Whitebait

Ingredients

• 1 lb. of white-bait
• 1 oz. of butter
• a little cayenne pepper
• a finely-chopped shallot
• a tablespoonful of vinegar

Method

1. 1

   Clean and dry whitebait, roll in flour.

2. 2

   Melt butter, season with cayenne, add shallot and vinegar.

3. 3

   Sprinkle over fish, place in a buttered bag, seal, and cook for 5 minutes in a very hot oven.

Nutrition per serving

As published

This recipe was extracted from Paper-bag cookery (1911) by Nicolas Soyer, page 9. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

tablespoonfuls of vinegar. Place in the paper- bag, seal up, put on the broiler in a moderate oven for 20 minutes. Herrings can be treated in the same way, with or without butter. If boiling is pre- ferred, add a tablespoonful of water. To SOYER’S PAPER-BAG COOKERY 33 broil fish of this kind, add butter or dripping only. Lobster a l’Americaine. — Cut a good- sized lobster crossways into seven slices. Re- move the soft part of the flesh, put it into a basin, and mix with it three large tablespoon- fuls of tomato sauce, two teaspoonfuls of brandy, and two tablespoonfuls of Madeira, a little chopped parsley and tarragon. Season with cayenne pepper and salt to taste. Add an ounce of melted butter and stir well. Mix with the sliced lobster, place in an oiled paper- bag, and cook for 12 minutes in a very hot oven. Red or Grey Mullet. — Take the fish with a half-tomato cut up, one mushroom, salt, pepper, a little lemon juice or vinegar, one teaspoonful of flour (this can be omitted if desired), a little chopped parsley, and a little butter. Place in the paper-bag, seal up, and allow 20 minutes in a moderate oven. Mackerel a la Napolitaine.— - Take two very fresh filleted mackerel, place a line of fresh tarragon leaves on each fillet. Dust with pepper and salt to taste. Butter a bag 34 SOYER’S PAPER-BAG COOKERY thickly, put in the fillets of mackerel, and then on top of each pour gently a large tablespoon- ful of tomato catsup (the American variety gives the best results as it is far more deli- cately flavored than the English sort). Close the bag and cook for from 18 to 20-25 min- utes, according to the thickness of the fish. Turn out carefully, pour the sauce over them and send to table at once. If preferred, the quantity of sauce may be increased, but the above is quite sufficient for the cooking process. Herrings, it may be noted, are equally good this way. In this case a very little minced chives may be added to the tarragon. Plaice (Sole, Flounder) a la MeuniSre. — Filleted or whole fish can be used for this dish. Chop a small shallot, add a teaspoonful of anchovy paste or sauce, a squeeze of lemon juice, 1 oz. of butter, a little chopped parsley, salt and pepper, and a little cayenne. Place in a thoroughly buttered bag, dredge with flour, pour a tablespoonful of melted butter on top of the fish, seal up and cook. For 2 lbs. of whole fish, 30 minutes, and 8 minutes for the same weight filleted. SOYER’S PAPER-BAG COOKERY 35 Sole Bourguigone. — Thoroughly butter a bag, place inside a well-trimmed sole or floun- der, add three small peeled, uncut onions, a bouquet garni, and a glass of claret. Mix a large teaspoonful of flour with an ounce of butter, place this mixture on the sole, seal up the bag, and cook for 20 minutes in a hot oven. Sole or Flounder or Cod a la Comtesse. — Grease a bag thickly. Take 6 or 8 fillets of soles. Dust them lightly with salt and white pepper and squeeze a little lemon juice over each fillet. Put them in the bag and add to them an ounce of finely minced mush- rooms, half a heaped large teaspoonful of finely minced shallot or chives, a heaped large teaspoonful of minced parsley and a heaped dessertspoonful of freshly fried breadcrumbs, all mixed together. Add also half a wine- glassful of sherry mixed with the same amount of either good fish or ordinary stock. Close the bag and cook in a moderately hot oven for 18 to 20 minutes. Dish up. Pour the liquor and herbs, etc., over the fish and send to table at once. To make the fish stock put the bones and trimmings from the 36 SOYER’S PAPER-BAG COOKERY fish in a clean small stewpan with a gill of water and a bit of turnip, carrot, onion and celery, all first well washed and sliced, and simmer for 75 minutes. Strain off and use. Whitebait. — Clean and dry 1 lb. of white- bait, and roll them in flour. Melt 1 oz. of butter, season with a little cayenne pepper, add a finely-chopped shallot

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