DIRECTIONS RESPECTING FISH.

Purchase those which have just been caught. Of this you can judge by their being hard under the pressure of the finger. Fish lose their best flavor soon, and a few hours make a wide difference in the taste of some sorts.

Cod are best in cold weather. Mackerel are best in August, September, and October. Halibut, in May and June. Oysters are good from September to April; but are not very good or healthy from the first of May to the last of August. Lobsters are best at the season when oysters are not good.

They must be put alive into boiling water and be boiled from thirty-five to forty minutes. Allow a large spoonful of salt to every quart of water in which they are boiled. The medium sized ones are the best. The shells of old lobsters are apt to be encrusted. On no account should they be eaten later than eighteen hours after being boiled. Some persons never eat them after twelve hours. Pond fish should be soaked in strong salt and water to take out the earthy taste. Fish may be kept good several days, if frozen. All large fish need to be soaked in water that is a little warm, before being cleaned; and they should be cleaned with great care, for even if there are few scales upon them, there is a great deal of slimy substance which a knife will remove. A boiled fish is done when the eyes turn white.

When you broil fish, rub the gridiron with lard or drippings, to prevent its sticking. Do not attempt to turn it like steaks, with a knife and fork, but lay an old dish upon it, and hold it on with one hand, while you turn over the gridiron with the other. Lay the skin side down first.

Fish that is to be fried, should be cut up and laid in a cloth for an hour that the moisture may be absorbed. It should then be rolled in fine bread crumbs, or Indian meal. That which is apt to break in frying may be kept whole by being dipped in a beaten egg, before it is rolled in the bread crumbs. Oysters should be skimmed out of the liquor before being cooked, in order that it may be strained, as there are often bits of shell in it.

To Boil Cod.

Rub a little salt down the bone, and over the thick part. Wrap it in a cloth and put it over the fire in cold water; putting it into hot water at first will cause the outside to break before the centre is done. See that it is covered with water, and throw in a table-spoonful of salt. Take off the froth carefully, and boil it half an hour. Fresh cod is eaten with oyster sauce and melted butter, or with the latter alone, prepared as directed under the head of Drawn Butter, with the addition of parsley and if you choose three or four eggs boiled very hard, cut up and put into it.

The head and shoulders of cod are so much thicker than the other part, that it is impossible to boil the fish whole and have all parts equally cooked. It is therefore a good way to buy a large cod, divide it, boil the head and shoulders, and fry the other part, or sprinkle it with salt, and after a day or two, broil it.

Cod Sounds and Tongues.

Soak them in warm water, scrape them thoroughly, and boil them ten minutes in milk and water. To be served with egg sauce.

To Bake a Cod or Black Fish.

The simplest way of baking fish, is very good. Spread little pieces of bread, with butter; pepper and salt them, and lay them inside the fish. Then take a needle and thread and sew it up. Put a small skewer through the lip and tail, and fasten them together with a piece of twine. Lay it into a dish, in which it may be served, put two or three thin slices of salt pork upon it, sprinkle salt over it, and flour it well. Baste it several times with the liquor which cooks out of it. A fish weighing four pounds will cook in an hour.

To make a richer dish.

Chop fine a half a teacupful of fat ham; add a large spoonful of butter, some parsley, thyme, marjoram, a little salt, nutmeg, and pepper. If you have oysters, add a few. Beat two eggs, and put all together with fine bread crumbs enough to compound them. With this, stuff the fish, which should be floured thick, and wind a string around it to keep it together, or else sew it up. Fasten the head and tail together with a skewer. Bake it in a stove an hour. Baste it with butter.

To Fry Cod (or other Fish).

After it has been cleansed, cut it into pieces of the proper size, and lay them in a cloth in order to dry them. Fry four or five slices of salt pork, or use instead, lard or nice beef drippings; but pork is preferable. When the slices are fried crisp, take them out, dip the pieces of fish in a plate of fine Indian meal, and lay them into the spider. Fry them brown. When the fish is done, lay it with the pork into a hot dish. Pour a little water into the spider, boil it up, dredge in browned flour, and pour the whole over the fish.

To make a Chowder.

Fry three slices of salt pork, crisp, in a deep kettle; take them out and lay in slices of potatoes; flour and pepper them; then lay in slices of cod or haddock, which must also be floured and peppered. Put in alternate layers of potatoes and fish, with flour, salt, and pepper, till it is all laid in. Pour over it boiling water enough almost to cover it. When it boils up, dredge in more flour. Dip a few crackers in cold water and lay over the top, and cover the kettle close. Boil it three quarters of an hour. Use ship bread, if it is preferred. Some people add a cup of milk just before it is served. Add part of a fresh lemon, if you like.

Another Way.

Fry three or four slices of salt pork, soak a dozen hard crackers, cut up four or five onions. When the pork is fried brown take it out, and lay in half of the crackers, and half the onions. Cut up the cod, and lay the pieces next, then the rest of the crackers and onions, season it with pepper and salt, pour boiling water enough into the kettle to cover the whole. Let it stew moderately an hour.

The fish should be fresh from the water. Cod's heads and sound bones make the richest chowder.

To Boil Salt Cod.

Lay a piece of salt fish into the cellar a few days before it is to be cooked, that it may become softened by the dampness. The afternoon before it is to be boiled, wash it carefully in several waters. It is well to keep a brush on purpose to cleanse salt fish, and use it repeatedly while it is soaking. Leave it in water till morning, and then put it into a kettle, and set it where it will keep warm, and at length simmer, but not boil. Eat it with beets and potatoes, and drawn butter; or with pork scraps if you prefer.

To prepare the Scraps. Cut salt pork into very small square pieces, put them in a saucepan, and cook them till they are crisped. A quarter of a pound of pork will be enough for a family of five, and it will take half an hour to fry it enough.

There is a great difference in the quality of salt fish. The Dun is considered best.

Minced Salt Fish.

Pick out all the bones and bits of skin the day that the fish is boiled, as it is most easily done while it is warm. Next day chop it fine, and also all the potatoes left of the previous dinner; they are better for this purpose than those that are just boiled. Lay three or four slices of salt pork into a spider, and fry till they are crisped; take them out, and put the chopped fish and potato into the middle, and press it out equally, so that the fat will be at the sides. Cover it close; after about five minutes put into the centre a gill of milk, and cover it again. In a few minutes more stir it, but so carefully as not to disturb the sides and bottom, else a brown crust will not form. Add more milk if it is too dry. When thoroughly heated through, stir in a small piece of butter, loosen the crust from the sides with a knife, and turn it out upon a hot dish. If it is done right, it will come out whole, and nicely browned.

Fish-Balls.

Chop and mix fish and potatoes in the same manner as directed in the other receipt; melt a small piece of butter in a little milk, and when you have stirred it into the fish, make it up into little flat cakes, roll them in a plate of flour, and fry in hot lard, drippings, or the fat of fried pork.

To Boil or Broil Halibut.

If you wish to boil it, purchase a thick slice cut through the body, or the tail piece, which is considered the richest. Wrap it in a floured cloth and lay it in cold water with salt in it. A piece weighing six pounds, should be cooked half an hour after the water begins to boil. It is eaten with drawn butter and parsley. If any of it is left, lay it in a deep dish and sprinkle on it a little salt, throw over it a dozen or two of cloves, pour in some vinegar, and add butternut vinegar or catsup. It will, when cold, have much the flavor of lobster.

The nape of the halibut is considered best to broil; but a slice through the body a little more than an inch thick, if sprinkled with salt an hour or two before being cooked, will broil without breaking, and is excellent. When taken up, put on butter, pepper, and salt.

To Boil Salmon.

Clean a salmon in salt and water. Allow twenty minutes for boiling every pound. Wrap it in a floured cloth, and lay it in the kettle while the water is cold. Make the water very salt. Skim it well; in this respect it requires more care than any other fish. Serve it with drawn butter and parsley.

If salmon is not thoroughly cooked it is unhealthy. When a piece of boiled fresh fish of any kind is left of dinner, it is a very good way to lay it in a deep dish, and pour over it a little vinegar, with catsup, and add pepper or any other spice which is preferred.

To Broil Salmon.

Cut it in slices an inch and a half thick, dry it in a clean cloth, salt it, and lay it upon a hot gridiron, the bars having been rubbed with lard or drippings. It cooks very well in a stove oven, laid in a dripping-pan.

To Broil Shad.

Procure fresh caught shad. It requires twenty minutes to broil, on moderately hot coals. To turn it, see directions respecting Fish. Sprinkle it with salt, and spread on a little butter. Fresh fish requires a longer time to broil than meat.

The simplest way of Cooking Oysters.

Take them, unopened, rinse the shells clean, and lay them on hot coals, or the top of a cooking-stove, with the deepest side of the shell down, so as not to lose the liquor. When they begin to open a little, they are done, and the upper shell will be easily removed with a knife, and the oyster is to be eaten from the lower shell. The table should be supplied with coarse napkins, and a large dish to receive the shells.

Oyster Pie.

Make a nice paste and lay into a deep dish, turn a teacup down in the centre. This will draw the liquor under it, and prevent it from boiling over; it also keeps the upper crust from falling in and becoming clammy. Lay in the oysters, add a little pepper, butter, and flour; make a wide incision in the upper crust, so that when the pie is nearly done, you can pour in half a teacup of cream or milk. Secure the edges of the crust according to the directions for making Pastry, and bake it an hour. It should be put into the oven immediately, else the under crust will be clammy. Use but little of the liquor.

To Fry Oysters.

Lay them in a cloth a few minutes to dry them, then dip each one into sifted cracker crumbs, and fry in just enough fat to brown them. Put pepper and salt on them, before you turn them over.

Escaloped Oysters.

Butter a deep dish, and cover the bottom and sides with fine crumbs of bread. Put in half the oysters, with pounded mace, pepper, and salt, and cover them with bread crumbs and small bits of butter; add the rest of the oysters with pepper and mace, and cover as before. Put in but little of the liquor, as oysters part with a good deal of moisture in cooking, and if the mixture is too wet, it is not as good. Bake a quart of oysters half an hour. A plainer dish, with little butter and no spice is very good.

Pickled Oysters.

Boil the liquor of an hundred oysters and pour it over them. When they have stood a few minutes, take them out and boil the liquor again, with a gill of vinegar, a few whole black peppers, and two or three blades of mace. When this is cold, pour it over the oysters, and cover them closely. This is a very good way to keep them.

Stewed Oysters.

Boil them up very quickly, then set them off, in order to take off the scum which rises. Have ready, for a quart of oysters, half a table-spoonful of butter, with as much flour rubbed into it as it will receive. Return the kettle to the fire, and when it begins to simmer, stir in the butter till it is melted, and then serve.

Another Way.

Boil a pint of milk; rub a heaping table-spoonful of flour smooth in cold milk, and strain into it; then strain in the liquor of a quart of oysters, and when it boils up again, add half a spoonful of butter, a little salt, and the oysters, and let the whole boil two minutes more.

[In opening lobsters, care must be taken to remove the poisonous part. This lies in the head, all of which must be thrown away, as well as the vein which passes from it, through the body. All the other parts are good. Break the shells with a hammer. The liquor and the spawn should be saved.]

Lobster Salad.

To the yolks of four eggs, boiled hard, add a little sweet oil, mustard, pepper, salt, and a gill of vinegar. Stir these all together a long time. Cut up celery or lettuce fine, sprinkle it on the lobster in the dish in which it is to be served, and pour the mixture over it.

The simplest way of serving lobsters is very good, and most healthful. Take them from the shells and eat them cold, with vinegar and mustard.

Stewed Lobster.

Take one large or two small lobsters; cut them in pieces, and put into the stew-pan with the liquor two glasses of wine, one teaspoonful of fine allspice, half a teaspoonful of mixed mustard, a little cayenne, and a quarter of a pound of butter rubbed into some flour. If there is not liquor enough for the gravy, add a little water. Simmer the whole a half an hour.

Baked Bass.

Make a stuffing of pounded cracker or crumbs of bread, an egg, pepper, clove, salt, and butter. Fill it very full, and when sewed up, grate over it a small nutmeg, and sprinkle it with pounded cracker. Then pour on the white of an egg, and melted butter. Bake it an hour in the same dish in which it is to be served.

Potted Shad (a very convenient and excellent dish).

Take three or four fresh caught shad, and when nicely dressed, cut them down the middle, and across in pieces about three inches wide; put these pieces into a jar in layers, with salt, whole cloves, pepper-corns, and allspice sprinkled between. When all is laid in, put in sharp vinegar enough just to cover them, and bake in the oven. It is the best way to put the jar into a brick oven after the bread is drawn, if considerable heat still remains, and let it stand two or three hours, or put it into a range oven at night, to stand till morning. This will keep several weeks, even in hot weather. Almost any fish of the size of shad may be done in the same way.

Brook Trout.

If they are small, fry them with salt pork. If large, boil them, and serve with drawn butter.

Clams.

The round clams, sometimes called quahogs, are much the most healthy. The small ones, with thin edges, are to be preferred. They may be roasted upon a gridiron, or laid in an iron pan upon a stove. When the shell begins to open, pour the liquor into a sauce-pan, and cut the clam from the shell and put with it. When all are taken out, set the sauce-pan on the coals, and when the clams boil up, add pepper and a bit of butter, and pour them upon toasted bread.

Clam broth is made by washing them very clean, and boiling till the shells open; then take out the clams and put them into the water again. Boil them a few minutes, add a little butter and flour, and put toasted crackers in the tureen into which you put the broth. This is very healthy for feeble persons.

Smelts.

Soak smelts a little while in warm water; scrape them, and cut the heads so far that you can gently pull them off, and thus draw out the dark vein that runs through the body; then rinse and lay them into a dry cloth while you fry two or three slices of salt pork crisp. Dip the smelts into a plate of fine Indian meal, and fry them brown. If you fry them in lard or drippings, sprinkle them with salt, but not until they are nearly done, as they will not brown as well, if it is put on at first.

To prepare Salt Shad, Mackerel, or Halibut's Fin to Broil.

Shad should be soaked twenty-four hours, the water being changed once or twice. Mackerel often need soaking thirty, or even thirty-six hours; and halibut's fin thirty-six. A gallon of water is the least in which either of them should be soaked. Grease the gridiron, and lay the skin side down. (See directions at the head of this chapter.)

Smoked Halibut.

It should be washed in warm water, wiped and laid for only three or four minutes on the gridiron. Halibut is so solid a fish that it is not easy to get that which is cured perfectly free from taint.