The Lady's Own Cookery Book, and New Dinner-Table Directory;

Water Souchi

Put on a kettle of water with a good deal of salt in it, and a good many parsley roots; keep it skimmed very clean, and when it boils up throw in your perch or whatever fish you use for the purpose. When sufficiently boiled, take them up and serve them hot. Have ready a pint or more of water, in which parsley roots have been boiled, till it has acquired a very strong flavour, and when the fish are dished throw some of this liquor over them. The Dutch sauce for them is made thus: – To a pint of white wine vinegar add a blade or two of mace; let it stew gently by the fire, and, when the vinegar is sufficiently flavoured by the mace, put into it about a pound of butter. Shake the saucepan now and then, and, when the butter is quite melted, make all exceedingly hot; have ready the yolks of four good eggs beaten up. You must continue beating them while another person gently pours to them the boiling vinegar by degrees, lest they should curdle; and continue stirring them all the while. Set it over a gentle fire, still continuing to stir until it is very hot and of the thickness you desire; then serve it.

Sprats, to bake

Wipe your sprats with a clean cloth; rub them with pepper and salt, and lay them in a pan. Bruise a pennyworth of cochineal; put it into the vinegar, and pour it over the sprats with some bay-leaves. Tie them down close with coarse paper in a deep brown pan, and set them in the oven all night. They eat very fine cold.

You may put to them a pint of vinegar, half a pint of red wine, and spices if you like it; but they eat very well without.

Sturgeon, to roast

Put a walnut-sized bit of butter (or more if it is a large fish), rolled in flour, in a stewpan, with sweet-herbs, cloves, a gill of water, and a spoonful of vinegar; stir it over the fire, and when it is lukewarm take it off, and put in your sturgeon to steep. When it has been a sufficient time to take the flavour of the herbs, roast it, and when done, serve it with court bouillon, or any other fish sauce.

Turbot, to dress

Wipe your turbot very dry, then take a deep stewpan, put in the fish, with two bay-leaves, a handful of parsley, a large onion stuck with cloves, some salt, and cayenne; heat a pint of white wine boiling hot, and pour it upon the turbot; then strain in some very strong veal gravy, (made from your stock jelly,) more than will cover it; set it over a stove, and let it simmer very gently, that the full strength of the ingredients may be infused into it. When it is quite done, put it on a hot dish; strain the gravy into a saucepan, with some butter and flour to thicken it.

Plaice, dabs, and flounders, may be dressed in the same way.

Turbot, plain boiled

Make a brine with two handfuls of salt in a gallon of water, let the turbot lie in it two hours before it is to be boiled; then set on a fish-kettle, with water enough to cover it, and about half a pint of vinegar, or less if the turbot is small; put in a piece of horseradish; when the water boils put in the turbot, the white side uppermost, on a fish-plate; let it be done enough, but not too much, which will be easily known by the look. A small one will take twenty minutes, a large one half an hour. Then take it up, and set it on a fish-plate to drain, before it is laid in the dish. See that it is served quite dry. Sauce – lobster and white sauce.

Turbot, to boil

Put the turbot into a kettle, with white wine vinegar and lemon; season with salt and onions; add to these water. Boil it over a gentle fire, skimming it very clean. Garnish with slices of lemon on the top.

Turbot, to boil in Gravy

Wash and well dry a middling sized turbot; put it with two bay-leaves into a deep stew-dish, with some cloves, a handful of parsley, a large onion, and some salt and pepper, add a pint of boiling hot white wine, strain in some strong veal gravy that will more than cover the fish, and remove it on one side that the ingredients may be well mixed together. Lay it on a hot dish, strain the gravy into a saucepan with some butter and flour, pour a little over the fish, and put the remainder in a sauce terrine.

Turbot, to boil in Court Bouillon, with Capers

Be very particular in washing and drying your turbot. Take thyme, parsley, sweet-herbs of all sorts, minced very fine, and one large onion sliced; put them into a stewpan, then lay in the turbot – the stewpan should be just large enough to hold the fish – strew over the fish the same herbs that are under it, with some chives and a little sweet basil; pour in an equal quantity of white wine and white wine vinegar, till the fish is completely covered; strew in a little bay salt with some pepper. Set the stewpan over a stove, with a very gentle fire, increasing the heat by degrees, till it is done sufficiently. Take it off the fire, but do not take the turbot out: let it stand on the side of the stove. Set a saucepan on the fire, with a pound of butter and two anchovies, split, boned, and carefully cleansed, two large spoonfuls of capers cut small, some chives whole, and a little cayenne, nutmeg grated, a little flour, a spoonful of vinegar, and a little broth. Set the saucepan over the stove, keep shaking it round for some time, and then leave it at the side of the stove. Take up the stewpan in which is the turbot, and set it on the stove to make it quite hot; then put it in a deep dish; and, having warmed the sauce, pour it over it, and serve up.

Soles, flounders, plaice, &c. are all excellent dressed in the same way.

Turbot, to fry

It must be a small turbot. Cut it across, as if it were ribbed; when it is quite dry, flour it, and put it into a large frying-pan with boiling butter enough to cover it; fry it brown, then drain it. Put in enough claret to cover it, two anchovies, salt, a scruple of nutmeg and ginger, and let it stew slowly till half the liquor is wasted; then take it out, and put in a piece of butter, of the size of a walnut, rolled in flour, and a lemon minced, juice and all. Let these ingredients simmer till of a proper thickness. Rub a hot dish with an eschalot or onion; pour the sauce in, and lay the turbot carefully in the midst.

Turbot or Barbel, glazed

Lard the upper part of your turbot or barbel with fine bacon. Let it simmer slowly between slices of ham, with a little champagne, or fine white, and a bunch of sweet-herbs. Put into another stewpan part of a fillet of veal, cut into dice, with one slice of ham; stew them with some fine cullis, till the sauce is reduced to a thick gravy. When thoroughly done, strain it off before you serve it, and, with a feather, put it over your turbot to glaze it. Then pour some good cullis into the stewpan, and toss it up as a sauce to serve in the dish, adding the juice of a lemon.

Turbot, to dress en gras, or in a rich fashion

Put into a stewpan a small quantity of broth, several slices of veal, and an equal quantity of ham, a little cayenne, and a bunch of sweet-herbs. Let it stew over a very slow stove, and add a glass of champagne. When this is completely done, serve it with any of the sauces, named in the article Sauces (#litres_trial_promo), added to its own.

Turbot or Barbel, to dress en maigre, or in a lean fashion

Put into a stewpan a large handful of salt, a pint of water, a clove of garlic, onions, and all sorts of sweet kitchen herbs, the greater variety the better, only an equal quantity of each. Boil the whole half an hour over a slow fire; let it settle. Pour off the clear part of the sauce, and strain it through a sieve; then put twice as much rich milk as there is of the brine, and put the fish in it over a very slow fire, letting it simmer only. When your turbot is done, pour over it any of the sauces named as being proper for fish in the article Sauces (#litres_trial_promo).

Turtle, to dress

After having killed the turtle, divide the back and belly, cleaning it well from the blood in four or five waters, with some salt; take away the fins from the back, and scrape and scald them well from the scales; then put the meat into the saucepan, with a little salt and water just to cover it; stew it, and keep skimming it very clean all the while it is stewing. Should the turtle be a large one, put a bottle of white wine; if a small one, half that quantity. It must be stewed an hour and a half before you put in the wine, and the scum have done rising; for the wine being put in before turns it hard; and, while it is stewing, put an onion or two shred fine, with a little parsley, thyme, salt, and black pepper. After it has stewed tender, take it out of the saucepan, and cut it into small pieces; let the back shell be well washed clean from the blood, and rub it with salt, pepper, thyme, parsley, and onions, shred fine, mixed well together; put a layer of seasoning into the shell, and lay on your meat, and so continue till the shell is filled, covering it with seasoning. If a large turtle, two pounds of butter must be cut into bits, and laid between the seasoning and the meat. You must thicken the soup with butter rolled in flour. An hour and a half is requisite for a large turtle.

Whiting, to dry

Take the whiting when they come fresh in, and lay them in salt and water about four hours, the water not being too salt. Hang them up by the tails two days near a fire, after which, skin and broil them.

MADE DISHES

Asparagus forced in French Rolls

Take out the crumb of three French rolls, by first cutting off a piece of the top crust; but be careful to cut it so neatly that the crust fits the place again. Fry the rolls brown in fresh butter. Take a pint of cream, the yolks of six eggs beaten fine, a little salt and nutmeg; stir them well together over a slow fire until the mixture begins to be thick. Have ready a hundred of small asparagus boiled; save tops enough to stick in the rolls; the rest cut small and put into the cream; fill the rolls with it. Before you fry the rolls, make holes thick in the top crust to stick the asparagus in; then lay on the piece of crust, and stick it with asparagus as if it was growing.

Eggs, to dress

Boil or poach them in the common way. Serve them on a piece of buttered toast, or on stewed spinach.

Eggs buttered. No. 1

Take the yolks and whites; set them over the fire with a bit of butter, and a little pepper and salt; stir them a minute or two. When they become rather thick and a little turned in small lumps, pour them on a buttered toast.

Eggs buttered. No. 2

Put a lump of butter, of the size of a walnut; beat up two eggs; add a little cream, and put in the stewpan, stirring them till they are hot. Add pepper and salt, and lay them on toast.

Eggs buttered. No. 3

Beat the eggs well together with about three spoonfuls of cream and a little salt; set the mass over a slow fire, stirring till it becomes thick, without boiling, and have a toast ready buttered to pour it upon.

Milk with a little butter, about the size of a walnut, may be used instead of the cream.

Eggs, Scotch

Take half a pound of the flesh of a fowl, or of veal, or any white meat (dressed meat will do), mince it very small with half a pound of suet and the crumb of a French roll soaked in cream, a little parsley, plenty of lemon-peel shred very small, a little pepper, salt, and nutmeg; pound all these together, adding a raw egg, till they become a paste. Boil as many eggs as you want very hard; take out the yolks, roll them up in the forcemeat, and make them the size and shape of an egg. Fry them till they are of a light brown, and toss them up in a good brown sauce. Quarter some hard-boiled eggs, and spread them over your dish.

Eggs for second Course

Boil five eggs quite hard; clear away the shells, cut them in half, take out the yolks, and put the whites into warm water. Pound the yolks in a mortar till they become very fine. Have ready some parsley and a little onion chopped as fine as possible; add these to the yolks, with a pinch of salt and cayenne pepper. Add a sufficient quantity of hot cream to make it into a thick even paste; fill the halves of the whites with this, and keep the whole in hot water. Prepare white sauce; place the eggs on a dish in two rows, the broad part downward; pour the sauce over them, and serve up hot.

Eggs to fry as round as Balls

Put three pints of clarified butter into a deep stewpan; heat it as hot as for fritters, and stir the butter with a stick till it turns round like a whirlpool. Break an egg into the middle, and turn it round with the stick till it is as hard as a poached egg. The whirling round of the butter makes it as round as a ball. Take it up with a slice; put it in a dish before the fire. Do as many as you want; they will be soft, and keep hot half an hour. Serve on stewed spinach.

Eggs, fricassee of