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Oysters and Fish

<h2 id="COOKED_OYSTERS">COOKED OYSTERS.</h2> Stewed Oysters.—Boil half a pint of milk; add to it eleven good-sized oysters, a walnut of butter, a dash of salt and of pepper. Allow the milk to boil up just once, and serve. The average cook puts the oysters on first, and after they boil cold milk is added. When the milk boils, the stew is served. The result of such treatment of the oyster causes it to shrivel so that it is hardly recognizable, and a good-sized oyster becomes a mere sprat. From this process of cooking originated the ancient moth-eaten jokes about church-fair stews. Cooked as in the foregoing recipe, the oyster retains its plump characteristics. 22 Philadelphia Fried Oysters.—The author originally published this recipe in the New York “Evening Sun” by request. The average New Yorker may call the City of Brotherly Love a sleepy sort of a place, but it is wide enough awake gastronomically. It has within its city limits cooks who prepare fried oysters that fairly melt in one’s mouth. They are so delicate that there is not a pang of dyspepsia in a whole winter’s supply of the toothsome dainties. The reputation of Finneli’s Philadelphia fried oysters extends from Maine to California; and immense sums have been offered for the recipe, but its owner would not sell his secret at any price. Beat up three eggs thoroughly; add half a pint of oyster-juice, a pepper-spoonful of cayenne, a saltspoonful of black pepper, a tablespoonful of salt, and a teaspoonful of English mustard. Work the mixture to a batter, and gradually add a gill of oil. Now comes the more particular part of the formula. Cover a board or part of a table with a layer of cracker-crumbs half an inch deep. Drain fifty oysters free from liquid, place them on the cracker-crumbs, and dredge over them more cracker-crumbs. See to it that one oyster is not on top of another. Pick up each oyster by its beard,23 and dip it in the batter. Have ready a quantity of bread-crumbs grated from the white part of stale bread; spread this out on the table, and after the oysters have been dipped in the batter lay them carefully on the bread-crumbs two inches apart. After they are all spread out, turn them over neatly, which will bread-crumb the other side. Dip them in the batter again by taking hold of the beard, and again spread them out on the bread-crumbs. Under no circumstances place one oyster on top of another, or in any way press them together; this would make them heavy. When the fat is so hot that the smoke from it would light a match, then fry them by again taking hold of the beard, one at a time, and dropping them into the fat. When they are dark brown, take them up, and strew over them a quantity of salt. The secret is in carefully handling the oyster after it has been breaded. How differently New York restaurants serve fried oysters! In almost every eating place in the city, one sees piles of oysters covered with a batter that plainly shows the cook purposely pressed them between his hands. When served they look more like liver-pads than human food. Nothing short of a human ostrich could possibly digest them. The Philadelphia oyster, however, is a culinary poem. 24 Curry of Oysters.—Put an ounce of butter in a pan; add to it a teaspoon of curry-powder, and water enough to prevent burning. Put fifteen oysters in just water enough to cover them, simmer three minutes, and drain; thicken the broth with a teaspoonful of flour, salt to taste, stir this into the curry; add the oysters, simmer a moment, and serve with boiled rice. Pickled-Oyster Omelet.—Rinse six spiced or pickled oysters in cold water. Divide an ounce of butter into little balls, and roll them in flour; put them in a saucepan, heat gradually, and whisk to a cream; add a gill of hot water, salt and pepper. Cut the oysters in two, and add to the butter. Prepare an omelet in the usual manner; before folding, add the oysters; turn out on a hot dish, and serve. Deviled Oysters on Toast.—Mix together a heaping saltspoonful of mustard flour, half a saltspoonful each of white pepper and salt, and the yolk of one egg. Dip six oysters in the paste, then in fine crumbs, and broil over a moderate fire. When done, arrange on toast, and squeeze over them the juice of half a lemon. Pickled Oysters.—A few pickled oysters may be served instead of clams during warm weather. Scald a quart of oysters a moment, drain, and put them in jars. To a pint of oyster25 liquor, add half a pint of hot water and half a pint of hot vinegar; pour over the oysters; add three cloves, four whole peppers, a small bit of mace, and a slice of lemon, to each jar. This will be sufficient for two ordinary fruit-jars. Scalloped Oysters.—Put in the bottom of a yellow dish two ounces of sweet butter, divided into little pieces. Add a layer of raw oysters, and cover them with cracker-dust or bread-crumbs, and add salt and pepper to taste; another layer of oysters, and so on until the dish is full, the last or top layer to be crumbs, and between each layer there should be a small amount of butter. Moisten the ingredients with a liberal quantity of oyster liquid, put small butter balls on top of the dish, and bake a delicate brown color. Oysters were formerly baked in a scalloped or shell-shaped dish, hence the name. Oyster Salad.—Boil two dozen small oysters for five minutes in water enough to cover them; add a little salt and a tablespoonful of vinegar; drain and cool. Put into a salad-bowl the centre leaves of two heads of cabbage lettuce, add the oysters whole, pour over them a mayonnaise; garnish with oyster-crabs, hard-boiled eggs, and, if liked, a few anchovies cut into fillets. 26 Plain Fried Oysters.—As a rule, fried oysters are not served as a breakfast dish, owing to the coating with which they are usually surrounded. Served plain, however, they are quite acceptable. Dry them well in a napkin, and roll them in a little flour to insure that they are quite dry, then cook them in a very little hot dripping. Miss Parloa’s “New Cook-Book” says, “a quart of oysters is enough for a party of ten” (p. 118). There are from twenty to twenty-five oysters in a quart, rarely more than this. Oyster Toast.—Select fifteen plump oysters; chop them fine, and add salt, pepper, and a suspicion of nutmeg. Beat up the yolks of two eggs with a gill of cream; whisk this into the simmering oysters. When set, pour the whole over slices of buttered toast. Oyster Omelet.—Stew six oysters in their own liquor for five minutes; remove the oysters, and thicken the liquid with a walnut of butter rolled in flour; season with salt and cayenne; whisk this to a cream. Chop the oysters, and add them to the sauce; simmer until the sauce thickens. Beat up four eggs lightly, and add a tablespoonful of cream; turn out into a hot pan, and fry a light gold-color. Before folding the omelet entirely, place the oysters with part of27 the sauce within, and turn it over on a hot dish. The remainder of the sauce should be poured round it. Oysters Broiled.—Rub the bars of a wire broiler with a little sweet butter; dry twelve large, plump oysters in a napkin, and place them on the broiler; brush a little butter over them, and broil over a fire free from flame and smoke. When done on both sides, arrange them neatly on toast; pour a little well-seasoned melted butter over them, and serve. Do not bread-crumb oysters intend for broiling. Tripe with Oysters.—Tripe, when properly prepared by a simple process, is very nutritious and easily digested. Cut up half a pound of well-washed tripe; simmer for three-quarters of an hour in water slightly salted; take out the tripe; add to the broth a little butter rolled in flour, salt and pepper; add a little more flour if not thick enough. Return the tripe and a dozen oysters; simmer for a few minutes longer, and serve. Oysters en Brochette.—Select one dozen choice oysters; plunge them into hot water a second to make them firm (this process is called blanching), then drain, and dip them into melted butter; arrange them on skewers with alternate28 layers of neatly sliced bacon; broil over a moderate fire. When done, add maitre-d’hôtel butter to them, and serve on the skewers. Fried Oysters.—Beat up the yolks of four eggs with three tablespoonfuls of sweet oil, and season them with a teaspoonful of salt and a saltspoonful of cayenne pepper; beat up thoroughly. Dry twelve fat oysters on a napkin; dip them in the egg batter, then in cracker-dust; shake off the loose cracker-dust, dip them again in the egg batter, and lastly roll them in fine bread-crumbs. Fry in very hot fat, using fat enough to cover them. The oil gives them a nice flavor. Oyster and Canned Salmon Pie.—One pound of best canned salmon, one pint of solid oysters, half a pint of oyster liquid; cover the bottom of the dish with neat pieces of the salmon, season with salt and pepper and an ounce of butter rolled in flour, add a few oysters, and so on until the ingredients are used. Pour in the liquid of both, and cover the top with paste. Bake in a moderate oven. There should be liquid enough to have the ingredients moist when served. Oyster Patties.—Roll out a pound of light puff-paste, half an inch in thickness; cut it into rounds with a cake-cutter two inches in29 diameter; press a small cutter one inch in diameter, on each round, one-fourth of an inch deep. Place them on a buttered tin, brush a little beaten egg over them, and bake in a quick oven. When done, remove the centre and a little of the inside. Scald (or, as it is called, blanch) three dozen oysters; drain. Put into a saucepan two ounces of butter, whisk it to a cream; add a teaspoonful of flour, stir free from lumps; add a heaping saltspoonful of salt, and a pepperspoonful of white pepper; whisk into it half a pint each of hot cream and the oyster liquor; allow it to simmer a few minutes and to thicken; then add the oysters and a “squeeze” of lemon-juice; when hot fill the shells, and serve. If nutmeg is not objected to, a little may be used. Oysters à la Poulette.—Blanch (scald) a dozen oysters in their own liquor; drain them, and add to the liquor, salt, half an ounce of butter, the juice of half a lemon, a gill of cream, and a teaspoonful of dissolved flour. Beat the yolk of one egg, and add to the sauce. Stir until the sauce thickens; place the oysters on a hot dish, pour the sauce over them, add a very little chopped parsley, and serve. Pie of Oysters and Scallops.—Take one pint of fresh scallops, and wash them in cold30 water; drain, and dry them in a napkin. Cut a few slices of fat bacon in strips small enough to insert the ends in a larding-needle; lard the scallops with them, and dredge them slightly with flour. Select one quart of fat oysters; line a baking-dish with puff-paste; add the scallops and oysters in layers; season with salt, pepper, and a dash of mace. Divide an ounce of butter into little balls, roll them in flour, and put them between the layers; add the oyster liquor. Cover with a top crust; bake forty minutes in a moderate oven. Steamed Oysters.—Wash and scrub the shells thoroughly, and rinse them off in cold water. Put them in a steamer, large or deep shell down. Put the steamer on top of a pot of boiling water; steam about six minutes, or until the shells separate. Have ready a hot dish containing melted butter seasoned with a dash of Worcestershire, lemon-juice, salt and cayenne. Remove them from the steamer with gloved hands, and pick out the oysters with a flat knife, saving all the juice possible. Dip the oysters in the butter as you open them, and the number one can eat is surprising. To serve Steamed Oysters.—Steam them as in the foregoing recipe. At each guest’s place at table have ready little saucers containing31 a quantity of the hot melted butter. Remove the flat shell, and serve the oyster in the lower shell; send about six oysters to each guest at a time. Roast Oysters.—Clean the shells thoroughly, and place them on the coals in an open fire-place, or remove the top of range, and put them on the live coals, until they snap open, which they will soon do. Care must be exercised not to burn fingers. At evening, young folks like the fun of roasting oysters in the furnace below stairs, and eating them from the shell as fast as the host can open them. Baked Oysters.—Clean the shells thoroughly, and fill a dripping-pan with them, deep shell down. Look at them after ten minutes. If the shells are all opened, they are cooked enough. Melted butter, nicely seasoned, is the only sauce to serve with them. <hr class="chap" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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