The paper-bag cookery manual

Procure one or two slices of salmon (middle cut), wipe them with a damp cloth, season both sides with salt and pepper, and brush over with best olive oil. Sprinkle over the top of each a mixture composed of bread crumbs, a little curry powder, some finely chopped onion and parsley, also a few tiny pieces of butter. Slip carefully into a buttered “Express” paper-bag, fold over the end and fasten with clips, then place in a fairly hot oven on a grid or trivet, and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes. When done, slit open the bag and place the fish on a hot dish. Have ready the following mixture: Cut into fine shreds four pickled French gherkins, and mix with about a table-spoonful of piccalilli, also cut into shreds. Heat this up with a little curry sauce, and serve with the salmon steaks. Note. — A dish of plainly cooked rice (see Vegetable Recipes) should be handed round at the same time. Salmon Cutlets with Fine Herbs. Cut from the middle-cut or jowl end of salmon the required number of slices, not too thickly, then cut each in half ; this will resemble as near as possible cutlet shapes; wipe each with a damp cloth and trim slightly. Mix on a plate some oiled butter with some finely chopped parsley, and two peeled and finely chopped shallots. When thoroughly blended dip each cutlet into this so as to coat both sides. Place them side by side into a well buttered greaseproof paper-bag, close up the end, put it on a grid, allow to cook in a fairly hot oven for about 15 minutes, then slit open the bag, dish up, and range the fish nicely on a hot dish. Squeeze a little lemon juice over each cutlet; garnish with slices of lemon and parsley sprigs, and serve with marble potatoes. Marble Potatoes. Scoop out several large peeled potatoes into little round balls by means of a vegetable cutter or scoop. Season with salt and pepper, and pour over a little oiled butter ; then put the potatoes into a well-buttered paper-bag, and bake in a hot oven. When done, take the potatoes out of the bag and dish up; sprinkle a little chopped parsley over, and serve. Salmon Coquilles. Not only salmon, but almost any kind of cold fish, can be used up in this way, either as a luncheon or supper dish. Free the remains of cold salmon, say three-quarters of a pound, free from skin and bones, and divide into small flakes. Melt an ounce of butter, stir in three-quarters of an ounce of flour and cook a little without browning ; then add gradually half a pint of milk and half a gill of cream, a small blade of mace and a piece of carrot. Boil up, and cook for at least 15 minutes, then strain. Butter a number of clean and dry scallop shells, put a table-spoonful of the prepared sauce in each; upon this put a layer of flakes of salmon, season with salt and pepper, and fill the shells with more sauce and salmon. Lastly, cover with a thin layer of sauce, sprinkle over some freshly made bread crumbs, and a few tiny bits of butter. Place these in an “ Express ” paperbag, fold in the end of the bag and fasten with two or three wire clips, then put carefully on to a grid and cook in a fairly hot oven for about 15 minutes. Salmon Croquettes. Half of a pound cooked salmon, quarter of a pound cooked rice, one tea-spoonful each of chopped onion or shallot and