When ready to cook, wash slightly so as not to remove all salt from fish. Take heads and set up to boil with a whole onion for twenty-five minutes, then add the other pieces and two cups of vinegar, one cup of water, four bay leaves and twelve allspice, a little pepper and ginger.
Cook for thirty-five minutes longer. Taste fish, add a little water or a little more vinegar to taste. Then remove fish carefully so as not to break the pieces and let cool. Strain the sauce, return fish to same, adding a few bay leaves and allspice. Set in a cool place until sauce forms a jelly around the fish. Can be kept covered and in a cool place for some time.
SOUSED HERRING
Split and half three herrings, roll and tie them up. Place them in a pie plate, pour over them a cup of vinegar, add whole peppers, salt, cloves to taste and two bay leaves. Bake in a slow oven until soft (about twenty minutes).
SALMON LOAF
Blend together one can of salmon, one cup of grated bread crumbs, two beaten eggs, one cup of milk, one teaspoon of lemon juice, one-half teaspoon of paprika, one-half teaspoon of salt, one tablespoon of chopped parsley and one tablespoon of onion juice. Place in a greased baking dish. Sprinkle top with thin layer of bread crumbs. Bake in hot oven for thirty minutes or until the crumbs that cover the dish are browned. Serve with a white sauce.
CREAM SALMON
Remove salmon from the can, place it in a colander and wash under running water or scald with boiling water. Break into small pieces, stir into one cup of hot cream sauce; bring all to a boil and serve in patty cups or on toasted bread or crackers.
PICKLE FOR SALMON
Take equal parts of vinegar, white wine and water. Boil these with a little mace, a clove or two, a bit of ginger root, one or two whole peppers and some grated horseradish. Take out the last named ingredient when sufficiently boiled, and pour the pickle over the salmon, previously boiled in strong salt and water.
KEDGEREE
Cut up in small pieces about a pound of any kind of cooked fish except herring. Boil two eggs hard and chop up. Take one cup of rice and boil in the following manner:--After washing it well and putting it on in boiling water, with a little salt, let it boil for ten minutes, drain it almost dry and let it steam with the lid closely shut for ten minutes longer without stirring. Take a clean pot and put in the fish, eggs, rice, a good dessertspoon of b.u.t.ter, and pepper and salt to taste. Stir over the fire until quite hot. Press into a mould and turn it out at once and serve.
SWISS CREAMED FISH
Mix smoothly in one cup of cold water a teaspoon of flour. Stir it into one cup of boiling milk and when thick and smooth add the meat of any cold fish, picked free from skin and bones. Season with salt, pepper and a tablespoon of b.u.t.ter. If the cream is desired to be extra rich one well-beaten egg may be added one minute before removing from the fire.
Serve hot. A pinch of cayenne or a saltspoon of paprika is relished by many.
COD FISH b.a.l.l.s
Put the fish to soak over night in lukewarm water. Change again in the morning and wash off all the salt. Cut into pieces and boil about fifteen minutes, pour off this water and put on to boil again with boiling water. Boil twenty minutes this time, drain off every bit of water, put on a platter to cool and pick to pieces as fine as possible, removing every bit of skin and bone. When this is done, add an equal quant.i.ty of mashed potatoes, a tablespoon of b.u.t.ter, a very little salt and pepper, beat up one egg and a little milk, if necessary, mix with a fork. Flour your hands well and form into biscuit-shaped b.a.l.l.s. Fry in hot oil.
FINNAN HADDIE
Parboil ten minutes and then broil like fresh fish.
To bake, place the fish in a pan, add one cup of milk and one cup of water; cover. Cook ten minutes in hot oven. Remove cover, drain, spread with b.u.t.ter and season with pepper.
FINNAN HADDIE AND MACARONI
Break up and cook until tender about a package of macaroni. Pick up the finnan haddie until you have about three-quarters as much as you have macaroni. Mix in a greased baking-dish and pour over a drawn b.u.t.ter sauce, made with cornstarch or with any good milk or cream dressing, then cover with bread or cracker crumbs or leave plain to brown in oven.
Bake from twenty to thirty minutes.
SCALLOPED FISH, No. 1
Line a b.u.t.tered baking-dish with cold flaked fish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper; add a layer of cold cooked rice, dot with b.u.t.ter; repeat and cover with cracker or bread crumbs. Bake fifteen to twenty minutes.
SCALLOPED FISH, No. 2
b.u.t.ter a dish, place in a layer of cold cooked fish, sprinkle with bread crumbs, parsley, salt, b.u.t.ter and pepper; repeat. Cover with white sauce, using one tablespoon of flour to two tablespoons of b.u.t.ter and one cup of milk. Sprinkle top with b.u.t.tered bread crumbs and bake.
*SAUCES FOR FISH AND VEGETABLES*
These sauces are made by combining b.u.t.ter and flour and thinning with water or other liquid. A sauce should never be thickened by adding a mixture of flour and water, as in that case the flour is seldom well cooked; or by adding flour alone, as this way is certain to cause lumps.
The flour should be allowed to cook before the liquid is added.
All sauces containing b.u.t.ter and milk should be cooked in a double boiler.
If so desired, any neutral oil--that is, vegetable or nut oil--may be subst.i.tuted for the b.u.t.ter called for in the recipe.
Care in preparation of a sauce is of as much importance as is the preparation of the dish the sauce garnishes.
DRAWN b.u.t.tER SAUCE
Melt two tablespoons of b.u.t.ter and stir in two tablespoons of flour. Add carefully one cup of boiling water, then season with one-half teaspoon of salt and a dash of pepper and paprika.
Many sauces are made with drawn b.u.t.ter as a foundation. For caper sauce add three tablespoons of capers.
For egg sauce add one egg, hard-boiled and chopped fine.
BEARNAISE SAUCE
There are several ways of making Bearnaise sauce. This is one very simple rule: Bring to the boil two tablespoons each of vinegar and water. Simmer in it for ten minutes a slice of onion. Take out the onion and add the yolks of three eggs beaten very light. Take from the fire, add salt and pepper to season, and four tablespoons of b.u.t.ter beaten to a cream, and added slowly.
*Quick Bearnaise Sauce.*--Beat the yolks of four eggs with four tablespoons of oil and four of water. Add a cup of boiling water and cook slowly until thick and smooth. Take from the fire, and add minced onion, capers, olives, pickles, and parsley and a little tarragon vinegar.
CUc.u.mBER SAUCE
Pare two large cuc.u.mbers; remove seeds, if large; chop fine and squeeze dry. Season with salt, vinegar, paprika and add one-half cup of cream.
SAUCE HOLLANDAISE