This fish is seldom sent to the table whole, being too large for any ordinary sized family; the middle cut is considered the choicest to boil. To carve it, first run the knife down and along the upper side of the fish from 1 to 2, then again on the lower side from 3 to 4. Serve the thick part, cutting it lengthwise in slices in the direction of the line from 1 to 2, and the thin part breadthwise, or in the direction from 5 to 6. A slice of the thick with one of the thin, where lies the fat, should be served to each guest. Care should be taken when carving not to break the flakes of the fish, as that impairs its appearance. The flesh of the salmon is rich and delicious in flavor. Salmon is in season from the first of February to the end of August.
One quart of milk, four table-spoonfuls of butter, four of flour, a small slice of onion, two sprigs of parsley, salt and pepper to taste. Put the milk, onion and parsley on in the double boiler. Mix the butter and flour together until smooth and light. When the milk boils, stir four table-spoonfuls of it into the butter and flour, and when this is well mixed, stir it into the boiling milk. Cook eight minutes. Strain, and serve. This sauce is best with fish.
2 cups flour 4 teaspoons baking powder 1/3 cup any kind of dripping 1 cup meat stock or milk 1 teaspoon salt
Sift dry ingredients. Cut in fat if solid, or add if liquid. Stir in meat stock or milk to make a soft dough. Place on top of meat or fish with gravy in greased baking dish and bake 30 to 40 minutes in moderately hot oven.
Take a leg of mutton half-roasted, when it is cold cut it in thin pieces as you would do any other meat for hashing, put it into a stew-pan with a little water or small gravy, two or three spoonfuls of claret, two or three shalots shred, or onions, and two or three spoonfuls of oyster pickle; thicken it up with a little flour, and so serve it up. Garnish your dish with horse-radish and pickles. You may do a shoulder of mutton the same way, only boil the blade- bone, and lie in the middle.
Wash the fruit clean, put in a kettle, cover with water, and boil until thoroughly cooked. Then pour it into a sieve, and let it drain. Do not press it through. For each pint of this liquor allow one pound of sugar. Boil from twenty minutes to half an hour.
1 cup cooked salad dressing 2 tablespoons gelatine 2 cups any left-over fish, meat or vegetables 2 tablespoons cold water
Use any well-seasoned salad dressing. Soften the gelatine in the cold water. Dissolve over boiling water. Add to salad dressing. Add other ingredients well seasoned and chill.
If there is no fish stock, use pot boilings. As this is a white soup a special saucepan must be used. Put the stock and the liquor from the bottle of oysters into this stewpan with an onion stuck with six cloves, 2 dozen white peppercorns, and a fagot of herbs, and boil together for half an hour, then strain off and return to the saucepan with the milk. When nearly boiling thicken with a tablespoonful of cornflour and boil two or three minutes; put in the oysters and simmer for five minutes. Flavour with a little lemon juice, nutmeg, and salt. Pour into a warm tureen, and send fried bread to table with it.
Put a deep kettle on the fire, with two cups of lard in it, to get it very hot. Wipe each smelt inside and out with a clean wet cloth, and then with a dry one. Have a saucer of flour mixed with a teaspoonful of salt, and another saucer of milk. Put the tail of each smelt through its gills--that is, the opening near its mouth. Then roll the smelts first in milk and then in flour, and shake off any lumps. Throw a bit of bread into the fat in the kettle, and see if it turns brown quickly; it does if the fat is hot enough, but if not you must wait. Put four smelts in the wire basket, and stand it in the fat, so that the fish are entirely covered, for only half a minute, or till you can count thirty. As you take them out of the kettle, lay them on heavy brown paper on a pan in the oven, to drain and keep hot, and leave the door open till all are done. Lay a folded napkin on a long, narrow platter, and arrange the fishes in two rows, with slices of lemon and parsley on the sides.
The dishes on which meats, fish, jellies and creams are placed should be large enough to leave a margin of an inch or so between the food and the lower edge of the border of the dish. It is well to pour the sauce for cold puddings around the pudding, especially if there will be a contrast in color. It is a great improvement to have the sauce poured around the article instead of over it, and to have the border of the dish garnished with bits of parsley, celery tops or carrot leaves. When sauce is poured around meat or fish the dish must be quite hot, or the sauce will cool quickly. Small rolls or sticks of bread are served with soup. Potatoes and bread are usually served with fish, but many people prefer to serve only bread. Butter is not served at the more elegant dinners. Two vegetables will be sufficient in any course. Cold dishes should be very cold, and hot dishes hot. It is a good idea to have a dish of sliced lemons for any kind of fish, and especially for those broiled or fried. Melons, cantelopes, cucumbers and radishes, and tomatoes, when served in slices, should all be chilled in the ice chest. Be particular not to overdo the work of decorating. Even a simple garnish adds much to the appearance of a dish, but too much decoration only injures it. Garnishes should be so arranged as not to interfere with serving. Potato-balls and thin fried potatoes make a nice garnish for all kinds of fried and broiled meats and fish. Cold boiled beets, carrots and turnips, and the whites of hard-boiled eggs, stamped out with a fancy vegetable cutter, make a pretty garnish for cold or hot meats. Thin slices of toast, cut into triangles, make a good garnish for many dishes. Whipped cream is a delicate garnish for all Bavarian dreams, blanc- manges, frozen puddings and ice creams. Arrange around jellies or creams a border of any kind of delicate green, like smilax or parsley, or of rose leaves, and dot it with bright colors--pinks, geraniums, verbenas or roses. Remember that the green should be dark and the flowers small and bright. A bunch of artificial rose leaves, for decorating dishes of fruit at evening parties, lasts for years. Natural leaves are preferable when they can be obtained. Wild roses, buttercups and nasturtiums, if not used too freely, we suitable for garnishing a salad.
