Mrs. Seely's Cook Book: A Manual of French and American Cookery : with ..

Cut a large eel weighing about two pounds in quite thick slices. See that it is clean. Place in a basin with a little salt and pepper and some vinegar. Let the pieces soak for several hours. They must be turned occasionally. Drain thoroughly, then dip in batter and fry in hot fat. When a nice brown, drain on paper and serve very hot with a brown or tomato sauce. FISH, OYSTERS, LOBSTERS, TERRAPIN 128 Baked Eel with Tartare Sauce Skin two fat eels, each weighing about one and a half pounds. Cut off the fina, heads, and tails. Clean them thoroughly and tie them together so as to shape them on a round platter. Wrap them in a wet cloth and cook slowly in court bouillon for fifteen minutes. Set aside and let them cool in the liquor. Season about one pint of fine bread crumbs with one teaspoonful of salt, one saltspoonful of pepper. Carefully remove the cloth from the fish, wipe dry, and cover them with the bread crumbs. Then spread them with a mixture of two well-beaten eggs and one tablespoonful of olive oil. Sprinkle once more with bread crumbs. Place them in a baking pan, being particular to keep the circular shape. Add two and a half tablespoonfuls of butter. Bake in moderate oven for half an hour. Baste them three times. Place on a circular dish. In the centre place green peppers filled with Tartare sauce after you have removed the core and seeds from peppers, soaked them in cold water, drained thoroughly, and then filled them with the sauce. Canapés of Meat or Fish Toast six pieces of bread and cut them in good-sized squares. Beat the whites of four eggs to a stiff froth, put them in a pastry bag, and then make a border round each piece of toast. Bake in quick oven till light brown. Fili in the centre with creamed fish or finely minced creamed meat and serve very hot. Canapés à la Prince of Wales Take six prawns, six fiUets of anchovy, one head of white oelery, two gherkins, and two truffles. Cut all into small square pieces about the size of a large pea. Put them into a bowl with enough Prince of Wales sauce to season them thoroughly. Pour nice clear aspic jelly in the bottom of some china cases, then put in the mixture. Pour some more jelly on the top and set it aside to jell. When wanted, unmould on a platter which has nice white lettuce leaves around the edge. Set individual moulds in the centre and garnish with chopped aspic. Fricassee of Oysters Select thirty medium-sized oysters. Place them in their own liquor on the stove and let them come to a boil. Skim them and pour in a strainer. Heat one tablespoonful of butter, add two tablespoons of flour, mix thoroughly, and then stir in the oyster liquor and half a pint of cream. Season with white pepper, a dash of cayenne, and salt. Beat thoroughly the yolks of two eggs with the juice of half a lemon. Stir into the sauce. Then add the oysters and serve very hot. Fried Oirsters Select largo oysters, clean, and parboil slightly to draw out some of the water. Drain and dry on a towel. RoU in fino bread or cracker crumbs, dip in mayonnaise dressing, then in crumbs again. Let them stand five minutes, and if they seem moist, dip again in crumbs, and cook in deep hot fat for one minute. Being already cooked, they only need to be thoroughly heated and the crumbs browned. Scalloped Oirsters