The home cook book

The fish which plank to perfection are shad, whitefish, mackerel, bluefish, red snapper, and pompano. There are a number of real advantages to this method of cooking; it is so easy, it may be done in any hot oven of a coal or gas stove ; the wood imparts a flavor to the fish which can be obtained in no other way. Then there is no difficult task of sliding it from a broiler or bake-pan to the platter, because it is the proper thing to send the plank straight to the table laid on a folded towel. If you have to prepare a fish yourself for planking, remember it must be cut down the back instead of down the stomach, the thin portion of the flesh going on the middle of the plank. ACCOMPANYING DISHES Fish of all sorts require the accompaniment of a starch food to make a well-balanced meal ; it may be bread, rice, potatoes or macaroni. TO BAKE FISH Free the fish from scales, and draw it from the gills. Wash it in a quick bath in cold water and lay it in an enameled baking-pan. For its stuffing see directions following. Bread Grater. (Also used for Corn, Cheese, and Cocoanut. ) Pour in enough boiling water to cover the bottom of the baking-pan, dust the fish with pepper, sprinkle with salt, lay on a tablespoon of butter, and bake in a quick oven. Baste often and keep hot water supplied to the baking-pan. For a large fish allow from one to two hours ; for small fish, from thirty minutes to an hour. When done push carefully from the pan to a hot platter, garnish with slices of lemon, and serve with drawn butter, white sauce, or some of the sauces found on pages 141 to 147. BREAD FORCEMEAT FOR BAKED FISH Moisten breadcrumbs enough to fill and plump out the fish, and season with salt, pepper, butter, and minced onion. Add fat salt pork chopped fine in the proportion of a heaping tablespoon of the chopped pork to one cup of breadcrumbs. Mix all together well, fill the inside of the fish, sew or tie the fish together, and bake as under directions for baked fish. POTATO FORCEMEAT FOR BAKED FISH Peel and boil a quart of potatoes. When cooked chop coarsely. Add three good-sized onions finely minced and browned in a tablespoon of butter. Add, if you have it, two tablespoons of minced parsley. Season with half a teaspoon of salt and a little pepper. Stir in quarter of a cup of butter when you have all the ingredients well mixed, and put inside your fish. If you have any stuffing left over, lay it in a corner of the pan in which the fish is baked VEAL STUFFING FOR BAKED FISH Mix a cup of finely chopped cooked veal and a cup of breadcrumbs, wet with water and squeeze dry. Add half as much finely chopped salt pork as you have veal. Mix all together, add the juice of half a lemon, salt and pepper to taste, and stir in a beaten egg. Stuff the fish, sew or tie it together, and bake according to directions for baked fish. BAKED FISH WITH OYSTER DRESSING A LOUISIANA RECEIPT