FRENCH DISHES

it with a sliced carrot and onion, three cloves of gar- lic, six bay-leaves, six cloves, six branches of thyme, four parsley-roots, and cover the fish with half a bot- tle of white wine and a quart of consomme (stock, Art. i) ; put it on the fire until boiling, and then send it to a gentle oven to cook slowly for an hour, basting it often with its own liquor, on the side stud- ded with truffles. Take half a pint of Spanish sauce (Art. 80), to which add two wineglasses of the liquid in which your fish was cooked, put your sauce on the fire to boil, skim off the grease, and strain ; then put it back again on the fire for a few moments, adding a dozen mushrooms, a dozen quenelles (Art. n), as many truffles cut in quarters, a dozen crawfish, and the same of chicken's kidneys which you have pre- viously blanched in hot water, with a little salt, for ten minutes. Lay your fish on a dish, pour your sauce around it, and serve.

139. Ray, with Caper Sauce. Cook your fish as the foregoing, with the exception of the truffles, and serve with it a white sauce (Art. 84), to which add some capers.

140. Ray, au Beurre Noir. Cut in moderate- sized pieces four pounds of ray-fish, which put in a saucepan with an onion cut in slices, three parsley- roots, four cloves, six pepper-corns, half an ounce of salt, and four tablespoonfuls of vinegar. When be- ginning to boil, put your saucepan at the back of the range for thirty minutes, so as not to boil. Then take off the skin from both sides of your fish, which put in the saucepan with your other ingredients to

keep hot. Put in a frying-pan four ounces of but- ter, and, when colored black, fry a dozen sprigs of parsley for a moment, remove them, and add to your butter two tablespoonfuls of vinegar. Strain your fish, which arrange on a dish, garnish with the fried parsley, pour the black butter over the fish, and serve.

141. Fried Smelts. Clean about two dozen smelts, cut off the gills, wash them well in cold wa- ter, and dry them thoroughly. Put a pinch of salt and pepper in a little milk, into which dip your smelts, and then roll them in flour. Put in a fry- ing-pan about a pound and a half of lard, in which, when very hot, fry your smelts a light brown. Also fry some parsley, which place around your fish, and serve with a sauce Tartare (Art. 112).

142. Farcied Smelts. Prepare your smelts as the foregoing. Split them in two, taking care to make the opening in the under part of the fish, and, beginning at the tail, make the incision the length of the fish, without disturbing the head. Then take some chicken farce (Art. 11), and add to it half a dozen very finely chopped mushrooms, and a very little chopped parsley. Lay this on one side of your smelts, and cover with the other half. Place them in a buttered pan, cover each one with a very little melted butter, sprinkle some bread-crumbs lightly over them, and send them to the oven for about fifteen minutes. Take half a pint of Spanish sauce (Art. 80), add a sherry-glass of white wine, boil for fifteen minutes, add a little chopped parsley to your sauce, which pour over your fish, and serve.

s 6 FRENCH DISHES.

143. Oysters a la Poulette. Take fifty oys- ters, which blanch in boiling water, then drain them, preserving part of the liquid in which they were boiled. Take half a pint of bechamel sauce (Art. 83), add a little of the liquid in which your oysters were boiled, a little salt and pepper, a little chopped parsley, and, when your sauce has ceased boiling, the yolks of three eggs well mixed in a little water. Serve your oysters hot in the sauce.

144. Farcied Oysters a TAfricaine. Take twenty very large oysters, which blanch and then drain. Also take some chicken farce (Art. 11), chopping three truffles very fine, and mix with your farce, with which cover your oysters on both sides, and dip in bread-crumbs. Then beat up four eggs, the yolks and whites together, with a little salt, pep- per, and very little nutmeg added, and spread over your oysters, which dip again into bread-crumbs. Put the oysters in a buttered pan, and send to the oven for about fifteen minutes, a very little melted butter on each oyster. Take half a pint of Span- ish sauce (Art. 80), add to it a glass of sherry, and, after boiling twenty minutes, chop up two truffles, put them in your sauce, and serve with your oys- ters.

145. Fried Oysters. Take fifty large oysters, dip them in beaten eggs, in which you have put a little salt and pepper ; then roll them in bread- crumbs, and, if your oysters should not be very large, dip them again in beaten eggs, and again roll them in bread-crumbs. Fry them in very hot lard,

drain off the grease, and serve very hot. Garnish with slices of lemon.

146. Broiled Oysters. Take fifty large oys- ters, which drain and dip in four beaten eggs, to which you have added a little salt and pepper. Roll them in bread-crumbs, dip them again in eggs, and again roll them in bread-crumbs. Put a few drops of melted butter on each, broil them on a gridiron a light brown, and serve very hot.

147. Cromesqui of Oysters. Boil fifty oys- ters for about five minutes, drain them, and chop them fine. Put in a saucepan on the fire an ounce of butter, the same of flour, a pinch of salt, the same of pepper and nutmeg, and mix all well together. Add the juice of your oysters, and half a glass of milk, and stir with a wooden spoon until just before beginning to boil, then remove it from the fire ; add two yolks of eggs mixed in about a tablespoon- ful of water, and then your oysters. Put this mixt- ure on ice until cold, form it into balls about the size of a small egg, and wrap up each one in a very thin piece of pork. Break three eggs in a bowl, add six ounces of flour, and a little water, so as to make a smooth and very soft paste, but sufficiently solid to adhere to your cromesqui. Then mix a teaspoonful of soda with your paste, with which cover each one, and fry in very hot lard. When a bright yellow, drain, and serve hot.

148. Oysters on Toast. Put fifty oysters in a frying-pan with their liquor, toss them on the fire for about ten minutes, and sprinkle with chopped

5 8 FRENCH DISHES.

parsley. Put the oysters on eight pieces of toast, the juice poured over them. Serve very hot.

149. Oysters a la Mosely. Take fifty oysters, the third of which put in a deep dish with a little pepper, salt, a little melted butter, and cover with bread-crumbs. Then put half of the remaining oysters on top. Proceed as above, add a third layer, pour in enough sherry to reach the top of your oysters, cover with bread-crumbs, and a little melted butter, and send to a moderate oven until colored a light brown. Serve very hot.

150. Oysters au Gratin. Take three dozen rather small oysters, blanch them, and drain them. Make a rather thick bechamel sauce (Art. 83), to which add two yolks of eggs well mixed in a little water. When beginning to boil, add your oysters, a little salt, pepper, and a little nutmeg. Mix all well together, and then put them, with your sauce, in the shells. Cover them lightly with bread- crumbs, and a few drops of melted butter on top. Send them to the oven, and serve when nicely browned.

151. Lobster au Naturel. Put in a saucepan two sliced onions, a few green onions, some parsley, four cloves, four branches of thyme, one of sage, a pinch of mace, a little piece of green pepper, two ounces of salt, and enough water to cover them. Boil them for twenty minutes, and then allow them to cool, after which add four medium-sized lob- sters, boil for half an hour ; take them off the fire, and let them become cold in their liquor. Then

drain them, split them in two, break their claws, and serve them garnished with parsley.

152. Lobster a la Havraise. Take three small live lobsters, cut off the claws, break them, and separate your lobsters in two, cutting each lob- ster in eight pieces. Put into a frying-pan three very finely chopped shallots, with a tablespoonful of oil. When beginning to color lightly, add your pieces of lobster, and, after cooking fifteen minutes, add half a pint of Spanish sauce (Art. 80), a glass of sherry, about ten mushrooms, a little chopped parsley, a little salt, pepper, and a very little nut- meg. Mix well together, boil five minutes longer, and serve.

153. Croquettes of Lobster. Chop fine the meat of two boiled lobsters and add half a pint of bechamel sauce (Art. 83), to which you have added the yolks of two eggs well mixed in a little water. Then add two tablespoonfuls of tomato sauce, a little pepper, salt, and a very little nutmeg, and put on the ice until perfectly cold — this is of the utmost importance. When thoroughly cold, form them into croquettes and roll them in bread-crumbs ; beat three eggs (the yolks and whites together), into which dip your croquettes and roll them again in bread-crumbs. Put about two pounds of lard in a frying-pan, and, when very hot, fry your croquettes, which, when a light brown, drain, and serve.

154. Broiled Lobster. Take four chicken lob- sters (uncooked and perfectly fresh), separate them in two, lengthwise, put a little melted butter upon

60 FRENCH DISHES.

them, salt, pepper, and some bread-crumbs. Broil them on a gentle fire, and, just before serving, sprin- kle over them some chopped parsley. You may serve with them, if desired, a sauce Tartare (Art. 112) or a sauce remoulade (Art. 109).

155. Deviled Lobster. Prepare the mixture as described in Art. 153 for lobster croquettes, and mix with it a teaspoonful of mustard. Clean the shells of your lobsters, fill them with the above mixt- ure, which cover lightly with mustard, on top of which sprinkle some bread-crumbs and a very little melted butter. Put them in the oven, and, when col- ored a light brown, serve.

156. Lobster a la Bordelaise. Take the meat of three boiled lobsters, which cut in medium- sized pieces, and put them in a saucepan on the fire for about five minutes, with half a pint of sauce Bordelaise (Art. 101), and serve.

157. Crawfish a la Bordelaise. Boil four dozen crawfish as directed in Art. 77, drain, and put them in a saucepan on the fire for about five min- utes, with half a pint of sauce Bordelaise (Art. 101), and serve.

158. Farcied Lobster. Prepare the mixture as for lobster croquettes (Art. 153), adding a little chopped parsley, and with it fill the shells of two or three lobsters which you have previously washed. Sprinkle some bread-crumbs on top, and a very small quantity of melted butter. Send to the oven, and, when colored a light brown, serve.

159. Lobster a l'lndienne. Take two boiled

FISH. 6 1

lobsters, divide them in two, and remove the meat from the shells and claws. Wash half a pound of rice, boil it five minutes in boiling water, then put it in cold water for a moment. Drain, and place it in a saucepan with three pints of water, and boil forty minutes. Take half a pint of sauce Veloutee (Art. 82), add your lobsters, place your saucepan at the side of the range so as not to boil, and mix with your sauce a teaspoonful of curry. Drain off your rice, form it in a border on a dish, and place your lobster and sauce in the center.

160. Fried Frogs' Legs. Put three dozen frogs' legs in an earthen jar, with salt, thyme, six bay-leaves, three branches of parsley, an onion cut in thin slices, the juice of a lemon, and three or four tablespoonfuls of oil ; turn them over on one side, then on the other, several times during an hour ; then drain them, dip them in milk, in which you have put a little salt and pepper, roll them in flour, and fry them a light brown, in very hot lard. Serve them with some fried parsley.

161. Frogs' Legs a la Poulette. Put three dozen frogs' legs in a saucepan, with an ounce of butter, a claret-glass of white wine, and half a cup- ful of consomme- (stock, Art. 1), an onion sliced thin, a little thyme, bay-leaf, parsley, a pinch of salt, pepper, and a very little nutmeg. Boil for ten min- utes, and then drain. Put a tablespoonful of flour in a saucepan, with an ounce of butter, and mix well together. Strain the liquid in which your frogs' legs

were cooked, add to it two yolks of eggs well mixed 6

62 FRENCH DISHES.

in about a tablespoonful of water, a tablespoonful of chopped parsley ; boil three or four minutes, and serve.

162. Frogs' Legs a la Mariniere. Put three dozen frogs' legs in a saucepan, with a dozen chopped mushrooms, four shallots also chopped, and two ounces of butter, and toss them on the fire for five or six minutes ; then add a tablespoonful of flour, a little salt, pepper, a nutmeg, and moisten with a claret-glass of white wine and a glass of consomme (Art. 1); boil ten minutes. Mix the yolks of four eggs with two tablespoonfuls of cream, remove your frogs' legs from the fire, and, when boiling has ceased, add your eggs, stirring continually until thoroughly mixed, and serve.

163. Frogs' Legs a la Maitre d'Hotel. Boil in water two dozen frogs' legs for about twelve min- utes, with a pinch of salt, pepper, and the juice of a lemon. Drain them, and pour over them some melted butter to which you have added the juice of a lemon and a tablespoonful of chopped parsley; serve very hot.

164. Soft-Shell Crabs. Take eight soft-shell crabs, remove the gills and the sand. Wash them, then dry them with a cloth, dip them in a little milk, and roll them in flour. Put plenty of lard in a fry- ing-pan, in which, when very hot, fry your crabs. Five minutes will suffice. Serve with them some fried parsley. You may also dip the crabs in beaten eggs, and sprinkle with bread-crumbs before frying.

165. Farcied Crabs. Remove the meat from

four dozen boiled hard-shelled crabs and chop up fine. Put in a saucepan an onion cut in pieces, and an ounce of butter. When beginning to color slightly, add a dozen chopped mushrooms, a ta- blespoonful of chopped parsley, and four ounces of bread-crumbs, which you have previously soaked in consomme, and then pressed almost dry ; a pinch of salt and pepper, a little cayenne, and half a gill of tomato sauce (Art. 90). Mix all well together on the fire, and cook for five minutes. Wash your shells and fill them with the foregoing, cover them with bread-crumbs, and a very little melted butter on top ; send to the oven and color a light brown.

166. Deviled Crabs. Proceed as for the fore- going, putting a tablespoonful of mustard in the above mixture, and a layer of mustard on top of each crab before covering with bread-crumbs.

167. Clam Fritters. Take fifteen clams, which chop very fine, and put in a bowl with two ounces of flour, two eggs, a pinch of salt and pepper, and a tablespoonful of parsley, which chop fine. Mix all thoroughly together. Put some lard in a frying-pan, into which, when very hot, throw a tablespoonful of your mixture at a time, until you have used the entire quantity ; fry on both sides, and serve.

168. Oyster Fritters. Prepare as the fore- going.

169. Fish-Balis. Wash and peel six potatoes, boil them in a pint of water, with salt, drain them, mash them thoroughly ; add an ounce of butter, a pinch of salt and pepper, and an egg; mix all well