Lobster Chops or Cutlets

Ingredients

• two tablespoonfuls of butter
• two tablespoonfuls of flour
• half a pint of milk or cream
• the yolks of two raw eggs
• a glass of sherry or Madeira
• a rather high seasoning of salt and cayenne
• plenty of cracker-dust
• fat to heat

Method

1. 1

   Remove the lobster meat and cut it into small dice.

2. 2

   In a saucepan, melt butter and flour, then gradually stir in milk or cream.

3. 3

   Add lobster, coral, and fat, and season.

4. 4

   Stir until hot, then remove from heat and mix in egg yolks and sherry.

5. 5

   Cool, shape into chops, coat with egg and cracker-dust, and fry until golden brown.

As published

This recipe was extracted from Miss Corson's practical American cookery and household management (1885) by Juliet Corson, page 130. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

LOBSTER CHOPS OR CUTLETS. Kull a lobster according to the recipe given for that oper- ation ; remove the meat, and cut it in small, even dice ; save the coral and green fat in opening the lobster; put in a thick saucepan over the fire two tablespoonfuls each of buttey and flour, and stir them until they bubble ; then grad- ually stir in half a pint of milk or cream ; add the lobster, together with the coral and fat, and a rather high seasoning of salt and cayenne ; stir the mixture constantly ^until it is very hot ; then take it from the fire, and stir in the yolks of two raw eggs, and a glass of sherry or Madeira ; put the mixture into a dish to cool. When it is cold, make it up in the form of small chops or cutlets, shaping them with the FISff AND SHELLFISH {POISSON). 229 hands wet in cold water ; as the chops are made, lay them in a platter containing plenty of cracker-dust ; put over the fire a frying-kettle half full of fat to heat ; beat two eggs smooth; dip the chops into the egg, and then lay them again in the cracker-dust. When the fat begins to smoke, put the chops into it, and fry them golden brown ; when the chops are brown, take them out of the hot fat with a skim- mer, lay them on brown paper for a moment to free them from grease, put a small lobster-claw in each one, and then serve them garnished with parsley. SCALLOPED PRAWNS OR SHRIMP. Use either prawns or large shrimp, freed from the shells after they are boiled. To a quart of the meat allow a quart of dried bread-crumbs, a gill each of vinegar and tomato- catsup, and two heaping tablespoonfuls of butter. Put these ingredients into an earthen dish in layers, with a palatable seasoning of salt and pepper, making the top layer of crumbs, and bake the dish in a moderate oven for twenty minutes. Serve the scalloped prawns hot, in the same dish in which they were baked. Several small dishes, or scallop-shells, may be used in place of the large dish. SOFT-SHELL CRABS FRIED. To prepare soft-shell crabs for cooking, wash them in cold \vater, and lay them on their backs on a meat-board or on \ht kitchen-table. Care should be taken, in buying them, to select those which are fat and plump, and quite alive ; and they should be carefully handled to avoid breaking off the claws. Use a small, sharp knife in dressing the crabs ; cut a. half-circle out of the body of each crab, running the knife- blade just behind the eyes ; this removes the eyes and sand- bag ; then lift the apron or flap, which lies near the back of the under shell, and cut off the tuft, or hard fin-like portions 230 PRACTICAL AMERICAN COOKERY. attached to it, or remove it entirely ; press the back shell away from the body, first on one side and then on the other, and take out the tough, fibrous, soft fins ; then dry the crabs on a clean towel. Have ready a large platter full of fine dry bread-crumbs or cracker-dust, mixed with a little pepper and salt, and on the stove a frying-kettle or large frying-pan half full of smoking-hot fat ; beat two eggs until they are quite liquid ; roll the crabs in the crumbs, dip them for an instant in the beaten eggs, taking care not to wash off the crumbs, then roll them again in the crumbs, and put them into the hot fat to fry ; they will be done as soon as they are brown all over. Take them out of the fat with a skimmer, lay them for a moment on brown paper to free them from grease, and serve them hot. A lemon, cut in quarters, makes a nice garnish for them, the juice being squeezed over the crabs by those who like it. Sometimes the juice of a lemon is mixed with a tablespoonful of melted butter and a little pepper and salt, and poured over the crabs just before sending them to the table. SOFT-SBELL CRABS BROILED. Dress the crabs as directed in the recipe for soft-shell crabs fried. After drying them on a towel, dip them into melted butter seasoned with pepper and salt, instead of breading them. Put them between the bars of a buttered double wire broiler, and broil them until the shells are bright red and slightly browned. As soon as they are done, serve them hot with melted butter and lemon-juice, or with a lemon cut in quarters. Slices of hot dry toast may be served under the broiled crabs. CRABS SCALLOPED. Boil six ordinary hard crabs until the shells are red, or use an equivalent quantity of crab-meat from large crabs, FISH AND SHELLFISH {POISSON). 23 1 about a pint of the meat being required ; after the crabs are boiled, remove the meat from the shells carefully, rejecting the stomach which lies just back of the eyes, the intestine which is coiled up in the middle of the body, and the soft fins which lie under the legs, and saving the green fat and the curd which lies next the shell. Boil two eggs hard, re- move the shells, and chop them fine ; grate the rind and strain the juice of a lemon. Put one tablespoonful each of butter and flour in a saucepan over the fire, and stir them until they bubble ; then gradually stir in a pint of milk, and let the sauce thus made boil for a moment ; season it with a level teaspoonful of salt, a quarter of a saltspoonful of pepper, and a dust of cayenne ; add the crab-meat, chopped eggs, and lemon. Let these ingredients all heat together, and then put the mixture into scallop-shells, or a dish which can be sent to the table. Dust cracker-crumbs over the tops, brown the scalloped crab in a hot oven, and serve it at once. DEVILLED CRABS. Boil the, crabs, and remove the meat from the shells as directed in the recipe for scalloped crabs ; add to the meat 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 melte

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