SHELL FISH

Ovsters— Note— This succulent bivalve forms an important, and, in many localities, an inexpensive article of food. The great variety of ways in which they maybe quickly and excellency cooked, render them prime favorites with nearly every housewife. They are in their best season from September to April-the months spelled with an r —and were formerly considered quite unwholesome during the others^ New methods of cultivation have, however, so far improved them that they are now eaten in large cities, more or less, all the year round.

Ovsters in the shell must be kept in a cool cellar, in conical-shaped heaps/occasionally sprinkled over with Indian meal or middlings, and drenched with salt water. In this way, and if free from frost, they may be kept sound for considerable time. Opened oysters, or oyster meats, come both canned, and in bulk by measure. They were formerly put up in kegs, but this method has been entirely superseded by the can* In some localities the largest of selected oysters are termed "Counts, and are sold by the hundred, and not by measure or canned: They are larger and whiter, but not of so fine flavor as the smaller or less culti- vated varieties, the small, uncultivated native, when fresh being the sweetest of all. Of the canned oysters, the larger are termed Selects XXX "Stars" or other fanciful names given by different oyster packers.' The smaller kinds are known as " Standards" one X etc.

When shell oysters are fresh, the shell is firmly closed; if partly open and it does not immediately close upon being touched, the oyster is dead and unfit for use. When canned oysters are spoued or sour, the cans will be swelled on the sides; never buy such. Freezing is quite injurious to oysters, as it kills them in the shell, and destroys in a great measure, the flavor of those in cans. Do not let oysters cooked in any manner stand, but serve them at once, as one great merit lies in their being eaten hot.

257. Roast Oysters in the Shell— Select the large ones, those usually termed "Saddle Rocks," formerly known as a distinct variety but which are now but the large oysters selected from any beds; wash and wipe them, and place with the upper or deep shell down, to catch the juice, over or on live coals. When they open their shells, remove the

shallow one, being careful to save all the juice in the other; place them, shells and all, on a hot platter, and send to table hot, to be seasoned by each person with butter and pepper to taste. If the oysters are fine, and they are just cooked enough and served all hot, this is the para- mount luxury in oyster eating.

258. A Fulton Market or Eighteen-Penny Roast — Is still known in New York from the place at which it was and is still served, and from the original price of the dish. Take nine large oysters, wash, dry and roast over a charcoal fire. Two minutes after the shells open, they will be done. Take them up quickly, saving the juice in a small, shallow tin pan; keep hot until all are done; butter, sprinkle with pepper, and serve quickly. •

259. Oysters in the Shell — Open the shells, keeping the deepest ones for use; melt some butter, season with minced parsley and pepper; when slightly cooled, roll each oyster in it, using care that it drips but little, and lay it in a shell; add to each a little lemon juice, cover with bread crumbs, place in a baking pan, and bake in a quick oven. Just before they are done, add a little salt. Serve in ths shells.

260. Raw Oysters— On Half Shell— The finest for eating raw are those known as Shrewsburys, Blue Points or Cherry Stones — the names of the beds from which they are taken. Wash the shells, open them, and detach the upper or deep shell; loosen from the under shell by cutting the muscle clear — some term it the heart; serve six or nine to a plate, with a quarter of a lemon — to squeeze over them — in the center. Serve finely shaved white cabbage with them. t

261. Raw Oysters— Without the Shells— Carefully open shell oysters, drain well in a colander, sprinkle with plenty of pepper and a little salt, place on the ice or a cool place, until served with Chili or Worcestershire sauce, horse-radish, lemon, or vinegar; also cut cabbage or pickled gherkins.

262. Boiled Shell Oysters — Wash the shells very clean, put in a small wire basket, suspend in a kettle of boiling water, and when the shells open lift the basket, remove the upper shell, and serve on a' hot platter unseasoned.

263. Broiled Oysters— On the Half Shell— Select large ones, clean the shells, and open, saving the juice; put the oysters in boiling water a few minutes; take out and place each in a deep shell, with some juice; place on a gridiron over a brisk fire, and when they begin to simmer season with butter, salt and pepper, and a drop of lemon juice if desired. Serve on the half shell, with celery as a relish.

264. Broiled Oysters — Select large Count oysters, or shells that are just opened, dry them in a napkin, and broil on a fine wire broiler, turning frequently to preserve the juice. Serve quickly in a hot dish, with small bits of butter over them.

265. Broiled Oysters — Dry a quart of oysters in a cloth, dip each in melted butter well peppered, and then in dry bread or cracker crumbs, also peppered; broil on a wire broiler over live coals five to seven minutes. Serve hot.

266. Grilled Oysters with Pork — On a small wire, bent in shape of a hairpin, string alternately, first a large oyster, then a small slice of salt pork, until the wire is full; fasten the ends into a long wooden handle, and hold before the fire until all are well browned. Serve with or without the pork, as preferred, seasoned with pepper.

267. Steamed Oysters — Shells — Put some shell oysters in an air-tight vessel, the upper shell downwards, to save the juice when they open; set them over a pot of boiling water, and boil it hard for twenty minutes, or steam until the shells open, when they are done. Serve in the shells immediately, to be seasoned with salt and butter as eaten.

268. Steamed Oysters — Wash and drain a quart of Counts, or Select oysters, put them in a pan and place in a steamer over boiling water; cover and steam till they are plump, with the edges ruffled and black. Place in a heated dish with butter, pepper and salt, and serve.

269. Panned Oysters — Cut some stale bread in thin slices, taking off all the crust; round the slices to fit patty pans; toast, butter, place them in the pans and moisten with three or four teaspoons of oyster liquor; place on the toast a layer of oysters, sprinkle with pepper and put a small piece of butter on top of each pan; place all the pans in a baking pan and place in the oven, covering tightly. They will cook in seven or eight minutes if the oven is hot; of, cook till the beards are ruffled; remove the cover, sprinkle lightly with salt, replace and cook one minute longer. Serve in the patty pans. They are delicious.

270. Panned Oysters — Lay in a thin pie tin or dripping pan half a pint of large oysters, or more if required; have the pan large enough so that each oyster will lie flat on the bottom; put in over them a little oyster liquor, but not enough to float; place them carefully in a hot oven and just heat them through thoroughly — do not bake them — which will be in three to five minutes, according to fire; take them up and place on toast, first moistened with the hot juice from the pan. Are a very good substitute for oysters roasted in the shell, the slow cooking- bringing out the flavor.

271. Oyster Stew — Put the liquor from the oysters on the stove, let boil, skim and season with butter and pepper; add the oysters. Let it come to a boil only. Season with salt and serve.

272. Oyster Stew — Take twelve to fifteen good sized opened oysters — those opened fresh from the shells preferred; place in half pint cold water in a stew pan; heat gradually until hot, skimming off all scum as it arises; when quite hot add half a pint warm milk; season with butter, pepper and salt if it requires it. Let it boil up once only, and serve in bowls or soup plates. Celery and cold raw cabbage to be served with it.

273. Plain Oyster Stew — Same as a milk or cream stew (see No. 274), using pyster liquor or water instead of milk or cream, adding more butter after taking up. — Boston Oyster House, cor. Madison and Clark streets, Chicago.

274. Oysters Stewed in Milk or Cream — Take half a pint good milk or cream, bring it to a boil, place in it one dozen medium sized oysters, and cook three to four minutes on a stove or range; season while cooking. Is a dish for one only. Use a like quantity for each additional person, but use all milk, or half each of milk and cream. — Boston Oyster House, cor. Madison and Clark streets, Chicago.

275. Dry Oyster Stew — Take six to twelve large oysters and cook them in half a pint of their own liquor; season with butter and white pepper; cook for five minutes, stirring constantly. Serve in hot soup plates or bowls. — Boston Oyster House, cor. Madison and Clark streets, Chicago.

276. Boston Fancy — To six or eight count or shell oysters use a half cup water or oyster liquor, season well with butter and pepper, and cook from three to five minutes, stirring constantly; serve on pointed slices of buttered toast standing in a bowl or soup plate, the points outward. — Boston Oyster House, cor. Madison and Clark streets, Chicago.

277. Neptune Oyster Stew — Six or eight shell oysters and four clams, just from the shells; stew four or five minutes in clam and oyster liquor mixed; add boiling milk or cream, and serve. It is quite necessary to add the milk quite hot, to prevent being soured by the clam juice. — Boston Oyster House, cor. Madison and Clark streets, Chicago.

278. Fried Oysters — Pour the liquor from the oysters; dip them in an egg batter niade of two eggs, well beaten, and milk to thin to about as thick as cream; after dipping, roll the oysters in cracker meal, and fry in hot lard until nicely browned on both sides. — Boston Oyster House, cor. Madison and Clark streets, Chicago.

279. "Our Boston Fry " — Prepare the oysters in egg batter and fine cracker meal; fry in butter over a slow fire for about ten minutes; cover the hollow of a hot platter with tomato sauce; place the oysters in it, but not covering, garnished with chopped parsley sprinkled over the oysters. — Boston Oyster House, cor. Madison and Clark streets, Chicago.

280. Fried Oysters — For small oysters, drain them carefully; remove all bits of shell; sprinkle with pepper and salt, and set in a cool place ten to fifteen minutes; then, if oysters are quite small, pour them into a pan of fine rolled crackers, add the liquor, mix well, and let stand five minutes; add a very little salt and pepper, and mould into small cakes, with two or three oysters in each; roll into more dry cracker until well crusted, and fry in hot lard and butter, or beef drippings. Serve hot on a covered dish.

281. Fried Oysters — Dip them in the yelk of egg well beaten and seasoned, then in corn meal with a little baking powder mixed with it, and fry in hot lard like doughnuts; when hot enough the lard will cease to bubble, and remain quite still; skim out quickly and drain; or, if you have a wire frying basket, place them on that and put it in

hot lard. If the fat is not perfectly clear, drop in a small peeled potato before frying, which will not only have the effect of clearing the fat, but also prevent its becoming too hot while frying. It is better not to touch oysters with the hand while preparing them for frying, as it tends to toughen them. All the turning and dipping can be well performed by the aid of a silver four-tined fork.

282. Broiled Oysters — Prepare oysters the same as for frying; grease a fine meshed wire broiler with salt pork, and broil over an open charcoal or coke fire, until browned on both sides. Serve on toast, with a cream sauce, in which sprinkle a little chopped celery and parsley. — Boston Oyster House, cor. Madison and Clark streets, Chicago.

283. Fricasseed Oysters — Take a slice of raw ham, which has been pickled but not smoked, and soak in boiling water for half an hour; cut it in quite small pieces, and put in a saucepan with two-thirds of a pint of veal or chicken broth, well strained, the liquor from a quart of oysters, one small onion minced fine, and a little chopped parsley, sweet marjoram, and pepper; let them simmer for twenty minutes, and then boil rapidly two or three minutes; skim well, and add one scant table- spoon corn-starch mixed evenly in one-third cup of milk; stir con- stantly, and when it boils add the oysters and one ounce butter; after which just let it come to a boil, and remove the oysters to a deep dish; beat one egg, and add to it gradually some of the hot broth, and when cooked stir it into the pan; season with salt, and pour the whole over the oysters. When placed upon the table, squeeze the juice of a lemon over it.

284. Oyster Pies — For each pie take a tin plate half the size around of an ordinary dinner plate; grease it and cover the bottom with a puff paste, as for pies; lay on it five or six select oysters, or enough to cover the bottom; butter them and season with a little salt and plenty of pepper; spread over this an egg batter, and cover with a crust of the paste, making small openings in it with a fork. Bake in a hot oven fifteen to twenty minutes, or until the top is nicely browned. — Boston Oyster House, cor. Madison and Clark streets, Chicago.

285. Oyster Pie— Line a deep pie-dish with puff paste, dredge with flour, pour in a pint of oysters, season well with bits of butter, salt and pepper, and sprinkle flour over all; pour on some of the oyster liquor, and cover with a crust, having an opening in the center to allow the steam to escape.

286. Oyster Pie — Line the pie-dish half way up with a good pie crust, fill the dish with pieces of stale bread, cover with a paste, and bake about twenty minutes in a brisk oven; take off the crust, have ready some nicely stewed oysters, or prepared as if for patties, fill the pie with them, replace the crust, and serve at once.

287. Oyster Pie — Line a dish with a good puff paste, putting an extra layer around the edge, and bake in a brisk oven; after bak- ing, fill with oysters, season with pepper, salt, and one tablespoon of -butter; sprinkle lightly with flour, and cover with a thin crust of the

paste; bake quickly. When the top crust is done the pie will be ready to take out. Serve promptly, as the crust quickly absorbs the gravy. Some like this cold for picnics or traveling.

288. Escalloped Oysters — Cover the bottom of a well-buttered baking dish with a layer of bread or cracker crumbs, and wet them with half cup of cream or milk, put on in spoonsful ; salt and pepper, and add bits of butter; then add one quart oysters, with the liquor; pepper and drop on small bits of butter; over these sprinkle thickly a layer of crumbs, wet them, and put on more butter; cover over tightly, and bake from half to three-quarters of an hour, or until the juice bubbles up; remove the cover, and brown over the top in a hotter part of oven for a few minutes. Serve in the baking-dish.

289. Oysters with Veal — (See Veal with Oysters, No. 172.)

290. Oyster Fritters — Select plump, good-sized oysters; drain off the juice, and to a cupful of which add a cup of milk, two or three eggs, salt and pepper, and flour enough to make a rather thick batter; take up an oyster, cover it well with the batter, and drop in hot lard to fry, same as other fritters.

291. Oyster Croquettes — (See Chicken and Oyster Cro- quettes, No. 193.)

292. Oyster Patties — Put fifty freshly opened oysters into a sauce pan over a quick fire; let them boil, and skim; strain them quite dry saving the liquor; take of butter and flour each a tablespoon and a half; mix well together; let simmer over the fire until clear; then add the oyster liquor and a pint of cream; season with salt, pepper and a little nutmeg, and a very little cayenne; let all boil about twenty minutes, strain, add the oysters and finish with a little butter. The patties should be ready; place a spoonful of the stew in each; put on the cover and serve. — FermandFM, Chef de Cuisine, Astor House \ JV. Y.

293. Oyster Patties — (See Veal Patties, No. 175). Stewing the oysters in the ordinary way, without pork or celery seasoning.

294. Deviled Oysters — Wipe them dry, and lay in a flat dish; cover with a mixture of melted butter, cayenne pepper — or pepper sauce — and lemon juice; let them lie for ten minutes, turning frequently; roll in cracker crumbs, then in beaten egg, and again in the crumbs; fry in hot lard and butter, mixed half and half. Serve quite hot.

Note. — There are several varieties of clams, the round or hard- shell (known on the sea coast as quahogs) being in most common use, are the coarser kind, and quite strong in flavor. The more delicate kinds are little-necks, princes-bays, and soft-shells (the latter being in season during the cold months only, and should especially be fresh). Without possessing the delicate flavor of the oyster, they may be readily prepared in many ways to form a very desirable edible, while some of the dishes given are held in great estimation, particularly at the seaside.

295. Clam Chowder— ( The New Bedford A?a>*)— The mate- rials needed are fifty round clams (quahogs), a large bowl of salt pork cut up fine, the same of onions finely chopped, and same (or more if you desire) of potatoes cut into eighths or sixteenths of original size; wash the clams very thoroughly, and put them in a pot with half a pint of water; when the shells are open they are done; then take them from the shells and chop fine, saving all the clam water for the chowder; fry out the pork very gently, and when the scraps are a good brown, take them out and put in the chopped onions to fry; they should be fried in a frying-pan and the chowder-kettle be made very clean before they are put in it, or the chowder will burn. (The chief secret in chowder-making is to fry the onions so delicately that they will be missing in the chowder.)

Add a quart of hot water to the onions; put in the clams, clam- water and pork scraps. After it boils, add the potatoes, and when they are cooked, the chowder is finished. Just before it is taken up, thicken it with a cup of powdered crackers and add a quart of fresh milk. If too rich, add more water. No seasoning is needed but good black pepper.

296. Clam Chowder — Take fifty quahogs and chop them up; peel and slice ten raw potatoes; cut into dice size six onions and half a pound fat salt pork; slice six tomatoes or use a large cup of canned tomatoes; one pound Boston or pilot crackers (sea biscuits). First put the pork in the bottom of the pot and try out; partly cook the onions in pork fat and remove; lay in the pot alternately the different ingre- dients as prepared, season with pepper and salt, cover with water and boil an hour and a half, with an inverted plate over to keep in the steam. Stir in a little chopped parsley just before taking up, as it will add to the appearance if not flavor of the dish.

297. Clam Stew — Take half a peck hard-shell clams, wash them clean, and put them in a kettle with about one cup water; let them steam until they open; take them out and remove from the shell, saving the juice; strain it, and with the clams return to the pot; after coming to a boil, add a pint milk, an egg-sized lump of butter, three crackers rolled fine, pepper, and salt if needed, which it will probably not.

298. Clam and Oyster Stew — Use about half the quantity of clams and proceed as above, using the same quantity of canned or count oysters as that of clams after they are taken from the shells, and cook as above directed.

299. Fried Clams — Take a sufficient quantity of shelled clams, and after drying, fry in a very little lard or butter, turning them over once or twice; just before they are done prick them with a fork to let out the juice, and add a little vinegar; when it is hot take up and serve.

300. Fried Clams — Breaded — Take from the shell some good sized soft-shell clams; beat an tgg well, and add to it two tablespoons water, dry the clams well in a cloth, and dip them first in egg and then

in fine crackers or bread-crumbs, and fry in good sweet lard or butter. They should fry considerably longer than oysters prepared in a similar manner.

301. Clam Pie — Of either hard or soft shell clam meats, take about three pints — if large, chop them up a little — having saved all their juice when opening, boil them in it; if not sufficient, add a little water; have at hand four medium sized boiled potatoes cut into small squares; make a nice pie crust, with which line a good sized earthen baking dish for half way down the sides. Place a small teacup in the middle of the dish, inverted to hold up the crust, and place around it first a layer of clams, and then a few squares of potato; season with bits of butter and a little salt or pepper, and dredge over with flour; repeat this until the dish is full, adding clam juice and a little water if necessary.

302. Clam Fritters — Put into an earthen dish three spoons of flour, a teaspoon of yeast powder, and two eggs; mix this with a little clam juice; mince a pint of clams and mix with this batter; put two or three spoons lard into a shallow frying-pan, and when hot, put in the clam batter by spoonfuls to fry; turn them over after three or four minutes, let them fry a moment longer, then take them out, and after draining them on a cloth, serve. Clam fritters should not be cooked in large masses.- — Etnil Combe y Chef de Cuisine 9 Hotel Wellington.

303. Clam Fritters — Take raw clams fresh from the shells and chopped fine; make a batter of the juice, an equal quantity of sweet milk and four eggs to each pint of the liquid, with sufficient flour to stiffen; fry in boiling lard the same as other fritters.