Fish
The most essential point in choosing fish is their _freshness_, and this
is determined as follows: if the gills are red, the eyes prominent and
full, and the whole fish stiff, they are good; but if the eyes are sunken,
the gills pale, and the fish flabby, they are stale and unwholesome, and,
though often eaten in this condition, lack all the fine flavor of a
freshly-caught fish.
The fish being chosen, the greatest care is necessary in cleaning. If this
is properly done, one washing will be sufficient: the custom of allowing
fresh fish to lie in water after cleaning, destroys much of their flavor.
Fresh-water fish, especially the cat-fish, have often a muddy taste and
smell. To get rid of this, soak in water strongly salted; say, a cupful of
salt to a gallon of water, letting it heat gradually in this, and boiling
it for one minute; then drying it thoroughly before cooking.
All fish for boiling should be put into cold water, with the exception of
salmon, which loses its color unless put into boiling water. A
tablespoonful each of salt and vinegar to every two quarts of water
improves the flavor of all boiled fish, and also makes the flesh firmer.
Allow ten minutes to the pound after the fish begins to boil, and test
with a knitting-needle or sharp skewer. If it runs in easily, the fish can
be taken off. If a fish-kettle with strainer is used, the fish can be
lifted out without danger of breaking. If not, it should be thoroughly
dredged with flour, and served in a cloth kept for the purpose. In all
cases drain it perfectly, and send to table on a folded napkin laid upon
the platter.
In frying, fish should, like all fried articles, be _immersed_ in the hot
lard or drippings. Small fish can be fried whole; larger ones boned, and
cut in small pieces. If they are egged and crumbed, the _egg_ will form a
covering, hardening at once, and absolutely impervious to fat.
Pan-fish, as they are called,–flounders and small fish generally,–can
also be fried by rolling in Indian meal or flour, and browning in the fat
of salt pork.
Baking and broiling preserve the flavor most thoroughly.
Cold boiled fish can always be used, either by spicing as in the rule to
be given, or by warming again in a little butter and water. Cold fried or
broiled fish, can be put in a pan, and set in the oven till hot, this
requiring not over ten minutes; a longer time giving a strong, oily taste,
which spoils it. Plain boiled or mashed potatoes are always served with
fish where used as a dinner-course. If fish is boiled whole, do not cut
off either tail or head. The tail can be skewered in the mouth if liked;
or a large fish may be boiled in the shape of the letter S by threading a
trussing-needle, fastening a string around the head, then passing the
needle through the middle of the body, drawing the string tight and
fastening it around the tail.
BAKED FISH.
Bass, fresh shad, blue-fish, pickerel, &c., can be cooked in this way:–
See that the fish has been properly cleaned. Wash in salted water, and
wipe dry. For stuffing for a fish weighing from four to six pounds, take
four large crackers, or four ounces of bread-crumbs; quarter of a pound of
salt pork; one teaspoonful of salt, and half a teaspoonful of pepper; a
tablespoonful of chopped parsley, or a teaspoonful of thyme. Chop half the
pork fine, and mix with the crumbs and seasoning, using half a cup of hot
water to mix them, or, if preferred, a beaten egg. Put this dressing into
the body of the fish, which is then to be fastened together with a skewer.
Cut the remainder of the pork in narrow strips, and lay it in gashes cut
across the back of the fish about two inches apart. Dredge thickly with
flour, using about two tablespoonfuls. Put a tin baking-sheet in the
bottom of a pan, as without it the fish can not be easily taken up. Lay
the fish on this; pour a cup of boiling water into the pan, and bake in a
hot oven for one hour, basting it very often that the skin may not crack;
and, at the end of half an hour, dredging again with flour, repeating this
every ten minutes till the fish is done. If the water dries away, add
enough to preserve the original quantity. When the fish is done, slide it
carefully from the tin sheet on to a hot platter. Set the baking-pan on
top of the stove. Mix a teaspoonful of flour with quarter of a cup of cold
water, and stir into the boiling gravy. A tablespoonful of walnut or
mushroom catchup, or of Worcestershire sauce, may be added if liked.
_Serve very hot._
Before sending a baked fish to table, take out the skewer. When done, it
should have a handsome brown crust. If pork is disliked, it may be omitted
altogether, and a tablespoonful of butter substituted in the stuffing.
Basting should be done as often as once in ten minutes, else the skin will
blister and crack. Where the fish is large, it will be better to sew the
body together after stuffing, rather than to use a skewer. The string can
be cut and removed before serving.
If any is left, it can be warmed in the remains of the gravy, or, if this
has been used, make a gravy of one cup of hot water, thickened with one
teaspoonful of flour or corn-starch stirred smooth first in a little cold
water. Add a tablespoonful of butter and any catchup or sauce desired.
Take all bones from the fish; break it up in small pieces, and stew not
over five minutes in the gravy. Or it can be mixed with an equal amount of
mashed potato or bread-crumbs, a cup of milk and an egg added, with a
teaspoonful of salt and a saltspoonful of pepper, and baked until
brown–about fifteen minutes–in a hot oven.
TO BOIL FISH.
General directions have already been given. All fish must boil _very_
gently, or the outside will break before the inside is done. In all cases
salt and a little vinegar, a teaspoonful each, are allowed to each quart
of water. Where the fish has very little flavor, Dubois’ receipt for
boiling will be found exceedingly nice, and much less trouble than the
name applied by professional cooks to this method–_au court
bouillon_–would indicate. It is as follows:–
Mince a carrot, an onion, and one stalk of celery, and fry them in a
little butter. Add two or three sprigs of parsley, two tablespoonfuls of
salt, six pepper-corns, and three cloves. Pour on two quarts of boiling
water and one pint of vinegar, and boil for fifteen minutes. Skim as it
boils, and use, when cold, for boiling the fish. Wine can be used instead
of vinegar; and, by straining carefully and keeping in a cold place, the
same mixture can be used several times.
TO BROIL FISH.
If the fish is large, it should be split, in order to insure its being
cooked through; though notches may be cut at equal distances, so that the
heat can penetrate. Small fish may be broiled whole. The gridiron should
be well greased with dripping or olive oil. If a double-wire gridiron is
used, there will be no trouble in turning either large or small fish. If a
single-wire or old-fashioned iron one, the best way is to first loosen
with a knife any part that sticks; then, holding a platter over the fish
with one hand, turn the gridiron with the other, and the fish can then be
returned to it without breaking.
Small fish require a hot, clear fire; large ones, a more moderate one,
that the outside may not be burned before the inside is done. Cook always
with the _skin-side_ down at first, and broil to a golden brown,–this
requiring, for small fish, ten minutes; for large ones, from ten to
twenty, according to size. When done, pepper and salt lightly; and to a
two-pound fish allow a tablespoonful of butter spread over it. Set the
fish in the oven a moment, that the butter may soak in, and then serve. A
teaspoonful of chopped parsley, and half a lemon squeezed over shad or any
fresh fish, is a very nice addition. Where butter, lemon, and parsley are
blended beforehand, it makes the sauce known as _maitre d’hotel_ sauce,
which is especially good for broiled shad.
In broiling steaks or cutlets of large fish,–say, salmon, halibut, fresh
cod, &c.,–the same general directions apply. Where very delicate broiling
is desired, the pieces of fish can be wrapped in buttered paper before
laying on the gridiron; this applying particularly to salmon.
TO FRY FISH.
Small fish–such as trout, perch, smelts, &c.–may simply be rolled in
Indian meal or flour, and fried either in the fat of salt pork, or in
boiling lard or drippings. A nicer method, however, with fish, whether
small or in slices, is to dip them first in flour or fine crumbs, then in
beaten egg,–one egg, with two tablespoonfuls of cold water and half a
teaspoonful of salt, being enough for two dozen smelts; then rolling again
in crumbs or meal, and dropping into hot lard. The egg hardens instantly,
and not a drop of fat can penetrate the inside. Fry to a golden brown.
Take out with a skimmer; lay in the oven on a double brown paper for a
moment, and then serve.
_Filets_ of fish are merely flounders, or any flat fish with few bones,
boned, skinned, and cut in small pieces; then egged and fried.
To bone a fish of this sort, use a very sharp knife. The fish should have
been scaled, but not cleaned or cut open. Make a cut down the back from
head to tail. Now, holding the knife pressed close to the bone, cut
carefully till the fish is free on one side; then turn, and cut away the
other. To skin, take half the fish at a time firmly in one hand; hold the
blade of the knife flat as in boning, and run it slowly between skin and
flesh. Cut the fish in small diamond-shaped pieces; egg, crumb, and put
into shape with the knife; and then fry. The operation is less troublesome
than it sounds, and the result most satisfactory.
The _bones and trimmings_ remaining can either be stewed in a pint of
water till done, adding half a teaspoonful of salt, a saltspoonful of
pepper, and a tablespoonful of catchup; straining the gravy off, and
thickening with one heaping teaspoonful of flour dissolved in a little
cold water: or they can be broiled. For broiled bones, mix one
saltspoonful of mustard, as much cayenne as could be taken up on the point
of a penknife, a saltspoonful of salt, and a tablespoonful of vinegar. A
tablespoonful of olive-oil may be added, if liked. Lay the bone in this,
turning it till all is absorbed; broil over a quick fire; and _serve very
hot_.
Fish may also be fried in batter (p. 182), or these pieces, or _filets_,
may be laid on a buttered dish; a simple drawn butter or cream sauce (p.
182) poured over them; the whole covered with rolled bread or
cracker-crumbs, dotted with bits of butter, and baked half an hour. A cup
of canned mushrooms is often added.
TO STEW FISH.
Any fresh-water fish is good, cooked in this way; cat-fish which have been
soaked in salted water, to take away the muddy taste, being especially
nice. Cut the fish in small pieces. Boil two sliced onions in a cup of
water. Pour off this water; add another cup, and two tablespoonfuls of
wine, a saltspoonful of pepper, and salt to taste (about half a
teaspoonful). Put in the fish, and cook for twenty minutes. Thicken the
gravy with a heaping teaspoonful of flour, rubbed to a cream with a
teaspoonful of butter. If wine is not used, add a sprig of chopped parsley
and the juice of half a lemon.
These methods will be found sufficient for all fresh fish, no other
special rules being necessary. Experience and individual taste will guide
their application. If the fish is oily, as in the case of mackerel or
herring, broiling will always be better than frying. If fried, let it be
with very little fat, as their own oil will furnish part.
TO BOIL SALT CODFISH.
The large, white cod, which cuts into firm, solid slices, should be used.
If properly prepared, there is no need of the strong smell, which makes it
so offensive to many, and which comes only in boiling. The fish is now to
be had boned, and put up in small boxes, and this is by far the most
desirable form. In either case, lay in tepid water _skin-side up_, and
soak all night. If the skin is down, the salt, instead of soaking out,
settles against it, and is retained. Change the water in the morning, and
soak two or three hours longer; then, after scraping and cleaning
thoroughly, put in a kettle with tepid water enough to well cover it, and
set it where it will heat to the scalding-point, but _not boil_. Keep it
at this point, but never let it boil a moment. Let it cook in this way an
hour: two will do no harm. Remove every particle of bone and dark skin
before serving, sending it to table in delicate pieces, none of which
need be rejected. With egg sauce (p. 169), mashed or mealy boiled
potatoes, and sugar-beets, this makes the New-England “fish dinner” a
thing of terror when poorly prepared, but both savory and delicate where
the above rule is closely followed.
Fish-balls, and all the various modes of using salted cod, require this
preparation beforehand.
SALT COD WITH CREAM.
Flake two pounds of cold boiled salt cod very fine. Boil one pint of milk.
Mix butter the size of a small egg with two tablespoonfuls of flour, and
stir into it. Add a few sprigs of parsley or half an onion minced very
fine, a pinch of cayenne pepper, and half a teaspoonful of salt. Butter a
quart pudding-dish. Put in alternate layers of dressing and fish till
nearly full. Cover the top with sifted bread or cracker crumbs, dot with
bits of butter, and brown in a quick oven about twenty minutes. The fish
may be mixed with an equal part of mashed potato, and baked; and not only
codfish, but any boiled _fresh_ fish, can be used, in which case double
the measure of salt given will be required.
SPICED FISH.
Any remains of cold fresh fish may be used. Take out all bones or bits of
skin. Lay in a deep dish, and barely cover with hot vinegar in which a few
cloves and allspice have been boiled. It is ready for use as soon as cold.
POTTED FISH.
Fresh herring or mackerel or shad may be used. Skin the fish, and cut in
small pieces, packing them in a small stone jar. Just cover with vinegar.
For six pounds of fish allow one tablespoonful of salt, and a dozen each
of whole allspice, cloves, and pepper-corns. Tie a thick paper over the
top of the cover, and bake five hours. The vinegar dissolves the bones
perfectly, and the fish is an excellent relish at supper.
FISH CHOWDER.
Three pounds of any sort of fresh fish may be taken; but fresh cod is
always best. Six large potatoes and two onions, with half a pound of salt
pork.
Cut the pork into dice, and fry to a light brown. Add the onions, and
brown them also. Pour the remaining fat into a large saucepan, or butter
it, as preferred. Put in a layer of potatoes, a little onion and pork, and
a layer of the fish cut in small pieces, salting and peppering each layer.
A tablespoonful of salt and one teaspoonful of pepper will be a mild
seasoning. A pinch of cayenne may be added, if liked. Barely cover with
boiling water, and boil for half an hour. In the meantime boil a pint of
milk, and, when at boiling-point, break into it three ship biscuit or half
a dozen large crackers; add a heaping tablespoonful of butter. Put the
chowder in a platter, and pile the softened crackers on top, pouring the
milk over all. Or the milk may be poured directly into the chowder; the
crackers laid in, and softened in the steam; and the whole served in a
tureen. Three or four tomatoes are sometimes added. In clam chowder the
same rule would be followed, substituting one hundred clams for the fish,
and using a small can of tomatoes if fresh ones were not in season.
STEWED OYSTERS.
The rule already given for _oyster soup_ is an excellent one, omitting the
thickening. A simpler one is to strain the juice from a quart of oysters,
and add an equal amount of water. Bring it to boiling-point; skim
carefully; season with salt to taste, this depending on the saltness of
the oysters, half a teaspoonful being probably enough. Add a saltspoonful
of pepper, a tablespoonful of butter, and a cup of milk. The milk may be
omitted, if preferred. Add the oysters. Boil till the edges curl, and no
longer. Serve at once, as they toughen by standing.
FRIED OYSTERS.
Choose large oysters, and drain thoroughly in a colander. Dry in a towel.
Dip first in sifted cracker-crumbs; then in egg, one egg beaten with a
large spoonful of cold water, half a teaspoonful of salt, and a
saltspoonful of pepper, being enough for two dozen oysters. Roll again in
crumbs, and drop into boiling lard. If a wire frying-basket is used, lay
them in this. Fry to a light brown. Lay them on brown paper a moment to
drain, and serve at once on a _hot platter_. As they require hardly more
than a minute to cook, it is better to wait till all are at the table
before beginning to fry. Oysters are very good, merely fried in a little
hot butter; but the first method preserves their flavor best.
SCALLOPED OYSTERS.
One quart of oysters; one large breakfast cup of cracker or bread crumbs,
the crackers being nicer if freshly toasted and rolled hot; two large
spoonfuls of butter; one teaspoonful of salt; half a teaspoonful of
pepper; one saltspoonful of mace. Mix the salt, pepper, and mace together.
Butter a pudding-dish; heat the juice with the seasoning and butter,
adding a teacup of milk or cream if it can be had, though water will
answer. Put alternate layers of crumbs and oysters, filling the dish in
this way. Pour the juice over, and bake in a quick oven twenty minutes. If
not well browned, heat a shovel red-hot, and brown the top with that;
longer baking toughening the oysters.
OYSTERS FOR PIE OR PATTIES.
One quart of oysters put on to boil in their own liquor. Turn them while
boiling into a colander to drain. Melt a piece of butter the size of an
egg in the saucepan, add a tablespoonful of sifted flour, and stir one
minute. Pour in the oyster liquor slowly, which must be not less than a
large cupful. Beat the yolks of two eggs thoroughly with a saltspoonful of
salt, a pinch of cayenne pepper, and one of mace. Add to the boiling
liquor, but do not let it boil. Put in the oysters, and either use them to
fill a pie, the form for which is already baked, for patties for dinner,
or serve them on thin slices of buttered toast for breakfast or tea.
SPICED OR PICKLED OYSTERS.
To a gallon of large, fine oysters, allow one pint of cider or white-wine
vinegar; one tablespoonful of salt; one grated nutmeg; eight blades of
mace; three dozen cloves, and as many whole allspice; and a saltspoon even
full of cayenne pepper. Strain the oyster juice, and bring to the
boiling-point in a porcelain-lined kettle. Skim carefully as it boils up.
Add the vinegar, and skim also, throwing in the spices and salt when it
has boiled a moment. Boil all together for five minutes, and then pour
over the oysters, adding a lemon cut in very thin slices. They are ready
for the table next day, but will keep a fortnight or more in a cold place.
If a sharp pickle is desired, use a quart instead of a pint of vinegar.
SMOTHERED OYSTERS (_Maryland fashion_).
Drain all the juice from a quart of oysters. Melt in a frying-pan a piece
of butter the size of an egg, with as much cayenne pepper as can be taken
up on the point of a penknife, and a saltspoonful of salt. Put in the
oysters, and cover closely. They are done as soon as the edges ruffle.
Serve on thin slices of buttered toast as a breakfast or supper dish. A
glass of sherry is often added.
OYSTER OR CLAM FRITTERS.
Chop twenty-five clams or oysters fine, and mix them with a batter made as
follows: One pint of flour, in which has been sifted one heaping
teaspoonful of baking-powder and half a teaspoonful of salt; one large cup
of milk, and two eggs well beaten. Stir eggs and milk together; add the
flour slowly; and, last, the clams or oysters. Drop by spoonfuls into
boiling lard. Fry to a golden brown, and serve at once; or they may be
fried like pancakes in a little hot fat. Whole clams or oysters may be
used instead of chopped ones, and fried singly.
TO BOIL LOBSTERS OR CRABS.
Be sure that the lobster is alive, as, if dead, it will not be fit to use.
Have water boiling in a large kettle, and, holding the lobster or crab by
the back, drop it in head foremost; the reason for this being, that the
animal dies instantly when put in in this way. An hour is required for a
medium-sized lobster, the shell turning red when done. When cold, the meat
can be used either plain or in salad, or cooked in various ways. A
can-opener will be found very convenient in opening a lobster.
STEWED OR CURRIED LOBSTER.
Cut the meat into small bits, and add the green fat, and the coral which
is found only in the hen-lobster. Melt in a saucepan one tablespoonful of
butter and a heaping tablespoonful of flour. Stir smoothly together,
adding slowly one large cup of either stock or milk, a saltspoonful of
mace, a pinch of cayenne pepper, and half a teaspoonful of salt. Put in
the lobster, and cook for ten minutes. For curry, simply add one
teaspoonful of curry-powder. This stewed lobster may also be put in the
shell of the back, which has been cleaned and washed, bread or cracker
crumbs sprinkled over it, and browned in the oven; or it may be treated as
a scallop, buttering a dish, and putting in alternate layers of crumbs and
lobster, ending with crumbs. Crabs, though more troublesome to extract
from the shell, are almost equally good, treated in any of the ways given.
