Louis' every woman's cook book

The best fish for forcemeat are striped bass, halibut, and redsnapper. Salmon and Spanish mackerel are good for certain dishes. All are prepared the same way. First prepare a panade as follows. Cut three slices of fresh sandwich bread, each about an inch thick. Trim off the crust and soak for a moment in cold water, just enough to wet it well. Squeeze out all the water, and put into a small saucepan with a very small piece of butter. Then work it, on the fire, until it becomes pasty. Spread out on a plate, and let it cool. Chop one pound of halibut, or any of the other fish mentioned, very fine. Put it in a mortar, and pound it to a pulp. Add the prepared cold panade, and mix thoroughly. Then add three whole eggs and the yolks of three eggs, one by one. Season with salt, pepper, a little nutmeg, and Cayenne, and rub the whole through a wire sieve. Put it into a mixing bowl, and place on the ice for half an hour. Then work the forcemeat with a wooden spoon, and add gradually three-quarters of a cup of thick cream. Take a small lump of the forcemeat, and poach in hot water. If it is too solid add a little more cream, or if it should be too soft add another egg. Put it back on the ice for further use. Forcemeat of fish, or meat, should always be kept cold, as it is apt to curdle if left in a warm place. PAUPIETTES OF SMELTS (WHITE WINE SAUCE) Clean six large smelts, cut off the heads, tails and fins. Split them in two lengthwise, and remove the bones. * fl When Served. Guests. Remarks. Flatten the fillets with a knife. Season with salt and pepper. Cover the inner halves of the fish with fish forcemeat, about one-eighth of an inch thick. Roll up the fillets from the head parts toward the tails, so as to have nice round paupiettes. Put some of the forcemeat into a paper cornet with a fancy tube at the end, and make a rosette on the top of each paupiette; lastly put a fancy cut slice of truffle on top of each rosette. Put them in a flat saucepan, close together, so that they cannot open. Add juice of a lemon, a glass of Sauterne wine, and a gill of fish stock. Cover the pan, and let them simmer slowly for about eight minutes, or until they are cooked. Dish up on a fish platter, and surround with a sauce au vin blanc (white wine sauce). SMELTS SAUTE MEUNIERE Dip the cleaned smelts, seasoned with salt and pepper, in milk and flour. Then fry them in clarified butter, in a flat frying-pan, to a nice golden colour. Dish them up on a fish platter. Then add a little fresh butter to that in which the smelts have been fried, and heat until it becomes a light brown colour (noisette). Then add a dash of tarragon vinegar and the juice of a lemon. Pour over the smelts, and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Garnish with slices of lemon dipped in chopped parsley.