If you bake salmon in slices, reserve the forcemeat for the outside. Dip each slice first in beaten yolk of egg, and then in the forcemeat, till it is well coated.
BROILED SALMON.—
Wash carefully all traces of blood from the inside of the fish. Cut it into rather thick slices, or fillets. Dry them in a clean cloth, and dredge them with flour. Chalk the bars of the gridiron, or grease them with lard or suet, or the dripping of beef or veal, to prevent the fish from sticking. Let the fire be a bed of clear bright hot coals. Broil the slices well on both sides; and when done, transfer them to a hot dish, and lay a bit of fresh butter on each, and season them a little with cayenne.
Fresh codfish may be cut into steaks, and broiled as above.
Also halibut, or any other large fish.
Serve up shrimp or lobster sauce, with all cutlets or steaks of large fish.
FRIED SALMON CUTLETS.—
Having washed, dried and floured the cutlets, put near a pound of fresh lard into a frying pan, set it over a clear brisk fire till it boils fast. Have ready a marinade or dressing made of grated bread-crumbs, chopped sweet-marjoram, beaten yolks of eggs, and powdered mace—all well mixed. Dip each cutlet into this marinade twice over, and fry them. There must be plenty of lard, so that the cutlets may float on its surface instead of sinking to the bottom, and becoming dark, heavy, and greasy. When they are done, take them up with a perforated skimmer, draining off the lard as you do so. Lay them on a hot dish, and keep them hot till wanted. Serve up with them mashed potatos made into flat cakes, and browned with a salamander or red hot shovel.
Fresh codfish cutlets may be fried in this manner.
You may broil halibut as above. Halibut is too insipid for boiling.
PICKLED SALMON.—
Clean a fine fresh salmon, and remove the bones. Cut off the head, fins, and tail. Fish, to be pickled, should (instead of washing) be wiped, and rubbed with a clean dry cloth. Cut it into steaks or cutlets. Put it into a stone-ware jar with a close cover. A broad low jar will be best. Sprinkle it with salt, and cayenne. Add some grains of whole black pepper, and some blades of mace, seasoning it highly to make it keep well. Fill up the jar with the best cider vinegar, set it in a moderate oven, and bake it till thoroughly done; adding more vinegar, if it seems too dry. Then cover the jar very closely, with the lid—if there is the smallest crack, paste all round a fillet of strong, white paper. Whenever you open the jar to take out some of the salmon for use, add some fresh vinegar. Keep the jar in a dry cool place. If properly done, and well seasoned, it will keep several months.
BROILED FRESH MACKEREL.—
Mackerel cannot be eaten too fresh, as no fish spoils so soon; for which reason in England mackerel is permitted to be sold on Sundays. We have heard in London the fishwomen crying it about the streets on Sunday morning before church time. And even then it is far inferior to mackerel taken immediately out of the sea, at the places on the coast. It is generally broiled, as no other cooking seems to suit it, and draw forth its true flavor. Split your mackerel, remove the bone, and cut off the heads and tails. Dredge them on both sides with flour, and sprinkle the inside with black pepper and a little salt. Have your gridiron very hot, over a clear fire, and grease the bars with lard, or chalk them to prevent the fish from sticking. Broil them well on both sides, and when they are done, and very hot, lay some bits of fresh butter upon them. Cover to keep them warm, and send them to table as soon as possible. They are a fine breakfast fish, and good at a plain dinner. For sauce, cold butter is all that is necessary, but you may mix with it, chopped parsley, or minced fennel. At the best English tables, stewed gooseberries, pulped through a sieve and sweetened, is the fashionable sauce for broiled mackerel, or lemon-juice is squeezed profusely over the fish. To this the lovers of fruit with every thing, will not object.
If a mackerel is fresh, the eyes will be full and lively, the gills very red, and the stripes or bars on the back a very dark color, (nearly black,) and strongly marked; and the body thick. If thin and flat below the shoulders, the eyes sunk, the gills pale, and the dark stripes dull and indistinct, the fish is unfit to eat.
FRIED MACKEREL.—
For frying, take small mackerel, as fresh as possible. Wash them, dry them in a clean cloth, and score them deeply in the back, making several deep cuts. Season them with a little salt and pepper. Go over them with beaten egg, and then cover them thickly with grated bread-crumbs; which, for this purpose, are superior to indian meal or pounded crackers. Fry them in boiling lard, and dish them hot. Send them to table with a dish of potatos sliced and fried in butter.
Any fish may be fried in this manner. If large, cut it into pieces.
FRIED HALIBUT.—
There is a great deal of eating in a halibut, as it is a fish of immense size, and has only the back bone. It is sold in pieces of any weight or quantity, and is exceedingly white and delicate in appearance. But it is so very insipid, that when boiled it has no taste at all. Therefore it is always broiled or fried, except at tables where economy is the chief consideration. If broiled, it is done in the same manner as any other large fish, but to make it palatable requires something to give it a little taste.
To fry halibut—take a piece from the middle of the fish, wash it very carefully, and dry it in a clean cloth. Then cut it into thick fillets, extracting the bone, which is easily done with a sharp knife, loosening the flesh from the bone, and raising it as you proceed. Remove the skin. You may also cut the fillets into slices about an inch thick. Season with cayenne, and a very little salt. Cover them slightly with nice butter. Have ready in one pan plenty of grated bread-crumbs; in another a sufficiency of beaten yolk of egg, seasoned with powdered mace and nutmeg. Dip the slices first into the egg, then into the pan of bread-crumbs. Do this twice over, to every slice. Have ready over the fire a hot frying pan full of boiling lard. Put in the slices