The Cook Book, by "Oscar" of the Waldorf

Procure a large cooked lobster or two small ones, pick out all the meat and place it with the spawn in the mortar, pound it to a paste, then mix with it one-fourth pound of fresh butter, a little pounded mace and cloves, pepper, salt and grated nutmeg. When thoroughly mixed fill some jars with the preparation, press it down tightly, leaving about one-fourth inch space at the top, and fill it up with clarified butter. When quite cold tie the jars over with white paper, and keep them in a dry closet until required for use. Olive and Anchovy Canapes. Stone and peel some olives, being sure to keep their shape as much as possible ; wash an equal number of anchovies and coil an anchovy around each olive. Cut as many rounds of bread as there arc olives and toast them lightly on both sides ; butter them while they are hot and put an olive on each. Spread a dish paper over a hot dish, arrange the toast on it, garnish with a border of fresh well-washed watercresses, and serve. This dish is much used for luncheons. Anchovy Sandwiches. Empty a bottle of anchovies into a bowl of water, and wash them thoroughly, changing the water frequently. Put them, when drained and boned, into a mortar with an equal quantity of butter, and pound well to a very smooth paste. Spread this over thin slices of bread, put two of those together to form the sandwich, and serve. Oyster Canapes. Finely chop a dozen oysters, put them in a saucepan with a teaspoonful of cracker dust or finely grated breadcrumb, a lump of butter about the size of a walnut, and one-half teacupful of thick cream and season with salt and pepper. Stir the mixture over the fire and let it simmer for a few minutes. Cut some slices of bread about one-fourth inch in thickness, butter them, and put them on a hot dish. Pour the mixture over the bread and butter and serve it while hot. Canapes of Sardines. Bone six or eight sardines, put half of them in a mortar with the hard-boiled yolks of three eggs and pound them, mixing in by degrees sufficient butter to make a firm paste. Season the mixture with a small quantity of finely-chopped parsley, chives and tarragon, mustard, pepper and a small quantity of vinegar. Rub all the ingredients together until quite smooth. Cut slices of bread into oval-shaped pieces, and fry them in butter until well browned, but not too dark a color. When fried drain and spread over with the sardine mixture. Arrange the slices on a dish over which has been spread an ornamental dish-paper or a folded napkin. Cut a few more sardines into small fillets, lay them on the canapes with very small slices of pickled gherkins and a few shelled prawns. This is a very pretty dish and simple in construction. Canapes of Smoked Salmon. Fry in clarified butter some fingers of bread, two and one-half inches long, one and one-half inches wide and one-fourth inch thick; when lightly browned drain them and leave them until cold. Mask the pieces of bread with anchovy butter, place some thin slices of smoked salmon on each, sprinkle over some chopped hard-boiled egg and parsley and serve. Tricolor Canapes. Skin and bone six anchovies, pound them in a mortar and pass them through a fine wire sieve. Boil three eggs until they are hard, separate the whites from the yolks and pass them separately through the sieve. Care must be taken in preparing these ingredients not to get the colors mixed. Cut four slices of bread, trim off the crusts, and cut each slice into two square pieces. Put a strip of the hard-boiled white of an egg on a piece of fried bread, next a strip of finely-chopped gherkins or capers, and next a strip of the yolk of eggs, thus making three colors on one piece of bread Proceed in like manner with the rest. Spread a fancy dish-paper or a folded napkin over a dish, arrange the canapes neatly on it, placing here and there a few sprigs of parsley and serve.