The Cook Book, by "Oscar" of the Waldorf

Shell some shrimps and cut them into small pieces. Prepare some veloute sauce and reduce it to half its original quantity; move the sauce to the side of the fire, stir in the beaten yolks of two eggs and one tablespoonful of butter divided into small pieces, continue stirring the sauce by the side of the fire, adding, when thick, the shrimps. Leave the mixture until cold, then divide it into equal parts and wrap each one separately in squares of udder; roll the cromeskies to the shape of a cork, dip them in frying batter, then plunge them into boiling fat and fry until crisp and nicely browned. When cooked drain the cromeskies, put them on a folded napkin or ornamental dish-paper on a hot dish, garnish with fried parsley and serve. Shrimps, Normandy Style. Skin and remove the heads from one pint of fresh shrimps; put one ounce of butter in a stewpan, place it over the fire until melted, then stir in one tablespoonful of ground rice; mix in one-half pint of new milk, and continue stirring until it is thickened and boiling. Then put in the shrimps and leave them until quite hot. When ready turn them on to a hot dish, garnish with sippets of toast or croutons of fried bread and serve. Shrimp Patties or Bouchees. Remove the shells from three or four pints of fresh shrimps; bone and chop finely three anchovies, mix them with the shrimps, and season to taste with pounded mace and cloves. Moisten the mixture with about one and one-half wineglassfuls of white wine. Prepare some puff paste, roll it to about one-half inch in thickness, cut the paste into rounds with a two-inch tin cutter, then with a one-inch cutter cut half way through the middle of each round of paste. Brush the rounds over with a pastebrush dipped in the beaten yolk of an egg, and bake them in a quick oven. Heat the shrimp mixture in a saucepan over the fire, and when the patties are cooked lift off the piece marked with the cutter, scoop out the soft inside, fill them with the mixture, cover with the small rounds of paste, arrange them on a hot dish over which has been spread a folded napkin, garnished with fried parsley, and serve. Scalloped Shrimps. Prepare one-half pint of tomato sauce, and put in with it one-half pint of picked shrimps, and one winegiassful of either red or white wine. Stir the above ingredients in a saucepan over the fire until hot, then turn them into a scallop dish; cover the top with finely grated breadcrumbs, put three or four lumps of butter over, and bake until browned. When well colored, take the dish out of the oven and serve the shrimps while hot. Stewed Shrimps. Pick one quart of shrimps, reserve their tails, and place the remainder in a stewpan with one-half pint of water, and pour in a little vinegar; also put one-half blade of mace; let them simmer at the side of the fire for fifteen minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain the liquor into another saucepan, add the tails, half of a grated nutmeg, a small quantity of salt, and two ounces of butter that has been worked with two tablespoonfuls of flour, and stir them over the fire for about fifteen minutes. Toast a thin slice of bread, cut it into strips, place them at the bottom of a hot dish, pour the stew over them, garnish with parsley, and serve. The Diamond- Back or Salt- Water Terrapin. Three species of the genus Malacoclemmys inhabit the United States. By far the most important of these, and the most valuable of all terrapins is the Malacoclem* mys Palustris, or the ** diamond-back terrapin." The other two species, the Geographic Tortoises, M. Geographica and M. Lesueuri are of a comparatively rare occurrence and are not used for food to any considerable extent.