The household cook book

SMOKED HERRING, BROILED.— Let them stand 10 minutes covered with boiling water. Then skin, wipe dry, and broil them over clear coals. Put them on a warm dish, moisten with butter, and serve. Time to broil, about 7 or 8 minutes. The herring is the most important food fish known. Enormous quantities are caught every year. It is eaten fresh, and is smoked, dried and pickled. It is very oily, and not very digestible, but it is exceedingly nutritious. The so called herring of the great lakes is a kind of whitefish. Bloater is an English name applied to herring prepared for the market by slightly salting, smoke-drying, etc. THE LAMPREY. The lamprey is like a very tough eel. It can be cooked like eel, only it requires to cook longer, (See eel.) The lamprey is an eel-like fish, having a cartilagenous body, without scales, and a round, sucking mouth with numerous teeth. It is found in Europe, and there are several species in the U. S. They are very tenaceous of life, and are prized by some for food. . THE LAMPREY. LING, CUSK OR BURBOT The ling is caught in the northern seas, and it is a fish belonging to the same family as the cod and hake, which it much resembles. It can be (1) boiled or (2) fried or (3) stewed, treating it the same as the cod, and (4) it makes a good soup. The fish is wholesome and nutritious, alihough not much used fresh. It takes salt well, and large quantities are prepared for the market. It is also dried. Cusk, Burbot and Eelpout are other names for the same or very similar fish. MACKEREL. • This fish is excellent if eaten fresh, but it spoils easily. In dressing and cleaning be careful not to break the skin. One of the best ways to cook it is to broil it. Time to broil, 15 to 20 minutes. (2) It is excellent steamed, and many people can eat it that way who cannot when broiled. It is also good (3) when boiled or (4) fried or or (5) filleted, proceeding as previously directed for cooking fish by those methods at the beginning of this chapter. PICKLED MACKEREL.— Boil fresh mackerel. Then take the liquor it was cooked in, add 1 cuj) vinegar, ^ oz. whole black pepper, 2 bay leaves, and boil all 7 or 8 minutes; pour it over the mackerel, cover tightly, and let stand 24 hours, when it will be ready for use. BROILED SALT MACKEREL.— Take a medium sized salt mackerel and soak it over night in cold water. In the morning dry it, rub on a little butter, and broil it nicely, but not too long. When done, plunge it into boiling water a moment, which makes it swell up and look fat. Then put it on a hot plate, add a little melted butter, lemon juice and pepper, and serve. CREAMED SALT MACKEREL.— Soak the fish over night, and wipe dry the next morning; heat the gridiron, butter it, and broil the fish over a clear fire; lay it on a hot platter while you make a sauce as follows: Heat 1 cup of milk to near boiling, and thicken it with 2 teaspoons of cornstarch rubbed smooth in' 2 teaspoons of butter; add salt, pepper, a little chopped parsley, and when taken from the stove and partly cool, stir in 1 beaten egg; then pour it over the fish and serve. A nice breakfast dish in hot weather.