Harper's cook book encyclopædia

Lobster-salad Loaves. — This is a dainty little dish for lunch, and also a welcome addition to picnic viands. Cut a small piece from the top of a French roll, and remove all the crumb from the inside. Cut cold lobster into pieces about the size of dice, mix it with mayonnaise dressing, and fill the cavity in the rolls, covering with the piece which has been removed. A pretty way of serving, which also secures the cover firmly, is to tie baby-ribbon around the roll, finishing with a pretty bow on top. Lobster Salad, Marseillaise. — Cook two live lobsters of 2 lbs. each in a court-bouillon made with six quarts of water, two gills of vinegar, two sliced onions, six sprigs of parsley, four cloves, two bay-leaves, and four whole peppers. Tt must boil ten minutes before putting in the lobster. Cook twenty minutes, remove from the kettle, and lay aside to cool. Shell carefully the body part, and cut into four pieces lengthwise. Cut the balance of the lobsters into small pieces, reserving two of the largest claws to decorate the salad. Put all the pieces into a bowl with two bottoms of artichokes, previously boiled forty minutes in salted water, and afterwards cut into eight or ten pieces. Add to it one pint of very small boiled potatoes cut into thin slices, four hardboiled eggs also sliced, and two medium-sized cucumbers sliced. Season the whole with half a table-spoonful of salt, one salt-spoonful of white pepper, two table-spoonfuls of wine vinegar, three table-spoonfuls of olive oil, mix well, and put the bowl half an hour on the ice, then put the salad into a colander to drain off the dressing. When this is done put it back into the bowl. Have a good stiff mayonnaise made with one yolk of egg, three gills of olive oil, one table-spoonful of vinegar, one salt-spoonful of salt, one teaspoonful of dry mustard, one teaspoonful of chopped tarragon, and one teaspoonful of green onions. Mix everything. Pour the salad into a silver platter. (For other Lobster Salad recipes see Salads.) Lobster, Shells of. — Put for three minutes in boiling water six live lobsters weighing from i to I lbs. each — the smaller they are the better. Detach the large claws and the tail part from the body, leaving the carcass. Prepare this court-bouillon : Put in a deep saucepan one bottle of ordinary white wine, one quart of water, two carrots, two onions, sliced very thin, four sprigs of parsley, one branch of celery, two cloves, four whole peppers, one bay-leaf, one-half table-spoonful of salt; cook for ten minutes ; put all the pieces of lobster in the liquid, cook ten minutes more ; watch so it cooks evenly. Drain the pieces of lobster, strain the liquid, open the shells, remove all the meat as much as possible in whole. Cut each piece neatly in squares half an inch thick. Put in a pan three tablespoonfuls of olive oil and four finely chopped shallots ; cook the shallots two minutes, stirring so they will not get brown. Add all the pieces of lobster, Lobster Soup, Bisque Lobsters, Stuffed