The Stag Cook Book: Written for Men by Men

Chop two onions — fry in butter, add a pound of rice and beat together. When very hot, add enough broth to triple quantity — let boil and cook in slack oven for 20 minutes. Add when done, six ounces grated Parmesan. Pour % of this into casserole, make hole in center and fill with shrimps and minced mushrooms; around sides lay fillet of sole, pour over lean Spanish sauce — reduced with essence of mushrooms — ^mix well and cover whole with remainder of rice — ^put in hot oven for fifteen minutes and serve. Sauce: — i quart of stock — ^melt J4 pound of butter — stir in same amount of flour — ^making clear paste — add stock — brown slowly. [127] George Ade "SCOLLOPED" OYSTERS If I must make a decision, I think I shall have to vote in favor of escalloped oysters. Back home we call them "scolloped.** The restaurant and hotel article is not the real thing. The portions are stingy and the oysters are heated just enough to render them helpless and they lie embedded in some dry packing, evidently meant to be an article of food. Escalloped oysters, as prepared at home, came in a deep pan which had been subjected to great heat. The oysters were used with the greatest prodigality. They were cooked in cracker crumbs or com meal and they were cooked until the delicious flavor of the bivalve had permeated all parts of the dish. Milk or cream and real country butter had been used unsparingly, so that the whole compound was moist and the seasoning had been well distributed, and the whole result was, in my opinion, a triumph. For some reason, the real "scolloped** oysters attain their perfection only when prepared by women past thirty years of age. I am not undertaking to give the recipe. Probably it is something secret — ^beyond the reach or comprehension of any man, but the dish itself is worthy of all the complimentary adjectives. [128] Editor's Note: — Here is the way to do it — first butter the bottom and sides of a pan (deep) or baking dish, then cover the bottom with those little, round, old-fashioned oyster crackers, all crisp and salty. Next place a layer of oysters, fresh or cove. If you don't know what cove oysters are ask some one who was raised in the Middle West. Now a layer of crackers crushed; then more oysters and so on until the pan is full. Season each layer of oysters with salt and pepper. Put little bits of butter all over the cracker layers. Now fill the pan with milk and cream to which has been added a bit of the oyster liquor. Cover the top well with crushed crackers. Put a cover on the dish or pan and slip it into the oven. Some folks add a teaspoonful of Worcestershire sauce to the milk and cream. Bake until the juices bubble up. Don't let too much of the moisture bake away. At the last minute take llie cover off the dish and brown the top. The richer the cream and butter the better the result. The dish is even better than Mr. Ade would lead you to believe, and it can be made by an amateur male cook — that's why Mr. Ade's contribution is printed in spite of the rank heresy to which he professes. [129] Lyman Abbott DEEP APPLE PIE Dr. Lyman Abbott's favorite dish is a Deep Apple Pie, which is made like the deep fruit tarts so plentiful in England. Here is a thoroughly satisfactory way to make Dr. Abbott's specialty: Line a deep pie tin with a rich crust, fill with tart, juicy apples sliced very thin. Sprinkle sugar and a little cinnamon over them. Scatter bits of butter over the apples, about a tablespoonful in all. Also sprinkle with a tablespoonful of water. Use four or five tablespoonsful of sugar. Cover with top crust and bake slowly for a half, or perhaps three-quarters of an hour.