Original White House Cookbook

In taste, they have a singular resemblance to fried oysters. The corn must be young. FRICASSEED OYSTERS. Take a slice of raw ham, which has been pickled, but not smoked, and soak in boiling water for half an hour; cut it in quite small pieces, and put in a saucepan with two-thirds of a pint of veal or chicken broth, well strained; the liquor from a quart of oysters, one small onion, minced fine, and a little chopped parsley, sweet marjoram, and pepper; let them simmer for twenty minutes, and then boil rapidly for two or three minutes; skim well and add one scant tablespoonful of corn-starch, mixed smoothly in one-third cup of milk; stir constantly, and when it boils add the oysters and one ounce of butter; after which, just let it come to a boil, and remove the oysters to a deep dish; beat one egg, and add to it gradually some of the hot broth, and, when cooked, stir it into the pan; season with salt, and pour the whole over the oysters. When placed upon the table, squeeze the juice of a lemon over it. SMALL OYSTER PIES. For each pie take a tin plate half the size of an ordinary dinner plate; butter it, and cover the bottom with a puff paste, as for pies; lay on it five or six select oysters, or enough to cover the bottom; butter them and season with a little salt and plenty of pepper; spread over this an egg batter, and cover with a crust of the paste, making small openings in it with a fork. Bake in a hot oven fifteen to twenty minutes, or until the top is nicely browned. Boston Oyster House. STEWED CLAMS. Wash clean as many round clams as required ; pile them in a large iron pot, with half a cupful of hot water in the bottom, and put over the fire ; as soon as the shells open take out the clams, cut off the hard, uneatable “ fringe ” from each with strong, clean scissors, put them into a stewpan with the broth from the pot, and boil slowly till they are quite tender ; pepper well and thicken the gravy with flour stirred into melted butter. Or, you may get two dozen freshly opened very small clams. Boil a pint of milk, a dash of white pepper and a small pat of butter. Now add the clams. Let them come to a boil and serve. Longer boiling will make the clams almost indigestible. ROAST CLAMS IN THE SHELL. Roast in a pan over a hot fire, or in a hot oven, or, at a “ Clam Bake,” on hot stones ; when they open, empty the juice into a saucepan ; add the clams, with butter, pepper and a very little salt. Eye Beach. CLAM FRITTERS. Take fifty small or twenty-five large sand clams from their shells ; if large, cut each in two, lay them on a thickly-folded napkin ; put a pint bowl of wheat flour into a basin, add to it three well-beaten eggs, half a pint of sweet milk and nearly as much of their own liquor ; beat the batter until it is smooth and perfectly free from lumps, then stir in the clams. Put plenty of lard or beef fat into a thick-bottomed frying pan, let it become boiling hot ; put in the batter by the spoonful ; let them fry gently ; when one side is a delicate brown turn the other. ■76 CLAM CHOWDER.