Salt Mackerel

Ingredients

• Clean the fish
• lay it over night in plenty of cold water
• a pint of milk
• a half-pint remaining
• three table-spoonfuls of flour
• two table-spoonfuls of butter

Method

1. 1

   Soak the fish overnight, boil it, prepare gravy with milk and flour, and serve.

As published

This recipe was extracted from The Pattern cook-book (1890) by Butterick Publishing Company, page 43. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

Two table-spoonfuls of butter. One table-spoonful of flour or corn-starch. One-third tea-spoonful of pepper. Wash the fish, tear it into bits, and covering it with cold water, let it soak over night. In the morning pour off the water, and place the fish on the fire in a frying- pan, adding enough fresh cold water to cover it. When the water reaches the boiling point, draw the pan back where it will keep hot for fifteen minutes, at the end of which time the fish should be cooked sufficiently. Rapid boiling hardens salt fish, so the cooking can scarcely be too slow. Drain the fish well, and place it in a double boiler with the milk ; or if great care be taken, the milk can be poured over the fish in the pan. If the latter mode is preferred, the milk must be stirred incessantly, or it FISH. 109 will scorch. When the milk is at boiling heat, stir in the flour and butter, well rubbed together ; or if corn- starch is used, it should be first wet with a little cold milk. Cook slowly for five minutes, season with pepper and a little salt, if needed, and, drawing the fish away from the heat, stir in the beaten egg thinned with one table-spoonful of milk. Let the whole stand two min- utes, and serve on a hot platter, FISH CHOWDER, Cut a pound of salt pork into strips, and soak it in hot water for five minutes. Place a layer of pork in the bottom of a large tin pail. Cut four pounds of sea- bass or cod into pieces two inches square, and lay enough of the fish upon the pork to cover it. Follow with a layer of raw sliced potatoes, then a thin layer of chopped onion, a little parsley, summer savory or any herb of that sort ; and salt and pepper lightly. Next add a layer of Boston crackers or pilot or sea biscuits, broken rather fine. Then begin again with a layer of pork, and repeat in the same order until all the fish is used, having crackers on top. Pour over the whole enough water to cover it, place the cover on the pail, and set the latter in a large kettle of boiling water. Let it simmer slowly three hours, or less if the fish and potatoes are already cooked, and serve with slices of lemon. CODFISH BALLS. One quart of raw sliced potatoes. One large cupful of salt fish. One egg. Two table-spoonfuls of cream or milk, One table-spoonful of butter. Salt and pepper to taste. 1 10 THE FA TTERN COOK-BOOK. Pick all the bones from the fish, shredding the latter finely; and slowly boil the fish and the sliced potatoes together in plenty of water, until the potatoes are soft. Mash both together, and beat until fine and light; then add the seasoning, butter and milk, and the ^gg well beaten, mixing all thoroughly with a spoon. Have plenty of very hot fat in the frying-pan, and into it drop the mixture, a table-spoonful at a time. Do not use the hands to form the cakes into balls, as is sometimes done, and do not flour the cakes. Made in 'this way they will be found very delicate and light ; in fact, cooks who have tried this method will never return to the old way of making. SALT MACKEREL. Clean the fish by scraping off any rusty-looking part and the thin black membrane found on the inside, and lay it over night in plenty of cold water, with the skin side up. In the morning place the fish in a frying-pan on the fire, cover with fresh water, and slowly heat to the boiling point. Drain off this water, add just enough fresh water to cook the fish, and boil slowly until tender. Lift the mackerel out carefully (a pancake shovel v\^ill be found most convenient for such work), and place it on the serving dish in the oven to keep hot while the gravy is being prepared. This is made as follows : drain off the water left in the frying-pan after the removal of the fish, until there is a half-pint remaining, and pour into the pan a pint of milk. When the liquid boils, add three table-spoonfuls of flour

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