Cookery for every household

Pick all the meat from the crab, and pound it in a mortar with the seasoning. Add some of the butter melted, pound again, and then rub through a fine wire sieve. Pack the mixture into little pots, run some melted butter over the top, and bake in a moderate oven for 20 minutes. Cover again with melted butter if the former lot has soaked in, and set aside to cool, when it will be ready for use. The potted crab must be served in the jar, garnished with a little parsley. 301. Scalloped Crab (Crabe aux Coquilles) Make in the same way as Dressed Crab (Hot), serving the mixture in scallop shells instead of the crab shell. 302. Crab Souffles, Hot or Cold (Souffl6es de Crabe) Make in the same way as Fish Souffles (Recipe 360). Lobster (Homard) The lobster is considered more of a luxury than the crab, as it is much more expensive. The flesh is firmer in texture and more delicate in flavour. They are frequently bought alive, when they are a blue-black colour and do not become their wellknown red colour until after cooking. A mediumsized lobster is best, and one that is heavy in proportion to its size. The hen lobster is valuable on account of the spawn, which gives such a beautiful red colour to sauces, &c., but for actual flavour the cock lobster is best and the flesh is firmer and it is more slender in form than the hen lobster. The lobster must be bought and used as fresh as possible. If bought alive the lobster should be strong and active in its movements. If ready cooked, the tail should be pressed tightly against the body, and should spring back sharply when pulled out straight with the fingers. Lobsters with white shell-like incrustations on the shell should be avoided, as this is generally an indication of age. The flesh of the lobster is very dry and is generally served with an accompaniment of oil and vinegar, or with a sauce made with oil. To Kill a Lobster Lobsters should be killed before being cooked by running a skewer or sharp-pointed knife through the spinal cord at the joint between the body and tail shells. 303. Lobster, To Boil Have ready on the fire a deep saucepan of boiling water, with salt added to it in the proportion of 1 table-spoonful to I quart. Plunge in the lobster head-foremost, boil quickly a minute, and then simmer slowly until the lobster is ready. A lobster weighing 2 lbs. will require about 25 minutes’ boiling. If boiled too long the meat becomes hard and thready. Remove any scum that may rise on the water. Lift out the lobster when ready, drain well, and if the shell has to be used in the serving up, rub it over with a little butter or salad oil to give it a glossy appearance. The lobster should be used as soon as possible ; if it has to be kept overnight, do not remove the meat from the shell until just about to serve it. Note. — Fish stock (see p. 78) may be used instead of water. 304. Lobster, Plainly Dressed Boil the lobster as directed above, and rub over the shell with a little salad oil or melted butter to give it a glossy appearance. When cold, remove the two large claws from the body and crack them well. Then separate the head part from the tail, and split the tail in half down the middle, removing any uneatable parts. See below.