Page:The English housekeeper, 6th.djvu/157

Rh for the middling size, more if very large, less if very small. They will throw up a great deal of scum, which must be taken off. Wipe the lobster with a damp cloth, rub a piece of butter over, then wipe it with a dry cloth. Take off the large claws, and crack them; split down the tail, and place the whole neatly in a dish. A very nice sauce, as follows: boil hard 2 eggs, pound the yolk in a mortar, with a little vinegar, and the spawn of the lobster, make it quite smooth, add a large spoonful of salad oil, 3 spoonsful of good vinegar, a tea-spoonful of made mustard, and a little cayenne and salt.

Cut the meat in pieces, or mince it fine; season with spices, nutmeg, cayenne and salt, and warm it in a little good gravy, thickened: or if maigre, fish stock, or just enough water to moisten the meat, and a good-sized piece of butter rolled in flour, a little cream, and some catsup. Serve on toasted sippets; or have the shell of a lobster or crab cleaned, and serve the meat in it.—Another way is, not to warm the mince over the fire, but to put it into the shell, and set that before the fire in a Dutch oven, strew some fine bread-crumbs or biscuit powder over all, and stick some bits of butter over that; brown with a salamander, and serve quite hot. Prawns the same way.—Lobster is sometimes fricasseed, in rich veal gravy; or with cream, and yolk of egg. Garnish with pickled cucumber, or other pickle.—Lobster may be cooked as follows: chop the meat of a large one, and mix with it a very little lemon peel, pepper, salt, nutmeg, butter, cream, and crumbs of stale bread; roll this well, and divide it into small quantities; put each one into light puff paste, the size of sausages, rub them over with yolk of egg, then with bread-crumbs; fry of a yellow brown, and serve with crisped parsley.—Or: wash and clean some spinach and put it into a saucepan, with the meat of a lobster, or a pint of picked shrimps cut small, an onion, a clove of garlic minced, salt and cayenne; when nearly done, add 2 onions sliced and fried; cover close a few minutes; garnish with slices of lemon.

Parboil the fish, cut it into small pieces, put a layer into