Stewed Terrapin
From My mother's cook book, 1902
Presented as published in 1902. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation below, not the original instructions.
A modern interpretation · AI-generated from the original record
Ingredients
Method
As published
This recipe was extracted from My mother's cook book (1902) by Matilda Lees Dods, page 9. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.
Stewed Terrapin.— For this there will be required; one terrapin, seven ounces of butter, one and one half ounces of fiour, one.gill of cream, one-half pint of madeira wine, one grain of cayenne, one-half saltspoonful of salt, and an equal quantity of pepper. Begin by throwing the terrapin into boiling water, and boiling it until the claws will draw out. This will take from thirty to forty-five minutes. The shell should now be drawn asunder, which may be readily accomplished by inserting the fingers at the aperture of the neck. Pick out then the meat, exercising caution not to break the bladder, the gall, or the sand bags, which are of course, to be considered as refuse. FRICASSEE OF OVSTER. ig Meit the butter now in a saucepan, add the flour and cream, which must be very sweet, as it is so apt to curdle, stir carefully until it boils, when the pepper, salt and cayenne should be thrown in together with the meat from the terrapin. Cook this now for ten minutes, then draw it from the fire, and add the madeira and eggs, if the ter- rapin have furnished any. Serve immediately. Stewed Terrapin d, Superieure.-For this there will be .required: two terrapin, one-half pound of butter, yolks of four hard-boiled eggs, two teaspoonfuls of flour, one and one-half gills of cream, two wineglassfuls of sherry, one saltspoonful of salt, and as much pepper. Boil and open the terrapin, as directed in Recipe No. 4. Put the butter into a bowl and beat it to a cream with the back of a wooden spoon. Add to this the yolks of the eggs, and beat both until thoroughly mixed, when the flour should be introduced by degrees, and the whole brought slowly to the boiling point. Take , then the pieces of meat from the two terrapin, the pepper and salt, and put all with the butter, eggs, and flour previously prepared and boil the whole slowly for three quarters of an hour. Care should be taken to stir from time to time, to prevent burning, while thus boiling, and at the expiration of this time, add the cream, letting it all boil for fifteen minutes longer, when it should be drawn from the fire, the sherry added. Serve at once. OYSTERS AND OTHER SHELLFISH.— SECOND DIVISION. Frioapsee of Oyster. — Procure for this : 20 SHELLFISH. Twenty-five oysters, two ounces of butter, one ounce of flour, yolks of two eggs, one teaspoonful of lemon juice, one grain of cayenne, one grain cif grated nutmeg, a lump of salt the size of a pea, one-half a saltspoonf ul of pepper. Bring first the oysters in their own liquor to the boil- ing point, and when this is reached strain them and put the oysters, for the time, aside. Melt now in a separate sauce- pan, the, butter, and add thereto the flour togethef with one teacupful, of the strained liquor. Cook this for about two minutes, to give the mixture consistency, and then taking the saucepan from the fire, drop in the yolks of the eggs, one by one, stirring quickly until all is well mixed together. Add then the lemon-juice, pepper, salt, nutmeg and cayenne, when the whole should be placed again over the fire, stirred briskly to prevent boiling, and allowed to become very hot. Just before serving drop in the oysters andi serve on buttered toast. Fried Oysters.— Provide for this : Twenty-five large oysters, two tablespoonfuls of flour, four tablespoonfuls of milk, four tablespoonfuls of cracker- dust, two eggs, four heaped tablespoonfuls of bread crumbs, one saltspoonful of salt, one saltspoonful of pep- per, one saltspoonful of grated nutmeg. Put the oysters into a strainer and drain them thor- oughly of their liquor. Then upon a plate, mix together the flour, milk, pepper and salt, into which preparation dip the oysters one by one, u^ng a fork and takiliig care not to mutilate the oyster. Place now upon a sheet of kitchen paper the cracker-dust,^ and putting the oysters therein, lift the sheet of paper by its opposite sides and roll them in the dust from side to side. The oysters should now bp removed to a plate an4 left standing for PRIED OYSTERS, 21 half an hour in order that the juices may drain out and harden tlie cracker dust encasing them. Heat meantime in a stew-pan one pound of clarified fat, and when the blue smoke arises therefrom, throw in a peeled potato to keep it from burning. Upon a plate beat now the two eggs, dip the oysters one by one into them, then roll them in the bread crumbs, which has been made ready upon the kitchen paper, and with which has been put the nut- meg, and drop them lightly into the hot clarified fat, let- ting them remain therein for three minutes. Before serv- ing put them for a moment upon a clean sheet of kitchen paper that it may absorb the extraneous fat. Notes — It is important to avoid touching the oysters with tht heated hands as it makes them both tough and heavy. Clarified fat and lard boils at about five hundred degrees, which is more than double the heat of boiling water. At three hundred and seventy-five degrees the blue smoke arises from these heated substances which is the cooking point, and boiling fat or lard will bum to a cinder instantly anything that is put into it. The peeled potato prevents burning as it furnishes an object for the fat to act upon and so keeps it from growing hotter ; a piece of hard bread will answer the same purpose. A large quantity of fat is used in this recipe, but its extravagance is tempered by the fact that the same fat may be used over and over again until the heating property is exhausted, The reason for allowing the oysters to stand for thirty minutes after being rolled in the cracker-dust is that unless so permitted to harden, the egg with which the oyster is subsequently treated would not adhere but merely draw the cracker-dust off, making it thus necessary to pack these substances on with the hands and a heavy, soggy dish be the consequence. Fried oysters must be quickly cooked and as quickly , served. I^ecipe for clarifying fat on ))3fje— . 22 OYSTEXS. Oysters &'la-Cr€me. — Materials and quantities as follows : Twenty-five large oysters, one dessert spoonful of chopped parsley, one heaped tablespoonful of bread- crumbs, three and one-half ounces of butter, one and one- half ounces of flour, a piece of onion half the size of a nutmeg, one gill of cream
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Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.