Practical household cookery

Prepare a large pike in the same manner as described above; fill the paunch with some well-seasoned veal stuffing, sew it up with a trussing-needle and fine string, truss as before specified in the form of the letter S, make several deep incisions on both sides of the fish, and place in a baking- dish seasoned with two chopped shalots, one tablespoonful of parsley, and two of mushrooms, salt, pepper, and half a dozen cloves ; add between six and eight ounces of fresh butter, half a bottle of cooking sherry, and half a pint of good stock. Cover the lot with a well-buttered paper, and put the fish thus prepared in a well- heated oven to bake for about an hour, taking care to frequently baste it with its liquor. When done dish up, pour two glasses more of sherry, in order to detach all the glaze and herbs from the bottom and sides of the baking-dish in which the fish has been baked; pass this through a tammy into a small stewpan in which half a pint of good brown sauce has previously been warmed, mix and reduce the whole to a proper consistency ; add one ounce of fresh butter, a teaspoon ful of anchovy essence, the juice of a lemon, and a little cayenne ; mix this well together on the stove, and pour over the fish before serving, having previously removed the string. 486. PIKE IN QUENELLE& Prepare two or three pounds of pike in quenelles (see Fish Forcemeat, No. ^75) in the following manner : — When cold, lay the forcemeat in large spoonfuls separately on the table, roll these with your hands into the shape of sausages, and cook them by poaching in ordinary boiling stock for five or six minutes Meanwhile have a pint of good reduced Veloute sauce (No. 153) ready and hot; when the quenelles are properly poached, strain and put them in a bowl or deep dish ; pour the sauce over, and serve. Note, — Pike, previous to being made into forcemeat, should be filleted, and the following is the proper mode of operation. The smaller fish should be used for this purpose : — Lay the fish on the table with its back towards you, insert the knife below the gill with your left hand, press lightly on the upper part of the fish, then draw the knife down close to the backbone till the fillet is removed; repeat the same thing on the other side, and lay the fillets on the table with the skin downward ; insert the edge of the knife close to the skin at the extreme end, draw it to and fro, in keeping the blade closely pressed to the skin, when it will detach itself from the filleU Remarks on Perch The perch is one of the most beautiful fish. Its colour is golden bronze, transversed with bars of dark green, the whole shaded with a lovely iridescence, and fins of a splendid red tinge as seen sometimes in old-stained glass. Its flesh is much appreciated by epicures, as witness "water souchet" as served at ministerial dinners and large banquets. It seldom weighs more than two pounds, although some have been caught in the Norfolk Broads weighing as much as four and a half pounds. 487. PERCH, FRIED. Remove the gills, scale, and thoroughly cleanse the perch; prick them slightly on both sides, and place in a dish with a little salad-oil, salt, pepper, the juice of two lemons, an onion shred fine, and half a spoonful of chopped parsley ; let the fish pickle for an hour, then wipe and flour them in the usual way, fry in a properly heated fat to a nice colour, and serve very hot with quarters of lemon. 488. PERCH, GARDENER STYLE. Cleanse the perch as in the foregoing; clean also a handful of parsley-roots, and boil for half an hour in a quart of salted water; after which, throw the perch in and boil for five or six minutes longer ; then dress in a dish with some of the liquor ; spread the roots on the fish, and serve with melted butter and boiled potatoes apart 489. PERCH AU GRATIN.