FoodNetArchive

Harper's cook book encyclopædia

1902

Page 153 · 3 recipe records on this page

Presented as published in 1902. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
Crabs, Devilled. — Two cans of crabs, one cupful of cream, two table-spoon- fuls of melted butter, two good table- spoonfuls of Worcestershire sauce, pep- per and salt, a little nutmeg, yolks of three hard-boiled eggs, half a cup- ful of cracker-crumbs, rolled fine, and a wineglassful of sherryCrabs, Devilled. Bake in shells, cover with cracker- crumbs, and dot with butter. Another way : — Boil a dozen crabs in salt water until done. Take up, drain, break off the claws, separate the shells, remove the spongy fingers and the stomach. Pick out all the meat. Put a teacupful of rich milk on to boil, rub I oz. each of butter and flour together, add to the boiling milk, and let cook for two or three minutes. Take from the fire, add the crab meat, the mashed yolks of three hard-boiled eggs, a teaspoonful of minced parsley, a squeeze of lemon-juice, a little nut- meg, salt, and a dash of cayenne. Clean the upper shells of the crabs, fill with the mixture, brush over with beaten egg, sprinkle with bread- crumbs. Set in the oven to brown, and serve hot. Crabs, Soft-shell. — Remove the flap or apron on the under shell, and the soft fins which lie under the sides of the back shell ; make a semicircu- lar cut just back of the eyes, through both shells, using a very sharp knife, and throw away this portion ; all the rest of the crab is good. Soft crabs are fried by being entirely immersed in smoking-hot fat after being rolled in flour or meal, or breaded by being dipped first in cracker-dust, then in beaten egg, and again in cracker-dust ; they are also dipped in melted butter, and broiled; they are seasoned with salt and pepper, and served with a gar- nish of lemon and parsley or water- cresses. Crab Soup, Martha Washington’s. — Fifteen crabs thrown into boiling water, alive. Boil until done; meat picked up fine ; put into two quarts of water in which I lb. of middling ba- con has been boiled. Beat yolks of two eggs, stir in a pint of rich milkCrab Soup, Martha Washington’s which has been heated ; then pour into the boiling crab soup, which must not boil, but cook a fewaninutes after mix- ing. Season with salt and cayenne pepper to taste. Lobsters are served in several ways, but there is only one way to cook them. To be good, a lobster must be fully alive. If it is not lively, it is not suitable to be cooked. Put the lob- ster in a fish-kettle, with just enough cold water to cover it, and a hand- ful of salt. Cover the kettle, and put it over a brisk fire. If the lobster be small, it will take twenty min- utes to cook ; if it be 3 lbs. or there- abouts, it will take half an hour. When done, it is broken in two be- tween the body and tail, and both pieces are allowed to drain. There is a dark-bluish vein running along the back immediately under the shell that must be removed either before or after it is cooked. By pulling off the middle fin of the fan before cook- ing the lobster, it may come out, but if it breaks it is removed when the fish is cooked. When drained, the shell of the tail part is removed by cutting it lengthwise on the back with a sharp - pointed knife. The other half is divided by pulling the part to which the claws are attached one way and the back shell the other. All the inside is good except the stomach, which is small for the size of the fish, and is found immediately under the head and eyes. The liver, or to- 134 Lobster, Baked FISH Lobster, Coquilles of