Soyer's standard cookery

Grease a bag thickly. Take six or eight fillets of lemon soles. Dust them lightly with salt and white pepper and squeeze a little lemon juice over each fillet. Put them in the bag and add to them an ounce of finely minced mushrooms, half a heaped large teaspoonful of finely minced shallot or chives, a heaped large teaspoonful of minced parsley and a heaped dessertspoonful of freshly fried breadcrumbs, all mixed together. Add also half a wineglassful of sherry mixed with the same amount of either good fish or ordinary stock. Close the bag and cook in a moderately hot oven for eighteen to twenty minutes (300° Fahr.). Pour the liquor and herbs, etc., over the fish and send to table at once. To make the fish stock put the bones and trimmings from the fish in a clean small stewpan with a gill of water and a bit of turnip, carrot, onion and celery, all first well washed and sliced, and simmer for fifteen minutes. Strain off and use. Sole, Filleted Plaice, Brill or Cod. Any of these can be cooked in the same way, and should be allowed the same time as turbot. Sprats. Clean and dry one pound of sprats, and roll them in flour. Melt one ounce of butter, season with a little cayenne pepper, add a finely chopped shallot, and a tablespoonful of vinegar. Sprinkle this mixture over the sprats and place them in a wellbuttered bag. Seal up and cook for five minutes in a very hot oven (350° Fahr.). Smelts Milanaise. Trim a dozen smelts, roll them in flour. Put one ounce of butter on a very hot dish and let it melt, roll the fish in this butter, sprinkle with a little cayenne pepper and a little grated Parmesan, and place them side by side in a well-buttered paperbag. Cover lightly with breadcrumbs, and pour a little tomato sauce between each smelt. Seal up and cook for eight minutes in a very hot oven (350° Fahr.). Serve with slices of lemon. Salmon can be cooked with any kind of seasoning to taste. A whole slice will take twenty minutes in a hot oven; a seven pound sliced salmon ^viU take forty-five minutes. Mushroom, tomato, salt and pepper, lemon juice, can be added as desired, and cooked in the paper-bag with the fish. For grilling or baking, dredge with a little flour and a little butter, and put in a very hot oven (350° Fahr.). Scallops. Wash and trim half-a-dozen scallops, chop finely, and replace in the deep shell. Mince four mushrooms, add a chopped shallot, a little parsley, one chopped tomato, one teaspoonful of flour, season to taste, and mix with lemon juice. Cover the scallops with the mixture, sprinkle with grated Parmesan, a few breadcrumbs, and dot over with small pieces of butter. Place in a bag, seal, and cook for ten minutes in a very hot oven (350° Fahr.). Turbot. The whole fish (or part) can be done in the same way. A pound to a pound and a half will take twenty minutes to cook. A turbot of seven pounds will take forty-five minutes. It can be cooked with or without garnish, with butter or quite plain. Season your fish with salt and pepper and the juice of one lemon; but this can be omitted if desired. Place in the paper bag, seal up, place on grid, and put in hot oven (350° Fahr.). Whiting a la Normande.