The new century cookery book

Beard the oysters, cut them into quarters, and heat them up in their own liquor without allowing them to boil ; heat up the cream, vinegar, and butter, add the mustard, and stir until quite hot, then add the egg-yolks, and keep on the fire while stirring until the liaison is formed. Put in the oysters, heat again, and set on the side to get cool. Wash and trim the celery, remove the outer leaves of the stalk, shred the white portion of the celery and put in a bowl, season to taste with salt and cayenne, add a little of the dressing from the oysters and the mayonnaise or Tartare sauce, then mix in the oysters &c., mingle gently the whole, and dish up in a salad bowl ; pile up high ; sprinkle over with finely chopped parsley, and garnish tastefully with slices of hard-boiled egg. 1541. Salade a la Colchester {Oyster Salad). — 1 dozen oysters, 1 small head white celery, \ gill mayonnaise sauce {No. 277), 2 tablespoonfuls caviare, lobster coral, 2 hard-boiled plover's eggs, seasoning. Blanch the oysters, beard them, and cut into small dice. Wash and clean the celery, shred the white parts finely, and mix with the oysters. Season with pepper and salt, and toss in mayonnaise sauce. Dress neatly in a large glass dish, and mask with more mayonnaise sauce. Cut the plover’s eggs into slices, remove the yolks, place them round the salad, and fill the centre of each with caviare ; put a tiny heap of lobster coral in the centre of the caviare. Keep the dish in a very cool place until required for table. 1542. Crab Salad. — Take the meat of two or three small crabs, cut it into convenient-sized pieces, put it in a basin, and mix with about one-third its quantity of shredded celery or endive. Season with salt, pepper, two tablespoonfuls of sweet salad oil (olive or Lucca), three tablespoonfuls of wine or malt vinegar, and a dessertspoonful of finely chopped parsley. Serve on little plates on lettuce leaves ; decorate with slices of hard-boiled egg, capers, and stoned olives ; stuff the latter with anchovy butter. Cold salmon may be treated in the same way ; in this case include some sliced cucumber in the garnish and mixture. 1543. Salade de Homard {Lobster Salad). — 1 large hen lobster, \ pint mayonnaise sauce {stiff) {No. 277), 1 lettuce, 1 endive, 4 bunch watercresses, 2 hard-boiled eggs, 6 anchovies {filleted), 1 teaspoonful capers, 10 Spanish olives {stoned), 2 or 3 French gherkins, salt and pepper. Split the lobster lengthways, remove all the meat from the shell and claws (preserve the coral for garnish). Cut the lobster-meat into neatly-sized dice or slices. Trim, wash, and drain the lettuce, endive, and cresses ; break or cut these into convenient pieces. Arrange lobster and salad in alternate layers in a salad-bowl, season each layer with pepper and salt, and spread over with a layer of mayonnaise dressing. Cut the hard-boiled eggs into round slices, and cover the surface of the salad with this. Coat the whole carefully with mayonnaise and decorate with the remainder of egg-slices, olives, gherkins, capers, and anchovy fillets. Keep the bowl on the ice until required for table. 1544. Lobster Salad in Shells.— 1 lobster, £ gill Tartare sauce {No. 278), 8 lettuce, \ lemon. Split the lobster, crack the claws, and remove all the meat ; divide it into small dice and season well with Tartare sauce. Clean and trim SALAJDES ( SALADS )