Page:Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management.djvu/450

388 Time.—About 15 minutes. Average Cost, 3s. 6d. to 4s. Sufficient for 8 or 10 persons. Seasonable all the year.

Ingredients.—1 medium-sized sole, oil or clarified fat, egg, breadcrumbs, flour, salt and pepper.

Method.—Wash and skin the sole, cut off the fins, and dry well. Add a liberal seasoning of salt and pepper to a teaspoonful of flour, rub it well into the sole, then brush it over with egg, and cover with fine breadcrumbs. Lift it carefully on to the wire drainer, lower it into the hot oil or fat, and fry until it acquires a pale golden-brown colour. Soles may also be fried, though less easily, and sometimes less satisfactorily, in a large frying-pan. The oval form is preferable for the purpose; and in frying, care should be taken to first cook the side of the sole intended to be served uppermost, otherwise breadcrumbs that have become detached from the side first fried may adhere to the side next cooked, and spoil its appearance. Drain well on kitchen paper, and serve garnished with fried parsley.

Time.—About 10 minutes. Average Cost, 1s. 9d. to 2s. Sufficient for 2 or 3 persons. Seasonable all the year.

Soles for filleting should be large, as the flesh can be more easily separated from the bones, and there is less waste. To skin any fish, it must be kept wet. It is easier to skin if it is stale.

Method.—With flat-fish begin at the tail, cut the skin across, but do not cut into the flesh, and loosen the skin along the fins on either side with a skewer or finger. Then tear off the skin with the left hand, keeping the thumb of the right hand well pressed over the backbone to prevent the removal of the flesh with the skin. Use a sharp knife for filleting; keep it pressed to the bone, raise the flesh carefully, remove the fillets, and divide them, into pieces suitable for serving. Fillets of a small sole are not divided; they are rolled, tied, or folded according to requirements.

Ingredients.—2 medium-sized soles, 1 small sole, 1 yolk of egg, 1 tablespoonful of breadcrumbs, ½ a teaspoonful of finely-chopped parsley, a little finely-grated lemon-rind, salt and pepper. Butter or fat for frying, egg and breadcrumbs, ¾ of a pint of brown sauce, No. 233, 1 tablespoonful of sherry, ½ a teaspoonful of lemon-juice.

Method.—Remove the skin and bones from the small sole, and chop the flesh finely. Mix with it the breadcrumbs, parsley, lemon-rind, and a little salt and pepper, and bind with a little of the yolk of egg.