A year's cookery

Dinner. — Boiled Turbot. — Empty and cleanse the fish. To prepare turbot for boiling, scrape it from tail to head, rub a little salt on, wash it in two or three waters, dry it with a cloth, and rub it over either with lemon-juice or vinegar: this is to make it white. If there are any red spots, rub them with salt and lemon -juice. Leave on the fins, as they with the gelatinous skin are considered the tit-bits. Make a slit through the middle of the dark side of the fish, to keep the white side from breaking. Place the fish on the drainer, and put it in plenty of boiling water, well salted and skimmed. Let it boil, then chaw it back, and simmer very gently till the fish is done enough. A moderate-sized fish will take about twenty minutes. Watch and skim if required. As soon as the fiesh seems to shrink from the bone it is done, and should be taken up immediately, as it will soon spoil. If not wanted immediately, it can be left on the drainer over the kettle, with a cloth laid over it. Serve the white side up, on a hot dish covered with a napkin, and garnish with parsley and cut lemon ; or, if lobster sauce is served with it, a little lobster coral may be used for garnishing. All fish, with one exception, may be boiled according to the directions given here: that is,s, cleaned, put into boiling salted water, boiled one minute, then drawn back, and simmered gently till done enough. The exception is mackerel, which should be put into warm water, not boiling water, for fear of breaking the skin. Sauces for Turbot.— Lobster, Dutch, anchovy, shrimp, oyster, and maitre d’hotel sauces are all suitable accompaniments to boiled turbot ; the kind should be made to suit taste and convenience. Lobster sauce is perhaps generally preferred ; and, as already stated, a little spawn can frequently be obtained from the fishmonger for making it. This is not always the case, however, and a mistress who endeavours to provide for the wants of the household with a due regard io economy would perhaps think it extravagant to buy a lobster for no other purpose than to make sauce. From a moderate-sized hen lobster both lobster butter for sauce, and lobster salad might be made. Lobster butter, though best when fresh, will keep for a time, and as lobsters containing coral and spawn cannot always be had, the cook, when she does get any, should make a supply, so that lobster sauce can be made when wanted. Lobster Butter is made with both coral and spawn. The small beads lying under the body of the lobster are spawn, the deep red portions in the neck and down the back are coral. To make lobster butter, put the spawn on a tin and bake it gently for a few minutes, then, pound both seeds and coral in a mortar with about twice the quantity of. butter, and season with cayenne. Be careful to break the seeds. As the butter is precious, care should be taken not to waste even a little bit of it, and therefore the mortar should be carefully scraped out, either with a silver knife or with a piece of raw potato cut into the shape of a wedge. Rub the butter through a hair sieve with the back of a wooden spoon, and it is ready for use. To make Lobster Sauce , melt an ounce of butter in a small stewpan over the fire. Stir in half an ounce of flour, and beat the mixture to a smooth paste with the back of a wooden spoon.