Cookery for every household

Haddocks, when small, may be fried whole. Wash and clean the fish, cutting off the heads, then skin and dry them thoroughly. Season them with pepper, salt, and a little lemon juice, and, if time permits, let them lie a short time before cooking. Then coat the fish lightly with flour, brush them over with milk, and coat again with flour. This must not be done until immediately before frying, otherwise the fish will become damp and sodden. Fry them in a small quantity of fat in a frying pan (see Dry Frying, p. 80), browning them first on one side and then on the other. The time will depend on the size and thickness of the fish. When ready, lift out with a broad-bladed knife or fish slice and drain for a few minutes on kitchen paper. Arrange the haddocks head to tail on a hot dish with a dish paper under them, and garnish with parsley and cut lemon. Serve tomato, mustard, béarnaise, caper, or any other suitable sauce separately. Notes. — The haddocks may be egged and breadcrumbed instead of being coated with flour and milk. Any other small fish may be cooked in the same way. Time to fry, 7 to 10 minutes. Allow 1 fish per person. 205. Filleted and Fried Haddock (Filets d’Eglefln Frits) 1 filleted haddock. I 1 dessert-sp. flour. Lemon juice. Seasoning. | Bread-crumbs. 1 egg. Wipe the fish with a cloth, cut it across diagonally into neat-sized pieces, and rub them over with a little lemon juice. The advantage of cutting diagonally is that the fish will curl up in prettier Fish cut across diagonally forms when it is cooked. Mix the flour on a plate with a little pepper and salt. Dip the pieces of fish into this, coating them very thinly, and shaking all the loose flour off. Then egg and bread-crumb the pieces of fish (see p. 249), and as each piece is ready lay it on a plate or tin with a double piece of paper on it. Put a few pieces at a time into a frying basket and fry them in boiling fat (see p. 248) until a golden brown colour. Drain on kitchen paper. When all the fish is cooked, pile up the pieces very lightly on a hot dish with a dish paper under them, and garnish with parsley and cut lemon. Tomato or any suitable fish sauce may be served separately. Note. — Any other filleted fish may be prepared in the same way. Time to fry, 3 or 4 minutes each lot. 206. Haddock Fried in Batter (Friture d’Eglefin) 1 filleted haddock. I Salt. Pepper. Lemon juice. I Frying batter. First make the frying batter according to directions given in Recipe 1861, and allow it to stand some time before it is used, keeping out the white of egg, to be added at the last moment. Wipe the fish with a cloth, and cut it across diagonally into small pieces. Lay these on a plate and season with pepper, salt, and a little lemon juice. Have ready on the fire a saucepan half full of boiling fat, and a tin with paper on it ready to drain the fish. Add the beaten white of egg to the batter, and dip the pieces of fish into it one at a time, coating them well. Lift them out with a skewer and drop them gently into the boiling fat. Do each piece in the same way. Let them fry a nice brown colour, then lift out with a perforated spoon, and drain on kitchen paper. Pile up lightly on a hot dish with a dish paper under them, and garnish with parsley and cut lemon. Any suitable fish sauce may be served separately.