Standard Paper-Bag Cookery

by Emma Paddock Telford

CHAPTER VI.

SHELL FISH.

Fish and the paper bag method of cooking, go hand and glove. The thing that every housewife hates most, particularly in a small apartment, or in the Winter when it is difficult to get the house thoroughly aired, is the pervasive odor that announces to every one in the house or block just what you are going to have for dinner. Bagged, the odor is so minimized as to be entirely inoffensive. Ten minutes airing after the bag is opened will be quite sufficient to dissipate every particle of odor. Furthermore, the fish itself is much more delicate and digestible with all the flavor of fish and seasoning held in and united in a harmonious whole. Of course, this presupposes a fresh fish to start with, or one just out of cold storage, before it has had a chance to thaw and develope ptomaines. In buying fish, look at the eyes and flesh. Fish should be firm to the touch. If pressed by the finger the flesh should rise instantly. There should be no impression left. If fish is fresh the eyes are bright and the gills red and the scales not easily rubbed off. Never lay fish directly on artificial ice, say the fishermen, as the ammonia used in the freezing affects them injuriously. Shell fish are not so apt to spoil as the other fish.

The wood cookery dishes will be found of great value in cooking all kinds of fish in paper bags. In many cases the flavor of the fish is improved and the fish can always be taken from the bag with ease and served whole if desired.

Clam Pies.—Line little tins or moulds with paste and put in a layer of raw clams with a seasoning of butter and pepper. Dredge with flour, add a spoonful or two of clam juice, cover with the paste, cut a hole in the top, brush with beaten egg, slip into the bag, fasten and bake twenty minutes.

Roast Clams.—Scrub the shells clean and slip in the bag. As soon as the shells open, remove carefully and pour off the extra liquor in as many small cups as you have persons to serve. Put a cup of the juice to which a bit of butter and dusting of pepper has been added, in the center of a soup dish, and arrange the clams around it. With an oyster fork, the clams may then be removed from the shell, dipped into the liquor and eaten. Serve very hot with quarters of lemon.

Crabs, Soft and Hard.—While soft shell crabs are too expensive for the purse of moderate depth, the hard shell crustacean is always in order and greatly to be desired. Crabs, like all other shell fish, are best when fresh from their native waters, and the individual who can do his own crabbing and then eat the fruits of his labor with the flavor of the sea still with them, has nothing more to be desired from a gastronomic standpoint. In most markets crabs may be found both alive and boiled. If alive, keep them in cold water until ready to cook. If already boiled, use them as soon as possible as they do not keep well for more than twenty-four hours. When ready to cook live crabs, take up on a skimmer, handling gingerly so as to avoid a pinch, and drop into a large kettle of boiling salted water. Cook gently fifteen minutes, or until a bright red, skim out, and cool, twist off the claws, remove the upper shell from the under, scrape the spongy portions from the sides, remove the green portion and wash free from sand. Crack the large claws and remove the meat. If you are to serve the crab meat in the shells, wash and dry as many of the upper ones as desired. These preliminaries attended to, the crabs are ready to use, in any one of a dozen different ways.

Creamed Crabs.—Remove the meat from a half dozen hard-shelled crabs. Cook two tablespoonfuls of butter and a tablespoonful of finely chopped onion until yellow, add two tablespoonfuls of flour, and pour in gradually a cup of cream. As soon as blended and smooth, add the crab meat, salt and paprika to season, a tiny grating of nutmeg and a tablespoonful of sherry wine. Spread on slices of toast, grate a little cheese on top, put into a bag, seal, set in the oven a moment to heat through, then serve.

Crabs Deviled à la William Penn.—Boil hard-shelled crabs, then remove the under part without breaking the upper shell. Take out the crab meat, add about half the quantity of bread crumbs and some chopped hard boiled eggs, with salt, cayenne and lemon juice to season. Form into a paste with a little melted butter and fill the shells. Sift buttered crumbs over the top, slip in the bag and cook ten minutes in a hot oven.

Crab Meat au Gratin.—Mix the meat from six crabs with a third the amount finely chopped, sweet, green peppers. Add the yolks of two eggs beaten with a half cup cream and a little sherry, and toss in a saucepan until hot and creamy. Put the mixture into the cleaned crab shells or the little brown ramequins, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and fine crumbs; put in bag and crisp in a hot oven.