Page:Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management.djvu/392

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Ingredients.—3 or 4 lb. of halibut, beer, 1 oz. of butter, 1 oz. of flour, 1 small onion stuck with 2 cloves, 1 bay-leaf, 1 teaspoonful of lemon-juice, salt and pepper.

Method.—This cooking process is particularly adapted for the head and shoulders. Wash and dry the fish thoroughly, put it into a stewpan, and barely cover it with beer. Add the onion, bay-leaf, and a little salt and pepper, and bring gently to boiling point. Knead the butter and flour smoothly together, add the mixture in small pieces to the contents of the stewpan when boiling, and simmer gently until the fish separates readily from the bone. Transfer the fish carefully to a hot dish, add the lemon-juice to the liquor, season to taste, strain and pour a little round the fish, and serve the rest separately.

Time.—To stew, about ½ an hour. Average Cost, 9d. to 1s. 2d. per lb. Sufficient for 7 or 8 persons. Seasonable all the year.

Ingredients.—12 herrings, 2 bay-leaves, 12 allspice, 6 cloves, a good pinch of ground mace, salt and pepper, vinegar.

Method.—Wash the herrings in 3 or 4 waters, cut off the heads, and remove the gut. Place them in a pie-dish, heads and tails alternately, sprinkle each layer with salt and pepper, and and the flavouring ingredients. Cover the fish with vinegar, or, when vinegar is not much liked, with equal quantities of vinegar and water, and bake for 1½ hours in a very slow oven. Serve cold.

Time.—About 2 hours. Average Cost, 6d. to 1s. per dozen. Sufficient for 9 persons. Seasonable, May to November.

Ingredients.—12 fresh herrings, salt and pepper, vinegar, 1 or 2 Spanish onions.

Method.—Wash the herrings in 3 or 4 waters, cut off the heads, split them open, and remove the gut and backbone. Season well with salt and pepper, and roll them up tightly, beginning with the neck of the fish. Pack the herrings closely in a pie-dish, cover them with thin slices of onion, half fill the dish with equal quantities of vinegar and water, and bake in a very slow oven for 2 hours. When done, remove the onion, but let the fish remain in the dish in which they were cooked until ready to serve.