Miss Leslie's New Cookery Book. Leslie Eliza
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Название: Miss Leslie's New Cookery Book

Автор: Leslie Eliza

Издательство: Bookwire

Жанр: Сделай Сам

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isbn: 4057664650825

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СКАЧАТЬ stir them continually till they are quite soft, taking care not to let them become brown. Then put in the sliced fish in layers; seasoning each layer with a mixture of white ground ginger, cayenne pepper, and grated nutmeg; add some chopped parsley, and some bits of butter rolled in flour. Pour in a pint of water, and, if you choose, a wine-glass of vinegar, (tarragon vinegar will be best.[B]) Set it over a good fire and let it cook about an hour. When done, take out the fish carefully, to avoid breaking the slices. Lay it in a deep dish that has been made hot, and cover it immediately. Have ready the beaten yolks of two eggs. Stir them into the gravy. Give it one boil up; and then either pour it over the fish, or serve it up in a sauce-boat.

      Halibut, fresh cod, or any other large fish may be stewed in this manner.

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      By the following process, (which we can highly recommend from experience,) a shad may be kept twenty-four hours, or indeed longer, so as to be perfectly fresh in taste and appearance. For instance, if brought fresh from market on Saturday morning, it may be broiled for breakfast on Sunday, and will seem like a fresh shad just from the water. Immediately on bringing it in, let it be scaled, cleaned, washed, split, and wiped dry; cutting off the head and tail. Spread the shad open on a large flat dish. Mix well together in a cup, a heaped table-spoonful of brown sugar; a heaped tea-spoonful of cayenne pepper, and a tea-spoonful of fine salt; and then rub the mixture, thoroughly and evenly, all over the inside of the fish; which, of course, must be spread with the skin or outside downward. Cover it closely with a large tin cover or with another dish, and set it immediately on ice or in a very cold place, and let it rest till next morning, or till it is wanted for cooking. Immediately before you put it on the gridiron, take a clean towel and carefully wipe off the whole of the seasoning, not letting a particle of it remain round the edges, or anywhere else. Then put the shad on a previously heated gridiron, over hot coals, and broil it well. Butter it, and send it hot to table, where every one can season it again, according to their taste.

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      This is the best way of cooking shad when in perfection, just out of the river; and it is much in use at fishing party dinners. A board or plank, about three inches thick and two feet square, must be provided for the purpose. This plank should be of well-seasoned oak or hickory, and very clean. A pine board will very soon catch fire and burn; besides communicating to the fish a taste of turpentine or rosin. Take a very fine shad, and (having cut off the head and tail,) split it down the back, clean it, wash it well, and wipe it dry. Sprinkle it with salt, and cayenne. Stand up the board before the fire till it becomes very hot, and almost begins to char. Then nail to the hot board the spread-open shad, with the back or skin-side next to the plank, securing it with a few nails, not driven in so hard that they cannot easily be drawn out. Begin to roast it with the head downward. After a while turn the other end of the plank, so as to place the tail downward. Turn it frequently up or down, that the juices of the fish may be equally dispersed throughout. When done, butter it with fresh butter, and send it to table on the board; under which, place a large dish or tray. Help it to the company off the plank. This mode of cooking a shad will be found superior to all others; and is so generally liked, that two at least will be required, one at each end of the table. It is much enjoyed by parties who have dinners on the banks of the river, and bespeak of the fishermen shad just out of the water.

      Lake salmon may be cooked in this manner on a plank. Also, blue fish, and the lake white fish.

      At the principal household stores, shad-boards of oak are now to be purchased ready made. The cost is from a dollar to seventy-five cents. They are very strong and smooth, and furnished with thick wires crossing the board diagonally. Behind these the fish is to slip in without nailing. They are much used, and we advise every house-keeper to get one. We see very nice ones at Carryl's Furnishing Store, Chestnut street, Philadelphia.

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      Insert a knife, and if the shell instantly closes firmly on the knife, the oysters are fresh. If it shuts slowly and faintly, or not at all, they are dying, or dead. When the shells of raw oysters are found gaping open they are fit for nothing but to throw away, and should not have been seen in the market, as they are quite dead and decomposition has commenced. Clams the same.

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      When it is necessary to keep oysters a day or two before they are cooked, they must be kept clean and fed, otherwise they will die and spoil. Put them into a large tub of clean water; wash from them the mud and sand, and scrub them with a birch broom. Then pour off that water, and give them a clean tubful, placing the oysters with the deep or large side downward, and sprinkling them well, with salt mixed with it, allowing about a pint of salt to every two gallons of water. But if you have a very large quantity of oysters, add to the salt and water several handfuls of indian meal. Repeat this every twelve hours, with fresh water and meal. Always at the time of high water, oysters may be seen to open their shells, as if in expectation of their accustomed food. If this is carefully continued, they will remain plump and healthy for two days.

      Terrapins also, and other shell fish, should have the salt and water changed every twelve hours, and be fed with corn meal.

      Turtle must also be well fed, and allowed salted water to swim in.

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      Get two hundred or more fine large fresh oysters. Drain them from their liquor, (saving it in a pitcher,) and put them into a stew-pan with a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, and set them over the fire. When they have simmered, and have almost come to a boil, remove them from the fire; and have ready a pan of very cold water. Take out the oysters, (one at a time, on a fork,) and put them into the cold water. This will plump them, and render them firm. Having saved about half their liquor, put it into the stew-pan, seasoned well with blades of mace, grated nutmeg, whole pepper-corns, and a little cayenne. Stir in half a pint or more of thick rich cream; and if you cannot procure cream, an equal quantity of nice СКАЧАТЬ