The Pattern cook-book

The claws should never be pounded in the middle, as the meat is thus crushed and often filled with pieces of shell. TO SERVE LOBSTER PLAIN. Arrange the meat in the center o'^ a dish, and garnish with the small claws, sprigs of parsley or hard-boiled eggs cut into quarters. Each person at table seasons to suit with pepper, salt and vinegar or oil. LOBSTER CHOPS. . These are at present a very fashionable dish, being served at teas, luncheons and evening parties. They are very dainty. Two cupfuls of boiled lobster. Two eggs (yolks only). One cupful of cream or milk. Three table-spoonfuls of flour. One table-spoonful of butter. One-eighth of a nutmeg. Salt and pepper to taste. Put the butter in a stew-pan, and when it bubbles, stir in the flour. Cook this paste, slowly stirring all the time ; then pour in the cream, and add the lobster, cut into small dice. Stir until scalding hot, take from the fire, and when slightly cooled, stir in the yolks of the eggs, well beaten, the grated nutmeg, and the salt and pepper. Return to the fire and cook two minutes, stirring all the time. Butter a platter, and on it spread the mixture half an inch deep. When cold, form in the shape of chops, pointed at one end ; roll the chops in beaten egg then in bread or cracker-crumbs, place them in the frying basket and plunge them in boiling-hot fat until of a nice brown color. The frying should not take longer than three minutes. Drain well, and stick the end of a small claw in each chop to represent the bone. Serve on a napkin, placing the chops so they overlap each other, and garnish with parsley. LOBSTER FARCI. (STUFFED.) Two cupfuls of lobster meat. Three hard-boiled eggs (yolks). One-half pint of milk. One-fourth of a nutmeg, grated. One tabk-spoonful of chopped parsley. One table-spoonful of butter. Two table-spoonfuls of bread-crumbs. One table-spoonful of flour. Salt and pepper to taste. Cut the lobster into small pieces. Two lobsters will be required for this quantity. Put the milk on to boil in the double boiler,, and when hot, stir into it the butter and flour, rubbed well together. Stir until smooth, and cook three minutes ; then remove from the fire, and add the crumbs, parsley, lobster, salt and pepper, and the yolks of the eggs mashed very fine. Mix all well together. In opening the lobster for the stuffing, be careful not to break the body or tail shells. Wash them and wipe dry, and with a pair of scissors cut off the under part of the tail shells, using the tails of both lobsters. Join the large ends of the tail shells to the body shell, with the ends of the tails out, thus forming a boat-shaped shell. Put the stuffing into this boat, brush over the top with beaten egg, sprinkle lightly with bread-crumbs, and bake in a quick oven for fifteen minutes. STEWED LOBSTER. Cut the meat fine and put it in a small frying-pan with milk enough to nearly cover it ; when the milk boils, thicken to a cream with a little corn starch wet with milk, seasoning with salt, pepper and butter. Serve on toasted bread laid on a hot platter. DEVILED LOBSTER. This is made the same as deviled crab, using two cup. fuls of finely chopped lobster where tw^elve crabs are used