Cut the mackarel into four or five pieces; season them very high; make slits with a penknife, put in the seasoning, and fry them in oil to a good brown colour. Drain them very dry; put them into vinegar, if they are to be kept for any time; pour oil on the top.
_Mackarel, to pot._
Proceed in the same manner as with eels.
_Mackarel, to souse._
Wash and clean your fish: take out the roes, and boil them in salt and water; when enough, take them out and lay them in the dish; pour away half the liquor they were boiled in, and add to the rest of the liquor as much vinegar as will cover them and two or three bay leaves. Let them lie three days before they are eaten.
_Mackarel Pie._
Cut the fish into four pieces; season them to your taste with pepper, salt, and a little mace, mixed with a quarter of a pound of beef suet, chopped fine. Put at the bottom and top, and between the layers of fish, a good deal of young parsley, and instead of water a little new milk in the dish for gravy. If you like it rich, warm about a quarter of a pint of cream, which pour in the pie when baked; if not, have boiled a little gravy with the heads. It will take the same time to bake as a veal pie.
_Mullet, to boil._
Let them be boiled in salt and water, and, when you think them done enough, pour part of the water from them, and put a pint of red wine, two onions sliced, some nutmeg, salt, and vinegar, beaten mace, a bunch of sweet herbs, and the juice of a lemon. Boil all these well together, with two or three anchovies; put in your fish; and, when they have simmered some time, put them into a dish and strain the sauce over. If you like, shrimps or oysters may be added.
_Mullet, to broil._
Let the mullet be scaled and gutted, and cut gashes in their sides; dip them in melted b.u.t.ter, and broil them at a great distance from the fire.
Sauce--anchovy, with capers, and a lemon squeezed into it.
_Mullet, to fry._
Carefully scale and gut the fish, score them across the back, and then dip them into melted b.u.t.ter. Melt some b.u.t.ter in a stewpan; let it clarify. Fry your mullet in it; when done, lay them on a warm dish.
Sauce--anchovy and b.u.t.ter.
_Oysters, to stew._
Take a quart of large oysters; strain the liquor from them through a sieve; wash them well, and take off the beards. Put them in a stewpan, and drain the liquor from the settlings. Add to the oysters a quarter of a pound of b.u.t.ter mixed with flour and a gill of white wine, and grate in a little nutmeg with a gill of cream. Keep them stirred till they are quite thick and smooth. Lay sippets at the bottom of the dish; pour in your oysters, and lay fried sippets all round.
_Another way._
Put a quarter of a pound of b.u.t.ter into a clean stewpan, and let it boil. Strain a pint of oysters from their liquor; put them into the b.u.t.ter; and let them stew with some parsley minced small, a little shalot shred small, and the yolks of three eggs well beaten up with the liquor strained from the oysters. Put all these together into the stewpan with half a pound more b.u.t.ter; shake it and stew them a little; if too much, you make the oysters hard.
_Oysters, ragout of._
Twenty-five oysters, half a table-spoonful of soy, double the quant.i.ty of vinegar, a piece of b.u.t.ter, and a little pepper, salt, and flour.
_Oysters, to pickle._
Blanch the oysters, and strain off the liquor; wash the oysters in three or four waters; put them into a stewpan, with their liquor and half a pint of white wine vinegar, two onions sliced thin, a little parsley and thyme, a blade of mace, six cloves, Jamaica pepper, a dozen corns of white pepper, and salt according to your taste. Boil up two or three minutes; let them stand till cold; then put them into a dish, and pour the liquor over them.
_Oyster Pates._ No. 1.
Stew the oysters in their own liquor, but do not let them be too much done; beard them; take a table-spoonful of pickled mushrooms, wash them in two or three cold waters to get out the vinegar; then cut each mushroom into four, and fry them in a little b.u.t.ter dusted over with flour. Take three table-spoonfuls of veal jelly, and two spoonfuls of cream; let it boil, stirring all the while; add a small bit of b.u.t.ter.
Season with a pinch of salt, and one of cayenne pepper. Throw the oysters, which you have kept warm in a cloth near the fire, into the sauce; see that it is all hot; then have the pates ready, fill them with the oysters and sauce, and put a top on each. When the paste of oyster pates is done, remove the tops gently and cleanly with a knife; take out the flaky part of the paste inside and from the inside of the top; cut six little pieces of bread square so as to fill the inside; lay on the top of the paste. Then place them on a sheet of paper in a dish, and put them before the fire, covering them with a cloth to keep them hot. When you are going to serve them take out the piece of bread, and fill the pates with the oysters and sauce.
_Oyster Pates._ No. 2.
Spread some puff-paste about half an inch thick. Cut out six pieces with a small tea-cup. Rub a baking sheet over with a brush dipped in water, and put the pates on it at a little distance from each other. Glaze them thoroughly with the yolk and white of egg mixed up; open a hole at the top of each with a small knife; cut six tops of the size of a crown-piece, and place them lightly on the pates. Let them be baked, and when done remove the tops, and place the crust on paper till ready to serve up; then fill them with oysters (as described in the preceding recipe) put the tops over them, and dish them upon a folded napkin.
_Oyster Pates._ No. 3.
Parboil your oysters, and strain them from their liquor, wash the beard, and cut them in flour. Put them in a stewpan, with an ounce of b.u.t.ter rolled in flour, half a gill of cream, and a little grated lemon-peel, if liked. Free the oyster liquor from sediment, reduce it by boiling to one half; add cayenne pepper and salt. Stir it over the fire, and fill your pates.
_Oyster Loaves._
Cut out the crumb of three French rolls; lay them before the fire till they are hot through, turning them often. Melt half a pound of b.u.t.ter; put some into the loaves; put on their tops, and boil them till they are b.u.t.tered quite through. Then take a pint of oysters, stewed with half a pint of water, one anchovy, a little pepper and salt, a quarter of a pound of b.u.t.ter, and as much sauce as will make your sauce thick. Give it a boil. Put as many oysters into your loaves as will go in; pour the rest of the sauce all over the loaves in the dish in which they are served up.
_Oyster Pie._
Beard the oysters; scald and strain them from their liquor, and season the liquor with pepper, salt, and anchovy, a lump of b.u.t.ter, and bread crumbs. Boil up to melt the anchovies; then just heat your oysters in it; put them all together into your pie-dish, and cover them with a puff-paste.
If you put your oysters into a fresh pie, you must cover them at the top with crisped crumbs of bread; add more to the savouring if you like it.
_Perch, to frica.s.see._
Boil the perch, and strip them of the bones; half cover them with white wine; put in two or three anchovies, a little pepper and salt, and warm it over the fire. Put in a little parsley and onions, with yolks of eggs well beaten. Toss it together; put in a little thick b.u.t.ter; and serve it up.
_Pike, to dress._
If you would serve it as a first dish, do not scale it; take off the gills, and, having gutted it, boil it in court bouillon, as a side-dish, or _entree_. It may be served in many ways. Cut it into pieces, and put it into a stewpan, with a bit of b.u.t.ter, a bunch of all sorts of sweet herbs, and some mushrooms; turn it a few times over the fire, and shake in a little flour; moisten it with some good broth and a pint of white wine, and set it over a brisk fire. When it is done, add a trifle of salt and cayenne pepper, the yolk of three eggs, and half a pint of cream, stirring it till well mixed. Serve up hot.
_Pike stuffed, to boil._
Clean a large pike; take out the gills; prepare a stuffing with finely grated bread, all sorts of sweet-herbs, particularly thyme, some onions, grated lemon-peel, oysters chopped small, a piece of b.u.t.ter, the boiled yolk of two eggs, and a sufficient quant.i.ty of suet to hold the ingredients together. Put them into the fish, and sew it up. Turn the tail into the mouth, and boil it in pump water, with two spoonfuls of vinegar and a handful of salt. It will take forty minutes to boil, if a large fish.
_Pike, to boil, a-la-Francaise._
Wash well, clean, and scale a large pike, and cut it into three pieces; boil an equal quant.i.ty of white wine and water with lemon-peel, and when the liquor boils put your pike in, with a handful of salt. When done, lay it on sippets, and stick it with bits of fried bread. Sauce--melted b.u.t.ter, with slices of lemon in it, the yolks of three eggs, and some grated nutmeg. Pour your sauce over the pike, and serve it up.