Cookery for every household

Take 3 or 4 scallop or china shells and grease them well with a little butter. Put a layer of fine bread-crumbs at the bottom of each, then 2 or 3 oysters nicely seasoned with pepper, salt, parsley, and a few drops of lemon juice. Cover with more bread-crumbs and moisten with some of the oyster liquor. Put the butter in small pieces on the top, and brown quickly in a hot oven or under the grill. Garnish with small slices of lemon and sprigs of parsley. Note. — Tinned oysters may be used for this dish. Time- to bake, 5 to 10 minutes. Sufficient for 3 or 4 persons. 319. Oyster Fritters, 1 (Beignets d’Huitres) Oysters. 1 Lemon juice. Frying batter. | Coralline pepper. Drain the oysters from their liquor, and make some frying batter according to Recipe 1861. Take the oysters one at a time on a dessert spoon, season them with lemon juice and a little coralline pepper, dip them into the frying batter, cover them well and then slip them into a saucepan of boiling fat. Fry to a golden brown colour, then drain and serve piled up on a hot dish and garnished with parsley and cut lemon. 320. Oyster Fritters, 2 (Angels on Horseback) Make in the same way as above, wrapping the oysters in a very thin slice of bacon before dipping them in the batter. a* W 321. Oysters à l'Américaine (Huîtres à l'Américaine) 1 J doz. oysters. 1 gill cream. 1 oz. butter. 2 yolks of eggs. 1 table-sp. white wine or Salt and cayenne, lemon juice. Put the butter into an earthenware casserole and allow it to melt over the fire. Add the oysters without their liquor, and season them with salt, cayenne, and the lemon juice or wine. Cook slowly for 5 or 6 minutes, then add the yolks of eggs and cream beaten together, and stir until almost boiling. If overcooked the sauce will curdle and the dish be spoilt. Serve at once with toast biscuits. Sufficient for 3 or 4 persons. 322. Oyster Cutlets (Cotelettes d’Huitres) 2 doz. oysters (fresh or tinned). | oz. butter. 1 oz. flour. J gill oyster liquor. 1 table-sp. cream. Pepper and salt. A pinch of cayenne. A pinch of powdered mace. A little flour. Egg and bread-crumbs. Put the oysters into a small pan with their own liquor, bring to the boil and strain. Then remove the gristle from the oysters, and break them into small pieces with a fork. Put the butter and halfgill of lobster liquor next into the pan, and, when boiling, add one ounce of flour, and mix with a spoon until smooth and the mixture begins to draw away from the sides of the pan. Then add the oysters and cream, season well, and mix thoroughly. Turn the mixture on to a plate and allow it to cool and become firm. When cold and firm, divide this into eight or ten portions, and shape each one like a cutlet (see Fish Cutlets, Recipe 342), using a little flour to prevent the mixture sticking to the hands and board. Then egg and bread-crumb them, and fry in boiling fat until of a golden brown colour. Drain well on kitchen paper, and put a small piece of parsley stalk into the end of each to imitate the bone of the cutlet. Dish the cutlets on a hot dish, arranging them in a circle, one leaning against the other, and garnish with fried parsley and cut lemon. Sufficient for 8 or 10 cutlets. 323. Oyster Souffles, Baked (Petits Souffles d’Huitres) 1 to If doz. oysters. 1 whiting. 2 eggs. 2 table-sps. cream. Seasoning. 1 oz. butter. 1 oz. bread-crumbs.