FISH.
Filet of Bass.—Washand wipe the filets dry with a clean towel, trimming away the fins with a pair of large scissors close to the filet. Dust with salt and lay in a covered dish with a minced onion, the juice of half a lemon and a bit of finely cut parsley and thyme. Let them stand half an hour. Twenty minutes before serving wipe dry again, dust lightly with flour, dip in well-beaten egg, then roll in fine bread crumbs. When all are prepared, put in greased bag and cook twenty minutes until a delicate brown. Arrange on a warm dish and serve with parsley and lemon or sauce tartare. Filets of sole may be cooked in the same way.
Baked Blue Fish.—Clean thoroughly, cut off head and tail and fill with a soft bread stuffing. Tie up securely, rub over the outside of the fish with sweet vegetable oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, add a squeeze of lemon juice and slip into the greased bag. Seal and cook from twenty to forty minutes according to weight. Serve with sliced lemon rolled in fine cut parsley.
A Breakfast Dish of Bloaters.—Few people know how very nice smoked and dried fish can be when cooked in a paper bag and seasoned in the French fashion. Cut off the head and tail of the fish, loosen the skin at the neck with a knife and holding it firmly between the knife and finger, pull it off. Split the fish with a sharpknife, remove the backbone and soak in cold water over night, or if you forget to do that, for twenty minutes in water nearly at the boiling point. Arrange the filets in a wooden baking dish, cover with milk, dot with bits of butter, put in bag and bake in a hot oven for fifteen minutes. Garnish with a little finely chopped parsley or sprigs of water cress and serve with paper-bag baked potatoes. On a cool morning there are few more appetizing breakfast dishes, while its cheapness puts it within the reach of the most impecunious. For a change the filets may be baked in buttered paper cases or cooked au gratin still in paper bags.
Cat Fish.—For the small sized cat fish—clean, wash, dry well, salt and pepper inside and out, then grease well with butter or vegetable oil and roll in fine, sifted bread crumbs or corn meal. Lay in a well-greased bag on thin sliced bacon, put a few more slices of bacon on top. Seal and cook half an hour.
Codfish Cones.—"Pick up" enough salt codfish to make two cupfuls of the shreds. Cover with cold water and let stand for two hours, then drain, make a cream sauce, using two level tablespoonfuls each butter and flour, and one cupful of hot milk. Mash and season enough hot boiled potatoes to measure two cupfuls, add sauce and fish and beat well with a fork. Shape in small cones, brush with melted butter, dredge with fine bread crumbs and put in a paper bag. Cook ten minutes. If desired some thin slices of bacon can be cooked at the same time in a separate bag and be used as a garnish for the cones.
Codfish à la Crême.—Cook the fish first in boiling salted water which has been very slightly acidulated with vinegar. Let it cook until the flesh separates fromthe bones. After draining thoroughly and removing the skin and bones, break the flesh into large flakes. Pour a highly seasoned white sauce over it. It may now be cooked in a wooden baking dish in the bag, or it may be prepared as follows: Press it into the form of an oblong mould, using only just enough sauce to hold the flakes together. Not as much sauce is needed as when the fish is browned in a baking dish. Brush the top liberally with melted butter, sprinkle with rolled cracker crumbs. Put the mold in a paper bag in the oven, and let the fish acquire a nutty, crisp crust. Send to the table garnished with lemon and parsley or thin slices of tomato and a few sprays of water cress.
Paper Bagged Eels.—Eels may be cooked in a paper bag without growing as hard as they are apt to do as ordinarily treated. Allow one-half pound of eels (after they are dressed) to a person. Wash them thoroughly, removing all blood from slit in eels. Cut in two-inch pieces, put in a dish and sprinkle a teaspoonful of salt to every pound over them. Now pour over them boiling water, enough to cover well, and let stand until water is cold. Pour water off and leave eels where they will drain until nearly dry. Take sufficient Indian meal to roll them in, add a little pepper to it and roll each piece until well covered. Place in a well-greased bag and cook about twenty minutes, when they will be a rich brown, thoroughly cooked and deliciously juicy.
Flounder à la Meuniére.—Chop a small shallot and mix with a teaspoonful of anchovy paste, a squeeze of lemon juice, an ounce of butter, a little chopped parsley, a dash of cayenne, salt and pepper to taste. Put the fish with the seasoning inside of a well-buttered bag, after dredging thefish with flour. Pour a tablespoonful of melted butter over the fish, seal up and cook. A two-pound fish, whole, requires thirty minutes. The same weight of filets cook in eight minutes.
Filets of Flounder.—Remove the filets from a medium sized flounder and cut each filet in two. Season with salt and pepper and a few drops of lemon juice and fold each filet in two or roll up skin side inwards. Put a small piece of butter, or a teaspoonful of vegetable oil on top of each and place carefully in the well-greased bag. Seal the mouth of the bag, and cook about ten minutes on the wire grid in a hot oven.
Remove from the bag, lift carefully on to a hot platter, garnish with water cress or parslied lemon slices and serve.
Finnan Haddie.—Pick out a fish that is thick through the centre, weighing about two pounds. Soak in cold water, after washing well, for an hour. Brush all over with melted butter, dredge with flour, put in a well-buttered bag, skin side down, dot with butter and pour over it a cup of hot milk. Seal securely and bake in a very hot oven twenty minutes. The fish may be served whole, or flaked—free from bones and skin—and served with cream sauce.
Finnan Haddie.—Prepare in the regular way, lay in wood cookery dish, skin side down, season with bits of butter, add a small cupful of warm milk, put in bag and seal. Bake twenty-five minutes and serve from the dish with cream sauce. This eliminates the washing of dishes with the strong fishy odor.
Fish Cakes.—Use for this two cupfuls cold fish freed from skin and bones and chopped fine, and the sameamount of cooked, seasoned and mashed potatoes. Mix well, season with salt and pepper, add two tablespoonfuls vegetable oil or melted butter and two tablespoonfuls of milk. Whip the mixture until as "light as feathers." Shape into small, flat cakes of even size. Beat up an egg on a plate, then egg the cakes and roll deftly in the finest of sifted bread crumbs and again shape. Put in well-greased bag, seal and put in a hot oven. Cook about twenty minutes.
New England Fish Pie.—Have a pound of cod steak boned and cut in pieces. Roll each piece in slightly salted flour, and season with paprika or white pepper. Lay in the well-greased bag and put on top of the fish a layer of oysters with their juice and a squeeze of lemon juice. Sprinkle with a layer of finely rolled and buttered cracker crumbs, dot with a few bits of butter, seal the bag and bake slowly fifteen minutes. Have ready some hot mashed potato well seasoned with cream and butter. Take the grid and bag from the oven, tear off the top of the bag, spread the potato over the fish like a crust, brush over with a little milk mixed with a portion of an egg yolk and set back in oven for five minutes to brown and glaze, turning the grid with the bag twice during the cooking. Cut open the bag, put the fish balls on a hot platter, garnish and serve plain with a tomato sauce.
Fish Soufflé.—One pint of boiled halibut or other delicate fish, freed from bones and skin and mashed to a pulp. Season with one small teaspoonful of salt, a dash of pepper, and one teaspoonful of onion juice. Melt a large tablespoonful of butter in a saucepan, and cook in it for three minutes a tablespoonful of flour. Add slowly a cupful of milk and the seasoned fish pulp. Beat two eggs thoroughly and add the fish to them. Pour all intobag, seal and bake twenty minutes in a moderate oven, half an hour.
Planked Fish Bag-Cooked.—Planked fish responds beautifully to the paper-bag treatment, and there is no better way of developing the distinctive flavor of any of the delicate white-meated fish. The plank however should not be as thick as that usually required. It must be of hard-wood, hickory, cherry, live oak, cedar or ash—well seasoned and sawed about a half inch in thickness, rounded and tapered at one end like an ironing board. This to accommodate the tail of the fish. If cooking small fish use the oval wood cooking dishes made of maple wood.
Make it very hot in the oven or under the gas flame, then grease well with vegetable oil, olive or the refined cotton seed, and lay on it the fish cleaned, split down the back, seasoned, oiled all over with the sweetest of vegetable oils or butter and spread out as flat as possible with the skin side next to the hot board. Slip into the greased bag and fasten tightly. If you use the gas oven for planking your fish, as most of us do, turn on both burners until the oven is very hot. Then set in the fish with a trivet under the bag the same as if you were cooking without the plank.
Bake from thirty to forty-five minutes, then serve piping hot on the plank which has been taken out of the bag, set on a big japanned tray and garnished with hot mashed potato pressed through a tube in rose fashion at regular intervals, alternating with mounds of peas or carrot dice, sprigs of watercress or parsley and thin slices of lemon rolled in fine minced parsley. Accompany with sauce tartare or parsley butter.
Halibut à la Poulette.—Take two pounds of halibut,arrange in filets, freeing from skin and bone; then cut into narrow strips. Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice; cut two onions in slices and lay on the filets, then set away for half an hour. At the end of this time have ready one-third cup melted butter or refined vegetable oil. Dip the filets in this, roll, skewer into shape and dredge with flour. Arrange in a well-buttered bag, seal and bake twenty minutes in a moderate oven. Serve with white sauce and two hard boiled eggs, sliced for a garnish.
Herring au Gratin.—Soak and filet the herring. Butter a bag and strew the bottom with the bread crumbs well-buttered, a layer of grated cheese and a little minced chives or parsley. Sprinkle with pepper and lay in the filets of herring, plain or alternately with sliced tomato. Cover with more crumbs, parsley, cheese and butter, close the bag, and bake fifteen minutes until a good brown.
Herrings With Herbs.—Take four dried herrings, bone them, fill the cavities with a little (about half a teaspoonful to each fish) finely minced shallot or chives, and parsley. Add a few fresh breadcrumbs and tiny bits of butter. If liked, a tiny grate of nutmeg may be added as well as a good dust of pepper. Put into a well-greased bag and bake in the oven for ten minutes. Dish up and serve as hot as possible. Other dried fish are excellent prepared in the same way.
Kedgeree.—Mix one cup of shredded fish with one cupful of boiled rice, tender and well drained. Put into a well-buttered wooden baking dish, while you prepare the sauce. Put into a saucepan one tablespoonful each of butter and flour and as soon as melted and "bubbly," add one cup of hot milk. Stir until smooth and thick,season with salt and pepper, take from the fire, add the yolks of two hard-boiled eggs, that have been rubbed through a sieve, pour over the rice and fish. Put the dish in a well-buttered bag and set in the oven until thoroughly hot and delicately browned.
Kippered Mackerel With Fine Herbs.—Cut salt mackerel into filets, lay them in a deep earthen dish and cover with boiling water. Leave in water half a minute. Take out, wipe dry, dust with coarse black pepper and put on top of each filet half a teaspoonful of minced parsley and chives or onion and a bit of butter the size of a small walnut. Grease a bag well, put in the filets; seal and cook for twenty minutes in a hot oven. Serve hot, with brown bread and butter.
Salmon Loaf.—Mince one can of salmon, removing all bits of bone. Add to it a cupful fine, stale bread crumbs, two beaten eggs, a half cupful milk and salt, pepper, parsley and lemon juice to season. Put in a wooden mould in a buttered bag and bake or steam for half an hour. Turn out and serve hot with a white or Hollandaise sauce.
Scalloped Salmon.—Put a layer of soft grated bread crumbs in the bottom of a wooden baking dish that has been well-buttered. Sprinkle the bread crumbs with salt, pepper and bits of butter. Cover with a layer of flaked salmon, seasoning with salt and pepper and pouring in some of the oil and liquor from the can. Over this spread another layer of the seasoned crumbs, then more salmon and so on until the dish is filled. Let the last layer be of buttered crumbs moistening slightly with a little milk. Spread a little soft butter over the surface and bake in a buttered bag for half an hour in a hot oven to a rich brown.
Salmon Soufflé.—Put two tablespoonfuls of butter in a saucepan and melt without browning. Add one tablespoonful of flour, stir until blended, then pour in one cup of warm milk. When thickened and smooth, add the yolk of one egg, one cup of salmon flaked, a tablespoonful of cream and a tiny bit of essence of anchovy and pepper to season. Mix carefully and well, fold in the white of one egg beaten until stiff and dry; then fill ramekins or wooden dish three-quarters full. Put in a bag and brown in a quick oven. Serve very hot. Chopped parsley may be added if desired.
Baked Shad.—In dressing the fish, cut as small an opening as possible. Wash well, dry and fill with a dressing made in this way. Pour over one cupful dry bread crumbs enough cold water or milk to moisten. Add a teaspoonful melted butter, and a teaspoonful minced parsley. Mix thoroughly and fill the fish, sewing or skewering the opening together. Use a wood cookery dish and put into a buttered bag two or three slices of wafer-thin salt pork and having salted and peppered the outside of the fish lay carefully on top the sliced pork. Lay as many more thin slices on top of the fish, or wipe over with olive oil. Seal, set in the oven and bake three-quarters of an hour in a moderate oven. Serve with sauce tartare or a good brown sauce enriched with a small glass of Madeira.
Shad Roe.—As soon as the fish comes from the water or market, plunge the roe into boiling salted water to which a tablespoonful of lemon juice or vinegar has been added. Cook gently about ten minutes, lift out with a skimmer and slip into a bowl of ice water to become firm. When ready to cook, split lengthwise if plump and full, brush over with olive oil, melted butteror refined cotton seed oil, and tuck at once into the well-greased bag. Some cooks prefer to dust the roe with fine bread crumbs, lay into beaten egg, then dust once more with sifted crumbs before "bagging". Serve simply with lemon and cress, with sauce tartare or mayonnaise, or with a sauce prepared as follows: Put into a saucepan two tablespoonfuls butter or olive oil, one tablespoonful lemon juice, and chopped parsley, and a teaspoonful Worcestershire sauce. Heat to the boiling point and pour over the roe.
Smelts.—Smelts skewered in rings, using a wooden toothpick to hold heads and tails together, dipped in milk, well floured and fried in deep fat, make an attractive fish course. The use of a wood cookery dish here is strongly recommended. The skewer can be removed before serving, as the fish will usually keep its shape. Garnish the plate on which the fish are served with cress and slices of lemon rolled in finely minced parsley. If the smelts are to furnish the main part of the meal, pile them in the center of a hot platter and surround with a border of mashed potato, or mound the potato and circle with the fish for a border.
Bagged Weak Fish.—Well grease a bag, with butter or vegetable oil. Prepare a weak fish as for frying by seasoning with salt, pepper and dredging well with flour. Rub melted butter on both sides, place it in the bag, skin side down, lightly dredge the upper side again with flour and dot with butter. Peel and cut an onion in half, put in the bag but not on the fish. Close the bag, seal and cook on the wire rack or broiler in a hot oven for twenty-five minutes.
White Fish Planked.—Remove the head and tail and bone of the fish. Wash carefully and place in wooden cookery dish, skin side down. Season with salt, pepper, bits of butter and chopped onion. Roll a half dozen oysters in cracker crumbs, place on top of fish, and put the dish in the bag. Bake forty minutes. Set the wooden dish on a hot platter and serve. The skin of the fish and remnants can be left in the dish which can then be thrown away. Halibut and mackerel are especially fine when prepared in these wood cookery dishes as it holds them intact in process of cooking and serving.
FISH SAUCE.
Anchovy Sauce.—Poundthree anchovies smooth with three spoonfuls of butter, add two teaspoonfuls of vinegar and a quarter of a cupful of water. Bring to the boil and thicken with a tablespoonful of flour rubbed smooth in a little cold water. Strain through a sieve and serve hot.
Quick Bearnaise Sauce.—Beat the yolks of four eggs with four tablespoonfuls of oil and four of water. Add a cupful of boiling water and cook slowly until thick and smooth. Take from the fire and add minced onion, capers, olives, pickles and parsley and a little tarragon vinegar.
Bearnaise Sauce.—This calls for four small, chopped shallots, one branch of chopped tarragon, two tablespoonfuls of wine vinegar, two raw egg yolks, two and a half ounces of hot melted butter, half a teaspoonful of chopped parsley and a teaspoonful of pepper. Put the shallots, vinegar, tarragon and pepper in a saucepan and let it stand on a slow fire until its contents are reduced to one-half their original quantity. Squeeze the mixture through a cloth into another saucepan. Add the egg yolks and beat the mixture four minutes without allowing it to boil. Then add the melted butter very gradually, still keeping the pan where there is no danger of boiling. Season with a saltspoonful of salt and a halfsaltspoonful of cayenne pepper. It is well to make the last an extremely scanty portion, as more may be added if desired, but none can be removed. Stir all again quite thoroughly for a minute. Add the parsley and serve.
Brown Sauce.—Brown two tablespoonfuls of flour in butter. Add two cupfuls of milk or cream and cook until thick, stirring constantly.
Curry Sauce.—Fry a tablespoonful of chopped onion in butter and add a tablespoonful of flour, mixed with a teaspoonful of curry powder. Mix thoroughly, add one cupful of cold water, and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Take from the fire, season with salt and onion juice and serve hot.
Egg Sauce.—Mix a half cup of butter, a tablespoonful of flour, and a cupful of boiling water and set the sauce pan on the stove. Stir until thickened, seasoning with salt and pepper. Add two hard boiled eggs, chopped fine, and serve.
Sauce Hollandaise.—This is really a warm mayonnaise, using butter instead of vegetable oil. It is the best sauce for serving with salmon or other boiled fish if you desire it hot. It requires a quarter pound butter, half a lemon, the yolks of two eggs, a little salt and a half teaspoonful white pepper. The secret of its successful making is to preserve an even temperature. The sauce should not approach the boiling point, as the eggs would cook and the sauce curdle. Put the eggs in a small saucepan and add the butter, gradually stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. It will soon thicken like a mayonnaise. When the butter is all in, add salt and pepper and lastly the lemon juice, stirring until wellmixed. If the sauce becomes thick, add a little stock or hot water. Surround the fish with parsley and slices of lemon and serve the sauce in a bowl. A few sliced cucumbers should be served with fish.
Egg Sauce Made From the Hollandaise.—Egg sauce may be made from the Hollandaise by sprinkling with two finely chopped hard boiled eggs and a teaspoonful of parsley.
Lobster Sauce.—This is delicious with any white fleshed fish. Its foundation is Hollandaise sauce, which is also the foundation of most of the fish sauces. To make it, stir together one tablespoonful of butter, a few drops of onion juice, a bit of bay leaf (not too much), pepper to season, and the juice of a half lemon. Add a half cup of white stock or hot water and set the bowl containing the mixture in a pan of hot water and stir until the butter melts. As soon as very hot, take from the fire and stir a little of the mixture in the well-beaten yolks of one and one-half eggs, then add the rest of the sauce and return to the fire. Stir constantly for five minutes or until thickened. Add a teaspoonful of butter, half the pounded coral of a lobster and a tablespoonful of chopped lobster meat.
Maitre d'Hotel Butter.—This is perhaps the simplest and best sauce to serve on fried or broiled fish. To make it, beat a heaping tablespoonful of butter to a cream in a warm bowl; add the juice of a lemon, a half teaspoonful of salt and two teaspoonfuls of minced parsley. A grating of nutmeg or bit of chives is sometimes added. If placed on the ice this can be kept on hand a week or more. It is also excellent spread over a juicy steak.
Sauce for Broiled Shad à la Murray.—Fry the milts, and while hot mash with butter, a tablespoonful minced parsley and a teaspoonful of lemon juice. Season lightly with salt and pepper and spread over the fish when removed from the bag. Set in the oven one moment, then serve.
Parsley Butter.—To make this delectable fish sauce, mix one ounce fresh butter with a teaspoonful each chopped parsley and lemon juice, half teaspoonful chopped mixed tarragon and cress or chervil and salt and pepper to season. Spread on a plate, set on the ice until cold then shape into pats. This is nice with any fish.
Sauce Tartare.—This is one of the standbys that no housekeeper liable to the unexpected appearance of guests should be without. It can be used in an emergency for so many different things. It is delicious with fish, cold or hot, broiled or deviled chicken, tongue, beef, cauliflower or potato salad. It is easy to make, the only essentials being good materials, everything cold, and the oil added very slowly at first. After that it may be poured in in larger quantities and more frequently. Mix in a small bowl one half teaspoonful dry mustard, the same amount each powdered sugar and salt, and a quarter teaspoonful cayenne. Add the yolks of two fresh eggs, and stir. Measure out a cupful of olive oil and add a few drops at a time, stirring until it thickens. If it begins to thicken too much to stir easily, thin with a little lemon juice, adding oil and lemon alternately until you have used all the oil and two tablespoonfuls of lemon juice. Lastly beat in two tablespoonfuls of tarragon or other vinegar. This gives the regular mayonnaise, which should be smooth and thick. Now to makeit into sauce tartare, add one teaspoonful finely chopped onion or onion juice, a tablespoonful of chopped pickle, capers, olives and parsley, in any proportion desired. You may use simply the sour cucumber pickle or part pickle and olives, capers, etc. This may be kept for a number of days in cold weather by keeping in glass and in a cool place.
POULTRY AND GAME.
Capon.—Caponis the best of all poultry, having been specially treated and fattened for the table. They can be distinguished in the market by the head, tail and wing feathers being left intact. They are always high in price and considered great luxuries. They are cooked the same as chicken. If to be stuffed, choose a delicate dressing like oysters or chestnuts. Cut the neck off short and remove the oil bag from the root of the tail. Singe carefully, pluck out every lingering pin feather, wash quickly with a rough, clean cloth and warm—not hot—water; dash cold water over it, let drain, then wipe carefully with a soft, damp cloth inside and out. Salt lightly inside and dust with pepper, stuff with whatever dressing you elect to have, truss, fasten thin slices of bacon or salt pork over the breast and thighs, grease the entire body liberally with soft butter or vegetable oils, put into a loose fitting well-greased bag, breast down, seal, lay on a trivet, set on broiler in hot oven, let cook till bag corners turn very brown, then slack heat one-half, or even a little more if the heat is fierce, and cook from an hour and a half to an hour and three-quarters. The capon should be a golden brown all over, except on the back where it touches the bag and underneath the bacon slices. But it will be as well done everywhere as in the brown part. Cook the liver, gizzard and neck in a small separate bag, wrapping each in a slice of bacon and seasoningthem with salt and pepper. Add a very little water, seal and put on to cook less than an hour before dinner time. The slow heat will make them very tender. Cooked with capon, they would be overdone. Serve with sweet potatoes Southern style, or baked apples slightly sweetened.
Chicken with Parsnips.—Wash, parboil and scrape a quart of tender parsnips. Split a Spring chicken down the back and lay in a buttered bag, skin side up. Arrange the sliced parsnips around the chicken, sprinkle with salt and pepper, dot with bits of butter until a half cup has been used, and top with two or three thin slices of fat, salt pork. Put a half cup hot water in the bag and bake to a delicate brown. Put the chicken on a hot platter and arrange the parsnips around it. Make a cream gravy from the drippings in the bag and serve with mashed potatoes, currant jelly and beet greens.
Chicken à la Baltimore.—Take two small Spring chickens, prepare as for broiling, but cut into joints. Wipe dry, season well with salt and pepper, dip into beaten egg, then cover well with bread crumbs. Place in a well-buttered bag, pour a little melted butter or oil over them and bake in the oven twenty or twenty-five minutes. Serve with cream sauce and garnish with thin, crisped slices of bacon and tiny corn oysters.
Chicken Croquettes.—This may be made from left-over cooked chicken or from canned chicken. For a dozen croquettes allow one cupful of solid meat chopped fine, a cupful of cream sauce, made by cooking together four tablespoonfuls of butter and two of flour, then stirring in a scant cupful of hot milk and cooking until smooth and thick. Combine chicken and sauce, seasonwith half a teaspoonful each plain and celery salt, a teaspoonful of onion juice, a little lemon juice and chopped parsley. Mix thoroughly, then set the mixture away to cool. When cool and stiff roll in finely powdered bread crumbs so that every bit of the chicken is covered and shape into cones, cutlets or cylinders. Have ready a beaten egg to which a scant tablespoonful of milk has been added, dip the croquettes in this, drain well, roll in crumbs again, and again set aside to cool and stiffen. When ready to cook, slip in well-buttered bag and bake in a hot oven twenty minutes.
Paper Bagged Chicken.—Split the chicken down the middle of the back, spread flat, and put a skewer in each side to prevent it from curling. Beat up a very fresh egg, with a pinch of salt, black pepper to taste, an ounce of melted butter, a teaspoonful of Worcestershire sauce or something similar and a teaspoonful of made mustard. Mix well. With a brush glaze the chicken with the mixture. Place in a greased bag with bread crumbs around and over it. Be careful that the skewers do not tear the bag. Seal up tight and cook from thirty-five to forty minutes in a very hot oven.
Chicken Pie.—Disjoint two chickens and cook until tender in just enough water to cover. Remove all the thick skin and the largest bones. Line a baking dish with good paste, pack the chicken in layers and dust each with salt, pepper and flour. Pour in enough of the chicken liquor to come nearly to the top; lay on a tablespoon of butter and cover with a crust after cutting out a piece as large as the top of a small cup. Moisten the edges and press together, then ornament the top with leaves cut from the trimmings of paste. Bag and bake in a quick oven.
Paste for Chicken Pie.—Sift five level teaspoons of baking powder and one level teaspoon of salt with four cups of flour and rub in one cup of butter until like coarse meal. Mix with nearly two cups of milk or enough to make a dough that can be rolled out. This makes a more hygienic crust than where no baking powder is used.
Chicken Rissoles.—Chop fine two cupfuls chicken and dressing or any scraps left. Add two spoonfuls mashed potato, the beaten yolk of one egg, salt and pepper to season. Roll in balls, dip in beaten egg yolk, then in fine bread crumbs and place in paper bag. Bake twenty minutes.
Roast Chicken.—Cover the breast of the fowl or chicken with butter, drippings, or any refined vegetable oil or tie a piece of fat bacon over it. Place in a bag and set on broiler in a hot oven. Allow twenty-five minutes for a small Spring chicken, thirty-five minutes for a large fowl, forty-five to fifty minutes (according to size) for stuffed poultry in a moderate oven.
Saute of Chicken With Mushrooms.—Cut a young, tender chicken into joints, trim off all projecting bones, season with salt and pepper—not too highly—and brush over with melted butter. Put into a well-buttered wooden cook dish, with eight or twelve small mushrooms, cut in slices. Add a pinch of herbs, a very small onion, and a half gill of good white stock. Seal bag tight, give ten minutes in a very hot oven, then thirty in moderate heat. Take up on a hot dish and keep hot, while you make the gravy. Take for the gravy the hot liquor from the bag, put it in a bowl with the yolk of an egg beaten up in half a gill of cream. Stir hard over hot water, but donot let boil. When thoroughly blended, pour over the chicken, garnish with chopped parsley, a few mushroom heads and half moons of crisp puff paste. Serve as hot as possible.
Smothered Chicken.—Have a good sized broiler cut into joints, taking care not to leave sharp bones projecting. Salt and pepper them lightly, dredge with flour and lay in a well-greased bag upon thin slices of bacon. Cover the chicken with more bacon slices, taking care to keep the chicken spread rather flat. Add a tablespoonful of water or a couple of peeled and sliced tomatoes. Shreds of green pepper add somewhat of flavor to the tomatoes. Seal in a bag and cook for forty minutes, slacking the heat almost half after the first five minutes. Serve on a hot dish with gravy from the bag.
Ducks With Banana Dressing.—Wash with cold salt water inside and out, drain, wipe dry and season lightly with salt and pepper. Make a dressing of toasted bread crumbs mixed with an equal quantity of banana. Cut in small pieces, well seasoned with chopped celery, salt and pepper. Stuff, truss, grease all over and tie slices of bacon over the breast. Put in a well-greased bag, add the juice of a lemon, and a wine glass of sherry. Seal and put in a very hot oven. At the end of fifteen minutes reduce heat one-half and cook for fifty minutes longer.
Canvas Backs.—Draw the ducks as soon as they are received, pluck, singe and wipe them with a damp cloth, but under no conditions wash them. When ready to cook, truss, dust lightly with pepper, and salt and spread them thickly with butter or vegetable oil. A very slight dusting of flour should be given when they areput into the oven. After eighteen minutes of intense heat they are ready to serve, accompanied by toasted hominy and black currant jelly.
Chicken, Italian Style.—Chop fine one onion, one small carrot, a stick of celery and a sprig of parsley. Place in the bottom of one of the wooden cookery dishes and season with salt, pepper and two tablespoonfuls of olive oil. Lay a good sized broiling chicken cut into joints on top of the vegetables, and around the chicken a half dozen dried mushrooms that have been soaked for fifteen minutes in cold water. Put in paper bag, seal and bake forty-five minutes. Remove chicken to hot platter, add a little tomato sauce to the vegetables and stock remaining in the dish, pour over the chicken and serve.
Roast Wild Duck.—If these come from salt marshes, and have therefore a fishy taste, pick, dress, scald a moment in boiling salt water, then put in very cold water for half an hour. Drain, wipe dry and having cut a lemon in half rub all over inside and out with the juice and pulp. Then grease the outside of the duck with vegetable oil or butter, salt very lightly and put in greased bag. Seal and roast in a moderate oven for an hour. Serve with paper bag baked potatoes, tart jelly and pickles.
Roast Wild Duck No. 2.—Clean and singe your duck; have a dish with boiling water enough to cover same, in which you put a tablespoonful of salt and a little carrot; parboil for only five minutes; then take out and dry. Have apples peeled and cut in quarters; stuff the duck with them. Slice bacon and wrap about four slices around it, tied with a string, lay in a buttered bag with a teacupful of water and a little salt and pepperand roast in a very hot oven for an hour. Make a gravy from the drippings in bag thickened slightly and seasoned with lemon juice, a little curry powder and any good sauce.
Roast Wild Duck, Ohio Style.—Dress the duck as usual, then stuff with one quart of sauer kraut mixed with one sweet apple sliced and a few mixed spices to season. Place two stalks of celery in one of the wooden cookery dishes, lay the duck on top, place in bag. Seal and bake in a moderate oven for an hour and a half.
Frogs' Legs.—Scald the legs in boiling hot water for a minute or two, drain and wipe them dry, sprinkle with salt and pepper, dip in beaten egg, roll in cracker crumbs and put in a well-greased bag. The use of a wood cookery dish is recommended. Bake fifteen minutes in a hot oven. Serve hot with points of toast and slices of lemon placed around the platter.
Paper Bag Roast Goose.—For roasting, a goose should preferably be scarcely passed the gosling period, not more than a year old at the most. Its wings should be supple and tender at the pinions, its breast bone soft and pliable. Its feet smooth and yellow, and its fat white and soft. Before drawing, singe the bird, then give it a thorough bath with soapsuds and a soft scrubbing brush. The skin is so oily that cold water would make no impression, and the skin is bound to be full of dust. When purification is complete, rinse thoroughly in clear cold water, then dry and draw. Wash the inside quickly with clear water to which a little baking soda has been added, then rinse and wipe. The Germans are partial to a stuffing made of equal parts of bread crumbs, chopped apples, seeded raisins and boiled onions well seasoned with salt, pepper and butter. Americans as a rule give the preference to a potato stuffing made ofmashed potato highly seasoned with onion, salt, pepper and a little butter and sage. The yolks of two eggs allowed to each pint of potato makes the dressing richer. Before trussing the goose, remove all the extra fat. This should be saved and tried out later for that sovereign remedy for croup,—"goose grease." It is of no value, however, in cooking and if left in the bird, gives a coarse, rank flavor. Season the goose on the inside with salt and pepper, then stuff and truss it into shape like a turkey. Rub over lightly with vegetable oil or butter, or cover the breast with several thin slices of fat salt pork. This keeps the skin moist. Put into a well-greased bag of goodly proportions, or better still, two bags, add a tablespoonful of cold water, seal and set in a very hot oven for fifteen minutes. Then reduce the heat about half and cook until done, allowing twenty-two minutes to the pound. Serve with apples baked in a bag, mashed turnips or squash and hot corn bread that can also be cooked in a bag.
Sage and Potato Stuffing.—Should you give the preference to the old-fashioned potato-and-sage stuffing, such as your grandmother used to make, fashion it in this way: peel and boil for half an hour a half dozen good-sized potatoes. Mash well and season with one tablespoonful salt, and a teaspoonful pepper, two tablespoonfuls of white onions minced fine, and cooked in a tablespoonful of butter and a teaspoonful of sage. Mix lightly and stuff.
Bag Roasted Young Guinea Fowl.—It is but a few years ago comparatively that the excellence of the guinea fowl for the table was duly recognized. Most people were afraid to try them. Now the guinea is not only being served in all the best restaurants, but in manyprivate homes as well. While the young guineas make the choicest eating, the old birds are not to be despised. In stuffing the guinea any approved turkey stuffing may be used, the accompaniments being as with turkey, giblet gravy and cranberry sauce. In roasting a very little water goes into the bag, instead thin pieces of fat, salt pork are skewered across the breast and around the drum sticks.
Bag Broiled Young Guinea Hen.—For bag broiling, split down the back and flatten. Brush over with vegetable oil or melted butter, put in buttered bag and bake in gas oven or hot coal oven. Lay on a hot platter, season with salt and pepper, spread with a rounding tablespoonful butter stirred with a tablespoonful finely minced parsley, garnish with watercress and little moulds or spoonfuls of cranberry jelly and serve.
Quail.—As for cooking quail there is no better way than to roast them plain, with plenty of red pepper and a little salt. For those who prefer, an excellent way is to serve them with bacon, which supplies the fat which all game birds lack.
Take a half dozen quail, wipe with a damp cloth, split them and break the leg bones. Mix together a teaspoonful of pure olive or cotton seed oil, a dash of cayenne and a tiny bit of salt. Brush the birds with this mixture and put in well-greased bag, seal, put in oven and roast fifteen minutes. Arrange six slices of delicately browned toast on a hot platter, place the birds on the slices and baste with a mixture of good butter, minced parsley and the juice of a half dozen lemons. Garnish with slices of crisped bacon and watercress.
Quail No. 2.—Place four quail in a wooden dish with a link of sausage between the birds and a strip of baconlaid on each. Put in bag, seal, and bake twenty-five minutes.
Stuffed Quail.—Put into each bird a half prune or fat raisin, with a bit of butter and a few well seasoned bread crumbs. Wrap each bird in a slice of bacon, fastening with string or tooth picks and put in well-buttered bag. Seal and place on broiler and bake about twenty-five minutes, reducing the heat during the last half of the time.
Rabbit Cookery.—In selecting a rabbit the principal thing is to find out the age and also how long hung. A rabbit should be ripe but not gamy. Unless in cold storage, they should not be kept for more than two or three days. The age of a rabbit may be determined by testing the paw. If there is a little nut there and the paw may be broken readily between the thumb and finger the rabbit is young. If the nut has disappeared and the paw resists pressure, the rabbit is too venerable for anything but a stew. In dressing a rabbit there is a little secret that enables the cook to dispose of the gamy odor that so many object to. If the thin, muscular membrane that extends from the flank over the intestines is carefully removed before cooking, the strong flavor will go with it, leaving the flesh delightfully sweet. The gall bladder in the liver must also be removed with extreme care, so as not to break it.
Barbecued Rabbit.—Open plump young rabbits all the way down the under side, wash and clean thoroughly. Lay out flat in a pan of salt and water for an hour, with a weighted plate or saucer on top to hold under the water. Wipe dry and gash across the backbone in eight or ten places and having brushed it over with olive oilor melted butter, bag and bake in a hot oven forty-five minutes.
Lay on a hot dish, season with salt, pepper and plenty of melted butter, then set in the oven for the butter to soak in. Heat in a small cup two tablespoonfuls vinegar with one of made mustard and brush over the rabbit while boiling hot. Garnish with parsley and watercress and serve alone or with a currant jelly sauce.
Roast Rabbit.—Stuff, truss, dredge with flour and rub all over with vegetable oil, soft butter or good drippings. Season lightly with salt and paprika or black pepper, place in wood cookery dish in well-greased bag, seal and place in hot oven. Allow fifty minutes, reducing the heat at the end of the first twenty minutes.
Roast Rabbit No. 2.—For an older rabbit, put into a stew kettle whole without dividing the pieces from the body. Pour in one quart of water, add a little pinch of soda when it starts to boil, and stew gently until tender. When tender take from the broth. Meantime mix together three large cupfuls dried bread crumbs, butter the size of a walnut and salt, pepper and sage to taste. Pour enough of the broth over this to mix rather soft. Stuff the rabbit, spread with butter, sprinkle with salt and pepper, lay in a buttered bag and bake to a rich brown in a moderate oven. It will not take more than a few moments. Make a good brown gravy, adding onion browned in butter if desired. A little onion may also be added to the dressing, according to preference.
Stewed Rabbit.—Cut in eight pieces, salt and pepper and put in buttered wooden dish, set in a buttered bag with a finely chopped onion, a bunch of sweet herbs, a quarter cupful stock or hot water and a tablespoonful of flour stirred smooth witha little cold water, then blended with the hot. Seal the bag and bake forty-five minutes in a hot oven.
Reed Birds.—Most of the reed birds obtained in our markets are in reality nothing but sparrows, and those undrawn. If fed on grain, as they are in Chicago, they are really very nice. To bake, wrap each one in a thin slice of bacon or salt pork, put in buttered bag, seal and cook in a quick oven. Still more delectable are they cooked en surprise. For a half dozen covers, prepare the same number of birds, six large oval potatoes, six oysters, and some thin slices of bacon. Prepare the birds as for roasting, and tuck into each little interior an oyster, seasoned with salt and pepper. Then wrap each bird in a slice of bacon. Now, having the potatoes well scrubbed, cut off one end, and using a vegetable scoop, cut out a hollow in each large enough to hold a bird. Insert the bird, replace the end of the potato, cut off, tie in place, put in buttered bag and bake in a moderate oven. Serve as soon as done, removing the string. The flavor of the bird, oysters and potato makes a delicious combination that cannot be surpassed. Serve simply with butter, or if preferred, a mushroom or oyster sauce.
Squab.—In cleaning a squab, take care not to break the little sack that holds the entrails. Split the birds down the back, rub with salt, pepper and butter or oil. Sprinkle with cracker dust and put into well-buttered bag. Bake fifteen minutes and serve on slices of crisp, hot, buttered toast with or without a thin, crispy slice of bacon. Garnish with cress or parsley.
Barbecued Squirrel, (Southern Style.)—Get two fat squirrels, skin and draw. Cut the thin skin on each side of the stomach close to the ribs, then wipe withdamp cloth. Sprinkle with black pepper but use no salt. Put a layer of fat bacon in a wooden dish, set in a well-greased bag and lay the squirrels on this bed. Cover with more thin slices of bacon pour in the bag a half cupful good broth, seal, and bake an hour in a moderate oven. Serve with grape jelly or spiced grapes.
Turkey à la Bonham.—Pick out a young hen turkey, plump and delicate with small bones. Carefully remove all pin feathers and complete the drawing which may have been imperfectly done by the butcher. Cut off the neck close to the body which will make the turkey fit in the bag better, and make a proper appearance when placed on the table. Wash thoroughly inside and out and wipe dry. For the stuffing make two kinds—one for the body and one for the breast. It is a good plan to make these different so as to suit all tastes. For the body, make a chestnut stuffing. Boil and peel one quart of large chestnuts and mash with a fork. Season with pepper, salt and a little butter. For the breast, take a pint of bread crumbs free from crusts. Fry a half onion cut fine in a very little butter or vegetable oil until tender but not brown. Season nicely with chopped parsley and thyme, not too much. Salt and pepper and moisten with one beaten egg. Fill the breast and sew body and breast neatly, pulling the skin of the breast over the stuffing, and fastening in place with the wings which should be turned back to hold the skin in place. Rub the outside of the bird with flour mixed with salt and pepper, cover the breast with slices of fat salt pork tied on. Now slip breast down into a thoroughly greased bag or preferably two bags, one outside the other, the outside one also well-greased. Lay some of the fat from the turkey or a few strips of bacon over the bag, and put on the grate, seam up. Slip underthe grid on the bottom of the oven a dripping pan half full of water to keep the bird moist, and prevent any fat leaking through in case the bag should burst. Be careful not to let the bag touch the side of the oven. Light both burners of the gas stove for five minutes to get the oven hot for the start. Turn out one and roast about an hour and three-quarters for a twelve pound bird. Lift out carefully, sliding the pancake turner under it to get it out easily and put it on hot platter.
For the gravy, clean the giblets thoroughly and put to cook with the neck in water to cover well. Add one onion cut up and cook until tender. Chop fine and thicken slightly with browned flour or caramel which is simply sugar browned in a pan with a little boiling water.
Venison.—For roasting, the saddle is best. As the meat is naturally dry, it must be well larded with strips of firm fat pork. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and rub over with pork drippings. Put in large well-greased bag, add two glasses of port or claret, seal and bake in moderate oven. For a roast of three pounds, allow an hour and ten minutes. For an eight pound roast, two hours and a half. Serve very hot with red or black currant jelly.
Venison Steak.—Prepare in the regular way, place in wooden cookery dish and season with salt and pepper. Put in bag. Seal and cook an hour and twenty minutes. The wooden dishes add to the flavor of all game.