Miss Parloa's kitchen companion

After draining two dozen large oysters, season them with salt and pepper and roll in fine cracker crumbs. Put four table-spoonfuls of butter into a cup, and let the cup stand in a basin of boiling water until the butter becomes melted, — clear on top, with sediment collected on the bottom of the cup. Pour half of the clear butter into a frying-pan, and when it gets very hot put in enough oysters to cover the bottom of the pan. When they are brown on one side, turn them and brown the other side. Be careful that they do not get burned. Serve very hot on crisp toast. Now put the remainder of the clear butter into the frying-pan, and cook the rest of the oysters. The sediment that is left on the bottom of the cup may be used with drippings or lard for shortening. Its presence in butter increases the danger of burning; therefore it should always be separated from the butter before the time for frying. Curried Oysters. Lay out a solid quart of oysters, half a pint of cream, two table-spoonfuls of butter, one generous table-spoonful of flour, one teaspoonful of curry-powder, half a teaspoonful of chopped onion, and some salt and pepper. Put the oysters into a stew-pan, and heat them to the boiling-point, being careful that they do not get scorched. Skim carefully, and turn into a large strainer or colander. When they have been well drained, put them away in a bowl, or anything else that is convenient, where they will keep warm without cooking any more. Put the butter and onion into a frying-pan, and cook slowly for ten minutes. Mix the flour and curry-powder, and stir into the butter. Continue the stirring until the mixture is smooth and frothy ; then draw the frying-pan to a cooler part of the stove and gradually add half a pint of the liquor which was drained from the oysters. When this boils up, add the cream and some salt and pepper. Boil up once more and strain. Put the oysters into the sauce, and serve immediately with a plate of crisp toast. Fried Oysters. For six persons provide four dozen large oysters. Drain them in a colander, and season well with salt and pepper. Have ready a pint and a half of fine dry bread crumbs seasoned slightly with salt and pepper. Beat three eggs in a soup-plate. Put a few of the crumbs on a large plate, and after rolling the oysters on this plate, one by one, lay them on a board that has been sprinkled lightly with crumbs. When all the oysters have been thus treated, dip them into the beaten egg, one at a time, and roll in a quantity of crumbs. Place them on a large platter or on plates, but never on top of one another. Let them stand for an hour or two in a cool place. When the time for frying comes, put a layer of oysters into the frying-basket, and plunge into boiling fat so hot that blue smoke rises from the centre. Cook for about a minute and a half ; then drain on brown paper. Cook the remainder of the oysters in the same way, and serve on fried slices of brown bread or on a warm napkin. The bread is a very nice accompaniment. Oysters prepared in this manner are brown, crisp, plump, and tender.