The art of cookery

A calf or beef tongue can be boiled and baked in the same manner as a heart. The skin must be removed from the tongue when boiled, before it is prepared for baking. To Bake a Fish. — Fill the fish lightly with stuffing prepared as directed on page 28, and truss it in this manner : Make a large knot on the end of a strong piece of twine, or tie the end of the twine around a short wire skewer. With a trussing needle draw the twine through the fish, close to the head, then slightly below the middle, and again close to the tail. Draw the cord or twine tight enough to hold the fish in a position resembling the letter S, and fasten it. Place the fish on its belly in a roasting pan and bake until cooked and nicely browned, basting occasionally while it is baking with hot water and butter, or with a thin gravy, if preferred. When cooked, remove the cord and serve the fish in the same curved position in which it was baked, on a warm platter, garnished with parsley, cress, or celery ; or bake, without stuffing, in this manner : Make gashes across the fish, on each side, about two inches apart. Put slices of salt pork or breakfast bacon in the baking pan, and lay the fish on them. Cover the gashes on the upper side in a similar manner with slices of pork or bacon, then set in the oven, and close the door until the fish is cooked. If the oven is at the proper temperature the fish will require no attention until ready to serve. The length of time required to bake a fish depends upon its size, but when sufficiently Baking. 57 cooked the flesh will flake and separate easily. A medium-sized fish will roast in three quarters of an hour. A quick heat is necessary to develop the finest flavors of fish ; and to bake a fish properly it should be given all the heat it will bear without burning. To Scollop Oysters. — Drain a quart of oysters. To a pint of Bread Crumbs No. 2 add salt and pepper suflicient to season the oysters properly. Mix the seasoning uniformly through the crumbs with a fork. Then enrich them by sprinkling through, and mixing with them, half a cup of melted butter. Take a fireproof dish or baking pan not more than two inches deep, in which to cook the oysters. Scatter a thin layer of the seasoned crumbs over the bottom of the dish. Cover the crumbs with oysters, laying the oysters close together, but not overlapping each other. Sprinkle with the crumbs until nearly hidden from view, then add another layer of oysters and again sprinkle with crumbs. The top layer of crumbs should be heavier than either of the other layers — should contain fully one half the quantity of crumbs used — and but two layers of oysters should be put in the dish. Do not pour oyster juice, water, or liquid of any kind over the oysters after they are put in the dish. Bake in an oven, at the same temperature as for beef, for fifteen or twenty minutes, or until the crumbs on top are a rich chestnut brown. Remove from the oven as soon as cooked and serve at once, and the oysters will be plump, juicy, hot to the center, and surrounded by a delicious, moist coating of crumbs. To Scollop Oysters, No. 2. — Drain a quart of oysters. 58 The Art of Cookery.