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TO COOK FISH. |
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To Fry Herring.—If fresh, scale and dry them well, dredge them with flour and fry them in butter or bacon grease; when done, set their tails one against the other in the middle of the dish. Fry crisp a handful of parsley, take it out before the color changes, lay it around the herrings and serve them up with melted butter, parsley and mustard. If the herrings are salt, soak them 24 hours, hang them up to dry and fry them in lard.
To Broil Fresh Herrings.—Scale and wipe them perfectly clean; rub the bars of the gridiron with mutton suet or fat bacon ; have a clear fire, lay them on, and when nicely browned turn them. Serve very hot, with cold butter.
To Broil Salt Herrings, Mackekel, Etc.—When taken from the brine wash them in two waters, and lay them in plenty of water and let them soak for 6 hours. If very salt, which can be known by tasting one of the fins, change the water. It is better to add 2 or 3 teaspoonfuls of vinegar. But if the fish are hard and dry, use a tablespoonful of soda instead of the vinegar. When sufficiently fresh, take them lrom the water and wipe them well and dry. Have your gridiron very clean by rubbing the bars bright, grease them with suet or lard, but not too much, otherwise the grease wil drip on the coals and impart a disagreeable odor and taste to the fish. The gridiron should be hot, but not enough so as to scorch them ; there should be no smoke or blaze about it. Lay the fish open, the skin sides down ; turn Ft once; when done, place over it a hot dish; reverse the gridiron ; pour 1-2 a cup of water over the fish. Let it remain 5 minutes; pour off the water;' butter and pepper it well; garnish with hard-boiled eggs, sliced, or use egg sauce or season with lemon juice or any flavored vinegar. The dish should be served hot and sent to the table without delay. Worcestershire sauce is an excellent seasoning.
Fish Stock with Herrings Cut Up.—Put the fish on in cold water; when done, pour the water off, put butter on a tin plate, then a layer of sliced Irish potatoes, chopped parsley and onions; then put on a layer of stock fish and the herrings, then a layer of butter, pepper, salt, potatoes, onions and parsley, and continue till the tin plate is full, and let the last layer be of the vegetables with pepper and salt. Set in the oven and bake slowly.
To Stew Mackerel.—After removing the head, the fins and the tail, open the fish and take out the hard roes and dry them with a cloth, then dredge them lightly with flour, place three of them in a stew-pan with a lump of butter the size of a black walnut to each fish; put into a small basin a teaspoonful of water, a tablespoonful each of finely chopped onions and parsley, a blade or two of mace, a little pepper and salt, a tablespoonful of Anchovy essence, a small |
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