For Indian Lobster Cutlets, see Chapter of [Foreign Cookery].
LOBSTER SAUSAGES.
Let the fish be pounded as for the cutlets above or for boudinettes, but mix half or more of the coral with the flesh of the lobsters; shape it like small sausages, sprinkle them with the powdered coral, and heat them through in a Dutch or American oven. They may be brushed with clarified butter before the coral is strewed over them, but they scarcely need it. A fierce degree of heat will destroy the excellence of all these preparations.
BOUDINETTES OF LOBSTERS, PRAWNS, OR SHRIMPS. (ENTRÉE).
(Author’s Receipt.)
When the fish has been prepared as above, mould it in as many very small round cups as will suffice for a dish; heat them gently through at the mouth of the oven or before the fire, and serve them dry, or with a little rich white sauce, coloured with lobster-coral poured round, but not upon them. These boudinettes are delicious, made entirely of shrimps or prawns, which it is an advantage to have prepared as follows, either for this purpose or for potting simply, as they will then be firmer, and will also remain good much longer:—Shell them quickly, and touch them as little as possible in the process; put them into an enamelled saucepan with about three ounces of butter to the quart, and strew the spice upon them; place them by the side of a gentle fire that they may heat through very gradually, and shake the saucepan round occasionally to mingle the seasoning equally with them. Do not allow them to boil, as that would render them tough, but when they are heated quite through and the butter approaches the point of simmering, draw them from the fire; let them remain for a few minutes in the saucepan, then lay them very evenly and closely into the pans and pour the butter on them; but let it be clear from sediment, or from any liquid which may be perceptible at the bottom of the saucepan. When merely required for boudinettes, the fish may be turned into a large pan or basin and left until thoroughly cold, then chopped small upon a dish with the butter in which they are imbedded, and pounded as usual; no additional butter will be required for them, and part of that in which they have been heated may be set aside for fish-sauce when the proportion of it directed here is considered too large. As it should cover the shrimps entirely when they are potted whole, sufficient to do so should be melted with them. It is an excellent plan to dissolve it in a separate saucepan, to skim it well, and after it has stood to become clear, to pour it gently over the shrimps, leaving all the buttermilk behind. They should not be placed immediately by the fire, or they will heat too quickly: they should be set away from it until the butter has cooled upon them. If carefully prepared, and agreeably seasoned, they will be excellent, and can be sent to a great distance without detriment if packed so as to be kept cool. The red shrimps may be substituted for the brown, when they can be more easily procured.
Obs.—Lobsters and shrimps, or prawns, in equal proportions, answer extremely well for boudinettes as for potting.
TO BOIL SHRIMPS OR PRAWNS.
Throw them into plenty of fast boiling water, to which salt has been added in the proportion of from five to six ounces to the gallon; take off all the scum, boil the shrimps for five or six minutes, or rather less should they be very small, and the prawns for about two minutes longer. The shrimpers[[52]] of the coast frequently cook them in sea-water, but the flavour is not then so agreeable as when fresh brine is used for them. They are always unwholesome when not sufficiently boiled; and even more so when they are stale. As soon as they are tender, drain them well in a cullender, and spread them out on a soft cloth to cool; or dish them on a napkin, and send them hot to table when they are liked so. The large brown shrimps are considered the best, and they are more easily shelled than the red ones: these last, however, are sometimes preferred to them. Prawns, though superior to shrimps only in size, are always much higher in price.
[52]. Or pandlers, as they are often called.