The Cook Book, by "Oscar" of the Waldorf

Open the shells of one dozen oysters, take them out carefully and wash them in their own liquor until perfectly free from grit and pieces of shell, put them in a saucepan, strain the liquor twice, pour it over, place the pan at the side of the fire and let it simmer gently for a few minutes until done. Remove the oysters with a skimmer and put them on a dish in a slow oven to keep warm; add to the liquor one teacupful of cream and salt and cayenne to taste. Place the pan on the fire and when the liquor boils add two ounces of butter worked up with one teaspoonful of flour and continue to stir till it is all thoroughly mixed. Put in the oysters to warm up without boiling, remove the pan from the fire and stir in a little lemon juice. Have ready some pieces of bread fried in butter, arrange them on a dish, put the oysters on them, pour over the liquor and serve very hot ii6 SHELL-FISH. Stewed Oysters, Baltimore Style. Open neatly three dozen medium sized fresh oysters, place them in a saucepan without their liquor, and add one ounce of good butter; cover the pan, place it over the fire and cook for two minutes, then add one wineglassful of good Madeira wine and a very little cayenne pepper, cook together for two minutes longer and add one gill each of Spanish sauce and half-glaze. Stir thoroughly until boiling, and just before serving squeeze in the juice of a lemon, add one-half ounce of butter, a teaspoonful of finely chopped parsley, and serve immediately in a hot tureen. Stuffed Oysters. Put the grated yolks of four hard boiled eggs into a basin and mix in half the quantity of minced bacon or salt fat pork, add a little pepper or chopped parsley and make them all into a paste by adding the uncooked yolk of another egg. Split open four dozen oysters, stuff them with this mixture, put them in large oyster shells, coat them over with breadcrumbs, put a little warmed butter on top, place them in an oven and bake until done. Put them on a dish, garnish with pieces of fried bread and serve. Oyster Vol-au-Vent. Put the liquor and beards of three dozen oysters into a saucepan, add a little pepper (cayenne) and the finely chopped rind and strained juice of half a lemon. Put the pan on the fire, boil up the liquor and thicken with three ounces of butter rubbed into two tablespoonfuls of flour. Continue to boil till the liquor is reduced to one teacupful, strain it into another saucepan, add the oysters, place the pan at the side of the fire and simmer gently for five or six minutes, then stir in one teacupful of cream and keep the mixture warm. Prepare a paste as follows: Rub twelve ounces of butter into an equal quantity of flour and mix in the juice of a lemon added to one egg beaten up in one teacupful of cold water. Make this into a paste, handling it as little as possible, turn it out on a well-floured board and roll it out to one and one* fourth inches in thickness. Cut it with a vol-au-vent tin cutter to take off the rough edges, make it the required shape, cut round the top one-half inch from the edge and one-fourth inch deep and bake the vol-au-vent in a hot oven for forty-five minutes. When done carefully take out the center, remove the soft underdone paste and fill it up with the oyster mixture. Arrange the vol-au-vent on a napkin spread over a dish and serve with a garnish of fried parsley. Oysters with Cream. Put a pint of cream in a saucepan with a small piece of onion and a little once tied up in a muslin bag. Boil and stir in a tablespoonful of flour mixed with a little milk or cream. Put one quart of oysters in a saucepan with their liquor aad boil them for a few minutes until tender, skimming frequently. Remove the oysters, drain, put them in the saucepan with the cream, remove the onion and mace, pour it into a dish and serve hot. Oysters with Parmesan Cheese.