The hearthstone; or, Life at home

Butter gives a bad color; lard and clarified dripping are most frequently used ; but oil is the best, if the expense be no objection. The fish should be put into the lard when boiling, and there should be a sufficiency of this to cover it. When fish is broiled, it must be seasoned, floured and laid on a very clean gridiron, which, when hot, should be rubbed with a bit of suet to prevent the fish from sticking. It must be broiled over a very clear fire, that it may not taste smoky; and not too near, that it may not be scorched. Trout Cooking. — The trout is a peculiar fish ; it requires great nicety in cooking or its flavor is lost. The flavor of the brook trout is exceedingly delicate and mu.st be dealt with in a gentle manner. Brook trout should never be placed in boiling water but over steam ; boiling it in water soddens it and takes away its flavor. When steaming it put into the water some peppercorns and a very little salt. A sauce for trout may be made of melted butter and parsley, or capers or tomatoes, or even mushrooms. Trout deserves a delicate flavoring. 4i8 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. A second way of cooking trout is to melt a piece of fresh butter, stir into it some water, and place the trout into it, adding peppercorns and a little salt. Place round several slices of lemon and cover up very close. Stew like this twenty minutes. Take out and strain the gravy over the trout. If you wish the gravy thickened, one teaspoonful of flour stirred into the butter will be sufficient. Cover the trout with a piece of greasy paper and let it gently frizzle in the pan, or put pieces of bacon under it and over it and let it frizzle. Make a fine salad to this dish. Steam a trout, and when cold pour over it some oil mixed with vinegar, pepper and salt, and a little tomato catsup. A brook trout must have no elaborate cooking, but just enough flavoring to enhance its native aroma. To Broil a Shad. — Shad should be well washed and dried. It may be cut in half and broiled, or you may split it open and lay a small quantity of salt over it, and lay it upon a gridiron, well buttered. It will broil in about twenty minutes, and should be thoroughly done. Melted butter may be served in a sauce-boat with it. Shad is even more palatable when baked than broiled. To Bake Shad. — It should be stuffed with mashed potatoes and chopped parsley. Lay it in the oven on a pan which is well covered with butter chopped in pieces ; baste the fish with butter, and add fresh quantities as fast as it is absorbed. Half or three-quarters of a pound of butter should be used for a large-sized shad. To Dress Shad. — Scale, empty, and wash the fish carefully, and make two or three incisions across the back. Season it with pepper and salt and lay it in oil for a few minutes. Broil on both sides over a clear fire and serve with caper-sauce. Baked Fish. — Take blue-fish, bass or shad for this purpose; make a dressing of bread as for poultry, only adding a little salt pork chopped fine, and no herbs ; fill the fish with the dressing, and stew or tie it up; then put a few slices of salt pork in a pan, and very little water; lay the fish in the pan, and put a few slices of salt pork over it ; bake it, according to its size, from one-half an hour to an hour.