Table Talk's illustrated cook book

When any fish is left from a meal remove and discard skin and bones, break the flesh in flakes and set aside. It may then be mixed with a thick egg or cream sauce, heaped in individual shells or bakers, sprinkled with buttered crumbs and browned in a quick oven ; this makes a good lunch dish. LOBSTER DICMONSTRATION — cutting open the now membrane of tub tail. LOBSTER DEMONSTRATION — breaking body apart, claws broken from body aud laid one side- TO OPEN A BOILED LOBSTER. A lobster, if alive and in good condition when dropped into the kettle, will have the tail curved round under the body ; if gently pulled out it will spring back to its former position. The first thing to do in opening the lobster is to twist off the tail. With a scissors or a sharp knife split open the thin under- LOBSTER part of the shell and draw the meat out in one long piece. Pull off the thin strip running down the upper side, and underneath will be seen a vein — the intestinal canal — sometimes dark in color, but often quite white. Carefully remove this. Break the claws from the body, crack them and remove the meat. From the main shell draw out the body ; pull off all the woolly gills and the eyes; immediately back of the latter lies the stomach or "lady, which must also be removed. Pick out the meat from between the thin scales or ribs, add it to the claw and tail meat. If the lobster is a female there will be in the body a quantity of eggs or "coral." This, with the green fat, should be added to the meat. The body and tail shells may be carefully washed, dried and put aside to use for garnishing or to serve as a dish in preparing a farci; the small claws may also be. put aside, but cannot be kept for any length of time. LOBSTER FARCI. For lobster farci, cook a tablespoonful of chopped onions in one tablespoonful of butter for three minutes, add one tablespoonful of flour, a dash of salt, pepper and mace, and one-half a cupful of thin cream, and stir until thickened. Add one heaping tablespoonful of soft bread crumbs and one heaping cupful of diced lobster meat and cook for a moment, then add a teaspoonful of lemon juice, a teaspoonful of chopped parsley and the beaten yolk of an egg and turn into the cleaned lobster shell. Cover with fine crumbs and brown in a quick oven. DEVILED CRABS. In a saucepan put one tablespoonful of flour, one tablespoonful of butter, one-third of a teaspoonful of salt and a dash of cayenne. Stir over the fire until melted and mixed, then gradually add three-quarters of a cupful of veal or chicken stock. Stir until thick and smooth, then add the beaten yolks of two eggs, two tablespoonfuls of sherry, three fresh mushrooms chopped and one cupful of the canned crab meat. Stir for three minutes, then take from the fire, add one heaping teaspoonful of chopped parsley, more salt and pepper . DEVILED CRABS. to season very highly and, if liked, a suspicion of made mustard. When cold fill the shells with the mixture, smoothing them off, rounding full. Sprinkle with fine, dry bread crumbs, slightly moistened with a little melted butter and bake in a very hot oven until browned ; or dip into slightly-beaten egg, roll in fine crumbs and fry golden brown in deep, smoking-hot fat. CRABS A LA CREOLE. Peel and chop fine one small onion; open one green pepper, remove the seeds and mince ; fry with the onion in one tablespoonful of butter, cooking very slowly for five minutes ; then add three small tomatoes which have been skinned and chopped after removing the seeds ; cook for a moment ; add one-half of a cupful of chicken broth and four soft shell crabs which have been cleaned and cut in two. Season to taste with celery salt and simmer ten minutes longer. CLAMS CLAM FRITTERS.