Paper-bag Cookery Part 3

MACKEREL

has the reputation of being a tasty but very indigestible fish.

Paper-bagged, however, it retains its savoury nature, but loses its undue richness. It should not be washed, but wiped with a damp cloth, split open, seasoned with a little salt, pepper, and fine oatmeal, sprinkled with a few tiny bits of b.u.t.ter on the inner side, slipped into a greased bag, and cooked from ten to fifteen minutes according to size.

SARDINES

are very appetising when cooked in a paper bag. Open the tin, and empty it, oil as well, into a bag. Do not grease the bag. While the sardines are in the oven, make b.u.t.tered toast, which, it is perhaps needless to say, is one of the things which cannot be prepared in a paper bag. Cut the toast into strips and serve one sardine on each strip. They will take about five minutes in the oven.

KEDGEREE

is a splendid breakfast dish on a cold winter's morning, and as it can be entirely prepared over night, saves much time and trouble in preparing breakfast. Grease a bag very thoroughly and abundantly; place in it equal quant.i.ties of cold cooked fish freed from bone and skin, and cooked rice, pepper and salt to taste, one ounce of b.u.t.ter, one teaspoonful of made mustard, and two chopped hard-boiled eggs. Mix very thoroughly. Next morning all that remains to be done is to get the oven hot, put in the bag and let it remain for ten minutes, when it will be ready to serve.

BRILL AND TURBOT

are both extremely delicate cooked in paper bags. Clean the brill, cut off the fins, and rub it over with lemon juice. Put it in a well greased bag with half a teacupful of water, and cook it from fifteen to twenty minutes according to size.

Turbot, of course, must not have the fins cut off, these being a great delicacy, but otherwise it is cooked exactly like brill.

COD SOUNDS.

These must be soaked for an hour or two in strong salt and water, then very thoroughly washed and dried. They are then put in a paper bag with two tablespoonfuls of milk, and will take forty-five minutes to cook to perfection.

SALT FISH

should be soaked for a few hours in water and a little milk, then wiped dry and put into fresh water with a quarter of a pint of vinegar in it, in which it must remain overnight. Next day, take it out, wipe it dry, rub it over with b.u.t.ter, and put it into a well greased bag. It will take an hour to cook.

EELS.

Small eels, such as are usually boiled, are most suitable for paper-bag cookery. Take four small eels, put them into a very well greased bag with one tablespoonful of water and a piece of b.u.t.ter the size of a walnut. Put into a hot oven for ten minutes, then turn the gas half-way down, and leave the bag for another twenty minutes. The eels will then be cooked to perfection, and of rich and delicate flavour. They should be served in a small tureen, and covered with parsley sauce.

EEL PASTY

is very delicious. A good crust is made from self-raising flour, b.u.t.ter, and an egg. Cut the pastry in two, and roll each piece into a pretty oval or round shape. Put the eels, cut into inch-long pieces, on the one half of the pastry; sprinkle them with minced parsley, a finely chopped onion, a little grated nutmeg, pepper, salt, and the juice of half a lemon. Cover over with the other piece of pastry, pinching the edges well together, and ornamenting them with a fork. Put into a very well b.u.t.tered paper bag, and cook for an hour in a moderate oven. Have ready a very nicely flavoured thick white sauce, and when the pie has been removed from the bag and is on a hot dish, cut a hole in the upper crust and pour in the sauce.

FISH CAKE

can be made from the remains of any cold fish. Pick the fish free from skin and bone, chop it finely, mix it well with equal quant.i.ties of bread-crumbs and cold potatoes, finely minced parsley, salt, and pepper.

Make it into a cake with a well beaten egg, put it into a well greased bag, and cook for about half an hour in a well heated oven.

A COD'S HEAD AND SHOULDERS

cannot be better cooked than in a paper bag. Cleanse the fish thoroughly, and rub it well over with salt, which improves the flavour very much. Then wipe it dry and fill with a stuffing of bread-crumbs, chopped parsley, a small chopped onion, some grated suet, and a beaten egg. Rub the fish lightly over with b.u.t.ter, put into a greased bag, and cook forty minutes. The natural juices of the fish will form a sauce impossible to improve upon. A fresh haddock may be stuffed and cooked in the same manner, and is extremely savoury.

FRESH HERRINGS

gain very much in flavour when cooked in a paper bag, and lose their oiliness. They are cleaned, wiped dry, split open, seasoned with salt, pepper, and flour. The bag is lightly greased to prevent the fish from sticking, but no b.u.t.ter or dripping must be put on the herring. Fifteen minutes will cook them to a turn.

PLAICE, SOLES, AND FLOUNDERS

are simply brushed over with oiled b.u.t.ter, put into a well greased bag, and cooked for ten to twenty minutes according to size.

SEA BREAM.

Paper-bag cookery is ideal for bream. Well wash the fish, but do not have it scaled. Open it and fill with the stuffing recommended for cod's head and shoulders. Fasten it together again, wipe dry, and put into a greased bag. Cook for thirty minutes--longer if very large. Turn out on a hot dish, remove paper, scales, and skin; then place the bream on another hot dish on which a large piece of b.u.t.ter has been melted. Serve at once.

FISH STEW

is an uncommon but very excellent dish. Small soles, flounders, dabs, and eels are capital cooked thus. Sometimes very small fish of this sort can be bought cheaply, but seem hardly worth cooking, and would be certainly cooked into mere dry sc.r.a.ps in ordinary cookery. Prepared in a paper bag, however, a very dainty meal may be made from them. Cleanse the fish and wipe them dry. Have ready a large bag, which has been sharply inspected and p.r.o.nounced intact; well grease it both inside and out, put in the fish, cut in halves, or if very tiny, whole, if eels, cut into inch-long pieces. A mixture of the above-mentioned fish is better than if the stew consist of one kind only. Add half an onion cut into very thin slices, some finely chopped parsley, two cloves, one blade of mace, two bay leaves, a sprig of thyme, salt and pepper to taste. When this is all safely in the bag, pour in a cupful of stock, fish or meat stock, or if none is at hand, water will do, but whatever it is it must be slightly thickened. A small gla.s.s of port wine or claret is a great improvement. Close the bag very securely, and put into the oven for thirty-five minutes.

CHAPTER III.

HOW TO COOK MEAT.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PUTTING THE JOINT INTO THE BAG.

This sketch shows how joints must be placed in the paper bag. The bag should rest on the table; lift the uppermost edge, and your food or joint can be slipped in.]

Paper-bag cookery should appeal especially to the caterer for a small family. The difficulty of providing suitable joints for households of three or four persons is very great. A small piece of sirloin or half leg of mutton dries up to nothing when cooked in the ordinary way, and loud are the complaints that the flavour and juiciness of a large joint is not to be had under ten to twelve pounds of meat. Yet, if the housewife invests in the large, juicy joint desired, she finds it a very expensive business. One day's dinner hot and one cold is all that is really relished. Then follow the monotonous hash, the grill, the fried-up pieces, till everybody is tired of the eternal warmed-up dinners. If it is summer, probably a third of the expensive joint goes bad before it can be eaten up.

[Ill.u.s.tration: TAKING THE BAG OUT OF THE OVEN.

The nose of the dish should be held about two inches under the grid.

This allows the bag to be pulled out on to the dish.]

Cooked in a paper bag, however, the small joint is full as juicy and savoury as the eighteen-pound sirloin can be, while a dainty piece of loin of lamb is a delicacy which must be tasted to be realised.

LOIN OF LAMB.

Two pounds and a half or three pounds of loin of lamb will make a sufficient dinner for a small family of three or four persons, and leave enough cold to serve for supper. Wipe the meat over with a cloth dipped in hot water, and then with a clean dry cloth. Loin of lamb or mutton, being a fat joint, it is better not to grease the bag. Prepare a nice veal stuffing and lay it along the inside of the loin, drawing the flap over and skewering it to keep it in position. Put the meat in a good-sized bag; have the oven well heated; place the bag on the grid.

Ten minutes later turn the gas about half-way down, and let it cook forty minutes longer, when it will be done to a turn, and be a rich golden brown.