you do so; then return the sauce to the kettle, and stir until it boils, then remove quickly and pour it over the fish. When it is cold garnish with curly parsley.

This fish is best prepared "scharf." Clean your fish thoroughly and salt the day previous; wrap it in a clean towel and lay it on ice until wanted. Line a porcelain-lined kettle with celery and parsley roots; cut up an onion, add a lump of fresh butter, and pack the fish in the kettle, head first, either whole or cut up; sprinkle a little salt and white pepper over all and add about a dozen peppercorns; put on enough water to just cover, and add a whole lemon cut in slices. Do not let the fish boil quickly. Add also about a dozen pounded almonds. By this time the fish will be ready to turn, then beat up the yelks of two or three eggs in a bowl, to be added to the sauce, after the fish is boiled. Try the fish with a fork and if the meat loosens readily it is done. Now take up each piece carefully, if it has been cut up, and arrange on a large platter, head first and so on, make the fish appear whole, and garnish with the slices of lemon and sprigs of parsley; then mince up some parsley and throw on top of the fish, around the lemon slices. Now thicken the gravy by adding the beaten yelks, add a tablespoonful of cold water to the yelks before adding to the boiling sauce; stir, remove from the fire at once and pour over the fish. If you prefer the sauce strained, then strain before adding the yelks of the eggs and almonds. Give this a fair trial and you will never prepare pickerel any other way.

Pike and perch may be prepared in the same manner.

Cook any large fish in salt water--salmon is particularly nice prepared in this style--add one cup of vinegar, onions, celery root and parsley. When the fish is cooked enough, remove it from the fire, kettle and all--letting the fish remain in its sauce until the following sauce is prepared. Take two hard-boiled eggs, rub the yelks with two raw yelks; add one teaspoonful of prepared mustard, some salt, pepper, sweet butter, some vinegar and lemon juice; take parsley, green onions, capers, shallots and one large vinegar pickle and some astragon, chop all up very fine, as fine as possible; chop up the hard-boiled whites separately and then add the sauce; mix all this together thoroughly, then taste to see if seasoned to suit. This is often called fish piquant.

Clean with care in order not to destroy its shape; wash in salt water, wipe perfectly dry and roll in salted flour and fry in hot butter; drain off every drop of grease; serve on a hot platter and garnish with parsley.

Dry the fish (which should be a large one) thoroughly after it is cleaned; rub well with salt inside and out. Make a stuffing of grated bread crumbs, flakes of butter, salt, pepper and oysters; stuff the fish and sew it up. Lay it in a baking pan, with a cupful of water to keep it from burning; bake an hour, basting often with pieces of butter and the water in pan; bake until brown. When done lay the fish on a hot platter and cover tightly while you boil up the gravy with a spoonful of catsup; add a little more hot water and a spoonful of browned flour, which has been wet with a little cold water and the juice of part of a lemon. Serve sauce in sauceboat and garnish the fish with slices of lemon, curly parsley, or watercress.

Take any kind of boiled fish, separate it from the bones carefully, chop with a little parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Beat up an egg with a teaspoonful of milk and flour. Roll the fish into balls and turn them in the beaten egg and cracker crumbs or bread. Fry a light brown. Serve with any sauce or a mayonnaise.

Clean and dry the fish, salt inside and out; roll in cracker flour or bread crumbs and then in beaten egg that has been seasoned with a pinch of salt. Fry in very hot butter, a nice brown on both sides. If the fish is very large, split it lengthwise through the center and then cut into pieces about three inches wide. Serve with catsup and slices of lemon.

Fry same as white fish, omitting the eggs; just roll in cracker or bread crumbs--flour slightly salted is best--and fry in very hot butter.

Clean, wash and wipe dry; salt and roll in flour and fry in hot butter a nice brown on both sides.

This delicious fish is best prepared in the following manner: Scale thoroughly, salt and pepper inside and out, and lay upon ice, wrapped in a clean cloth over night. When ready to cook cut up a celery or parsley root, or both, two fine large onions, a carrot or two, and let this come to a boil in about one quart of water, then lay in the fish, whole or in pieces, to suit yourself; let the water almost cover the fish; add a lump of fresh butter and three or four tomatoes (out of season you may use canned tomatoes, say three or four large spoonfuls); let the fish boil half an hour, turning it occasionally. Try it by taking hold of the fins, if they come out readily, the fish is done. Take it up carefully, lay on a large platter and strain the sauce, then let it boil, adding a cupful of sweet cream in which you have dissolved a teaspoonful of flour; chop up a bunch of parsley and garnish the fish with this, letting a quantity mingle with the sauce. You may omit the cream and thicken with the yelks of two or three eggs. This fish is very good fried also.

Take new Holland herring, remove the heads and scales, wash well, open them and take out the milch and lay the herring and milch in milk or water over night. Next day lay the herring in a stone jar with alternate layers of onions cut up, also lemon cut in slices, a few cloves, whole peppers and a few bay leaves, some capers and whole mustard seed. Now take the milch and rub it through a hair sieve, the more of them you have the better for the sauce; stir in a spoonful of brown sugar and vinegar and pour it over the herring. Will keep for a long time.

Clean, wipe dry, add salt and pepper and lay them in a pan; put flakes of butter on top, an onion cut up, some minced celery and a few bread crumbs. A cup of hot water put into the pan will prevent burning. Baste often; bake until brown.

Clean, wipe dry, salt and roll in beaten egg and cracker flour; fry in hot butter.

OYSTERS.

In giving an oyster supper always serve raw oysters first, then stewed, fried and so on. Serve nice, white crisp celery, olives, lemons, good catsup, cold slaw and pickles, and do not forget to have two or three kinds of crackers on the table. Chili sauce is a good addition; also piccalilli.

Drain off all the liquor from a quart of oysters, heat the liquor, and at the same time heat a quart of rich, sweet milk to boiling point, skim the boiling liquor, then put in the oysters. In the meantime put salt and pepper in the oyster bowl and a tablespoonful of sweet butter; when the oysters begin to ruffle, take the stew from the fire, pour it into the bowl, stirring constantly, adding the scalded milk at the same time. Serve with oyster crackers; be very careful not to let the milk burn, nor the oysters cook too long; take them up as soon as they are ruffled.

Use none but select oysters for frying. Drain off every drop of liquor, lay them on a clean towel, and cover with another, pat lightly upon the covered oysters so as to dry them, remove the upper cloth and sprinkle the oysters with salt and pepper. Crush some soda crackers very fine--do this with a rolling pin--roll each oyster into the cracker flour; beat up three or more eggs lightly, dip each oyster into the beaten eggs; pick up each oyster with a fork and drop carefully into a frying pan containing plenty of butter; the butter must be very hot; test by frying one oyster, if it browns quickly, go on with the rest. Put on a platter garnished with parsley. Always serve lemons, catsup, pickles and cold slaw with fried oysters. Your oysters will fry much nicer by using half lard and half butter.

Roll fine a pound of soda crackers or bread crumbs; put a layer of these in the bottom of a deep buttered dish (a porcelain pudding dish is preferable to any other); wet the layer of cracker crumbs slightly with the liquor of the oysters, then put a layer of oysters on top of the cracker crumbs; sprinkle with fine salt and pepper, and lay small pieces of butter here and there over the oysters; then another layer of crumbs, and so on until you have used up all the oysters. Have a layer of cracker crumbs on top; put flakes of butter over the top; pour on milk, a cupful over all, and bake a light brown. It is improved by adding a couple of well-beaten eggs with the milk.

Drain off every drop of liquor from the oysters; set the liquor on to boil and skim it thoroughly; put in a lump of best butter, salt and pepper to taste; throw in the oysters and boil about two minutes and serve with crackers. Delicious.

Is made precisely like a milk stew (called oyster stew), using cream instead of milk.

Take large select oysters and drain off every bit of liquor; lay the oysters on a clean towel, cover with another, and pat them lightly in order to dry them, then remove the upper towel and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Crush two or three soda crackers with a rolling pin until they are as fine as flour. Salt the rolled cracker crumbs slightly; roll each oyster in the cracker flour, then beat up three or more eggs slightly, and dip in this each oyster as you take it from the rolled crackers; pick up each oyster with a fork and drop carefully into a frying pan, containing plenty of butter, the butter must be very hot (use half lard and half butter); test by frying one oyster, if it browns quickly, go on with the rest; when done put them on a hot platter, and pour a puree of hot tomatoes over them and garnish with curly parsley.

Make a very rich puff paste and bake in patty-pans; bake smaller patties to be used as covers (many prefer the patties uncovered); when baked turn out on a large platter until your oyster filling is ready. Set the oysters on to boil in their own liquor, add a piece of butter, a little cream; beat up the yelks of two eggs, with a little salt and pepper. Remove the oysters from the fire, stir in the beaten egg; fill the patties and set in the oven; brush with beaten egg; bake about five minutes. Serve hot. Boil the liquor, and skim before putting in the oysters.

In the first place get some nice clam shells and wash them, wipe them dry and butter them inside. Range these closely in a large baking pan and prop them up with pieces of coal; put one oyster in each shell, sprinkle salt and pepper over each one, and pour a spoonful of the following mixture over each oyster: Pour into a farina kettle about two cups of milk, stir in two spoonfuls of butter, a little salt and pepper.

Take from the fire as soon as boiled, and thicken with one tablespoonful of flour wet with the liquor of the oysters; add also the yelks of two eggs, then stir and pour a spoonful of this mixture over each oyster and bake five minutes. Serve on the shell. Delicious.

Scald the tomatoes, take off the skins carefully and stew with a spoonful each of butter and sugar; salt and pepper to taste. When very soft, strain through a coarse sieve, and if necessary thicken with a spoonful of flour; pour this over the oysters hot. This should be prepared before you begin to fry the oysters.

Take out the sandbags and pull off the spongy substance from the sides; wash and wipe dry; roll in beaten cracker crumbs, which have been slightly salted, then in beaten egg. Have ready a deep spider, filled with seething hot butter; fry brown. Serve hot and garnish with parsley and slices of lemon.