The "A1" cookery book

Slices of Cod fried. — Cut the middle or tail end of the fish into slices nearly an inch thick, season them with salt and pepper or cayenne, flour them and dip into beaten yolk of egg and then into fine bread-crumbs, and fry in boiling fat till of a clear brown on both sides ; drain well and serve. Garnish with fried parsley. Plain melted butter or anchovy sauce is served with this fish. To Boil a John Dory. — It is dressed in the same manner and served with the same sauces as a turbot, but requires less time to boil it. The fins must be cut off. To Stew Eels. — To skin the eel cut through the skin round the neck, and take hold of it with a rough cloth and draw it gently off. Then clean the eel without breaking the gall, cut off the bristles which run up the back, divide into pieces about two inches long, and lay these in strong salt and water for one hour. Dry the pieces well, and roll them in flour seasoned with pepper and salt, and fry a light brown. Let them drain till cold, then put them into a stew-pan with a bay-leaf, an onion stuck with two cloves, a bunch of parsley, an inch of lemon rind, and about half a pint of stock made from the trimmings. Let them simmer gently from twenty to thirty minutes ; take them up and keep hot till the sauce is ready. Strain the gravy, thicken it with a little flour, add salt and cayenne, a few drops of essence of anchovy, and the juice of half a lemon ; let it simmer for ten minutes. Add a glass of port wine, make hot, strain, and pour over the pieces of eel in the dish. Garnish with sippets of toast. Fish Cakes. — Equal quantities of cold boiled potatoes and cooked fish are required for these cakes. Put the potatoes through a potato masher. Perfectly free the fish from skin and bone ; break it into flakes with a silver fork. Pound the fish and potatoes together in a pestle and mortar, and season rather highly with salt and cayenne, and a small pinch of mace and a few drops of anchovy sauce. Make into a stiff paste with one tablespoon of milk, half an ounce of melted butter, and the yolk of an egg for one pound of fish and potato. More or less milk and butter can be used according to the quantity of fish, but one egg is sufficient. Flour the hands lightly, and make into small round cakes ; use as little flour as possible in doing this. Brush the cakes over with the yolk of an egg and toss them in fine bread-crumbs, and repeat the process a second time ; if the cakes are not entirely covered they will burst in frying, as they will also be in danger of doing if much flour is used. Arrange the fish cakes in the frying basket, being careful not to let them touch each other. As soon as a thin blue flame can be seen rising from the fat plunge the basket into it, and let it remain until the cakes are a light golden brown ; take them out and lay them on kitchen paper on a sieve to drain. Let the fat get hot again, and put some very dry sprigs of washed parsley into the basket, and plunge into the hot fat for two seconds. Lay them a moment on the paper to drain, and serve on a very hot dish with the fish cakes.