Page:Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management.djvu/244

200 Melt the remaining oz. of butter, stir in the flour smoothly, add the soup, and stir until it boils. Simmer for 5 minutes, season to taste, and serve.

Time.—1¼ to 1½ hours. Average Cost, 8d. to 10d. without the stock. Seasonable from August to October. Sufficient for 6 persons.

Ingredients.—1 red mullet, 1 sole, 1 whiting, 1 small eel, 1 small lobster, 6 mussels, 1 quart of fish stock, ¼ of a pint of salad oil, ½ a gill (⅛ of a pint) of claret, 3 small tomatoes, 2 small onions, 1 oz. of butter, a bouquet-garni (parsley, thyme, bay-leaf), a clove of garlic, 2 cloves, a pinch of spinach, saffron, cayenne, salt and pepper, a croûte of bread, parsley.

Method.—Slice the onions and fry them brown in the oil. Mix the saffron with a little water; mince the garlic finely; steam the mussels and remove them from the shells; skin and fillet the sole, wash and cut the other fish into pieces convenient for serving. Pour away a little of the oil, add the stock, claret, herbs, garlic, cloves, bouquet-garni, saffron, cayenne, salt and pepper, and bring nearly to boiling point; then put in all the fish and cook slowly for 20 minutes. Meanwhile trim the croûte of bread to the size of the dish, fry golden-brown in hot oil or fat, then fix it firmly in the centre of a deep dish by means of white of egg. Cut the tomatoes in halves, squeeze out a little of the juice, and fry them slightly in hot butter. Arrange the pieces of fish on and around the croûte, garnish with the tomatoes and parsley, and serve very hot with some of the liquor, well skimmed and strained, poured round it.

Time.—Altogether, 1 hour. Average Cost, 4s. to 5s. Seasonable at any time. Sufficient for 10 or 12 persons.