—Have three dozen fine, large, fresh box oysters opened into a bowl; thoroughly drain their liquor off, and then place them in a sautoire on the fire with half an ounce of good butter. Season with a saltspoonful of cayenne pepper, and then cook them as rapidly as you possibly can for ten minutes. Pour in two tablespoonfuls of good Madeira wine or sherry. Beat up in a bowl the yolks of three fresh raw eggs with half a pint of sweet cream, then add it to the oysters, and continually shuffle the sautoire until reaching boiling-point, then transfer them in a chafing-dish or hot soup tureen, sprinkle a tablespoonful of good Madeira wine or sherry over all, tightly cover, and send to the table.
1446. Oysters Scalloped à la Baltimore.
—Have three dozen good-sized, fine freshly opened box oysters, put them in a bowl. Season with a saltspoonful of cayenne pepper, and entirely suppress their liquor, seeing that they are almost dry. Have six small silver scallop-shells, lightly butter the interior of each, then evenly spread a tablespoonful of fresh bread-crumbs in each shell, gently lay six oysters in each shell over the crumbs, and then sprinkle a tablespoonful of bread-crumbs on the oysters in each shell; place half a teaspoonful of good butter in the centre of each shell; place them in a very hot oven to bake for fully fifteen minutes, or until they have obtained a good golden color. Remove them from the oven. Dress the six shells on a hot serving-dish, with a folded napkin, and send to the table.
1447. Soft Clams en Brochette à la A. P. Montant.
—Have twenty-four fine freshly opened soft clams, neatly clean them, then place them in a saucepan with their own liquor. Season with a teaspoonful of pepper only; place the pan on the fire and let them just come to a boil. Remove from the fire; let them cool for one minute.
Take six silver skewers; run a skewer through a clam right in the centre, then run the skewer through a small square piece of raw bacon, then another clam, a piece of bacon, and so on until you have four clams and four pieces of bacon alternately on each skewer. Then gently sprinkle them with fresh bread-crumbs, place them on the broiler, and broil for one and a half minutes on each side, remove from off the fire, dress the six skewers on a hot serving-dish, pour half a gill of maître d’hôtel ([No. 145]) over them; decorate the dish with six pieces of lemon cut in quarters and a few parsley-greens, and serve hot.
1448. Terrapin à la Robert Bonner.
—Have two fine diamond-back terrapin prepared the same as in [No. 60]. Suppress the claws as well as the galls, then cut them into very small even pieces.
Have a well-cleaned chafing-dish, light the jets of the alcohol lamp, pour into the water pan sufficient boiling water to fill it up to half its height. Arrange the dish over the water pan, place in the dish half an ounce of very good fresh butter, and then put in the terrapin also. Season with a tablespoonful of salt and half a saltspoonful of cayenne pepper, moisten with a gill of very good Madeira wine (the older the better), tightly place the cover of the chafing-dish on, and then reduce the wine to one-half, which will take fifteen minutes, without disturbing it.
Beat up, in a bowl, the yolks of four fresh eggs with half a pint of sweet cream. Remove the cover from the chafing-dish, then pour in the beaten-up eggs and cream, gently shuffle the dish, so as to mix all well together, arrange the cover on again, and let gently simmer for twenty-five minutes longer, gently shuffling the dish containing the terrapin every five minutes. Extinguish the light of the lamp and send to the table.