The Cook Book, by "Oscar" of the Waldorf

Wash the fish, drain well on a sieve, dry them in a soft cloth and then drop them on a well-floured cloth, carefully rolling each little fish over in it, so that they shall all be nicely and evenly floured. Put them immediately into a frying-basket, and dip them into extremely hot boiling lard ; hold it there for a very short time, lift the basket out of the lard, and dust the fish over with black pepper and a small quantity of salt ; some cooks dip them again into the boiling lard for a second, remove them, sprinkle with cayenne pepper, and serve. Fried Whitebait. Wash the fish, drain well on a wire sieve, dry them in a soft cloth, and then drop them, when quite dry, on to a well-floured cloth, rolling each fish carefully in it Put them immediately into a frying basket, dip them into extremely hot lard, hold it there until the fish is crisp, which will be before it browns, take it out while still white, and serve as quickly as possible on a napkin laid on a hot dish, and garnish with fried parsley, and quarters of lemon. Serve with them cayenne, grated lemon peel and thin slices of brown bread and butter. Baked Fillets of Whitefish. Scale some large whitefish, split them, remove the backbone, season the fillets with salt and pepper, and dip them in beaten egg, then in breadcrumbs, and again in beaten egg, then in breadcrumbs. Put a lump of fresh lard in a baking dish, heat it, and then put in the fillets. Bake the fish in the oven for twenty minutes, until they are lightly colored. When cooked, drain the grease off the fillets, place them on a hot dish, garnish with fried parsley, and serve with potatoes and a sauceboatful of parsley sauce. Shell-Fish. Clam Fritters. Place some fresh clams into one pan, and the liquor trom them into another. Prepare a mixture of broken crackers and flour in equal quantities, and dip the clams first into their own liquor and then into this, repeating this operation three times ; Anally dipping them into milk, and then again into the flour mixture. Have prepared some boiling lard, drop in a few clams at a time, let them fry for about five minutes ; then remove them with a skimmer, place them on a strainer, drain away the fat, and they are ready to be served. The pan containing the lard should be so deep that the clams will be covered when put in. Scalloped Clams. Wash thoroughly six or eight good sized clam shells. All them with clam forcemeat, flatten them with the hand, spread over sifted breadcrumbs, smooth with the blade of a knife, and moisten with a little clarified butter. Arrange them on a baking pan and bake until they are well browned, or for about six minutes. Place them on a hot dish, and serve at once, with sprigs of parsley for garnish. Steamed Clams. Scrub the shells of some clams well in water ; then place them in a saucepan without any water, place them over the fire, and cook until the shells open. Remove the clams with a skimmer, pour the liquor into a jar and let it settle. There will be no use in straining the liquor through the finest strainer, but a piece of linen may be used, or if allowed to settle, and care be taken not to move the sediment, the water can be poured off. Remove the clams from their shells, pulling off the thin skin round the edge, and cutting off the whole of the black end with a pair of scissors. Plunge each clam into a small quantity of the liquor, and if at all tough cut that part through. When the water has settled pour it into a saucepan, add the clams and make it hot, though do not allow it to boil. Take out the clams and serve with brown bread and butter, toasted crackers, or on pieces of buttered toast. Stewed Clams. Remove about three dozen small clams from their shells, place them with two ounces of fresh butter into a stewpan, one pinch of chives and one pinch of finely-chopped