Harper's cook book encyclopædia

Mackerel, Broiled Fresh. — Mackerel should never be washed before broiling, but merely wiped very clean and dry, after taking out the gills and insides. Open the back, put in a little pepper and salt, and spread with a thin coating of butter. Broil over a clear fire, turning it when half done. When sufficiently cooked, the bone will come out easily. Remove the bone ; chop a little parsley, work it up with butter, pepper and salt, and a little lemon - juice, and place this on each side of the open fish, in the place of the bone. Stand before the fire till the butter is all melted in, and serve hot. Mackerel, Spanish, Salad. — Cut the contents of a can of pickled Spanish mackerel in thin slices and put it in a colander to drain off the oil, then set on the ice. Peel half of two bunches of radishes, selecting the largest, and cut in thin slices. The balance of them must be trimmed in the following way : Cut the stems and large leaves, keeping the smallest ; cut the roots and peel off evenly a small part around the roots. With a sharp knife divide the remaining peel into small, equal-sized leaves. Remove the outer leaves from a large head of lettuce and cut the heart in six parts. Cut the large leaves, stems and all, in small pieces, wash in cold water, and drain in a wire basket or in a towel. Boil one bunch of medium-sized red beets thirty minutes in water enough to cover them. Drain and bake in a hot oven thirty minutes. Peel, slice thin, and cool thoroughly. Cut six gherkins in thin slices. Make a French dressing. Decorate with the radishes. Mullet a la Maitre d’Hotel. — Clean four mullet, and wipe them quickly. Score them to the depth of a quarter of an inch, and lay them to steep in a small wineglassful of salad oil. Add a salt-spoonful of salt and one of pepper, an onion, sliced, and a bunch of parsley in sprigs. When the fish have become well saturated, drain and put them, on the gridiron. Let the fire be bright and even. In ten minutes the mullet will be done. Brown alike on both sides. Serve hot on a dish, with maitre d'hotel butter under them ; about 7 or 8 ozs. will be enough. Time, half an hour to steep in oil. Pompano au Gratin, Fillets of. — Use redfish or trout as well as pompano. Split the fish in two, lengthwise, and remove the bone and skin. Then cut the fish into strips, season these with salt, pepper, and butter, roll them up, and if necessary tie them, to keep them in shape. Put them in a pan with a gill of white wine or a gill of hot water; but the wine is better. Add a blade of mace ; strew over them a layer of bread-crumbs. Add to this a liberal quantity of the sweetest butter, and put in a hot oven for twenty minutes. Redfish Jelly is very rich, delicious, and pretty. Put on the fire in a pan % lb. of good butter, five carrots, six onions, and three parsley roots, all cut into slices, with two pike, or any white fish of equivalent weight, cut in pieces ; pepper and salt, three cloves, two bay-leaves, and a pinch of thyme. Pour some stock on this and let boil down and brown a bit; then pour in some more stock and put on a cover. When the contents no longer Red Snapper, Stuffed Salmon Pie