Harper's cook book encyclopædia

Trout, Fried. — Clean the trout, wash them, dry them perfectly with napkins, cut the sides and back slightly with a very fine knife, strew a little salt over them, and then dredge them with flour ; set on a pan with some clarified butter, and when it is hot lay in the trout. Fry them to a delicate brown, and serve them in a napkin garnished with fried parsley. Trout Salad. — Boil a medium-sized lake trout in slightly salted water, take up, drain, remove the bone and skin, break the fish into flakes, and put in spiced vinegar for two hours. Drain, put in a salad-bowl on a bed of lettuce leaves, pour over half a cupful of mayonnaise, and garnish with hard-boiled eggs. Trout in Shells. — Fry fresh trout in oil, cut into small pieces, removing all the bone ; season with salt, pepper, and a squeeze of lemon- juice. Put in little, silver-plated shells, filling only half full. Pour over bechamel sauce, sprinkle with grated bread-crumbs, and set in a hot oven for twenty minutes. Turbot, Boiled. — Empty and wash the fish, then remove the scales and gills and trim the fins ; soak the fish in salt water. Wash it until it is as clean as possible. Dry it, and rub it with a cut lemon or a little vinegar. Draw a sharp knife just through the skin in the thickest part of the middle of the back on the dark side of the fish. This is to keep the skin from cracking on the white side. Put as much cold water as will be required to cover the fish into a turbotkettle or a large, deep pan, and dissolve in this a little salt in the proportion of 6 ozs. of salt to a gallon of water. Bring the water to the boil Turbot, Broiled Whitebait, Dressed and remove the scum as it rises. Lay the turbot on the fish - drainer, the white side up ; lower it into the boiling water, put the kettle at the back and simmer the fish very gently until it is done enough. As soon as this point is reached, take it up, drain the water from it, and slip it, the white side up, upon a hot dish covered with a napkin or fish-paper. Garnish with parsley, cut lemon, and scraped horseradish, and if it should happen, unfortunately, that the fish is at all cracked, lay two or three little pieces of parsley upon it, so as to cover the crack. Plain, melted butter, shrimp sauce, anchovy sauce, Dutch sauce, and lobster sauce may all be served with boiled turbot. When the flesh appears to shrink from the bone it is done, and it should be carefully watched, as, if it boils too long, it will be broken and spoiled. Time, a moderate - sized turbot, fifteen to twenty minutes to simmer gently from the time the water boils ; large, twenty to thirty-five minutes. Turbot, Broiled. — Clean a small turbot, and dry it well. Lay it on a dish, sprinkle a little pepper and salt on it, and pour over it four tablespoonfuls of oil and two of vinegar or lemon-juice. When it is to be dressed, place it in a double gridiron and broil it over a slow, clear fire. Turn it every five or six minutes, and on each occasion brush it over with the marinade in the dish. When it is done enough — that is, when the flesh will leave the bone easily — put it upon a hot dish, and pour over it some good white sauce, or oyster sauce, or mussel sauce. Garnish with parsley and prawns. Time to broil, about half an hour.