1 crab; 1 good-sized onion; 1/2 can of tomatoes; 1 Chili pepper or pinch of cayenne; butter the size of a walnut; 2 tablespoonfuls of water; 1/2 cup of cream; salt and pepper, and 1 tablespoonful of corn starch. Shred up crab, not too fine, cut up onion and chili pepper and put in a pan with the 2 tablespoonfuls of water. Boil briskly fifteen minutes; then add 1/2 can of tomatoes. Boil ten minutes, or until soft. Strain, put juice back on fire. Add the butter, pepper and salt, and thicken with 1 tablespoonful of corn starch. Add crab and cream. When all is hot, serve with toast.
Canapie Lorenzo.
One-third New York cheese, one-third dessicated soft-shell crab, one-sixth green peppers chopped very fine. Make in patés about the size of a hand and bake brown.
Crab Cutlets.
Pick up the meat of 2 crabs, seasoning with salt, pepper, a pinch of mustard and a good tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce. Put in a saucepan a piece of butter twice the size of an egg; when melted stir in 2 tablespoons of flour, and add a cup of rich cream, stirring constantly. Mix in the prepared crab and set aside to cool. Then mould into cutlets, which you roll in egg and bread crumbs. Stick the claws you have saved into the cutlets, and fry. Serve with or without parsley and slices of lime.
Shrimp Stew.
Slice 3 onions and 3 tomatoes, and fry till well done. Rub together 1 tablespoonful flour and a piece of butter, egg-size. Add red pepper, salt and 1 cup of cream. Put this in saucepan, with onions and 1 pint of shrimps. Cook ten minutes, and serve on toast.
Terrapin Stew.
Boil according to size thirty or forty minutes, so that the upper shell will separate from the lower easily. Take "gall-bag" from liver, which is always found on the right lobe. Avoid breaking, as it will give a bitter taste and spoil the dish. Strip the skin from the claws, cut off the nails and skin the head. Throw nothing away but the "gall-bag." Cut all into small pieces; stew slowly in sherry wine closely covered, with a goodly supply of butter and red pepper, for one hour and a half. Salt to taste. If they have no eggs in them, add 2 or 3 eggs, hard-boiled, for each terrapin and the juice of 1 lemon, skinning another to lay on top. When about to take from the fire, thicken with a little flour. Serve on hot toast, well-buttered, over which sprinkle a finely chopped egg.