Devilled Crabs

Ingredients

• an equal quantity of bread or cracker crumbs
• half a cupful of Worcestershire sauce
• half a cupful of mixed mustard
• a level teaspoonful of salt
• a saltspoonful of pepper
• half that quantity of cayenne
• two tablespoonfuls of melted butter
• just enough milk to moisten these ingredients

Method

1. 1

   Remove the meat from the crab shells.

2. 2

   Mix with crumbs, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, salt, pepper, cayenne, melted butter, and milk.

3. 3

   Fill crab shells with the mixture, dust with crumbs, place in a dripping pan, add a small piece of butter on each, and brown quickly in a hot oven.

4. 4

   Serve hot or cold.

Nutrition per serving

As published

This recipe was extracted from Miss Corson's practical American cookery and household management (1885) by Juliet Corson, page 132. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

an equal quantity of bread or cracker crumbs, half a cupful each of Worcestershire sauce and mixed mustard, a level teaspoonful of salt, a saltspoonful of pepper and half that quantity of cayenne, two tablespoonfuls of melted butter, and just enough milk to moisten these ingredients so that they can be mixed thoroughly. Fill the crab-shells with this mixture, dust them with cracker-crumbs, arrange them in a dripping-pan, put a small piece of butter on each, and quickly brown them in a very hot oven. Serve them hot or cold. The seasoning of devilled crabs should always be high. 232 PRACTICAL AMERICAN COOKERY. KROMESKEYS OF CBAB. Boil three or four large crabs, and remove the meat from the shells as directed for scalloped hard crabs. Make a fritter-batter as follows, and put a frying-kettle half full of fat over the fire to heat : For the batter, mix together a cup- ful of flour, a saltspoonful of salt, a dust of cayenne, the yolk of a raw egg, a tablespoonful of salad-oil, and enough cold water to form a thick batter. Just before using it, beat, the white of the egg to a stiff froth, and stir it lightly into the Ktomesheys of Crab. batter. Cut as many very thin slices of fat salt pork as there are to be kromeskeys, and smooth them to the thinness of paper, with the back of a knife. Mix with the crab-meat a palatable seasoning of salt and pepper, add the yolks of two raw eggs, and enough wine or sauce of any kind pre- ferred to permit the crab-meat to be made up in little rolls, with the hands wet in cold water; wrap the rolls in the shoes of pork, dip them into the batter so that they are entirely covered with it, and then fry them golden brown in the hot fat ; lay them on brown paper for a moment after they are brown to free them from fat, and then arrange them on a napkin with parsley, as shown in the picture, and serve the kromeskeys hot. fISff AND SHELLFISH (POISSON). 233 MUSSELS. These cheap and excellent shell-fish are generally pre- pared for market by pickling; but many good dishes can be made from them, for several of which recipes are given elsewhere. The shells of mussels in good condition are dark and bright, and the fish fills them plumply. The edges of the shells are sharp and firmly closed. If they are at all muddy or sandy, they should be laid for an hour or longer in a tub of cold water containing a handful of salt, and then thoroughly washed before they are boiled. To boil mussels, place them in a large kettle, after they are thoroughly washed, with half a pint of water, and set them over the fire until the shells open ; the liquor which flows from them should be carefully strained, and kept to use with them. After the mussels are boiled, take them from the shells, carefully remove all the fine filaments at- tached to the " tongue " or " foot " of the fish, cut off the tip of the " tongue " and the dark, fringe-like edge, or beard, which surrounds the gills ; the thread-like filaments are called the "moss," and this is supposed to be more or less poisonous. The office of the moss, or byssus, is to attach the mussel to the rocks or wharves where it is found. It should always be carefully removed before the mussel is dressed, after it is boiled. Some cooks always use a silver spoon in preparing mussels for the table, think- ing that it Avill become blackened if they are unfit for food. Mussels are sometimes eaten raw like oysters ; but this is not advisable, because some medical authorities assert that the mussel occasionally contains a poisonous substance which is neutralized by cooking, as is the case with some varieties of mushrooms. Cases of poisoning by mussels yield to intelligent medical treatment. 234 PRACTICAL AMERICAN COOKERY. Mussels are good fried, broiled, or stewed in white sauce ; they may be pickled like oysters. SCALLOPS FRIED IN INDIAN MEAL. Wash the scallops in cold water, and dry them on a clean towel. While they are being dried, 'put over the fire a fry- ing-kettle half full of fat, and let it get smoking hot ; then quickly roll the scallops in Indian meal seasoned with salt and pepper, drop them into the hot fat, and fry them light brown ; as soon as they are brown, take them up with a skimmer, lay them for a moment on brown paper to free them from fat, and then serve them hot. Slices of lemon served with the scallops greatly improve the flavor and appearance of the dish. If water-cresses are in season, they may replace the lemon. Scallops are excellent when breaded and fried, or fried with salt pork. FRIED SOFT CLAMS. Wash a bunch or pint of soft clams in cold water, to free them from sand, and lay them separately on a towel to dry. Have ready a frying-kettle half full of fat, over the fire, a dish of beaten raw eggs, and a platter of cracker-dust or bread-crumbs ; roll the clams in the crumbs, then dip them in beaten egg, and again roll them in crumbs ; when the fat is smoking hot, put the clams into it, and fry them golden brown ; then take them out of the frying-kettle with a skimmer, lay them on brown paper to free them from fat, and serve them hot. Fried clams should be served with a garnish of lemon cut in quarters, or a dish of sliced cabbage or of pickles. SCALLOPED CLAMS. Clams may be scalloped in their shells, or in china or silver dishes. FISH AND SHELLFISH {POISSON). 235 CLAM FRITTERS. Carefully wash all sand away from a bunch or pint of clams, and chop them fine ; strain the water in which they were washed ; have ready, over the fire, a frying-kettle half full of fat; mix together a cupful of flour, the chopped clams, the yolk of a raw egg, a level teaspoonful of salt, and a quarter of a saltspoonful of pepper

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.