The New England Cook Book Part 4

70. _Chowder._

Fry three or four slices of pork until brown. Cut each of your fish into five or six slices, flour and put a layer of them in your pork fat, sprinkle on pepper and very little salt, cloves, and mace, if you like, lay on several crackers, previously soaked soft, in cold water, and several bits of your fried pork, this operation repeat, till you get in all your fish, then turn on nearly water enough to cover them, put on a heated bake pan lid. When the fish has stewed about twenty minutes, take them up, and mix a tea spoonful of flour, with a little water, and stir it into the gravy, add about an ounce of b.u.t.ter, and cloves. Half a pint of white wine, and the juice of half a lemon, or a tea cup of tomato catsup, improve it. Ba.s.s and Cod, make the best chowder. Some people like them made of clams, the hard part should be cut off.

71. _Stuffed and Baked Fish._

Soak bread in cold water, till soft, then squeeze out all the water, mash it and mix it with a piece of b.u.t.ter, of the size of a hen's egg, a little salt, pepper, cloves, and mace, a couple of raw eggs, makes the dressing cut smoother. Fill the fish with this dressing, and sew it up.

Put a tea cup of water in a bake pan, and a small piece of b.u.t.ter, lay in the fish; bake it about an hour. Fresh cod, ba.s.s, and shad, are suitable fish for baking.

72. _Salt Cod_,

Should be soaked in lukewarm water, till the skin will come off easily.

Sc.r.a.pe it, and change the water, and put it over a moderate fire, where it will keep warm without boiling, boiling hardens rather than softens it. It takes three hours to soak it soft. It should be cut into good square pieces, and served up with drawn b.u.t.ter. Cold codfish is good, minced up fine, with potatoes, and warmed up with b.u.t.ter, and a little water.

73. _Fish Cakes._

Cold, boiled, salt, or fresh fish, are nice mixed up fine, with potatoes, a little b.u.t.ter put in, and moulded up, into small cakes, with the hand, fry them in pork fat, or b.u.t.ter.

74. _Lobsters and Crabs._

Put them into boiling water, and boil them three quarters of an hour, if large, if not, half an hour will be long enough. Boil two thirds of a tea cup of salt, with four or five pounds of lobsters. When cold crack the sh.e.l.ls, take out the meat. Be careful to get out the blue vein, and what is called the lady, as they are very unhealthy.

Lobsters are good cold, or warmed up, with a little vinegar, pepper, salt, and b.u.t.ter. A way of dressing them, which looks very prettily, is to pick out the sp.a.w.n, and red chord, mash it fine, and rub it through the sieve, put in a little b.u.t.ter and salt, cut the lobsters into small squares, and warm it together with the sp.a.w.n, over a moderate fire. When hot take it up, and garnish it with parsly. The chord and sp.a.w.n when strained, are a handsome garnish for any kind of boiled fish.

75. _Scollops._

Are nice fried, or boiled and pickled like oysters, for frying, they should be previously boiled, and taken out of the sh.e.l.ls, and all but the hearts thrown away, as the rest is very unhealthy, dip the hearts, into flour, and fry them till brown in lard. The hearts are also good stewed with a little water, b.u.t.ter, pepper, and salt.

76. _Eels._

If very large, are best, bloated and broiled, they should be bloated several hours before cooking them. If not very large fry them in pork fat; large eels are nice cut into small strips, and laid in a deep dish, with bits of salt pork and pepper, and baked for half an hour.

77. _Clams._

Wash and boil them, until the sh.e.l.ls open, with just water enough to prevent their burning at the bottom of the pot. When the sh.e.l.ls open, take the clams out of them, and warm them, with a little of the liquor, they were boiled in, and a little b.u.t.ter, pepper, and salt. Soak a slice of toasted bread, in the clam liquor, put it in the bottom of a dish and turn the clams on to it when hot. For clam pancakes, take some of the clam liquor, and mix with a little flour, to a pint of flour put two beaten eggs, and a little salt, fry them in lard. Very large long clams are nice taken out of the sh.e.l.l without boiling and broiled.

78. _Stew Oysters._

Take the oysters out of the liquor with a fork, rinse the bits of sh.e.l.l from them, and strain the liquor, put the oysters in a stew pan, with the juice, when scalded through, take them up, turn them on b.u.t.tered toast, salt, b.u.t.ter, and pepper them, to your taste, some cooks add a little catsup or lemon juice.

79. _To Fry Oysters._

Take those that are large, dip them in eggs, and fine bread crumbs, fry them in lard, till of a light brown. They are a nice garnish for boiled or fried fish, if fried when first caught with a little salt, and pepper, sprinkled on them, will keep good several months, provided they are put into a bottle and corked tight, as soon as cooked. Whenever they are to be eaten, warm them with a little water.

80. _Oyster Pancakes._

Mix the juice of the oysters, with flour, in the proportion of a pint of liquor, to a pint of flour, if you have not juice enough, put in a little milk, or water, add a couple of eggs, and a little salt to each pint, fry them in lard.

81. _Oyster Pie._

Line a deep dish with pie crust, fill it with dry pieces of bread; make a nice puff paste, and cover the dish with it, bake till of a light brown, either in a quick oven or bake pan, have the oysters just stewed, by the time the crust is done, take off the upper crust, and remove the pieces of bread, put in the oysters, season them with salt, pepper, and b.u.t.ter, a little catsup improves the pie, but is not essential, cover it with the crust.

82. _Scolloped Oysters._

Pound crackers or rusked bread till fine, b.u.t.ter scolloped tins or sh.e.l.l, sprinkle on the crumbs, then put in a layer of oysters, a small lump of b.u.t.ter, a little pepper, salt, and juice of the oysters, put on another layer of crumbs, and oysters, and so on till the sh.e.l.ls are filled, having the bread crumbs on top; bake them until a light brown.

83. _Vegetables.--Potatoes._

The best way to cook potatoes, is to pare and put them in a pot, with just boiling water enough to prevent their burning, put in a little salt, and cover them up tight, let them stew till you can stick a fork through them easily. If there is any water in the pot turn it off, and put it back on the fire, and let the potatoes steam a few moments longer. The easiest way to cook them, is to put them in boiling water, with the skins on, they should boil constantly till done, if you wish to have them mealy; they are more mealy, to have the water turned off, as soon as you can stick a fork through them easily, and put in a warm place, where they will steam, the lid should be off. Cold, mashed, or whole potatoes are nice cut in slices, and fried in lard or b.u.t.ter.

Sweet potatoes are the best baked. Most potatoes will boil sufficiently in half an hour, new Irish potatoes will boil in less time.

84. _Turnips._

White turnips require about as much boiling, as potatoes. When tender take them up, peel and mash them, season them with a little salt and b.u.t.ter. Yellow turnips require about two hours boiling, if very large, they should be split in two.

85. _Beets._

Beets should not be cut, or sc.r.a.ped before they are boiled. In summer they will boil in an hour, in winter it takes three hours to boil them tender. Boiled beets cut in slices, and put in vinegar, for several days, are nice.

86. _Parsnips and Carrots._

The best way to cook them, is to sc.r.a.pe and split them in two, put them in a stew pan with the flat side down, pour on boiling water enough to cover them, when done take them up, and b.u.t.ter them. Many people boil parsnips whole, but it is not a good plan, as the outside gets done too much, before the inside is cooked sufficiently.

87. _Onions._

Peel and put them in boiling milk, water will do to boil them in but is not as good, when done take them up salt them, and turn a little melted b.u.t.ter, over them.

88. _Artichokes._

Sc.r.a.pe and put them in boiling water with a table spoonful of salt, to a couple of dozen, when boiled tender (which will be in about two hours) take them up and b.u.t.ter them.