The Cook Book, by "Oscar" of the Waldorf

Brown in a saucepan with one-half ounce or so of butter a chopped onion, an ounce or more of raw ham cut into dice, half of a green pepper pod, also cut into dice, one-half tablespoonful of salt and one teaspoonful of pepper. Moisten with about one quart of white broth or consommé, add a tablespoonful of uncooked rice, six sliced okras, also a sliced tomato. Allow all these to cook thoroughly for about twenty minutes, and five minutes before serving add the meat of three well-washed, minced, soft-shell crabs. Fried Oyster Crabs. Wash and dry about one and one-half pints of oyster crabs, dip them first in flour, and then in cold milk, and finally in cracker dust or well sifted breadcrumbs. Shake them up well in a colander, and fry in hot fatrfor two or three minutes. Serve in croustades made of short paste, garnish with parsley, and sprinkle a little salt over before serving. Stewed Oyster Crabs, Poulette Style. Remove all the meat from a pint and a half of oyster crabs, put it into a saucepan, pouring on a little of their liquor, and add to this one ounce of butter, pepper and salt ; parboil for three or four minutes, add carefully one breakfast cupful of Hollandaise sauce, stew for two or three minutes longer, but do not boil, add the juice of half a lemon and one teaspoonful of finely chopped parsley ; stir gently, and it will then be ready for use. Crayfish Boiled in Court Bouillon. Put some butter in a stewpan, and add a little celery root, onion and leek, all finely minced, place the pan on a moderate fire and fry them. Then add a little white wine, salt, a small bunch of parsley, and a few peppercorns. Boil for seven or eight minutes, and then throw in twenty-five live crayfish; cover over the pan and boil for eight minutes longer. Toss them in the pan a little, remove, place on a strainer to drain, and then on a dish. Strain the liquid, reduce it by boiling to half its original quantity, add a small piece of butter, and pour it over. Crayfish, Bordelaise Style. Place two dozen selected crayfish in a pan with water and a little milk mixed, and allow them to soak for two or three hours; then remove them and place on a strainer to drain. In the meantime make a good mirepoix of vegetables with Bor* deaux wine, and add to the liquor a bunch of parsley, a slice of raw ham, one small wineglassful of cognac, two or three tablespoonfuls of Madeira and a little salt. Put the lid on the stewpan, place it on the fire, and let boil five or seven minutes; when it is boiling hot throw in the crayfish, and leave for ten minutes, after which pour the liquor through a sieve; reduce it to half, adding slowly one pint of veloute sauce. When sufficiently reduced strain it through a cloth into another pan, and stir in onefourth pound of good butter, a small piece of crayfish butter, and one tablespoonful of finely chopped parsley. Remove the small claws, put them in a g^oup in the center of the dish, and arrange the bodies round, garnishing all with a few sprigs of parsley. The sauce must be served separately. Crayfish Mariniere. Remove the small claws from a dozen or two of crayfish, place them in a stewpan, and boil with wine until done. Drain off the liquor, allow it to settle, and then pass it through a fine sieve to clarify it. Take an onion, chop it up finely, and fry gently so that it does not color at all. Pour on a little of the crayfish liquor and also a little wine, and boil for three minutes. Next put in a lump of butter worked into some breadcrumbs and finely-chopped parsley to thicken it, and finally add a little cayenne and the juice of a lemon. Place the crayfish on a dish and pour the sauce over. Crayfish Patties.