The Myrtle Reed Cook Book

FRIED OYSTERS

Select large oysters and drain on a cloth. When dry, dip in beaten egg, then in dried bread-crumbs, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and set aside for two hours. Dip in eggs and crumbs again, fry brown in deep fat, drain on brown paper, and serve immediately.

OYSTERS IN BROWN SAUCE

Parboil a pint of oysters in their own liquor, skim out, and drain. Put into a saucepan one-quarter of a cupful of butter, and cook until brown. Add one-quarter of a cupful of flour, cook and stir until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan. Add one-half cupful of milk, one cupful of oyster liquor, one teaspoonful of anchovy paste, and salt and pepper to season. Cook until thick, add the oysters, reheat, and serve.

OYSTERS IN CASSEROLE

Toast small square slices of bread, butter thickly on one side, and put, butter-side down, into a casserole. Cover with oysters, dot with butter, sprinkle with red pepper and salt, cover the dish, and bake in a quick oven until the edges of the oysters curl. Serve with lemon quarters.

OYSTER COCKTAIL

Put into a glass two teaspoonfuls of lemon-juice, two drops of tabasco sauce, half a teaspoonful of Worcestershire, two teaspoonfuls of tomato catsup, a pinch of salt, and a saltspoonful of paprika. Mix thoroughly, add five or six small fresh oysters, let stand for five minutes, and serve very cold.

OYSTERS WITH DUMPLINGS

Make a light biscuit dough, roll thin, and cut into inch squares. Scald a quart can of oysters in their own liquor and when it boils, skim out the oysters and set aside. Add to the liquor two cupfuls of boiling water, a tablespoonful of butter, and salt and pepper to season. Cook and stir with a teaspoonful of flour rubbed smooth in a little cold milk. When boiling hot, put in the dumplings, cover closely, boil for forty minutes, add the oysters, reheat, and serve at once.

OYSTERS WITH GREEN PEPPERS

Put a tablespoonful of butter into a frying-pan and fry in it a sweet pepper and a small onion both chopped fine. Add a pint of oysters with their liquor, season with salt and paprika, and cook for five minutes. Serve on hot buttered toast.

OYSTER STEW

Drain one quart of oysters and put the liquor to heat in a saucepan. Add one cupful of cream, and salt and red pepper to taste. Bring to the boil, add two tablespoonfuls of butter, and thicken with one teaspoonful of flour rubbed smooth in a little cold milk. Cook and stir until it thickens, add the oysters, simmer until the edges curl, take from the fire, add the juice of half a lemon, and pour over thin slices of the buttered toast.

OYSTERS À L’INDIEN

Strain the juice from a quart can of tomatoes, and add enough water to make two cupfuls. Heat to the boiling point, add half a cupful of well washed rice, and cook for twenty minutes, stirring as needed. Add two tablespoonfuls of butter, two teaspoonfuls of curry powder, salt and pepper to taste, and two dozen large oysters. Cook until the oysters ruffle. Serve with thin brown bread sandwiches and bananas.

OYSTERS À LA MADRID

Butter individual baking-dishes. Put a layer of drained oysters in the bottom, season with salt and pepper, dot with butter, sprinkle with finely chopped pimentos, cover with crumbs, and repeat until the dish is full, having crumbs and butter on top. Bake in a quick oven.

SCALLOPS

FRIED SCALLOPS

Trim off the beards and black parts, rinse well, and drain. Sauté in hot lard, drain on brown paper, and serve at once. Or, dip in egg and crumbs and fry in deep fat.

PIGS IN BLANKETS

Parboil scallops, drain and dry on a cloth. Roll a thin slice of bacon around each one and fasten with a wooden tooth-pick. Fry until the bacon is crisp and serve on thin slices of buttered toast.

SHRIMPS

CREAMED SHRIMPS

Melt one tablespoonful of butter, add one tablespoonful of flour, and cook thoroughly. Add one cupful of milk, and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Add two cupfuls of shelled shrimps broken into small pieces, season to taste, reheat, and serve.

CURRIED SHRIMPS

Melt one heaping tablespoonful of butter, add one tablespoonful of flour and cook thoroughly. Add one cupful of boiling water and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Add a tablespoonful of curry powder and a teaspoonful of grated onion. Heat thoroughly and add a can of shrimps well-washed and drained. Cook for five minutes longer and serve with boiled rice and ice-cold bananas.

JELLIED SHRIMPS

Open a large can of shrimps and soak in ice-water for an hour. Dissolve half a box of powdered gelatine in cold water to cover, add to it one cupful of boiling water, the juice of two lemons and a pinch of salt. Strain into a ring mould and put in half the shrimps. Set on ice. When the jelly is firm, loosen from the mould by dipping for an instant in boiling water. Turn out on a round platter, and put the rest of the shrimps in the middle with the small hearts of lettuce. Serve with mayonnaise.

MAYONNAISE OF SHRIMPS

Prepare two cupfuls of shrimps, and break each one in two pieces. Mix with mayonnaise and serve with a border of lettuce leaves. A little finely cut celery may be added if desired.

SHRIMPS BAKED IN GREEN PEPPERS

Cut the stem ends from half a dozen green peppers and carefully remove the seeds and veins. Soak the green peppers in cold water for half an hour. Melt one tablespoonful of butter, add half a teaspoonful of mixed mustard and salt, pepper, celery salt, and grated nutmeg to season. Add one egg well-beaten and mix thoroughly. Add two cupfuls of shelled and broken shrimps and enough grated bread-crumbs to make a smooth paste. Fill the peppers, cover with crumbs, dot with butter, and arrange in a baking-pan with the open side up. Bake for twenty minutes.

SHRIMPS À LA CRÉOLE

Put into a saucepan two cupfuls of shelled shrimps, one heaping tablespoonful of butter, half a small onion chopped fine, and a bruised bean of garlic. Heat thoroughly, add one cupful of canned tomatoes, and salt and cayenne to season. Cook for ten minutes and add one-half cupful of French peas just before serving.

SHRIMP WIGGLE

Prepare according to directions given for Creamed Shrimps, using equal quantities of broken shrimps and French peas.

TOMATOES STUFFED WITH SHRIMPS

Take half a dozen large tomatoes, cut off the tops, and scoop out the pulp, leaving a thin shell. Melt a tablespoonful of butter, add the tomato tops and pulp and cook until thick, seasoning with salt, pepper, minced parsley, and grated onion. Add one small can of shrimps cut fine and enough crumbs to make a paste. Fill the tomato shells, cover with crumbs, dot with butter, and bake in the oven. Serve with a border of boiled rice.

SIXTY WAYS TO COOK FISH

COURT BOUILLON

Put into the bottom of the fish-kettle a thick layer of sliced carrots and onions, and a sliced lemon. Season with parsley, thyme, a bay-leaf, half a dozen whole peppers, and three or four whole cloves. Lay the fish on top of this and cover with equal parts of cold water and white wine, or with water and a little lemon-juice or vinegar. Put the kettle over the fire and let it heat slowly. The fish must always be put into it while cold and after boiling allowed to cool in the water.

BAKED BASS

Make a stuffing of one cupful of bread-crumbs, one teaspoonful each of melted butter, Worcestershire sauce, tomato catsup, minced parsley, minced onion, minced olives or pickles, and lemon-juice. Add salt, black pepper, and paprika to taste, and sufficient cold water to moisten. Sew up the fish and bake as usual. Serve with Tartar Sauce.

BAKED BASS WITH SHRIMP SAUCE

Marinate the cleaned fish for an hour in oil and vinegar. Put into a baking-pan with slices of salt pork underneath and on top and sufficient boiling water to keep from burning. Add a teaspoonful of butter to the water and baste two or three times during the hour of baking. Strain the gravy and set aside. Melt one tablespoonful of butter, add one tablespoonful of flour, and cook until brown. Add one cupful of the liquid left in the baking-pan, making up the required quantity with boiling water if necessary. Cook until thick, stirring constantly; season with cayenne and lemon-juice, and add half a can of shrimps chopped fine. Bring to the boil, pour over the fish, and serve.

BOILED BASS

Clean the fish, put it into warm salted water, and simmer for twenty minutes.

BOILED SEA-BASS WITH EGG SAUCE

Boil the fish according to directions previously given. Melt one tablespoonful of butter, add one tablespoonful of flour, and cook thoroughly. Add two cupfuls of the water in which the fish was boiled, and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Season with salt, pepper, minced parsley, and lemon-juice, add three hard-boiled eggs coarsely chopped, pour over the fish, and serve.

COLD BASS WITH TARTAR SAUCE

Boil the fish in court bouillon and drain. Chop fine parsley, pickles, olives, and capers. Mix with a stiff mayonnaise and spread over the fish. Serve with a border of sliced cucumbers.

BAKED BLUEFISH À L’ITALIENNE

Score and scale the bluefish and put it into a buttered pan with three tablespoonfuls each of white wine and mushroom liquor, a tablespoonful of chopped onion, half a dozen chopped mushrooms, and salt and pepper to season. Cover with buttered paper and bake for fifteen minutes. Take out the fish and add to the sauce half a teaspoonful of beef extract, dissolved in half a cupful of boiling water. Add a wineglassful of white wine and thicken with one tablespoonful each of butter and browned flour. Pour the sauce over the fish, sprinkle with chopped parsley, and serve.

BAKED BLUEFISH

Clean, scrape, and split the fish and take out the backbone. Gash the flesh and insert a thin slice of salt pork under the skin. Make a stuffing of one cupful of bread-crumbs, two tablespoonfuls of chopped salt pork, and salt, minced parsley, chopped onion, red pepper, kitchen bouquet, and tomato catsup to season. Add one egg well-beaten. Fill the fish and sew up. Lay on thin slices of salt pork and bake, basting frequently with the fat. Garnish with cress and lemon.

STEAMED BLUEFISH

Season the fish with salt and pepper and pour over it a cupful of vinegar. Let stand for an hour, pour off the vinegar, and steam for twenty minutes. Serve with any preferred sauce.

BAKED CODFISH

Stuff the fish with seasoned crumbs and season with pepper and salt. Pour over two cupfuls of sherry and a tablespoonful of mushroom catsup. Add two cupfuls of stock, cover with buttered paper, and bake, basting often. When nearly done, sprinkle with bread-crumbs, dot with butter, and bake until brown. Take up the fish carefully, add a teaspoonful of beef extract and a little anchovy paste to the liquor in the baking-pan, strain, add two tablespoonfuls of butter and the juice of half a lemon, bring to the boil, pour over the fish, and serve.

CODFISH À LA CRÉOLE

Flake one pound of cooked codfish, add to it one cupful of boiled rice, half a can of tomatoes strained, a chopped onion, two tablespoonfuls of butter, and salt and pepper to season. Cook slowly for half an hour.

ESCALLOPED CODFISH AND MACARONI

Mix together equal parts of cooked and broken macaroni and flaked boiled cod. Mix with Cream Sauce. Fill a buttered baking-dish, sprinkle thickly with grated cheese, cover with crumbs, dot with butter, and brown in the oven.

BREADED CODFISH STEAKS

Season the steaks with salt, pepper, and lemon-juice, dip in egg and crumbs, and fry in deep fat. Serve with any preferred sauce.

BOILED FINNAN HADDIE

Divide into convenient pieces, cover with boiling water, add a teaspoonful of sugar, and boil for fifteen minutes. Take up on a hot platter, remove the skin, and dot with butter.

BROILED FINNAN HADDIE

Cut the haddie into small squares, skin and parboil it. Wipe dry, broil on a buttered gridiron and serve with melted butter.

CREAMED FINNAN HADDIE

Parboil, drain, and flake the fish. Reheat with shredded fried sweet peppers in a Cream Sauce. Canned pimentos may be used instead of the green peppers.

BROILED FROG LEGS

Soak the legs for half an hour in a marinade of oil and lemon-juice, seasoned with salt and pepper. Broil on a double-broiler, and serve with Maître d’Hôtel Sauce.

FROG LEGS À LA POULETTE

Season prepared frog legs with salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and fry brown in butter. Add two small spoonfuls of flour and two cupfuls of cream. Cook until thick, stirring constantly. Add a wineglassful of white wine, two tablespoonfuls of butter, a tablespoonful of minced parsley, and the yolks of four eggs beaten smooth with the juice of a lemon. Bring to the boil and serve.

HADDOCK RAREBIT

Cut the haddock into slices an inch thick. Free from bone and skin. Lay in a greased baking-dish, and season with salt and pepper. Grate sufficient cheese to cover, and season with salt, red pepper, and mustard. Make to a smooth paste with cream or beaten egg. Put into a hot oven and cook until the cheese melts and browns, and the fish is firm. Take up carefully on a platter, and pour one tablespoonful of Sherry over each slice.

HADDOCK AND OYSTERS

Clean and fillet a haddock. Cover the trimmings with water and add the liquor drained from a pint of oysters. Add a slice of onion, a pinch of powdered sweet herbs, and a slice of carrot; simmer to form a stock. Put a layer of sliced onion into a saucepan, and arrange upon it the fillets of fish and a pint of oysters; sprinkle with salt and pepper, add the juice of a lemon, cover with sliced onion, strain the stock over, cover and simmer until the fillets are tender. Arrange the fillets on a hot dish with the oysters, strain the liquid, thicken it with the yolks of four eggs, pour over, and serve.

HALIBUT À LA MAÎTRE D’HÔTEL

Soak two halibut steaks for an hour in lemon-juice, seasoned with salt, pepper, and minced parsley. Mix together two tablespoonfuls of butter, one tablespoonful of flour, and two cupfuls of boiling water. Cook until thick, stirring constantly. Put the slices of halibut into a buttered pan, cover with the sauce, and bake for twenty minutes, basting as required. Serve with any preferred sauce.

BAKED HALIBUT

Soak six pounds of halibut in salt water for two hours. Wipe dry and score the outer skin. Bake for an hour in a moderately hot oven, basting with melted butter and hot water. Add a little boiling water to the gravy, a tablespoonful of walnut catsup, a teaspoonful of Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper to season, and the juice of a lemon. Cook while stirring with browned flour rubbed smooth with a little cold water.

HALIBUT STEAK À LA JARDINIÈRE

Soak halibut steaks for an hour in salt and water. Wipe dry and rub with melted butter. Butter a china baking-dish, sprinkle chopped onion on the bottom, and put in the steaks. On top put a boiled carrot cut into dice, half a dozen sliced tomatoes, a shredded green pepper, and half a cupful of green peas. Add enough salted boiling water to keep the fish from scorching, put a tablespoonful of butter on top, cover, and bake until done. Drain the liquor carefully from the pan, add three tablespoonfuls of white wine, and thicken with a teaspoonful of butter rolled in browned flour. Serve separately as a sauce.

FRESH BOILED MACKEREL

Clean the mackerel, sprinkle with vinegar, wrap in a floured cloth, and baste closely. Boil for three-quarters of an hour in salted water, drain, and take off the cloth. Strain a cupful of the water in which the fish was boiled, and bring to the boil with a tablespoonful of walnut catsup, a teaspoonful of anchovy paste, and the juice of half a lemon. Thicken with butter and browned flour.

PIKE BAKED IN SOUR CREAM

Clean a four-pound pike, cut into steaks, and free from skin and bone. Put into a buttered baking-dish with two small onions chopped and two bay-leaves. Season with salt and cayenne, add one cupful of sour cream, and bake. Put on a serving-dish, cover with crumbs and dots of butter, and brown in the oven. Add enough stock to the liquid to make the required quantity of sauce, thicken with butter and flour, season, add a dash of lemon-juice, pour around the fish, sprinkle with minced parsley, and serve.

BOILED SALMON WITH GREEN SAUCE

Boil a small salmon in salted and acidulated water. Take up carefully and reduce the liquid by rapid boiling to two cupfuls. Cook together one tablespoonful each of butter and flour, add the reduced liquid, and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Take from the fire, add two tablespoonfuls of chopped capers, one tablespoonful of chopped parsley, the juice of a lemon, and one tablespoonful of butter. Pour over the fish and serve.

BOILED SALMON À LA WALDORF

Boil a large piece of salmon in salted and acidulated water, seasoned with herbs and spice. Drain and keep warm. Add two cupfuls of the liquid in which the fish was cooked, one wineglass full of white wine, and two anchovies rubbed to a paste. Boil for fifteen minutes, then add in small bits a tablespoonful of butter. Serve the sauce separately.

BAKED SALMON

Rub a small cleaned salmon with olive-oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, put into a buttered baking-pan, and add one cupful of boiling water and two tablespoonfuls of butter. Baste every ten minutes until done. Take up the fish and keep it warm. Thicken the gravy with a teaspoonful or more of cornstarch mixed with a little cold water. Season with grated onion, lemon-juice, and tomato catsup.

STUFFED SALMON

Clean, bone, and parboil a small salmon. Rub the inside with salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg. Stuff with chopped oysters, minced parsley, and seasoned crumbs. Fold together, put into a buttered baking-dish, and bake for half an hour, basting with its own dripping.

SALMON MAYONNAISE WITH CUCUMBERS

Steam salmon steaks until tender, remove the skin, and cool. Cover with thinly sliced cucumbers, mask with Mayonnaise, and serve with a border of lettuce leaves and sliced hard-boiled eggs.

SALMON CROQUETTES

Cook together one tablespoonful of butter and three tablespoonfuls of flour. Add one cupful of cream, and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Season with salt, red pepper, and minced parsley, take from the fire, add the juice of a lemon and a can of flaked salmon. Mix thoroughly and cool. Shape into croquettes, dip in egg and crumbs, and fry in deep fat.

SALMON LOAF

Mash a can of salmon, add the juice of a lemon, and half a cupful of fresh bread crumbs, three tablespoonfuls of minced parsley, four tablespoonfuls of melted butter, and four eggs beaten separately, folding in the stiffly beaten whites last. Put into a buttered mould and steam for an hour. Add to the oil drained from the salmon one cupful of boiling milk, one small spoonful of cornstarch rubbed smooth in a little cold milk, and a tablespoonful of butter. Cook until thick, stirring constantly, take from the fire, add one egg well-beaten, a teaspoonful of tomato catsup, and mace and pepper to season. Turn the mould out on a platter and pour the sauce around it.

FRICASSEED SALMON

Reheat a can of flaked salmon in a cupful of Drawn-Butter Sauce, adding half a cupful of cream, and salt, red and white pepper to season. Take from the fire, add one egg, well-beaten, pour over buttered toast, and sprinkle with parsley.

BAKED CREAMED SALMON

Cook together two tablespoonfuls of butter and one of flour, add two cupfuls of milk or cream, and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Add salt, pepper, and minced parsley to season, and a can of flaked salmon. Reheat and arrange in a baking-dish with alternate layers of crumbs and butter, having crumbs and butter on top. Bake in the oven until brown.

SALMON EN CASSEROLE

Chop a large onion and fry it in butter. Add a cupful of bread crumbs and one and one-half cupfuls of milk. Bring to the boil, add salt and pepper to season, a can of flaked salmon, and two eggs well-beaten. Pour into a buttered casserole, dot with butter, and bake brown. Sprinkle with minced parsley and serve.

BOILED SALMON-TROUT

Prepare and clean a salmon-trout, stuff with seasoned crumbs, and put on the grate in a fish-kettle. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg, add a bunch of sweet herbs, a clove of garlic, and two tablespoonfuls of butter. Add enough claret to cover and simmer until done. Drain the fish, strain the liquid, thicken if desired, and serve the sauce separately.

BAKED SARDINES

Marinate drained sardines in lemon-juice, then drain, sprinkle with cracker crumbs, and put into a hot oven for ten minutes. Cook together a heaping teaspoonful each of butter and flour, add one cupful of tomato-juice, and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Season with salt, pepper, grated onion, and sugar. Arrange the sardines on toasted strips of brown bread, pour the sauce over, and serve.

BROILED SHAD

Prepare and clean the fish, split, and remove the backbone. Season with salt and pepper, dip in oil, broil carefully, and serve with Maître d’Hôtel Sauce.

BONED FRIED SHAD

Remove the head and tail, then take out the back and side bones. Cut into convenient pieces for serving, season with salt and pepper, dip in egg and crumbs, and fry in deep fat. Serve with any preferred sauce.

BAKED SHAD

Bake a shad in a buttered baking-pan, adding enough boiling water to keep from burning. Baste while baking with melted butter and lemon-juice, seasoning with pepper and salt. Cook together a small spoonful each of butter and flour until brown. Add slowly a cupful of stock and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Take from the fire and add the yolks of two eggs beaten with the juice of half a lemon. Pour over the fish and serve.

BAKED SHAD STUFFED WITH OYSTERS

Rub a large cleaned fish with salt inside and out. Stuff with oysters and seasoned crumbs made very rich with melted butter, and bake, basting with melted butter and hot water. Thicken the gravy with flour browned in butter, adding a little hot water or stock if necessary, season with lemon-juice and catsup, and serve the sauce separately.

FRIED SHAD ROE

Parboil the roe for ten minutes in salted and acidulated water. Drain, plunge into cold water, and cool. Drain, dip in beaten egg, then in seasoned crumbs, and fry brown in deep fat. Serve with any preferred sauce.

SHAD ROE BAKED IN TOMATO SAUCE

Boil the roe, drain, cool, and skin. Cook together for ten minutes one cupful of canned tomatoes, one cupful of stock or water, a slice of onion, and salt and pepper to season. Cook together two tablespoonfuls of butter and one of flour, add the tomato, and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Rub the sauce through a strainer. Put the roe on a buttered baking-dish, season with salt and pepper, cover with the sauce, and bake. Serve in the dish in which it was baked.

SHAD ROE WITH BROWN SAUCE

Soak a shad roe in water for half an hour, scald, drain, cool, and cut in slices. Sauté in butter and drain. Cook a tablespoonful of flour in the butter, add one cupful of stock, and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Season with salt, paprika, Worcestershire, and curry powder; pour over the fish and serve.

BROILED SMELTS

Dip prepared smelts in lemon-juice and seasoned melted butter, then in flour; broil in a double broiler, and serve with Tartar Sauce.

BAKED SMELTS

Remove the heads, split, dip in melted butter, then in flour. Put into a buttered baking-pan, bake for ten minutes, sprinkle with cayenne and lemon-juice, and serve.

SMELTS AU BEURRE NOIR

Roll the cleaned smelts in flour, sauté in butter, and arrange on fingers of buttered toast. Brown half a cupful of butter, add a tablespoonful of vinegar, pour over the fish, and serve.

BROILED STURGEON STEAKS

Parboil sturgeon steaks for fifteen minutes, drain, wipe dry, season with salt and pepper, and broil. Serve with melted butter or Maître d’Hôtel Sauce.

BOILED TROUT

Tie a large trout in a cloth and boil it in salted and acidulated water to cover, adding an onion, a stalk of celery, and a bunch of parsley. When done, drain and keep warm. Stick blanched almonds into the fish, sharp side down, and pour over a Cream Sauce to which chopped hard-boiled eggs and parsley have been added.

BAKED TURBOT

Rub a small cleaned turbot with melted butter, sprinkle with minced parsley, powdered mace, and salt and pepper to season. Let stand for an hour and put into a buttered baking-dish. Brush with beaten egg, sprinkle with crumbs, dot with butter, bake, and serve with any preferred sauce.

TURBOT À LA CRÊME

Cook together three small spoonfuls each of butter and flour, add a quart of cream, and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Season with pepper, salt, minced parsley, and grated onion. Butter a baking-dish, put in a layer of cold cooked turbot flaked fine, cover with sauce, and repeat until the dish is full, having sauce on top. Sprinkle with crumbs, dot with butter, and brown in the oven. Sprinkle with chopped eggs and parsley.