The encyclopædia of practical cookery

Cod an Gratin. — (1) Clean a fresh Cod and prepare it by tying up the head with string and filling the inside with maitre d'hotel butter; then put the fish belly downwards on a buttered drainer in a fish-kettle, and pour over it a mixture made as follows : Melt lib. of butter in a saucepan, put in 3qts. of chopped mushrooms, two blanched and chopped shallots, 4 table-spoonfuls of chopped parsley, the juice of two lemons, a pounded clove of garlic, and salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste ; all of these being well mixed and partly cooked before being used. Pour over the fish 1J pints of white wine, and bring it quickly to the boil ; then place the kettle in a slack oven and let it boil gently but continually for an hour and a half, basting the fish about every ten minutes with the liquor. If the flesh is firm, put the Cod on a dish, pour over half of its stock, and servo with the remainder in a sauceboat. Any fish sauce may also accompany it. (2) Take half a Cod (the tail end is the best for this) and cut off both the fillets. Butter a gratin-dish and sprinkle it with a little minced onion and finely-chopped raw mushroom. Place the fillets side by side on the dish, add a little seasoning, and dust over with minced parsley and mushrooms, and lastly, breadcrumbs. Put the dish in a hot oven, and bake for from ten to twelve minutes ; then take it out, pour over a little brown sauce, replace it in the oven, and cook for seven or eight minutes longer. Serve the fish on the dish upon which it was cooked. (3) Clean a fresh Cod and prepare it for boiling ; put it on the fire in cold water with a handful of salt, and let it boil gently for five minutes. Remove it from the kettle, lay it in a tin or dish, and spread over it a mixture made as follows : Put in a stewpan ilb. of butter, pints of For details respecting Culinary Processes, Utensils, Sauces, c be., referred to, see under their special heads. Codfish — continued. chopped mushrooms, four shallots, a handful of parsley, both chopped very fine, a little grated nutmeg, and pepper and salt to taste ; stir the whole on the fire until cooked, and then add 1 gill of thick brown sauce. Having covered the Cod with this, sprinkle over it some breadcrumbs previously browned in a saute-pan, and put it in the oven for three quarters of an hour ; then take the Cod from the pan and put it on the dish on which you are about to serve it. Add f pint of good fish stock, bring to the boil, strain into a sauceboat, and serve with the Cod. Cod au Gratin with Cream. — (1) Take the tail piece of a fresh Cod, clean and score it, and boil in salted water, with a little parsley. When it is quite done, drain it, wipe it with a napkin, open down the back, and remove all the bones, breaking the meat into pieces. Place these pieces in layers on a gratin-dish, and between the layers put a little bechamel sauce slightly reduced with cream but still pretty thick, and finished at the time with a piece of butter and a little grated nutmeg. Sprinkle a few breadcrumbs or grated Parmesan on the top layer, and brown it, either with a salamander or by putting it into the oven for a few minutes.