The household gas cookery book

Mackerel to Pickle. — Wash, clean, remove the heads and bones, and divide the fish in two halves of as many mackerel as desired, and pack closely in a pie-dish. On each layer of fish sprinkle a little salt and pepper, a little allspice, a few peppercorns, and one bay leaf to each three fish. Take of best French white wine vinegar, mixing it with half its quantity of water, and fill the dish until the mackerel are well covered. Place them in a moderate oven for half an hour, and serve when cold in the same dish in which they were cooked. Fresh Herrings and Mustard Sauce. — Clean herrings as before; only the heads should be removed. Sprinkle some salt inside and out of each fish. Butter a dish with fresh butter and place the herrings on it, and add a few pieces of butter on the top of the fish. Place in a hot oven. In 15 to 20 minutes they will be cooked. Into a small enamelled saucepan place three teaspoonfuls of mustard, a gill of water, the juice of one lemon, and a little vinegar (tarragon preferred). Stir well and bring to the boil. Take the fish out of the oven and pour the mustard sauce over the whole. Sufficient sauce to cover the fish should be made. Grilled Fresh Herrings, Maitre d’Kotel. — Select half a dozen quite fresh herrings and get the fishmonger to clean them. They should then be wiped dry with a cloth and some salt sprinkled inside each one. Make a few cuts across on each side of the fish to prevent curling and splitting whilst grilling. Put them under the gas to grill ; turn them after four or five minutes, and whilst they are cooking prepare the following sauce Put in a small enamelled saucepan a knob of fresh butter and some chopped parsley, salt, pepper, and the juice of a lemon, and boil it up. Place your grilled herrings on a dish and pour over them the sauce. Herrings, Pickled. — Scale and clean half a dozen fresh herrings without washing tiiem. Cut off their heads and tails, leaving the melts and roes in their places. Put the fish into an earthen jar, strew salt over them, and let lie for twenty-four hours, turning them at the end of twelve hours. Drain them and place them in an enamelled dish, with a dozen peppercorns, a bay leaf, six cloves, and a large sliced onion. Pour cold water and vinegar sufficient to cover them. Place them on the large gas ring and let them boil just two minutes. Take them up and let them get nearly cold in the dish before removing them to the jar in which they are to be kept. Lift them out, pour the liquid over them and keep in a cool place. Marinaded Herrings. — Put some white salted herrings into cold milk to soak for a couple of hours. Split them open, take out the bones, cut each half herring into pieces and divide the roes lengthwise. Put all in layers into a deep jar, and between each layer place a sprinkling of finely-minced shallot, pow¬ dered cloves and white pepper, with here and there a piece of bay leaf and a slice of lemon, with half the rind taken off. Place the roes with the herrings, and the seasoning over the top layer, and cover the w hole