One pint of celery, one quart of oysters, one-third of a cupful of mayonnaise dressing, three table-spoonfuls of vinegar, one of oil, half a teaspoonful of salt, one-eighth of a teaspoonful of pepper, one table-spoonful of lemon juice. Let the oysters come to a boil in their own liquor. Skim well and drain. Season them with the oil, salt, pepper, vinegar and lemon juice. When cold, put in the ice chest for at least two hours. Scrape and wash the whitest and tenderest part of the celery, and, with a sharp knife, cut in very thin slices. Put in a bowl with a large lump of ice, and set in the ice chest until serving time. When ready to serve, drain the celery, and mix with the oysters and half of the dressing. Arrange in the dish, pour the remainder of the dressing over, and garnish with white celery leaves.
Take an onion, carrot, small head of celery, and some turnip, and boil them till they are tender in some stock. The water in which some rice has been boiled is very well suited for the purpose. Add also to every quart a brimming tablespoonful of mixed savoury herbs. Rub the whole through a wire sieve, thicken it with brown roux till it is as thick as cream; add a few drops of Parisian essence--(sold in bottles by all grocers)--to give it a dark colour. Add a wineglassful of sherry or Madeira, or, if the use of wine be objected to, the juice of a hard lemon. Flavour the soup with a little cayenne pepper, and serve some egg forcemeat balls in it, about the size of small marbles.
Cut up a celery root, one onion, and a sprig of parsley, tie the fish in a napkin and lay it on this bed of roots; pour in enough water to cover and add a dash of vinegar--the vinegar keeps the fish firm--then boil over a quick fire and add more salt to the water in which the fish has been boiled. Lay your fish on a hot platter and prepare the following sauce: set a cup of sweet cream in a kettle, heat it, add a tablespoon of fresh butter, salt and pepper, and thicken with a tablespoon of flour which has been wet with a little cold milk, stir this paste into the cream and boil about one minute, stirring constantly; pour over the fish. Boil two eggs, and while they are boiling, blanch about a dozen or more almonds and stick them into the fish, points up; cover the eggs with cold water, peel them, separate the whites from the yolks, chop each separately; garnish the fish, first with a row of chopped yolks, then whites, until all is used: lay chopped parsley all around the platter. Fresh cod and striped bass may be cooked in this way.
Roll a lump of butter in flour, put it in a pan on the fire, and as it melts add pepper and salt. Stir it, and as it thickens add a little milk; let it simmer and keep on stirring it. You will never get a good white sauce unless you season it well and let it simmer for a quarter of an hour. Strain it, heat it again, and serve it for fish, potatoes, chicken.
Boil four or five parsnips; when tender take off the skin and mash them fine; add to them a teaspoonful of wheat flour and a beaten egg; put a tablespoonful of lard or beef drippings in a frying pan over the fire, add to it a saltspoonful of salt; when boiling hot put in the parsnips; make it in small cakes with a spoon; when one side is a delicate brown turn the other; when both are done take them on a dish, put a very little of the fat in which they were fried over and serve hot. These resemble very nearly the taste of the salsify or oyster plant, and will generally be preferred.
These are made of any scraps or bits of good food that happen to be left from one or more meals, and in such small quantities that they cannot be warmed up separately. As, for example, a couple of spoonfuls of frizzled beef and cream, the lean meat of one mutton chop, one spoonful of minced beef, two cold hard-boiled eggs, a little cold chopped potato, a little mashed potato, a chick's leg, all the gristle and hard outside taken from the meat. These things well chopped and seasoned, mixed with one raw egg, a little flour and butter, and boiling water; then made into round cakes, thick like fish-balls and browned well with butter in a frying pan or on a griddle. Scraps of hash, cold rice, boiled oatmeal left from breakfast, every kind of fresh meat, bits of salt tongue, bacon, pork or ham, bits of poultry, and crumbs of bread may be used. They should be put together with care, so as not to have them too dry to be palatable, or too moist to cook in shape. Most housekeepers would be surprised at the result, making an addition to the breakfast or lunch table. Serve on small squares of buttered toast, and with cold celery if in season.
Scale and clean the fish, handling it as little as possible, and cutting it open no more than is absolutely necessary. Place it on the strainer of a large fish-kettle and fill it up with cold water. Throw in a handful of salt. Let it boil slowly. The length of time depends on the size and weight of the fish. You may allow a quarter of an hour to each pound; but experience alone can determine the exact time. It must however be thoroughly done, as nothing is more disgusting than fish that is under-cooked. You may try it with a fork. Skim it well or the colour will be bad. The minute it is completely boiled, lift up the strainer and rest it across the top of the kettle, that the fish may drain, and then, if you cannot send it to table immediately, cover it with a soft napkin or flannel several folds double, to keep it firm by absorbing the moisture. Send it to table on a hot dish. Garnish with scraped horseradish and curled parsley. Have ready a small tureen of lobster sauce to accompany the salmon. Take what is left of it after dinner, and put it into a deep dish with a close cover. Having saved some of the water in which the fish was boiled, take a quart of it, and season it with half an ounce of whole pepper, and half an ounce of whole allspice, half a pint of the best vinegar, and a tea-spoonful of salt. Boil it; and when cold, pour it over the fish, and cover it closely again. In a cold place, and set on ice, it will keep a day or two, and may be eaten at breakfast or supper. If much of the salmon has been left, you must proportion a larger quantity of the pickle. Boil salmon trout in a similar manner.
Put on to boil in fish kettle, one glass water, one-half glass vinegar, two tablespoons of brown sugar, one-half dozen cloves, one-half teaspoon of ground cinnamon, one onion cut in round slices. Boil thoroughly, then strain and add to it one lemon cut in round slices, one goblet of red wine, one dozen raisins, one tablespoon of pounded almonds; put on stove again, and when it comes to a boil, add fish that has been cut up and salted. Cook until done, remove fish to a platter, and to the liquor add a small piece Leb-kuchen or ginger cake, and stir in the well-beaten yolks of four eggs; stir carefully or it will curdle. If not sweet enough add more sugar. Pour over fish. Shad or trout is the best fish to use.
Take a piece of salt codfish, pick it up very fine, put it into a saucepan, with plenty of cold water; bring it to a boil, turn off the water, and add another of cold water; let this boil with the fish about fifteen minutes, very slowly; strain off this water, making the fish quite dry, and set aside to cool. In the meantime, stir up a batter of a pint of milk, four eggs, a pinch of salt, one large teaspoonful of baking powder in flour, enough to make thicker than batter cakes. Stir in the fish and fry like any fritters. Very fine accompaniment to a good breakfast.
Pick the meat of boiled crabs and chop it fine. Season to taste with pepper, salt and melted butter. Moisten it well with rich milk or cream, then stiffen it slightly with bread or cracker crumbs. Add two or three well-beaten eggs to bind the mixture. Form the croquettes, egg and bread, crumb them and fry them delicately in boiling lard. It is better to use a wire frying basket for croquettes of all kinds.
