Select perfectly fresh fish, with firm flesh, bright eyes and gills, and those in full season. Results are always more satisfactory where one kind of fish is not substituted for another in a given recipe.
For instance, do not use canned salmon if fresh salmon is called for in the recipe, and expect good results. Nor should haddock be substituted for rock; the flesh is very different both in texture and flavor. Serve potatoes with fish and, when in season, cucumbers, or lettuce with French dressing.
- Salt mackerel
- Creamed codfish
- Planked fish
- Deviled oysters
- Fillets of fish
- Salt codfish with macaroni
- Fricassee of oysters
- To fry smelts
- Fish chowder
- Codfish balls and codfish souffle
- Jerusalem fishballs
- Fish timbale
- Halibut a la flamande
- Oyster stew
- Fish, hawaiian style
- Oyster gumbo
- Baked bluefish
- Potato and fish timbale
- Fish a la creme
1. Salt mackerel
Wash the fish, soak it overnight skin side up. Next morning dry, put it in a wire broiler, and broil, flesh side down, until a golden brown. Turn and broil the skin side quickly. Put on a heated platter, spread with butter that has been rubbed with an equal quantity of lemon juice, and serve.
2. Creamed codfish
Pick apart half a pound of salt codfish, wash it thoroughly in two waters, soak it overnight in cold water. Next morning drain, cover with boiling water, and cook below the boiling point for five minutes.
Drain and press. Rub one tablespoooful of butter and one of flour together, add half a pint of milk, stir until boiling; add a dash of pepper and the codfish; cover and stand over hot water for ten minutes. Add the beaten yolk of an egg, a quarter of a teaspoonful of pepper, and serve with plain boiled potatoes.
3. Planked fish
A fish plank should be made of hardwood, sixteen inches long and twelve inches wide. Heat it very hot, place the fish skin side down, dust with salt and pepper, baste with melted butter, and put it in the under oven of the gas stove, or before a wood fire, or on the shelf in a coal oven.
Cook quickly for fifteen minutes; baste again, decorate with potatoes a la Duchess, pressed through a star tube; put it back in the oven and cook until the potatoes are brown. Garnish with parsley and lemon and send to the table.
4. Deviled oysters
Wash and drain fifty oysters; shake them over the fire until the gills are curled. Drain, saving the liquor. Chop the oysters fine. Rub together one tablespoonful of butter and one of flour; add the oyster liquor and sufficient milk to make half a pint; stir until boiling.
Add the oysters, the yolks of two eggs slightly beaten, a level teaspoonful of salt, a dash of red pepper, a teaspoonful of lemon juice, and a tablespoonful of chopped celery.
Turn this in a baking-dish or into individual dishes or shells, cover thickly with soft breadcrumbs and bake in a quick oven until browned.
5. Fillets of fish
Clean a good-sized rock, wash and dry. Hold the flesh firm and with a sharp knife cut it from the bone from tail to head. Turn the fish on the other side and do the same, pressing the flesh firmly with your hand.
Cut the flesh in strips about an inch wide; roll each, fasten with a wooden skewer, dust with salt and pepper.
Cook for three minutes in deep, hot fat, drain on brown paper, arrange neatly on a napkin, garnish with parsley and lemon and send to the table.
6. Salt codfish with macaroni
Break two ounces of macaroni in two-inch lengths; throw them into boiling water and boil rapidly for thirty minutes; drain. Blanch for fifteen minutes in cold water; then cut in pieces half an inch long. Wash half a pound of boneless salt cod; cut it in dice, cover with cold water.
Bring just to boiling point, but do not allow it to boil; drain, cover again with boiling water and let it stand for five minutes, then drain. Rub together one rounding tablespoonful of butter with one of flour; add half a pint of strained tomato, a tablespoonful of grated onion, half a teaspoonful of salt and a saltspoonful of white or black pepper.
Stir until boiling. Add the macaroni and fish, stand over hot water for five minutes and serve in a heated dish.
7. Fricassee of oysters
Drain and wash fifty oysters; cook until the gills curl; drain, saving the liquor. Add to it sufficient milk to make a pint. Put two rounding tablespoonfuls of butter and two of flour in a saucepan, mix; add the liquor and milk, and stir until boiling.
Add a rounding teaspoonful of salt, a dash of cayenne, and the oysters.
Heat over hot water. Beat the yolks of two eggs with four tablespoonfuls of cream, stir them quickly in the oysters; take from the fire, and serve on toast, or in a round dish garnished with triangular pieces of toast; sprinkle finely-chopped parsley over the top.
8. To fry smelts
Wash the smelts, make a slight opening at the gills with a very sharp knife or scissors; draw them between the thumb and finger, from tail to head; press the intestines out at the gill opening, keeping the fish whole. Wash and dry and dust with salt and black pepper.
Beat an egg until the white and yolk are thoroughly mixed; add a tablespoonful of water and mix again. Dip the fish in the egg and cover them thoroughly with seasoned breadcrumbs and fry quickly in deep, hot fat.
Drain on brown paper; dish on a napkin and serve with Tartar sauce.
9. Fish chowder
Wash and cut in squares one pound of any white fish; pare, cut in dice three medium-sized potatoes; chop fine one large onion; put in the bottom of a kettle a layer of the potatoes; then a layer of fish, then tomatoes; add a tablespoonful of onion, half a teaspoonful of powdered thyme, a saltspoonful of salt, a dash of pepper, half a teaspoonful of celery seed, and so continue until the materials are all used.
Have the last layer potatoes. Pour over a pint of boiling water, cover the kettle and cook over a moderate fire, without stirring, for twenty minutes. Meantime heat a pint of milk in a double boiler; take the chowder from the fire, and cover the top with crushed water-crackers. Pour over the milk, add a tablespoonful of butter cut in bits, and serve.
10. Codfish balls and codfish souffle
Pick apart half a pound of salt cod, cover with cold water, bring to boiling point and drain.
Cover it again with boiling water and. let stand for five minutes; drain and press; add a pint of hot mashed potatoes, a rounding tablespoonful of butter, a saltspoonful of pepper and the yolks of two eggs; mix thoroughly; form in balls, dip in beaten egg, roll in breadcrumbs and fry in deep, hot fat.
Serve plain or with tomato sauce. Persons who do not eat fried foods may change the recipe into codfish souffle by adding the well-beaten whites of the eggs and baking the mixture until a golden brown.
11. Jerusalem fishballs
Carefully remove the skin and then pick the flesh from a good-sized rock or haddock. Wash the skin, the head and the other rough pieces; put them in a saucepan; add a quart of water, a bay leaf, a slice of onion, a blade of mace, four cloves and two cloves of garlic, mashed; cover and simmer for one hour.
While this is cooking chop the flesh of the fish very fine, adding about twelve blanched and dried almonds, a level teaspoonful of salt, a tablespoonful of grated onion, a saltspoonful of black pepper. Mix thoroughly, form in balls the size of an English walnut, and drop them in the pot with the fish that is cooking; cover and cook for thirty minutes. Lift the balls with a skimmer and stand them at once in a very cold place.
Strain the stock. Beat six eggs until thoroughly mixed, add to them gradually the boiling stock, which should now measure three-quarters of a pint; stand the mixture over hot water, stir constantly until thick and jelly-like, take from the fire and press through a fine sieve.
Add gradually the juice of three lemons, or half lemon juice and half tarragon vinegar. When ready to serve roll each ball in the dressing; form them in a pyramid on a square dish or plate, put over the remaining quantity of dressing, garnish with parsley and serve.
12. Fish timbale
Remove the skin and bone from half a pound of halibut or other white fish. Put it twice through a meat-chopper. Add a pint of soft breadcrumbs to a gill of milk; cook to a smooth paste and add it gradually to the fish; add six tablespoonfuls of cream, a level teaspoonful of salt and a saltspoonful of white pepper.
Press this mixture through a sieve and then stir in carefully the well-beaten whites of five eggs. Grease a large mould. Garnish the bottom with chopped parsley or chopped truffles or mushrooms, or nicely cooked green peas; fill the mixture in the mould and stand it in a baking-pan half filled with water; cover with oiled paper and bake in a moderate oven for three-quarters of an hour.
When done, turn out on the serving-dish. Pour around either cream, lobster or shrimp sauce.
13. Halibut a la flamande
Purchase a small, very thick halibut steak. Wash it in cold water, dry, and dust it with salt and pepper. Cover the bottom of a baking-dish with two tablespoonfuls of chopped onion, two of chopped celery, and one tablespoonful of chopped parsley; put on top the halibut steak, brush with melted butter and bake in a quick oven for thirty minutes.
When done lift carefully to a heated dish. Put two tablespoonfuls of butter in a pan, add two tablespoonfuls of flour, mix; add one pint of strained tomatoes; stir until boiling; add a level teaspoonful of salt, a saltspoonful of mace and one of black pepper.
Strain this around the fish, garnish the top with carefully boiled potato balls, baste with melted butter, dust with finely-chopped parsley and send to the table.
14. Oyster stew
Drain, wash and drain again fifty good fat oysters; shake over the fire until the gills curl. Heat a quart of milk in a double boiler, add it hastily to the oysters; take from the fire; add a rounding teaspoonful of salt, twelve whole peppercorns, crushed, two level tablespoonfuls of butter, and, if you like, a dash of cayenne.
Serve with oyster-crackers. If thickening is liked rub a tablespoonful of butter with one of flour and add to the milk before adding it to the oysters.
15. Fish, hawaiian style
Clean, wash and dry a three-pound haddock, and dust it with salt and pepper. Put four tablespoonfuls of olive oil or butter in a shallow baking-pan. When hot drop in the fish; brown on both sides, then place it in a hot oven and cook slowly for thirty minutes, turning once.
While this is cooking put two good-sized potatoes that have been peeled, half a can of tomatoes, a large onion grated, a clove of garlic mashed, a saltspoonful of ground cloves, and a bay leaf in a saucepan; cook for five minutes and press through a sieve.
Add a level teaspoonful of salt, a dash of cayenne, one sweet chilli chopped fine, and a rounding tablespoonful of butter. Place the fish on a heated dish, pour over this mixture, and send to the table with a plate of plain boiled potatoes.
16. Oyster gumbo
Singe, clean and cut as for a fricassee one fowl; put it in a baking-pan; add one onion sliced, half a pint of water, and bake until tender. Wash and cut in thin slices a quart of young okra; put it in a saucepan; add a pint of water and cook slowly for half an hour.
Lift the chicken to a soup kettle; add a quart of chicken stock or boiling water, and simmer gently for twenty minutes. Add a rounding teaspoonful of salt, a level saltspoonful of cayenne, and, if you have it, a teaspoonful of paprika. Add the okra and fifty oysters; cover the saucepan, cook for five minutes and send at once to the table.
17. Baked bluefish
Take the intestines out at the gill opening, wash and dry the fish. Mix half a pint of breadcrumbs with two tablespoonfuls of melted butter; add half a teaspoonful of salt, a saltspoonful of black pepper, and stuff the fish.
Then put it in a baking-pan, baste with melted butter, and add half a cupful of boiling water. Dust the fish thickly with flour and bake in a quick oven for three-quarters of an hour, basting several times.
Serve with tomato sauce and potato balls.
18. Potato and fish timbale
Cut large potatoes into halves lengthwise. Scoop out the centres, leaving a wall a quarter of an inch in thickness. Stand the potatoes in a baking-pan, baste the sides with melted butter, and bake for twenty minutes. Pick apart a pound of cold cooked fresh codfish.
Dust it with a level teaspoonful of salt and a saltspoonful of white pepper. Pour over a tablespoonful of carefully melted butter and a few drops of onion juice.
Mix lightly with a fork. Fill this in the potatoes, dust the tops with breadcrumbs, place in the centre of each a bit of butter, and bake in a quick oven for twenty minutes. Serve cream sauce.
19. Fish a la creme
Pick apart sufficient cold boiled fish to make a pint. Rub together a rounding tablespoonful of butter and one of flour; add half a pint of milk, stir until boiling; take from the fire, add the flaked fish, a teaspoonful of salt and a saltspoonful of pepper; toss gently without breaking the fish and stand it over hot water until thoroughly heated.
Serve in pate shells or bread boxes.
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