Harper's cook book encyclopædia

Lobster, Stewed. — Pick out the meat of one or two good-sized lobsters, excluding the fat and red parts, chop very fine, and put it into a saucepan, with a teacupful of grated breadcrumbs, a lump of butter the size of an egg, salt, half a teacupful of milk, with cayenne pepper to taste. Warm it quickly, stirring all the time, as it only needs to boil once. Serve in a covered dish. Lobsters, Stuffed. — Put two live lobsters of about 1 x/\ lbs. each in two quarts of boiling water seasoned with one sliced onion, four sprigs of parsley, two cloves, one small bay-leaf, one gill of vinegar, one teaspoonful of salt. Boil twelve minutes, and remove the lobsters ; after they are cool, cut the tails from the body, open the shells from under Mussels au Gratin Oysters, Baltimore in order to remove the meat, keep the shape of the shells, which are to be stuffed afterwards. Cut open the large claws neatly from the top, as they are also to be filled up and served. Cut the meat in dice half an inch square. Peel, wash, and dry Y\ lb. of fresh mushrooms, cut them in small slices, and put them in a saucepan with half a tablespoonful of butter. Cook three minutes ; add half a gill of Madeira, one tablespoonful of parsley chopped fine, one salt-spoonful of salt, half a one of black pepper, quarter of a one of red pepper. Add the lobster, heat up for two minutes (do not boil), remove from the fire, add the yolks of two hard-boiled eggs previously passed through a sieve, and stir gently. Fill the shells with the stuffing, spread over some white bread-crumbs — not too thick. Melt a little butter in a cup, pour it over each shell — about one teaspoonful of it. Place in the baking-pan and in the hot oven for six minutes ; they may also be broiled, if preferred. Serve in the shell on a warm platter, with a few sprigs of parsley. Serve very hot. Mussels au Gratin. — Put into cold water one quart of very fresh mussels, and scrape them until perfectly clean. Rinse well, drain, and dry them with a fresh towel. Put in saucepan with half a glassful of cold water and cover, stirring from time to time. Cook until every mussel opens, when they may be taken from the fire and drained. Remove from the shells, and strain the liquor through a fine sieve and reserve it. Into a small saucepan drop one heaping table-spoonful of butter. When hot, add two table-spoonfuls of white onions, chopped fine, and cook four minutes. Do not brown. Add slowly one teaspoonful of flour and blend same well. Now, while stirring, slowly add the liquor of the mussels, and cook three minutes more. Season with one salt-spoonful of salt and one of pepper, add one tablespoonful of parsley, chopped fine, and