the mortar, and place it in some small jar for use.
Next (vve are supposing that eight persons are the
number at dinner), take about a dessert-spoonful of the
cut-up meat and put it by for the sauce — this quantity
will be amply sufficient — -and take all the rest of the
meat and place it in a mortar, and pound it up with
the following materials, previously chopped very fine :
a piece of onion as big as the top of the thumb down
to the bottom of the nail, a small tea-spoonful of
chopped parsley, and a piece of lemon-peel the size and
thickness of the thumb-nail. But while these are
being pounded, let us return to and finish making the
lobster sauce. First, make a little rather thin melted
butter, using milk instead of water ; add sufficient
lobster butter to make it a bright red colour, this
lobster butter containing as a rule sufficient cayenne
pepper for the whole sauce. Add the dessert-spoonful
of lobster meat, about half a salt-spoonful of anchovy
sauce, and the same quantity of lemon-juice, and the
sauce is complete. The quantity of melted butter
made should be regulated by the size of the ladle
in the sauce-tureen. There are over twelve ordinary
ladlefuls in half a pint ; as a rule each person takes
one ladleful, therefore half a pint of lobster sauce is
more than sufficient for eight persons. If you don’t
want waste, tell your cook to pour a tumblerful of
water into a sauce-tureen, and see how much it looks,
Kitchen Economy.
27
and never to make more melted butter for eight or even
ten persons. The melted butter should not be made,
however, until it is nearly dinner-time, as properly-
made melted butter is apt to decompose or run oily if
exposed to heat too long.
And now, let us return to the rest of the lobster,
which we left being pounded in the mortar, and to
which have been added the chopped onion, parsley,
and lemon-peel in the proportions we have mentioned.
Mix in sufficient lobster butter to make the whole
mass appear of a bright-red colour — about a brimming
tea-spoonful is generally sufficient to a medium-sized
lobster. After this add some ordinary butter —
about two ounces — but, of course, the quantity must
vary with the size and meatiness of the lobster, but
sufficient must be added to make the whole quantity
into a sort of thick pudding, which when struck with
a table-spoon makes a noise like — slosh.
Next mould the mass into a quantity of small
pieces, the size and shape of an oval pic-nic biscuit.
This moulding is best done with the hands, by throw-
ing the piece from one palm into the other. Dip
each piece in a well-beaten-up egg — of course, one egg
is sufficient for the whole quantity — and then into
some fine dry bread-crumbs. Fry in some boiling fat
or lard✪ Lobster Cutlets for about two minutes, and put each piece on
a cloth to drain for a few minutes in front of the fire.
28
Common-sense Cookery.
Stick a small piece of the end of the small claws of
the lobster — say about three-quarters of an inch long
— into each, to represent the bone of the cutlet, and
the dish is complete, though it had better be put
into the oven for four or five minutes just before
serving.
Page 8 · 1 recipe record on this page
Presented as published in 1880. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
the mortar, and place it in some small jar for use. Next (we are supposing that eight persons are the number at dinner), take about a dessert-spoonful of the cut-up meat and put it by for the sauce — this quantity will be amply sufficient — -and take all the rest of the meat and place it in a mortar, and pound it up with the following materials, previously chopped very fine : a piece of onion as big as the top of the thumb down to the bottom of the nail, a small tea-spoonful of chopped parsley, and a piece of lemon-peel the size and thickness of the thumb-nail. But while these are being pounded, let us return to and finish making the lobster sauce. First, make a little rather thin melted butter, using milk instead of water ; add sufficient lobster butter to make it a bright red colour, this lobster butter containing as a rule sufficient cayenne pepper for the whole sauce. Add the dessert-spoonful of lobster meat, about half a salt-spoonful of anchovy sauce, and the same quantity of lemon-juice, and the sauce is complete. The quantity of melted butter made should be regulated by the size of the ladle in the sauce-tureen. There are over twelve ordinary ladlefuls in half a pint ; as a rule each person takes one ladleful, therefore half a pint of lobster sauce is more than sufficient for eight persons. If you don’t want waste, tell your cook to pour a tumblerful of water into a sauce-tureen, and see how much it looks,
Kitchen Economy.
and never to make more melted butter for eight or even ten persons. The melted butter should not be made, however, until it is nearly dinner-time, as properly-made melted butter is apt to decompose or run oily if exposed to heat too long.
And now, let us return to the rest of the lobster, which we left being pounded in the mortar, and to which have been added the chopped onion, parsley, and lemon-peel in the proportions we have mentioned. Mix in sufficient lobster butter to make the whole mass appear of a bright-red colour — about a brimming tea-spoonful is generally sufficient to a medium-sized lobster. After this add some ordinary butter — about two ounces — but, of course, the quantity must vary with the size and meatiness of the lobster, but sufficient must be added to make the whole quantity into a sort of thick pudding, which when struck with a table-spoon makes a noise like — slosh.
Next mould the mass into a quantity of small pieces, the size and shape of an oval picnic biscuit. This moulding is best done with the hands, by throwing the piece from one palm into the other. Dip each piece in a well-beaten-up egg — of course, one egg is sufficient for the whole quantity — and then into some fine dry bread-crumbs. Fry in some boiling fat or lard for about two minutes, and put each piece on a cloth to drain for a few minutes in front of the fire.
Common-sense Cookery.
Stick a small piece of the end of the small claws of the lobster — say about three-quarters of an inch long — into each, to represent the bone of the cutlet, and the dish is complete, though it had better be put into the oven for four or five minutes just before serving.
Records on this page
Lobster Cutlets