English and French cookery

Croquettes of Fish.—Mix over the fire 1 teaspoonful of flour, 1 ounce of butter, and J gill of cream. Add, off the fire, the yolk of 1 egg, a little seasoning, and \ pound of cold dressed fish beaten to a paste. Let the mixture cool, and form it into balls ; let these be egged and breaded. Fry to a nice brown in hot fat, and serve with gravy, made by boiling down the bones, fins and tails with an onion. Add an anchovy and seasoning to taste. Eels, Fried. — Clean and cut them into pieces 3 or 4 inches in length, scored across each twice or thrice. Season with pepper and salt, and sprinkle with flour, fry in dripping, drain, and dry before the fire ; garnish with parsley, and serve with melted butter and lemon juice. Eel, Spitchcocked. — Cut an eel into pieces about the length of a finger, rub it well with the yolk of an egg; strew over it fine breadcrumbs, pepper, salt, nutmeg, grated lemon-peel, chopped parsley ; rub the gridiron with a bit of suet, and broil it of a nice brown colour. Serve with anchovy sauce. Or you may do it whole, done with the above ingredients turned round and skewered, then broiled, or roasted in a Dutch oven. Eels, Stewed. — Divide 4 large eels into pieces of about \\ inches, and season with pepper, salt, and a little pounded mace. Lay them in a deep dish with a little veal stock, or water, to cover, a bundle of sweet herbs, and a very little chopped parsley sprinkled in layers. Tie down with a paper, first putting some small bits of butter on the top ; stew slowly for an hour. It is usual to thicken with flour. Fish. Fritters. — Take the cold remains of any fish, remove the bones, and if necessary the skin, pound in a mortar mixed with a small onion, add salt and pepper, a well-beaten egg, and mashed potato. When solid enough spread the paste out upon your pasteboard and stamp and cut it out into fancy shapes, and fry in boiling fat, dish hot on a napkin garnished with parsley, and serve with sauce. Fish Mayonnaise. — Slices of cold fish are arranged in a salad bowl wiped with onions or a clove or garlic, and minced with a couple of finely-sliced floury potatoes. Scraps of broccoli or cauliflower, slices of beetroot, tops of asparagus, slices of celery, French beans, sliced finely, all boiled tender in salt and water. Lay shredded endive or lettuce round the pile and garnish with anchovies, gherkins, chillies, beet, hard-boiled eggs, etc. Cream the yolks of 4 to 6 eggs, according to quantity, drop in 3 tablespoonfuls of salad oil, 1 tablespoonful thick cream, 3 of vinegar, white pepper and salt to taste, a little dry mustard. Dress the salad thickly with this, and put in a cool or ice safe. Add some curled blanched celery when served. Fish Pie. — Boil 2 pounds of small eels ; having cut the fins quite close, pick the fish off, and throw the bones into the liquor with a little mace, pepper, salt, and slice of onion ; boil till quite rich, and strain it. Make forcemeat of the flesh, an anchovy, parsley, lemon-peel, salt, pepper, and crumbs, and 4 ounces of butter warmed, and lay in at the bottom of the dish. Take the flesh of soles, small cod, or dressed turbot, and lay them on the forcemeat, having rubbed it with salt and pepper, pour the gravy over, and bake.