The encyclopaedia of practical cookery

Stone and partially boil plenty of Spanish olives, lay them in a stewpan, strain the sauce over them, and simmer at the edge of the fire for ten minutes. When the Mullets are cooked, lay them on a hot dish, pour over the sauce, and serve. Baked Red Mullets en Papillote. — Fold each Mullet separately in well-oiled paper, tie the ends, passing the string once or twice round the fish (see Fig. 1199), and bake them in a moderate oven for twenty -five minutes; lay them on a hot dish, mix the gravy from them with 1 teaspoonful of anchovy sauce, 2 or 3 table-spoonfuls of port or sherry, the strained juice of half a lemon, a lump of butter, and sufficient flour to thicken ; boil this sauce, and serve it in a small tureen. Cut the string from the fish, Mullet — continued. but serve them in the paper wrapper in which they were baked. Baked Red Mullets with Tomatoes. — Prepare the Mullets and rub them over with salt and pepper; thickly butter a baking-dish, lay the Mullets in it, side by side, strew over plenty of finely-chopped parsley, and moisten with a few table-spoonfuls of tomato sauce. Cover the fish with a sheet of paper saturated with olive oil, and bake in a moderate oven. When cooked, remove the paper, and serve the fish in the dish in which they were cooked while very hot. Baked Stuffed Red Mullets with Olives. — Prepare the following stuffing: Soak in milk a sufficient quantity of breadcrumb, then squeeze them dry ; mix with them 2oz. of butter, a moderate quantity of finely-minced parsley, pepper, salt, and spices to taste, and work in well the beaten yolks of one or two eggs. Stuff the Mullets with this mixture, lay them in a baking-dish, dust with salt and pepper, pour over plenty of olive oil, and bake in a moderate oven. Slice a couple of shallots, put them in a saucepan with a little olive oil, and fry until nicely browned. Dredge the shallots with flour, pour in a sufficient quantity of clear stock quite free from fat to make the sauce, season to taste with salt, pepper, and a moderate quantity of spices, and stir over the fire until boiling. Stone and partially boil a quantity of olives; strain the sauce, return it to the saucepan with the olives, and simmer gently for a few minutes. Place the Mullets on a hot dish, pour over the sauce, and serve. Boiled Red Mullets a la Momie. — (1) Remove the gills from four or five Red Mullets, leaving their insides intact ; dust over with salt and pepper, squeeze over lemon-juice, and let them stand for an hour or so. Cover to about lin. in thickness with fish forcemeat mixed with crayfish butter, smoothing it with a knife dipped in warm water; put the fish on a well-buttered drainer in a fish-kettle, add a mirepoix moistened with 1 pint of champagne and passed through a cloth, set the kettle on the fire, baste the fish frequently with the liquor, and simmer gently for about half-an-hour or until the Mullets are done. Take out, put them on a dish, reduce the liquor to half-glaze, pour it over, and serve with any kind of fish sauce. (2) Clean, marinade, and cover with forcemeat four or five Red Mullets as for No 1. Brush their surfaces with white of egg, and ornament them with slices of truffles cut 4in. in width and the shape of half-moons, so as to give the appearance of scales. Press them with a knife to make them firm, then cook, and serve as for No. 1.