The Cook's Decameron Part 13

Fillet a sole and put it in a saute-pan with one and a half ounces of b.u.t.ter and a clove of garlic with one cut in it, then sprinkle over it a little chopped fennel, salt and pepper, and let it cook for a few minutes. Turn over the fillets w hen they are sufficiently cooked on one side, take out the garlic and cover the fish with a puree of tomatoes at the last.

No. 63. Sogliole alla Veneziana (Sole)

Ingredients: Sole, anchovies, b.u.t.ter, bacon, onion, stock, Chablis, salt, nutmeg, parsley, Spanish olives, one bay leaf.

Fillet a sole and interlard each piece with a bit of anchovy. Tie up the fillets and put them in a saute-pan with two ounces of b.u.t.ter, a slice of bacon or ham, and a few small slices of onion. Cover half over with good stock and a gla.s.s of Chablis, and add salt, a pinch of nutmeg, a bunch of parsley, and a bay leaf. Cover with b.u.t.tered paper, and cook on a slow fire for about an hour. Drain the fish, pa.s.s the liquor through a sieve, reduce it to the consistency of a thick sauce, and pour it over the fish. Garnish each fillet with a Spanish olive stuffed with anchovy.

No. 64. Sogliole alla Parmigiana (Sole).*

Ingredients: Sole, Parmesan, b.u.t.ter, cream, cayenne.

Fillet a sole and wipe each piece with a clean cloth, then place them in a fireproof dish, and put a small piece of b.u.t.ter on each fillet. Then make a good white sauce, and mix it with two tablespoonsful of grated Parmesan and half a gill of cream. Cover the fish well with the sauce, and bake in a moderate oven for twenty minutes.

*Lemon soles may be used in any of the above-named dishes.

No. 65. Salmone alla Genovese (Salmon)

Ingredients: Salmon, Genoese sauce (No. 5), b.u.t.ter, lemon.

Boil a bit of salmon, drain it, take off the skin, and mask it with a Genoese sauce, to which add a spoonful of the water in which the salmon has been boiled, and at the last add a pat of fresh b.u.t.ter and a squeeze of lemon juice.

No. 66. Salmone alla Perigo (Salmon)

Ingredients: Salmon, forcemeat of fish, truffles, b.u.t.ter, Madeira, croutons of bread, crayfish tails, anchovy b.u.t.ter.

Cut a bit of salmon into well shaped fillets, and marinate them in lemon juice and a bunch of herbs for two hours, wipe them, put a layer of forcemeat of fish over each, and decorate them with slices of truffle.

When put them into a well-b.u.t.tered saute-pan with half a cup of stock and a gla.s.s of Madeira or Marsala, cover with b.u.t.tered paper, and put them into a moderate oven for twenty minutes. Arrange the fillets in a circle on croutons of bread, garnish the centre with crayfish tails and with truffles cut into dice, a quarter of a pint of Velute sauce (No.

2), and half a teaspoonful of anchovy b.u.t.ter. Glaze the fillets and serve.

No. 67. Salmone alla giardiniera (Salmon)

Ingredients: Salmon, forcemeat of fish, vegetables, b.u.t.ter, Bechamel, and Espagnole sauce.

Prepare the fillets as above (No. 66), and put on each a layer of white forcemeat of fish. Cook a macedoine of vegetables separately, and garnish each fillet with some of it, then cook them in a covered stewpan Put a crouton of bread in an entree dish and garnish it with cooked peas, mixed with Bechamel sauce (No. 3), stock, and b.u.t.ter. Around this place the fillets of fish, leaving the centre with the peas uncovered.

Pour some rich Espagnole sauce (No. 1) round the fillets and serve.

No. 68. Salmone alla Farnese (Salmon)

Ingredients: Salmon, oil, lemon juice, thyme, salt, pepper, nutmeg, mayonnaise sauce, lobster b.u.t.ter, gelatine, Velute sauce, olives, anchovy b.u.t.ter, white truffles, mushrooms in oil, crayfish.

Boil a piece of salmon, and when cold cut it into fillets and marinate them for two hours in oil, lemon juice, salt, thyme pepper, and nutmeg.

Then make a good mayonnaise and add to it some lobster b.u.t.ter mixed with a little dissolved gelatine and Velute sauce (No. 2). Wipe the fillets and arrange them in a circle on a dish, and pour the mayonnaise over them. Then decorate the border of the dish with aspic jelly, and in the centre put some stoned Spanish olives stuffed with anchovy b.u.t.ter, truffles, mushrooms in oil, and crayfish tails.

No. 69. Salmone alla Santa Fiorentina (Salmon)

Ingredients: Salmon, eggs, mayonnaise, parsley, flour.

Marinate a piece of boiled salmon for an hour; take out the bone and cut the fish into fillets, wipe them, roll them in flour and dip them in eggs beaten up or in mayonnaise sauce, and fry them a good colour.

Arrange in a circle on the dish, garnish with fried parsley, and serve with Dutch or mayonnaise sauce. Any fillets of fish may be cooked in this manner.

No. 70. Salmone alla Francesca (Salmon)

Ingredients: Salmon, b.u.t.ter, onions, parsley, salt, pepper, nutmeg, stock, Chablis, Espagnole sauce (No.1) mushrooms, anchovy b.u.t.ter, lemon.

Put a firm piece of salmon in a stewpan with one and a half ounces of b.u.t.ter, an onion cut up, a teaspoonful of chopped parsley (blanched), salt, pepper, very little nutmeg, a cup of stock, and a gla.s.s of Chablis. Cook for half an hour over a hot fire, turn the salmon occasionally, and if it gets dry, add a cup of Espagnole sauce. Let it boil until sufficiently cooked, and then put it on a dish. Into the sauce put four mushrooms cooked in white sauce, half a teaspoonful of anchovy b.u.t.ter and a little lemon juice. Pour the sauce over the salmon and serve.

No. 71. Fillets of Salmon in Papiliotte

Ingredients: Salmon, oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, nutmeg, herbs.

Cut a piece of salmon into fillets, marinate them in oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and herbs for two hours. Wipe and put them into paper souffle cases with a little oil, b.u.t.ter, and herbs. Cook them on a gridiron, and serve with a sauce piquante made in the following manner: Half a pint of rich Espagnole sauce (No. 1) and a dessert-spoonful of New Century{*} sauce, warmed up in a bain-marie.

*Can be obtained at Messrs Lazenby's, Wigmoree Street, W.

Beef, Mutton, Veal, Lamb, &C.