Cookery for every household

Take two fresh mackerel, remove the head and fins, cut them open, and take out the backbone. Brush the fish over with melted butter, season them with pepper, salt, a little mixed herbs finely powdered, and J tea-spoonful chopped shallot. Place one fish on the top of the other, the open sides together, and slip them into a well-greased paper bag. Add 2 table-spoonfuls tomato sauce or tomato ketchup, seal up, and cook in a good oven from 20 to 30 minutes according to the size and thickness of the fish. Dish up carefully, pouring the sauce over. Herring may be prepared in the same way. 3034. Red Mullet Take two or three red mullet, prepare them carefully, and wipe them dry. “ Oil or butter a paper bag, and place the fish inside, seasoning them with cayenne and a little salt. Add a small glass of white wine, a piece of butter the size of a walnut, a squeeze of lemon juice, and a tea-spoonful of chopped parsley. Seal up and bake in a moderate oven about 20 minutes. A tomato and two or three mushrooms cut in pieces may be cooked along with the fish if wished. Grey mullet may be cooked in the same way. 3035. Whiting Have the fish cleaned and skinned, and fasten the tails in the mouths. Roll them in flour, dip them in milk, and then cover them with breadcrumbs, seasoning with white pepper and salt. Place the fish in a well-greased bag, put a few pieces of butter on the top, and seal up. Cook in a very hot oven from 15 to 20 minutes, according to the size of the fish. Other kinds of light white fish may be done in the same way, and it may be filleted if preferred. 3036. To Roast Meat Prepare the meat as for other roasting, stuffing it or not as desired. Select a good-sized bag, and either grease it with dripping or grease the joint itself, regulating the amount of dripping according to the fatness of the meat. Put the meat into the bag, seal it up, and place the bag on a grid in a well-heated oven. No basting is required, and the time allowed must be rather less than for ordinary roasting. Reduce the heat after the joint has been in the oven about 10 minutes. There will be very little gravy from meat cooked in this way, as the juice remains in the meat itself, but what there is in the bag should be poured into a basin, and have the grease removed from it. A little extra gravy or stock may then be added to it, and this poured round the meat. If a thick gravy is wanted, the joint of meat should be coated with flour before it is put into the bag, or a good gravy may be made separately. This is a particularly good method of cooking a small joint of meat, which is very liable to become dried up if roasted in the ordinary way. 3037. Roast Chicken Prepare and truss the chicken for roasting. Cover the breast well with good dripping or butter. or tie over it some thin slices of fat bacon. Place the bird in a greased bag, seal up, and set on a grid. Cook in a hot oven, reducing the heat after the first 10 minutes, allowing from 30 to 35 for a young chicken, and from \ to 1 hour for an older bird. If the chicken is stuffed, rather .longer time should be allowed. Game may be cooked in the same way. 3038. Beef Olives