The Lady's Own Cookery Book, and New Dinner-Table Directory Part 17

A small turbot or any flat fish may be done the same way.

_Soles, to stew._

Cut and skin the soles, and half fry them; have ready the quant.i.ty you like of half white wine and half water, mixed with some gravy, one whole onion, and a little whole pepper. Stew them all together, with a little shred lemon, and a few mushrooms. When they are done enough, thicken the sauce with good b.u.t.ter, and serve it up.

_Water Souchi._

Put on a kettle of water with a good deal of salt in it, and a good many parsley roots; keep it skimmed very clean, and when it boils up throw in your perch or whatever fish you use for the purpose. When sufficiently boiled, take them up and serve them hot. Have ready a pint or more of water, in which parsley roots have been boiled, till it has acquired a very strong flavour, and when the fish are dished throw some of this liquor over them. The Dutch sauce for them is made thus:--To a pint of white wine vinegar add a blade or two of mace; let it stew gently by the fire, and, when the vinegar is sufficiently flavoured by the mace, put into it about a pound of b.u.t.ter. Shake the saucepan now and then, and, when the b.u.t.ter is quite melted, make all exceedingly hot; have ready the yolks of four good eggs beaten up. You must continue beating them while another person gently pours to them the boiling vinegar by degrees, lest they should curdle; and continue stirring them all the while. Set it over a gentle fire, still continuing to stir until it is very hot and of the thickness you desire; then serve it.

_Sprats, to bake._

Wipe your sprats with a clean cloth; rub them with pepper and salt, and lay them in a pan. Bruise a pennyworth of cochineal; put it into the vinegar, and pour it over the sprats with some bay-leaves. Tie them down close with coa.r.s.e paper in a deep brown pan, and set them in the oven all night. They eat very fine cold.

You may put to them a pint of vinegar, half a pint of red wine, and spices if you like it; but they eat very well without.

_Sturgeon, to roast._

Put a walnut-sized bit of b.u.t.ter (or more if it is a large fish), rolled in flour, in a stewpan, with sweet-herbs, cloves, a gill of water, and a spoonful of vinegar; stir it over the fire, and when it is lukewarm take it off, and put in your sturgeon to steep. When it has been a sufficient time to take the flavour of the herbs, roast it, and when done, serve it with court bouillon, or any other fish sauce.

_Turbot, to dress._

Wipe your turbot very dry, then take a deep stewpan, put in the fish, with two bay-leaves, a handful of parsley, a large onion stuck with cloves, some salt, and cayenne; heat a pint of white wine boiling hot, and pour it upon the turbot; then strain in some very strong veal gravy, (made from your stock jelly,) more than will cover it; set it over a stove, and let it simmer very gently, that the full strength of the ingredients may be infused into it. When it is quite done, put it on a hot dish; strain the gravy into a saucepan, with some b.u.t.ter and flour to thicken it.

Plaice, dabs, and flounders, may be dressed in the same way.

_Turbot, plain boiled._

Make a brine with two handfuls of salt in a gallon of water, let the turbot lie in it two hours before it is to be boiled; then set on a fish-kettle, with water enough to cover it, and about half a pint of vinegar, or less if the turbot is small; put in a piece of horseradish; when the water boils put in the turbot, the white side uppermost, on a fish-plate; let it be done enough, but not too much, which will be easily known by the look. A small one will take twenty minutes, a large one half an hour. Then take it up, and set it on a fish-plate to drain, before it is laid in the dish. See that it is served quite dry.

Sauce--lobster and white sauce.

_Turbot, to boil._

Put the turbot into a kettle, with white wine vinegar and lemon; season with salt and onions; add to these water. Boil it over a gentle fire, skimming it very clean. Garnish with slices of lemon on the top.

_Turbot, to boil in Gravy._

Wash and well dry a middling sized turbot; put it with two bay-leaves into a deep stew-dish, with some cloves, a handful of parsley, a large onion, and some salt and pepper, add a pint of boiling hot white wine, strain in some strong veal gravy that will more than cover the fish, and remove it on one side that the ingredients may be well mixed together.

Lay it on a hot dish, strain the gravy into a saucepan with some b.u.t.ter and flour, pour a little over the fish, and put the remainder in a sauce terrine.

_Turbot, to boil in Court Bouillon, with Capers._

Be very particular in washing and drying your turbot. Take thyme, parsley, sweet-herbs of all sorts, minced very fine, and one large onion sliced; put them into a stewpan, then lay in the turbot--the stewpan should be just large enough to hold the fish--strew over the fish the same herbs that are under it, with some chives and a little sweet basil; pour in an equal quant.i.ty of white wine and white wine vinegar, till the fish is completely covered; strew in a little bay salt with some pepper.

Set the stewpan over a stove, with a very gentle fire, increasing the heat by degrees, till it is done sufficiently. Take it off the fire, but do not take the turbot out: let it stand on the side of the stove. Set a saucepan on the fire, with a pound of b.u.t.ter and two anchovies, split, boned, and carefully cleansed, two large spoonfuls of capers cut small, some chives whole, and a little cayenne, nutmeg grated, a little flour, a spoonful of vinegar, and a little broth. Set the saucepan over the stove, keep shaking it round for some time, and then leave it at the side of the stove. Take up the stewpan in which is the turbot, and set it on the stove to make it quite hot; then put it in a deep dish; and, having warmed the sauce, pour it over it, and serve up.

Soles, flounders, plaice, &c. are all excellent dressed in the same way.

_Turbot, to fry._

It must be a small turbot. Cut it across, as if it were ribbed; when it is quite dry, flour it, and put it into a large frying-pan with boiling b.u.t.ter enough to cover it; fry it brown, then drain it. Put in enough claret to cover it, two anchovies, salt, a scruple of nutmeg and ginger, and let it stew slowly till half the liquor is wasted; then take it out, and put in a piece of b.u.t.ter, of the size of a walnut, rolled in flour, and a lemon minced, juice and all. Let these ingredients simmer till of a proper thickness. Rub a hot dish with an eschalot or onion; pour the sauce in, and lay the turbot carefully in the midst.

_Turbot or Barbel, glazed._

Lard the upper part of your turbot or barbel with fine bacon. Let it simmer slowly between slices of ham, with a little champagne, or fine white, and a bunch of sweet-herbs. Put into another stewpan part of a fillet of veal, cut into dice, with one slice of ham; stew them with some fine cullis, till the sauce is reduced to a thick gravy. When thoroughly done, strain it off before you serve it, and, with a feather, put it over your turbot to glaze it. Then pour some good cullis into the stewpan, and toss it up as a sauce to serve in the dish, adding the juice of a lemon.

_Turbot, to dress _en gras_, or in a rich fashion._

Put into a stewpan a small quant.i.ty of broth, several slices of veal, and an equal quant.i.ty of ham, a little cayenne, and a bunch of sweet-herbs. Let it stew over a very slow stove, and add a gla.s.s of champagne. When this is completely done, serve it with any of the sauces, named in the article Sauces, added to its own.

_Turbot or Barbel, to dress _en maigre,_ or in a lean fashion._

Put into a stewpan a large handful of salt, a pint of water, a clove of garlic, onions, and all sorts of sweet kitchen herbs, the greater variety the better, only an equal quant.i.ty of each. Boil the whole half an hour over a slow fire; let it settle. Pour off the clear part of the sauce, and strain it through a sieve; then put twice as much rich milk as there is of the brine, and put the fish in it over a very slow fire, letting it simmer only. When your turbot is done, pour over it any of the sauces named as being proper for fish in the article Sauces.

_Turtle, to dress._

After having killed the turtle, divide the back and belly, cleaning it well from the blood in four or five waters, with some salt; take away the fins from the back, and sc.r.a.pe and scald them well from the scales; then put the meat into the saucepan, with a little salt and water just to cover it; stew it, and keep skimming it very clean all the while it is stewing. Should the turtle be a large one, put a bottle of white wine; if a small one, half that quant.i.ty. It must be stewed an hour and a half before you put in the wine, and the sc.u.m have done rising; for the wine being put in before turns it hard; and, while it is stewing, put an onion or two shred fine, with a little parsley, thyme, salt, and black pepper. After it has stewed tender, take it out of the saucepan, and cut it into small pieces; let the back sh.e.l.l be well washed clean from the blood, and rub it with salt, pepper, thyme, parsley, and onions, shred fine, mixed well together; put a layer of seasoning into the sh.e.l.l, and lay on your meat, and so continue till the sh.e.l.l is filled, covering it with seasoning. If a large turtle, two pounds of b.u.t.ter must be cut into bits, and laid between the seasoning and the meat. You must thicken the soup with b.u.t.ter rolled in flour. An hour and a half is requisite for a large turtle.

_Whiting, to dry._

Take the whiting when they come fresh in, and lay them in salt and water about four hours, the water not being too salt. Hang them up by the tails two days near a fire, after which, skin and broil them.

MADE DISHES.

_Asparagus forced in French Rolls._

Take out the crumb of three French rolls, by first cutting off a piece of the top crust; but be careful to cut it so neatly that the crust fits the place again. Fry the rolls brown in fresh b.u.t.ter. Take a pint of cream, the yolks of six eggs beaten fine, a little salt and nutmeg; stir them well together over a slow fire until the mixture begins to be thick. Have ready a hundred of small asparagus boiled; save tops enough to stick in the rolls; the rest cut small and put into the cream; fill the rolls with it. Before you fry the rolls, make holes thick in the top crust to stick the asparagus in; then lay on the piece of crust, and stick it with asparagus as if it was growing.

_Eggs, to dress._

Boil or poach them in the common way. Serve them on a piece of b.u.t.tered toast, or on stewed spinach.