FISH

Fish, though not quite so nutritious or so stimulating as butcher’s meat, is an excellent article of diet, as it is light and easy of digestion and well suited to delicate persons and those following sedentary occupations, who generally do not take exercise in the fresh air. Fish contains a fair proportion of flesh forming and mineral matter, and the white kinds very little fat, hence their value in a sick diet. A few fishes are rich in fat, as salmon, mackerel, eels, and herrings; they are more satisfying as a meal, but usually more difficult to digest, except the latter, which is fairly easy to digest, and, being inexpensive, forms an economical food.

The digestibility will vary also with the quality of the fish and the methods of cooking. White fish when boiled is improved by being rubbed over with a cut lemon, or by adding a little vinegar to the water in which it is cooked to keep it white and firm. The fish should be put into hot, not boiling water, otherwise the higher temperature contracts the skin too quickly, and it breaks and looks unsightly. Salt fish may be placed in cold water, then boiled to extract some of the salt; if the fish has been salted and dried, it is better to soak it in cold water for about twelve hours before cooking.

Fish to be fried should be cooked in sufficient hot Crisco to well cover it, after having been dried and covered with batter, or with beaten egg and breadcrumbs. To egg and breadcrumb fish put a slice into seasoned flour, turning it so that both sides may be covered. Shake off all loose flour. Brush fish over with beaten egg. Raise fish out of egg with the brush and a knife, drain off egg for a second, and lay fish in crumbs. Toss these all over it, lift out fish, shake off all loose crumbs, lay the slice on a board, and press crumbs down, so that surface is flat. The thicker the fish the more slowly it must be fried after the first two minutes, or it will be raw inside when the outside is done.

To bone fish. The process of boning is known as filleting and is generally done by the fish dealer, but when this is not the case the single rule for boning must be strictly adhered to in order to keep the knife on the bone—lifting the flesh with the left hand while the knife slips in between the bone and the flesh. Flat fish are divided down the middle of each side well into the bone, and the boning is begun at either side of the incision. Round fish are cut down the back, the flesh is laid open from one side and the bone is removed from the other. Occasionally round fish are boned readily, the whole fish minus the bones being returned to its proper shape, as in anchovies, sardines, herrings, haddocks, etc., in this case the fish would be split down the front, not the back, and stitched together after boning.

Fish stock is made from the bones, skin and trimmings of white fish. These are broken small and generally flavored with onion, parsley, herbs, and seasonings. The proportion of water used is rather larger, as the flavor is much stronger and also more easily extracted than from meat.

Baked Halibut

2 lbs. halibut

1 cupful tomatoes

2 tablespoonfuls flour

2 tablespoonfuls Crisco

¾ teaspoonful salt

⅛ teaspoonful pepper

Clean fish, season with salt and pepper, dredge with flour, place in Criscoed baking pan, pour over tomatoes, and dot with Crisco. Bake in a moderate oven, basting often.

Baked Salmon with Colbert Sauce

1 slice salmon, 1½ lbs. in weight

4 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco

1 tablespoonful chopped parsley

1 tablespoonful tarragon vinegar

1 chopped shallot, gherkin and anchovy

Salt, pepper, and red pepper to taste

For Sauce

4 tablespoonfuls Crisco

2 tablespoonfuls flour

1 teaspoonful lemon juice

3 anchovies

1 tablespoonful chopped parsley

Pepper to taste

2 cupfuls fish stock, or milk and water

For fish. Mix Crisco with shallot, gherkin, anchovy, and seasonings, lay salmon in this mixture and let it “marinade,” as it is called, for one hour. At the end of that time lift it out; do not shake off any ingredients that are sticking to it. Now lay it in a well Criscoed fireproof dish, cover it with a greased paper, and bake in moderate oven for thirty minutes.

For sauce. Melt Crisco in small saucepan, stir in flour, add fish stock and stir until it boils and thickens. Rub anchovies through fine sieve, and add with seasonings. Serve in hot tureen with fish.

Baked Shad

1 shad weighing 4 lbs.

¼ lb. mushrooms

½ cupful Crisco

2 tablespoonfuls chopped parsley

2 tablespoonfuls chopped chives

1 cupful breadcrumbs

1 egg

Salt and white pepper

Salt pork

1 cupful cream

1 teaspoonful cornstarch

Clean, wipe and dry the shad. Melt Crisco, add breadcrumbs, chopped mushrooms, parsley, chives, egg well beaten, salt and pepper. Stuff fish with this forcemeat, then lay it in a greased pan, put thin strips of salt pork over it and bake in hot oven for forty minutes. Lay the fish on a hot platter. Pour cream into baking pan, add cornstarch and stir till boiling. Serve with the fish.

Cassolettes of Fish

½ lb. cold cooked fish or shrimps

½ cupful milk

4 tablespoonfuls Crisco

½ cupful water

2 tablespoonfuls cream

4 tablespoonfuls flour

Salt, pepper, and red pepper to taste

1 teaspoonful lemon juice

2 lbs. cooked potatoes

2 eggs

Rub potatoes through a sieve, add little salt and pepper, 1 egg well beaten, and 2 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco and mix well. Roll out on floured baking board to 1¼ inches in thickness. Cut into small rounds, brush over with remaining egg well beaten, toss in fine breadcrumbs, mark the center slightly with a smaller round cutter. Fry to golden color in hot Crisco. Remove lids, carefully remove bulk of potatoes from inside, fill with mixture, replace lids, and serve hot. For mixture, blend 2 tablespoonfuls of the Crisco with flour in a saucepan over the fire, add milk, water and seasonings and cook for a few minutes. Put in flaked fish and make hot. Add cream last. ½ teaspoonful of anchovy extract may be added if liked.

Sufficient for ten cassolettes.

Dressed Crab

1 good sized heavy crab

6 tablespoonfuls Crisco

2 tablespoonfuls breadcrumbs

3 tablespoonfuls olive oil

2 tablespoonfuls vinegar

1 tablespoonful chopped parsley

Crisp lettuce leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

If possible choose a crab with large claws. Boil crab in boiling salted water for thirty minutes, take up and break off large and small claws. Lay crab on its back, pull back the flap under its body, pull it right out and commence to remove flesh from shell. Take care that the little bag near head, usually full of sand, is taken out. Throw away all bone and finny pieces. The flesh is of two kinds, some firm and white, rest soft and dark. Separate former into little shreds with a fork, also the white meat from claws, which must be cracked in order to obtain it. Mix dark soft substance with crumbs, add oil, vinegar, and seasonings to taste. Toss shredded white meat also in a little seasoning, but keep the two kinds separate. When shell is empty wash and dry well. Fill shell with the two mixtures, arranging them alternately, so that they appear in dark and white stripes. Have it heaped a little higher in center. Decorate meat with lines of finely chopped parsley, and force the Crisco round edge with a forcing bag and tube. Place crab on some crisp lettuce leaves. Arrange some of the small claws in a circle round shell.

Curried Cod

2 lbs. cod

¼ cupful Crisco

2 cupfuls white stock

1 tablespoonful flour

2 teaspoonfuls curry powder

1 medium-sized onion

1 tablespoonful lemon juice

Salt, pepper, and red pepper to taste

2 cupfuls plain boiled rice

2 tablespoonfuls chopped cocoanut

Wash and dry the cod, and cut into pieces two inches square. Melt Crisco in a saucepan, fry cod lightly in it, then take out and set aside. Add sliced onion, flour, and curry powder to the Crisco in saucepan and fry ten minutes, stirring continuously to prevent onion becoming too brown, then stir in the stock and cocoanut, stir until it boils, and afterwards simmer for twenty minutes. Strain and return to saucepan, add lemon juice and seasonings to taste, bring nearly to boil, then put in fish, cover closely, and cook slowly for half hour. An occasional stir must be given to prevent the fish sticking to the bottom of the saucepan. Turn out on hot platter and serve with rice. The remains of cold fish may be used, in which case the preliminary frying may be omitted.

Flounder a la Crěme

1 flounder about 2 lbs.

2 cupfuls milk

1 tablespoonful cream

3 tablespoonfuls Crisco

1 blade mace

6 whole white peppers

4 tablespoonfuls flour

Lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

Skin flounder, and take fillets off neatly by sharply cutting down the middle of back, and pressing the knife close to the bones. This will produce 4 long fillets. Cut each of them in half lengthways, and tie up in pretty knot; sprinkle a little salt over and put them aside. Wash skin, bones of fish, put them into a small saucepan with milk, mace, and whole peppers and simmer for half hour; strain milk into clean saucepan; add fillets, and allow to simmer for ten minutes. Lift them out, and add to milk the Crisco and flour beaten together; stir till it becomes quite smooth; add salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste, and cream; put in fillets gently to warm through; dish neatly and pour the sauce over them. Serve very hot.

Flounder a la Turque

For Fish

1 large flounder

1 teaspoonful chopped parsley

3 tablespoonfuls breadcrumbs

2 tablespoonfuls Crisco

½ teaspoonful powdered herbs

1 pinch powdered mace

Salt, pepper, and red pepper to taste

½ cupful picked shrimps

For Sauce

½ lemon

1 egg

½ cupful melted Crisco

1 yolk of egg

½ teaspoonful mustard

½ teaspoonful salt

1 pinch red pepper

1 tablespoonful vinegar

2 chopped gherkins

1 teaspoonful chopped parsley

For fish. Wash dry and trim flounder. On one side make cut down center from near head to near tail and raise flesh from the bones. Make a stuffing with Crisco, parsley, breadcrumbs, herbs, shrimps, lemon juice, seasonings, and nearly all the egg, and insert under the fillets of the flounder, leaving the center open. Dot with Crisco. Brush fish over with remaining egg, sprinkle with browned breadcrumbs, put on Criscoed baking tin, and bake thirty minutes. Serve with sauce.

For sauce. Put egg yolk into a bowl, and, with a wooden spoon stir a little; then add by degrees melted Crisco, stirring constantly; then add seasonings, vinegar, gherkins and parsley.

Fish Pudding

(Kate B. Vaughn)

For Pudding

2 lbs. cooked fish

1 cupful milk

1 tablespoonful flour

1 tablespoonful Crisco

2 eggs

Salt and pepper to taste

¼ teaspoonful onion juice

1 tablespoonful Worcestershire sauce

Cream sauce

For Sauce

3 tablespoonfuls flour

3 tablespoonfuls Crisco

1 slice carrot

1 slice onion

1 slice celery

1 blade of mace

1 bay leaf

6 whole peppers

1 sprig of parsley

¼ teaspoonful salt

1 cupful thick cream

For pudding. Boil fish in boiling salted water till done. Shred or break in small pieces, and free from skin and bone. Blend Crisco and flour in a saucepan over fire, add milk and stir till boiling, remove from fire, add eggs well beaten, seasonings, and mix well. Turn into Criscoed fireproof dish, cover with greased paper, set in warm water, and bake in moderate oven for thirty minutes. Serve with the sauce, potato balls, and chopped parsley.

For sauce. Blend Crisco and flour in a pan over fire, add vegetables, mace, bay leaf, peppers, parsley, milk, and simmer for thirty minutes. Strain, return to pan, add salt, allow to heat, then add cream and it is ready to serve.

Fried Fish

Fish

Crisco

1 egg

Salt and pepper to taste

Crumbs

Sauce

Clean fish, season with salt and pepper. Dip in crumbs, brush over with beaten egg, and crumb again. Fry in deep Crisco and drain on brown paper.

Sauce. Blend 1½ tablespoonfuls Crisco with 1 tablespoonful flour in saucepan over fire, add 1 cupful of milk or cream and bring to boil, cook for a few minutes over hot water. Cool and add 2 chopped green bell peppers and 6 medium-sized chopped sour pickles.

Fried Lobster with Horseradish Sauce

1 boiled lobster

Crisco for frying

1 egg

Breadcrumbs

1 cupful thick cream

Salt and paprika to taste

2 tablespoonfuls grated horseradish

Cut lobster meat into neat pieces, dip in beaten egg, toss in breadcrumbs and fry in hot Crisco to brown well. Whip up cream, season it well with salt and paprika and stir in horseradish; heap this sauce in the center of the serving dish and arrange the pieces of fried lobster round it. Serve hot.

Gateau of Fish

For Fish

1½ lbs. cooked white fish

3 tablespoonfuls Crisco

½ cupful breadcrumbs

½ cupful milk

2 eggs

1 teaspoonful chopped parsley

1 teaspoonful anchovy paste or extract

Salt and pepper to taste

Lemon slices

Dutch or oyster sauce

For Sauce

2 tablespoonfuls flour

2 tablespoonfuls Crisco

1 cupful milk

½ cupful oyster liquor

1 teaspoonful lemon juice

Salt, pepper, and red pepper to taste

2 hard-cooked eggs

1 dozen small oysters

For fish. Cook fish; remove skin and bone, chop it, then put it in a basin, add breadcrumbs, parsley, seasonings, milk, eggs well beaten, and melted Crisco. Mix well, turn into a Criscoed mold, cover with greased paper and steam one hour. Serve with sauce poured over, and dish garnished with lemon slices.

For sauce. Blend Crisco and flour in pan over fire, stir in milk, oyster liquor, stir till it boils for eight minutes, then add seasonings. Boil one minute, add eggs chopped, and oysters. Mix and serve.

Oyster Shortcake

2 cupfuls flour

2 teaspoonfuls baking powder

½ teaspoonful salt

¾ cupful milk

1 quart oysters

½ cupful Crisco

2 tablespoonfuls cornstarch

¼ cupful cream

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix flour, baking powder and ½ teaspoonful salt, then sift twice, work in Crisco with tips of fingers, add milk gradually. The dough should be just soft enough to handle. Toss on floured baking board, divide into two parts, pat lightly and roll out. Place in two shallow Criscoed cake tins and bake in quick oven fifteen minutes. Spread them with butter. Moisten cornstarch with cream, put into pan with oysters and seasonings and make very hot. Allow to cook a few minutes then pour half over one crust, place other crust on top and pour over rest of oysters. Serve at once.

Sufficient for one large shortcake.

Salmon Mold

1 can salmon

2 tablespoonfuls Crisco

½ cupful rolled crackers

3 eggs

1 tablespoonful Worcestershire sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

Sauce

1 tablespoonful Crisco

1 tablespoonful flour

1 egg

1 cupful milk

Salt and pepper to taste

Parsley

For the mold. Remove oil, skin and bone from the salmon. Rub salmon smooth, add eggs well beaten, crackers, and seasonings. Turn into a Criscoed mold, and steam for one hour. Turn out and serve with sauce.

For sauce. Blend Crisco and flour in a saucepan over fire, add milk, and stir and boil for five minutes. Add egg well beaten, and seasonings, pour at once over salmon. Garnish with parsley.

Sufficient for one small loaf.