Cassell's dictionary of cookery

Lobster Fricassee.— Pick the meat from the tail and claws of a medium-sized lobster, cut it into small squares, and put these in a saucepan with half a pint of good white sauce, pound the coral, and mix it smoothly with the liquid. Season -with half a salt-spoonful of salt and half a salt-spoonful of white pepper and pounded mace mixed. When the mixture is on the point of boiling take it from the fire, let it cool a moment, then add a table-spoonful of strained lemon-juice. The white sauce may be made of a quarter of a pint of good beef stock and a quarter of a pint of cream, thickened with a little arrowroot ; or, if no beef stock is at hand, the shell of the lobster may be boiled in half a pint of water and cream, flavouring and thickening being added to it. Time, about ten minutes to bring the sauce to the boiling point. Probable cost, 2s. 6d. Sufficient for four or five persons. Lobster, Gratin of. — Take the meat from a good-sized lobster, cut the body in half, and pick out all the meat, which must be cut into thin slices. Put a piece of butter the size of an egg into a saucepan, with three shallots, finely minced. Brown them lightly, then mix in a table-spoonful of flooi-, and when quite smooth, half a pint of milk. Boil for five minutes. Put in the sliced lobster, a table-spoonful of chopped parsley, a little salt and cayenne, and half a tea-spoonful of essence of anchovies. Stir all over the fiie, and when boiling draw the saucepan back, and add the well-beaten yolk of an egg. Fill the shell of the lobster with the mixture, sprinkle bread-crumbs over it, and pour on a little clarified butter. Put the shell in a hot oven for twenty minutes, dish on a napkin, and serve. Probable cost of lobster, 3s. Sufficient for five or six persons. Lobster, Mayonnaise of .—Take out the meat of a freshly-boiled hen lobster, and cut it into small neat squares. Trim and wash two LOB ( 388 ) LOB large fresh lettuces, or any other salad, taking great care that they are quite dry before beingused. Cut or tear these into neat pieces, and arrange a layer of them at the bottom of a large dish, place several pieces of lobster upon them, and repeat until the materials are finished. Just before serving pour over them a sauce made as follows:— Beat the yolks of two raw eggs for two or three minutes, until they begin to feel thick, add, by drops at first, ten table-spoonfuls of best salad-oil, and four of tarragon vinegar. The mixture should be as thick and smooth as cream. The secret of making a mayonnaise is to add the liquid gradually, and to beat well between every addition. Season the sauce with half a tea-spoonful of dry mustard, half a saltspoonful of salt, and half a salt-spoonful of white pepper. Cover the salad with the liquid. At the last moment, sprinkle over it the lobster coral, which has been powdered and well sifted, and garnish the dish with sliced beetroot and hard-boiled eggs. Time, an hour to prepare. Probable cost of lobster, Is. 6d. and upwards. Sufficient for eight or ten persons.