Soak bread in cold water, till soft, then squeeze out all the water, mash it and mix it with a piece of butter, of the size of a hen's egg, a little salt, pepper, cloves, and mace, a couple of raw eggs, makes the dressing cut smoother. Fill the fish with this dressing, and sew it up. Put a tea cup of water in a bake pan, and a small piece of butter, lay in the fish; bake it about an hour. Fresh cod, bass, and shad, are suitable fish for baking.
[72.] Salt Cod,
Should be soaked in lukewarm water, till the skin will come off easily. Scrape it, and change the water, and put it over a moderate fire, where it will keep warm without boiling, boiling hardens rather than softens it. It takes three hours to soak it soft. It should be cut into good square pieces, and served up with drawn butter. Cold codfish is good, minced up fine, with potatoes, and warmed up with butter, and a little water.
[73.] Fish Cakes.
Cold, boiled, salt, or fresh fish, are nice mixed up fine, with potatoes, a little butter put in, and moulded up, into small cakes, with the hand, fry them in pork fat, or butter.
[74.] Lobsters and Crabs.
Put them into boiling water, and boil them three quarters of an hour, if large, if not, half an hour will be long enough. Boil two thirds of a tea cup of salt, with four or five pounds of lobsters. When cold crack the shells, take out the meat. Be careful to get out the blue vein, and what is called the lady, as they are very unhealthy.
Lobsters are good cold, or warmed up, with a little vinegar, pepper, salt, and butter. A way of dressing them, which looks very prettily, is to pick out the spawn, and red chord, mash it fine, and rub it through the sieve, put in a little butter and salt, cut the lobsters into small squares, and warm it together with the spawn, over a moderate fire. When hot take it up, and garnish it with parsly. The chord and spawn when strained, are a handsome garnish for any kind of boiled fish.