Take equal quantities of cold mashed potatoes and cold cooked fish. Mix very thoroughly with two ounces of butter melted in two tablespoonfuls of milk to each pound of fish and potato, a saltspoonful of salt, half as much pepper, a pinch of dry mustard, and two hard-boiled eggs cut very small. Thoroughly grease a paper bag, put in the mixture, place in a hot oven, and cook for ten minutes.
RUSSIAN FISH PIE.
Roll out a short crust paste, made by rubbing three ounces of vegetable lard into 1/2 lb. of self-raising flour, and adding a well-beaten egg. Lay on this paste a thick layer of cooked rice; upon that put a layer of cooked fish, freed from skin and bone and pulled into flakes; upon that lay slices of hard-boiled egg, and another layer of rice. Season highly with cayenne pepper, salt, and a little grated nutmeg or ground mace. Just moisten with thick white sauce, nicely flavoured with a few drops of lemon juice, and cover with pastry, pinching the edges well together. Slip carefully into a thoroughly greased bag, and bake in a hot oven for fifteen minutes. This is extremely delicious.
FISH SAVOURY.
This is an original recipe, and is a very great favourite with most people. It requires special care and attention in making, but well repays the cook for any slight trouble it may cause her. It is also a capital way of using up cold fish and stale bread. Soak in cold water a little stale bread for an hour or two. Then drain and press very dry, beat up very thoroughly with a fork; season nicely with pepper, paprika if possible, salt, a very little ground mace or the zest of a lemon. Add cold fish, freed from skin and bone, and a well beaten egg. Mix all very thoroughly; have ready some ripe but firm tomatoes, cut off the tops, and scoop out the seeds and pulp. Fill the tomatoes with the fish mixture. Beat up some cooked rice with the pulp taken from the tomatoes, till it is a pretty red colour. Spread this coloured rice thickly on a very well greased paper bag, keeping the opening as wide as possible to admit the stuffed tomatoes, which must be embedded in the rice at equal distances. Bits of butter are put on the tops of each, the opening of the bag closed, and the bag very carefully slid into the oven and cooked for twenty minutes. Great care must be exercised in dishing up to preserve the appearance and shape of the dish. It is slid cautiously on to a hot dish, the bag slit and removed as dexterously as possible without disturbing the rice. If this is carefully done, the result will be a pretty as well as a remarkably savoury and appetising dish.
TINNED FISH.
The usual method of serving tinned salmon or lobster is to put it on a dish just as it is, though perhaps some more ambitious housewife may go the length of surrounding it with parsley, or even handing some salad with it. This is not very appetising; but as the fish is already cooked, it is difficult to warm it up without extracting all the flavour and nourishment left in it. Also, whether fried or baked or warmed up in the tin, it falls to pieces and presents a forlorn and unsightly appearance most untempting.
Now here is the chance of paper-bag cookery.
TO WARM UP TINNED SALMON.
Open the tin carefully, and drain off all the liquor. If it is in one firm solid piece, it will be best treated as salmon cutlet. Dust it lightly with pepper and salt, squeeze a little lemon juice over it, put it into a well buttered bag, fasten up very securely, and cook for six minutes in a very hot oven. Slide on to a very hot dish, dexterously remove the paper, and serve with white sauce. In appearance and flavour, it will be equal to fresh salmon. If the contents of the tin are in several pieces, however, it will be best to turn them into:—