Mackerel cannot be eaten in perfection except at the sea-side, where it can be had immediately out of the water. It loses its flavour in a very few hours, and spoils sooner than any other fish. Broiling is the best way of cooking it. Clean two fine fresh mackerel, and wipe them dry with a cloth. Split them open and rub them with salt. Spread some very bright coals on the hearth, and set the gridiron over them well greased. Lay on the mackerel, and broil them very nicely, taking care not to let them burn. When one side is quite done, turn them on the other. Lay them, on a hot dish, and butter and pepper them before they go to table. Garnish them with lumps or pats of minced paisley mixed with butter, pepper and salt.
Put the mackerel into a large pan of cold water with the skin up, and soak it all one afternoon and night, changing the water four times. In the morning put it in a pan on the fire with enough water to cover it, and drop in a slice of onion, minced fine, a teaspoonful of vinegar, and a sprig of parsley. Simmer it twenty minutes,--that is, let it just bubble slowly,--and while it is cooking make a cup of white sauce as before: one tablespoonful of butter, melted, one tablespoonful of flour, one cup of hot milk, a little salt. Cook till smooth. Take up the fish and pour off all the water; place it on a hot platter and pour the sauce over it.
Boil five or six pounds of haddock. Take out all bones, and shred the fish very fine. Let a quart of milk, a quarter of an onion and a piece of parsley come to a boil; then stir in a scant cupful of flour, which has been mixed with a cupful of cold milk, and the yolks of two eggs. Season with half a teaspoonful of white pepper, the same quantity of thyme, half a cupful of butter, and well with salt. Butter a pan, and put in first a layer of sauce, then one of fish. Finish with sauce, and over it sprinkle cracker crumbs and a light grating of cheese. Bake for an hour in a moderate oven.
Prepare the vol-au-vent as directed. Put one quart of oysters on to boil in their own liquor. As soon as a scum, rises, skim it off, and drain the oysters. Return half a pint of the oyster liquor to the sauce-pan. Mix two heaping table-spoonfuls of butter with a scant one of flour, and when light and creamy, gradually turn on it the boiling oyster liquor. Season well with salt, pepper and, if you like, a little nutmeg or mace, (it must be only a "shadow"). Boil up once, and add three table-spoonfuls of cream and the oysters. Stir over the fire for half a minute. Fill the case, cover, and serve immediately.
Choose small fish of different kinds and fillet them. As only half the fillets are wanted for the souchet, the rest may be dressed in another way. Wash the bones in cold water and remove the black substance from them, put them into two quarts of cold water with a teaspoonful of salt, and when it boils remove the scum and add 1 dozen peppercorns, one carrot, one small turnip, one onion, a small piece of celery, and a fagot of herbs. Put the vegetables in whole. Boil this together for one hour, then strain off through a hair sieve and return to the saucepan; wash the vegetables that have been boiled in it, slice them up and put them into the liquor. Cut the fillets of fish into small pieces and put them in; simmer for half an hour, then put in a little lemon juice, pour into a tureen, and sprinkle a little chopped parsley on the top. Send brown bread and butter to table with it and a lemon.
Split fish, clean, and remove head and tail. Put in buttered pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper and dot over with butter (allowing one tablespoon to a medium-sized fish), pour over two-thirds of a cup of milk. Bake twenty-five minutes in a hot oven.
Prepare a quantity of strong, clear, highly-flavoured stock of a greenish-brown colour. The colour can be obtained by boiling some winter greens or spinach along with the other things. A few chopped gherkins, capers, or chillies will give the required piquancy. Have 4 ozs. tapioca soaked overnight, add to the boiling stock and cook gently till perfectly clear. Some small quenelles may be poached separately and put in tureen.
Either cold boiled salmon or the canned variety may be used. In the latter event wash the fish, in cold water, drain and expose to the outside air for at least one hour, as this removes any suggestion of the can. Flake the fish into small particles and to each cupful of the fish add the same quantity of shredded lettuce, one coarsely chopped hard-boiled egg, three slices of minced cucumber and six chopped olives. Mix the ingredients well, moisten with either a mayonnaise or boiled dressing and serve in individual portions in nest of heart lettuce leaves. Mask each portion with a tablespoon of dressing and garnish with capers and grated egg yolk.
Use cold fish and potatoes, if there are any in the larder; if not, boil a piece of blue smoked cod in some water for five minutes. Flake it up free from skin and bone and put it into a basin; mash up the potatoes and mix them in with the pepper and salt. Bind into a paste with an egg; rub some dripping on a baking sheet, turn the mixture on to it and shape into the letter S, brush over with egg or milk, and bake till brown. Slip it off on to a hot dish, and garnish with parsley.
Fillet the fish, put the bones in a saucepan, and just cover them with water. When they boil, skim well, and add the tomatoes sliced up, the peppercorns and vegetables; boil quickly without the lid for half an hour, then strain, rubbing the pulp of the tomatoes through with the liquor. Make a smooth sauce with half a pint of this liquor, the butter, and the flour; if the colour is not good add a few drops of cochineal. Fold the fillets of fish neatly, and bake in the oven with a little lemon juice, and covered with a buttered paper. Arrange them on a dish and pour the sauce over. Serve hot.
