Chop a middling-sized onion, and put it in a stewpan with 2oz. of butter; fry of a light brown, add a small tablespoonful of flour, stir together, pour over half a pint of milk, season with half a teaspoonful of salt, a quarter of pepper, and an eighth of cayenne, a little sugar, nutmeg, and chopped parsley; boil a few minutes, till rather thick, add the lobster meat, give a boil, add the yolk of an egg, mix quick, fill the shells—egg and bread-crumb, put in an oven for ten minutes, brown on the top with a hot salamander or shovel, and serve.
No. 31.—Lobster Cutlets.
Cut a lobster in dice, letting the flesh weigh about half a pound; when done, put in a pan 2oz. of butter, 2 teaspoonfuls of chopped onions; put all on the fire, fry for a minute or two, add 1 teaspoonful of flour; mix well, stir in for a minute; add half a pint of milk; season with salt, pepper, and one saltspoonful of cayenne, two teaspoonfuls of chopped parsley; let all boil for a minute or two, stirring all the time; add in your lobster, give it a boil; add two yolks of eggs; mix quick, put on a dish to cool. When quite cool and firm, divide in six parts, giving each the shape of a small cutlet; egg and breadcrumb twice. Put a piece of the very small claw to the end of each cutlet, so as to form a bone; fry for a few minutes, like you would a sole, in plenty of fat; lay on a cloth, and serve on a napkin, with plenty of fried parsley; you may adopt any shape you choose, if cutlets are too troublesome, as you would a croquette. No sauce is requisite.
The lobsters for the two preceding receipts may be prepared, shaped, and bread-crumbed hours before wanted.
No. 32.—Crabs au Gratin in the Shell.
Have the crab prepared as for plain, lay in the empty shell a layer of the soft part, then a layer of American crackers or biscuit, grated, then add the fleshy part of the crab over, on which pour a tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup, cover it with slices of cold, hard eggs, cut crosswise; season with a little salt, pepper, and cayenne; cover all with the remainder of the soft part of the crab, make it even with a knife; egg, and breadcrumb over, or more grated biscuit; put a few nuts of butter on the top, set in an oven for twenty minutes or half an hour, and serve very hot.
No. 33.—Stewed Oysters on Toast.
Open a dozen of oysters, put them in a small stew-pan, add to them two grains of black pepper, a little salt, butter, cayenne, and sugar; set on the stove for a few minutes until set—say three or four minutes; having only given them a slight boil, put in a piece of butter as big as a walnut, which you have mixed with half a teaspoonful of flour, shake the stew-pan round by the handle, to melt the contents, put it back on the fire just to simmer, and serve on toast. A drop of cream is an improvement. If not enough liquor add a drop of milk.
Over-stewed oysters are as bad as over-cooked kidneys. For a large quantity, proceed the same. The only thing to be observed is, that the oysters are properly set before serving, they being neither raw nor overdone.
No. 34.—Oysters stewed American Fashion.