The encyclopaedia of practical cookery

(2) German. — Well wash and scrub 3|lb. of potatoes, and cut them into slices. Put a Herring into a basin of warm water, let it soak, and afterwards divide it into flakes. Mix the Herring and potato together with loz. of dripping, and salt and pepper to taste, and put them at the bottom of a pie-dish. Make a paste with lib. of flour, 3oz. of dripping, 1 teaspoonful of baking-powder, 1 saltspoonful of salt, and sufficient water ; cover the pie with this rolled out moderately thin, put it into the oven, and bake for two hours ; then take it out, and serve. Herring Roes au Gratin. — Wash fifteen fine soft roes in cold water, then plunge them into boiling water to get firm ; drain, and wipe them. Fry a minced onion in butter lightly so as not to colour it, and put in a few table-spoonfuls of chopped mushrooms. When the butter is reduced, put in the soft roes, sprinkle salt, nutmeg, and a dust of cayenne over them, and warm gradually over the fire till the roes are set ; arrange them in layers on a gratin-dish, and sprinkle over each layer a little grated breadcrumb and finely-chopped parsley. Mix 1 wineglassful of sherry with 1 table-spoonful of melted glaze, pour it over the gratin, sprinkle grated breadcrumb and chopped parsley over that, pour a little warmed butter over all, and bake for twelve minutes in a moderate oven. When ready, serve on the same dish. Herring-Roe-and-Mushroom Toasts. — Cut twelve rounds of bread about 2in. in diameter, and fry very lightly in butter the roes of six Fresh Herrings and twelve mushrooms. Toast the rounds of bread, and butter them thickly. Put half a roe on each piece of toast, and a mushroom on the top of that. Dust over lightly with salt and a small quantity of cayenne. Spread an ornamental dish-paper or a folded napkin over a hot dish, arrange the toasts on it, garnish with a few sprigs of parsley, and serve. For details respecting Culinary Processes, Utensils, Sauces, <Cc., referred to, see under their special heads. Herrings — continued. Matelote of Fresh Herrings. — Take ten or twelve Fresh Herrings, half with soft and half with hard roes. Gut them through the gill opening. Cut off the heads and tails, and divide each Herring lengthwise into two fillets, removing the bones. Put a small quantity of butter into a frying-pan, dredge and stir in enough flour to nearly absorb it, and add a small quantity of chopped parsley and shallots ; then lay the Herrings in the pan, sprinkle over them 3 wineglassfuls of red wine, and cook over a hot fire. Put them on a hot dish, lay over them one dozen very small fried onions and two dozen small fried mushrooms, garnish the dish with fried breadcrumbs, and serve hot. Potted Fresh. Herrings. — (1) Soak the required quantity of Herrings in boiling water, and then skin them, chop off their heads and tails, remove all the bones, and cut the flesh in small pieces. Pat these in a saucepan with a good supply of butter, season with mace and pepper or cayenne, set the pan on a slow fire, and cook very gently until the flesh is quite tender. Pound it in a mortar, put it into pots, cover over first with clarified butter and then with bladder, and pack away in a cool place.