La cuisine creole

by Lafcadio Hearn

FISH

FRICASSEE OF FISH

All large fish make nice fricassee. Cut the fish into slices and lay it in a gravy made of fried onions, parsley, tomatoes and a little garlic; fry in butter and serve. Add catsup if liked.

TO FRY FISH

The fat from bacon, or salt pork, is much nicer to fry fish in, than lard. After the fish is cleaned, wash it and wipe it dry, and let it lie on a cloth till all the moisture is absorbed; then roll it in flour. No salt is required if fried in bacon or pork fat. There must be fat enough to float the fish or they will not fry nicely, but instead soak fat and be soft to the touch.

TO STUFF AND BAKE FISH

Choose any of the many dressings in this book. Take either plain bread stuffing, veal stuffing, or force-meat; fill the fish and sew it up; put a teacup of water in the baking pan, with a spoonful of butter and bake, according to the size of the fish, from thirty minutes to an hour. Season with pepper and salt and bake brown.

CROAKERS AND MULLETS FRIED

Have them perfectly cleaned; trim the fins, wipe the fish with a clean cloth, salt and pepper each one, and roll it in flour or fine corn meal, and then drop it into a pot of boiling lard and bacon grease mixed. When brown, pile up on a hot dish and serve, with any desired sauce or catsup.

FILLETS OR SLICED FISH, FRIED

When the fish is too large to fry whole, cut into slices and place them in a crock; season with pepper, salt, oil, lemon juice, and chopped parsley. Turn the fish in this mixture so that all parts may become well saturated with the seasoning. When wanted, drain, wipe dry and dip each piece separately in flour; drop into boiling lard; take it up as it browns, and ornament the dish with a border of fried parsley. Send to table with sauce to suit the taste.

TROUT STUFFED AND BAKED

Stuff one or more fish, with any stuffing desired; score them well and put in a buttered pan to bake; season with pepper, salt and chopped parsley, moisten them with a little essence of mushrooms or catsup and butter. Baste every five minutes until they are done; remove the fish to a hot dish. Throw a little wine or vinegar into the pan, and stir it to detach the crust from the pan; boil this sauce down, add a little more butter and pour over the fish. Mushrooms are an improvement to the sauce; but if not convenient, tomato sauce will answer.

TROUT A LA VENITIENNE

After well cleaning your trout, make slashes in the back, and insert butter rolled in parsley, lemon, thyme, basil, chives all minced very fine; pour some salad oil over it, and let it lie for half an hour; cover it with bread crumbs and chopped sweet herbs, boil it over a clear fire which is not too quick, and serve it with sauce No. 13.

BROILED SPANISH MACKEREL

Split the mackerel down the back; season with pepper and salt, rub it over with oil, place it on a gridiron over a moderate fire and, when browned on one side, turn. If it is a very large fish, divide it and broil one half at a time. When done, place it on a dish, and put butter, parsley and lemon juice over it. Serve with sauce No. 13.

BROILED FLOUNDER

This is cooked just as the Spanish mackerel in the preceding recipe; and may be sent to table with the same sauce, or sauce a l’aurore No. 14.

FLOUNDERS AND MULLETS FRIED

These fish are very fine when fresh from the waters of Lake Pontchartrain. Flounder is better broiled, but still is very nice fried. Clean and dry the fish. Do not cut them in pieces, but score them across if very large. Have lard or bacon fat very hot; roll the fish in flour and drop into the boiling fat. Let them cook until brown, and serve with sauce No. 15.

PLAIN BOILED RED FISH OR RED SNAPPER

Wash the fish; when cleaned, wipe it dry and rub it over with lemon juice and salt. Put it in a fish kettle or other vessel to boil, cover it with soft water and throw in a handful of salt. As soon as it begins to boil, skim it and let it simmer; hard boiling breaks the flesh before it is cooked thoroughly. When done, lift it out of the water with a drainer, slip it carefully on a dish and send to table with sauces No. 13 and No. 3.

RED-FISH A LA PROVENCALE

Have properly cleaned a medium sized fish; score it deep then put in a large dish and cover with a pickle or marinade made of two sliced carrots, two onions, some parsley and bay-leaves, three cloves of garlic, pepper and salt, the juice of two lemons, and a gill of salad oil. When thoroughly flavored, remove the fish from the marinade and bake three-quarters of an hour, basting frequently with wine and butter. When done, put it on a platter and keep hot. Add half a bottle of wine and some cayenne pepper to the marinade; stew well and strain over the fish. Garnish with cut lemon, sprigs of parsley and capers.

BAKED AND STEWED CODFISH

Scald for ten minutes some soaked codfish, it should soak all night; then scrape it white, pick it in flakes, and put it in a stewpan with a tablespoonful of nice butter worked into as much flour, and milk enough to moisten it. Let it stew gently ten minutes; add pepper to taste, and serve hot. Slice hard-boiled eggs over it, and sprigs of parsley around the dish.

If the fish is to be baked you must put it on to scald, as above, after soaking all night; you must then put on double as much Irish potatoes as the quantity of codfish. Boil them, mash them, and then pick up the codfish fine, seasoning it with butter and pepper; moisten it with two beaten eggs, a little chopped onion, and milk if necessary. Make it all into a large soft pat, or cake, smooth it with a knife blade and put it in the stove to be browned lightly.

CODFISH CAKES

Soak the codfish all night, then scald for ten minutes; put to it an equal quantity of potatoes boiled and mashed; moisten it with beaten eggs, a bit of butter and a little pepper; form it into round cakes, about half an inch thick, roll them each one in flour, and fry in hot lard until they are a delicate brown. The lard must be boiling, and the cakes fried gently.

COD AU BEURRE ROUX

Cod; a little browned butter; a little flour; sugar; one onion; tablespoonful of vinegar.

For cod au beurre roux, boil a piece of cod and separate it into flakes; brown some butter, dredge in a little flour, and a little sugar in powder, and in this fry some slices of onion a fine brown; throw in the vinegar, boil it up, pour over the fish, and serve it with crisp parsley.

OYSTER STUFFING FOR TURKEY

Take three or four dozen nice plump oysters, wash and beard them, add to them a tumblerful of bread crumbs; chop up a tumblerful of nice beef suet; mix together, and moisten with three eggs; season with salt, pepper, a little butter, a teaspoonful of mace, and some cayenne pepper. Roll force-meat into cakes, and fry them. They are pretty laid around a turkey or chicken.

OYSTERS STEWED WITH CHAMPAGNE

Put into a silver chafing dish a quarter of a pound of butter; lay in a quart of oysters; strew over them grated bread which has been toasted, beaten and sifted, some cut parsley and a little pepper and salt; cover the top with bits of butter cut thin; pour on a pint of champagne, cover and cook. This may be done in a pan or oven.

OYSTERS STEWED WITH MILK

Take a pint of fine oysters, one-half pint of their own liquor and a half a pint of milk; boil the liquor, take off the scum; put in a quarter of a pound of butter, pepper and salt to taste, and serve crackers and dressed celery with them.

STEWED OYSTERS ON TOAST

Take the oysters from their liquor, let it settle; then strain and add some whole pepper, two blades of mace, and three cloves, and put over a moderate fire in a block-tin covered sauce-pan; mix a little flour with a piece of butter, as large as a hen’s egg for two dozen oysters, and stir in the boiling liquor; remove any scum which may rise, then put in the oysters and let them cook for five minutes. Line a hot oyster dish with toasted, well-buttered bread, and pour over it the boiling oysters. Only rich juicy oysters will stew to advantage. Milk is always an improvement, but in this recipe it can be dispensed with; if, however, it is convenient pour in a half a pint just as the oysters are put in to boil, as earlier it might curdle.

OYSTER TOAST

A nice little dish for a luncheon or a late supper. Scald a quart of oysters in their own liquor, take them out and pound or chop them to a paste; add a little cream or fresh butter, and some pepper and salt. Get ready some thin slices of toast moistened with boiling water, and spread with fresh butter; then, spread over the butter the oyster paste. Put a thin slice of fresh cut lemon on each piece, and lay parsley on the platter. Serve this very hot or it will not be good.

SCALLOPED OYSTERS.—NO. 1

Lay the oysters in a shallow pan or dish with a little of their own liquor, some pepper, salt, chopped parsley, butter, and grated bread crumbs. Have a layer of bread crumbs on the top of the pan, and set it in the oven to bake a light brown. They should be served hot with tomato or walnut catsup poured over them.

SCALLOPED OYSTERS.—NO. 2

Procure any quantity of oysters desired, and place in a baking dish; put alternate layers of oysters and pounded crackers; season each layer with salt, pepper and butter. When filled, pour on enough milk to soak the crackers, and bake forty minutes. Serve hot.

OYSTERS FRIED

Take large oysters from their own liquor; dry and lay them in a towel till you heat, very hot, a cup of lard in a thick-bottomed pan. Dip each oyster in wheat flour, or rolled cracker, until it will hold no more; then lay it in the pan. The fire must be moderate, or the oysters will scorch before cooking through. They will brown on one side in five minutes, then turn them. Oysters may be dipped in beaten egg and rolled cracker, and then fried.

OYSTER PICKLE. VERY EASY AND NICE

Wash four dozen oysters; let them be fine and large, with plenty of their own liquor. Pick them carefully, strain their liquor and to it add a dessertspoonful of pepper, two blades of mace, a tablespoonful of salt, and a cup of strong wine vinegar. Simmer the oysters in this five minutes, then put them in small jars. Boil the pickle again, and when cold add a cup of fresh vinegar; and fill up the jars, cork them, and set away for use.

VEAL SWEETBREAD AND OYSTER PIE

The sweetbread of veal is the most delicate part of the animal. Boil it tender, season with pepper, salt and butter; put in two dozen oysters; thicken their juice with a cup of cream, a tablespoonful of butter, the yolks of two hard-boiled eggs, and a tablespoonful of flour. Pour all in a deep pan, and cover with paste and bake. If there is too much liquid, keep it to serve with the pie, if necessary, when baked. After baking, the pie is sometimes too dry.

BEEFSTEAK AND OYSTER PIE

Cut three pounds of lean beefsteak. Salt, pepper and fry quickly so as to brown without cooking through; then place in a deep dish. Get four dozen oysters, beard them, and lay them in the pan over the beef; season with salt and pepper. Take the gravy in which the steaks were fried, pour out some of the grease; dredge in a tablespoonful of flour, let it brown and add to it a pint of good beef broth, then put in a wine-glassful of mushroom catsup, some of Harvey’s or Worcestershire sauce; heat it, and let it boil up a few times, then pour it over the oysters and steak. When the gravy has become cool, cover the pie with a good puff paste, and bake it for an hour and a half.

FRICASSEE OF CRABS

Take six nice fat crabs, wash them, and while alive chop off the claws; then clean the rest of the crabs carefully and lay them in a dish. Chop up two onions fine, fry them in a tablespoonful of butter and lard mixed; when brown and soft stir in a large spoonful of flour, which must also brown nicely; throw in some chopped parsley and a little green onion, and when they are cooked pour on a quart of boiling water—this is the gravy. Now put in the crabs without parboiling. Let them simmer in the gravy for half an hour, and serve with boiled rice. Parboiling crabs destroys their flavor; they should be alive to the last moment.

SOFT-SHELLED CRABS, FRIED

Clean the crabs properly, dip them into rolled cracker, and fry them in hot lard salted. They must be dried carefully before frying, or they will not brown well. Serve with any favorite sauce.

TO DRESS A TURTLE

Cut off the head and let it bleed well. Separate the bottom shell from the top with care, for fear of breaking the gall bag. Throw the liver and eggs, if any, into a bowl of water. Slice off all the meat from the under-shell and put in water also; break the shell in pieces, wash carefully and place it in a pot; cover it with water, and add one pound of middling or flitch of bacon with four chopped onions. Set this on the fire to boil. (If preferred, open and clean the chitterlings or intestines also—some use them.) Let this boil gently for four hours; keep the liver to fry. While the under-shell is boiling, wash the top-shell neatly, cut all the meat out, cover it up and set it by. Parboil the fins, clean them perfectly; take off the black skin and throw them into water. Now cut the flesh removed from both shells into small pieces; cut the fins up; sprinkle with salt, cover and set them by. When the pot containing the shells, etc., has boiled four hours, take out the bacon, scrape the shell, clean and strain the liquor, pour back in the pot about one quart, and put the rest by for the soup (Turtle Soup No. 2). Pick out the nice pieces strained out, and put with the fins in the gravy. Add to the meat one bottle of wine, one gill mushroom catsup, one gill of lemon pickle, cloves, nutmeg, salt, pepper, and one pound fresh butter rolled in flour. Stew together; take out the herbs, thicken with flour and put in the shell to bake with a puff paste around it. Trim with eggs.

“GRENOUILLES FRITES,” OR FRIED FROGS

Use only the hind-quarters of the frogs. After washing them in warm water, soak well; then put them into cold vinegar with a little salt, and let them remain one or two hours, after which throw them into scalding water, and remove the skin without tearing the flesh. Wipe them dry, dust flour on them and fry in butter or sweet oil, with plenty of chopped parsley. When brown, dust pepper and a little salt over them, and garnish with crisped parsley. Stewed frogs are seasoned with butter, wine, beaten eggs and parsley chopped fine.

TERRAPIN

Like crabs and lobsters, terrapins are thrown alive into boiling water and let boil till the outer shell and toe-nails can be removed. Then wash and boil them in salted water till the fleshy part of the leg is tender. Put them in a bowl or deep dish, take off the second shell, remove the sand bag and gall bladder, and cut off the spongy part. Cut up the meat, season it with salt, pepper, cayenne and mace, thicken with butter and flour, and cook. Just before serving put in a gill of sherry wine for every terrapin, and pour all over hot buttered toast.