The American Housewife Part 4

73. _Poached Eggs._

Break the eggs into a pan, beat them to a froth, then put them into a b.u.t.tered tin pan, set the pan on a few coals, put in a small lump of b.u.t.ter, a little salt, let them cook very slowly, stirring them constantly till they become quite thick, then turn them on to b.u.t.tered toast.

74. _Directions for Broiling, Boiling and Frying Fish._

Fish for boiling or broiling are the best the day after they are caught.

They should be cleaned when first caught, washed in cold water, and half a tea cup of salt sprinkled on the inside of them. If they are to be broiled, sprinkle pepper on the inside of them--keep them in a cool place. When fish is broiled, the bars of the gridiron should be rubbed over with a little b.u.t.ter, and the inside of the fish put towards the fire, and not turned till the fish is nearly cooked through--then b.u.t.ter the skin side, and turn it over--fish should be broiled slowly. When fresh fish is to be boiled, it should either be laid on a fish strainer, or sewed up in a cloth--if not, it is very difficult to take it out of the pot without breaking. Put the fish into cold water, with the back bone down. To eight or ten pounds of fish, put half of a small tea cup of salt. Boil the fish until you can draw out one of the fins easily--most kinds of fish will boil sufficiently in the course of twenty or thirty minutes, some kinds will boil in less time. Some cooks do not put their fish into the water till it boils, but it is not a good plan, as the outside gets cooked too much, and breaks to pieces before the inside is sufficiently done. Fish for frying, after being cleaned and washed, should be put into a cloth to have it absorb the moisture.

They should be dried perfectly, and a little flour rubbed over them. No salt should be put on them, if you wish to have them brown well. For five or six pounds of fish, fry three or four slices of salt pork--when brown, take them up, and if they do not make fat sufficient to fry the fish in, add a little lard. When the fish are fried enough, take them up, and for good plain gravy, mix two or three tea spoonsful of flour with a little water, and stir it into the fat the fish was fried in--put in a little b.u.t.ter, pepper, and salt, if you wish to have the gravy rich--add spices, catsup and wine--turn the gravy over the fish. Boiled fish should be served up with drawn b.u.t.ter, or liver sauce, (see directions for making each, Nos. 41 and 51.) Fish, when put on the platter, should not be laid over each other if it can be avoided, as the steam from the under ones makes those on the top so moist, that they will break to pieces when served out.

Great care and punctuality is necessary in cooking fish. If not done sufficiently, or if done too much, they are not good. They should be eaten as soon as cooked. For a garnish to the fish, use pa.r.s.ely, a lemon, or eggs boiled hard, and cut in slices.

75. _Chowder._

Fry three or four slices of pork till 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 a little salt--add cloves, mace, and sliced onions if you like--lay on several bits of your fried pork, and crackers previously soaked soft in cold water. This process repeat till you get in all the fish, then turn on water enough to just cover them--put on a heated bake pan lid. When the fish have stewed about twenty minutes, take them up, and mix a couple of tea spoonsful of flour with a little water, and stir it into the gravy, also, a little b.u.t.ter and pepper.

Half a pint of white wine, spices, and catsup, will improve it. Ba.s.s and cod make the best chowder--black fish and clams make tolerably good ones. The hard part of the clams should be cut off, and thrown away.

76. _Stuffed and Baked Fish._

Soak bread in cold water till soft--drain off the water, mash the bread fine, mix it with a table spoonful of melted b.u.t.ter, a little pepper and salt--a couple of raw eggs makes the dressing cut smoother--add spices if you like. Fill the fish, with the dressing, sew it up, put a tea cup of water in your bake pan, and a small piece of b.u.t.ter--lay in the fish, bake it from forty to fifty minutes. Fresh cod, ba.s.s, and shad, are suitable fish for baking.

77. _Codfish._

Fresh cod is good boiled, fried, or made into a chowder. It is too dry a fish to broil. Salt cod should be soaked in lukewarm water till the skin will come off easily--then take up the fish, sc.r.a.pe off the skin, and put it in fresh water, and set it on a very moderate fire, where it will keep warm without boiling, as it hardens by boiling. It takes between three and four hours to cook it soft--serve it up with drawn b.u.t.ter.

Cold salt codfish is nice minced fine, and mixed with mashed potatoes, and warmed up, with just water enough to moisten it, and considerable b.u.t.ter. It makes a nice dish for breakfast, prepared in the following manner. Pull the fish into small pieces, soak it an hour in warm water, then drain off the water, put a little milk and b.u.t.ter to it, stew it a few minutes, and serve it up with soft boiled eggs.

78. _Cod Sounds and Tongues._

Soak them four or five hours in lukewarm water--then take them out of the water, sc.r.a.pe off the skin, cut them once in two, and stew them in a little milk. Just before they are taken up, stir in b.u.t.ter, and a little flour.

79. _Halibut._

Is nice cut in slices, salted and peppered, and broiled or fried. The fins and thick part is good boiled.

80. _Striped and Sea Ba.s.s._

Ba.s.s are good fried, boiled, broiled, or made into a chowder.

81. _Black Fish._

Are the best boiled or fried--they will do to broil, but are not so good as cooked in any other way.

82. _Shad._

Fresh shad are good baked or boiled, but better broiled. For broiling, they should have a good deal of salt and pepper sprinkled on the inside of them, and remain several hours before broiling. The sp.a.w.n and liver are good boiled or fried. Salt shad and mackerel, for broiling, should be soaked ten or twelve hours in cold water. Salt shad, for boiling, need not be soaked only long enough to get off the scales, without you like them quite fresh--if so, turn boiling water on them, and let them soak in it an hour--then put them into fresh boiling water, and boil them twenty minutes. To pickle shad, mix one pound of sugar, a peck of rock salt, two quarts of blown salt, and a quarter of a pound of salt-petre. Allow this quant.i.ty to every twenty-five shad. Put a layer of the mixture at the bottom of the keg, then a layer of cleaned shad, with the skin side down. Sprinkle on another layer of salt, sugar, and salt-petre, and so on till you get in all the shad. Lay a heavy weight on the shad, to keep it under the brine. If the juice of the shad does not run out so as to form brine sufficient to cover them, in the course of a week, make a little brine, and turn on to them.

83. _Sturgeons._

Sturgeons are good boiled or baked, but better fried. Before baking it, boil it about fifteen minutes, to extract the strong oily taste, and when baked, to eight or ten pounds of it put a quart of water into the pan, and bake it till tender. (See directions for baking fish, No. 76.) The part next to the tail is the best for baking or frying. Sturgeons are very nice, cooked in the following manner. Cut it in slices nearly an inch thick--fry a few slices of pork--when brown, take them up, and put in the sturgeon. When a good brown color, take them up, and stir in a little flour and water, mixed smoothly together. Season the gravy with salt, pepper, and catsup--stir in a little b.u.t.ter, and wine if you like, then put back the sturgeon, and let it stew a few minutes in the gravy.

While the sturgeon is cooking, make force meat b.a.l.l.s of part of the sturgeon and salt pork--fry and use them as a garnish for the fish.

84. _Fish Cakes._

Cold boiled fresh fish, or salt codfish, is nice minced fine, with potatoes, moistened with a little water, and a little b.u.t.ter put in, done up into cakes of the size of common biscuit, and fried brown in pork fat or b.u.t.ter.

85. _Fish Force Meat b.a.l.l.s._

Take a little uncooked fish, chop it fine, together with a little raw salt pork, mix it with one or two raw eggs, a few bread crumbs, and season the whole with pepper and spices. Add a little catsup if you like--do them up into small b.a.l.l.s, and fry them till brown.

86. _Lobsters and Crabs._

Put them into boiling water, and boil them from half to three quarters of an hour, according to their size. Boil half a tea cup of salt with every four pounds of the fish. When cold, crack the sh.e.l.l, and take out the meat, taking care to extract the blue veins, and what is called the lady in the lobster, as they are very unhealthy. If the fish are not eaten cold, warm them up with a little water, vinegar, salt, pepper, and b.u.t.ter. The following way of dressing lobsters looks very prettily. Pick out the sp.a.w.n and red chord, mash them fine, rub them through a sieve, put in a little b.u.t.ter and salt. Cut the lobsters into squares, and warm it, together with the sp.a.w.n, over a moderate fire. When hot, take it up, and garnish it with pa.r.s.ely. The chord and sp.a.w.n are a handsome garnish for any kind of fish.

87. _Scollops._

Are nice boiled, and then fried, or boiled and pickled, in the same manner as oysters. Take them out of the sh.e.l.ls--when boiled, pick out the hearts, and throw the rest away, as the heart is the only part that is healthy to eat. Dip the hearts in flour, and fry them in lard till brown. The hearts are good stewed, with a little water, b.u.t.ter, salt, and pepper.

88. _Eels._

Eels, if very large, are best split open, cut into short pieces, and seasoned with salt and pepper, and broiled several hours after they have been salted. They are good cut into small strips, and laid in a deep dish, with bits of salt pork, seasoned with salt and pepper, and covered with pounded rusked bread, then baked half an hour. Small eels are the best fried.

89. _Trout._

Trout are good boiled, broiled, or fried--they are also good stewed a few minutes, with bits of salt pork, b.u.t.ter, and a little water. Trout, as well as all other kinds of fresh water fish, are apt to have an earthy taste--to remove it, soak them in salt and water a few minutes, after they are cleaned.

90. _Clams._

Wash and put them in a pot, with just water enough to prevent the sh.e.l.ls burning at the bottom of the pot. Heat them till the sh.e.l.ls open--take the clams out of them, and warm them with a little of the clam liquor, a little salt, b.u.t.ter, and pepper. Toast a slice or two of bread, soak it in the clam liquor, lay it in a deep dish, and turn the clams on to it.

For clam pancakes, mix flour and milk together to form a thick batter--some cooks use the clam liquor, but it does not make the pancakes as light as the milk. To each pint of the milk, put a couple of eggs, and a few clams--they are good taken out of the sh.e.l.ls without stewing, and chopped fine, or stewed, and put into the cakes whole. Very large long clams are good taken out of the sh.e.l.ls without stewing, and broiled.