Take about one and a half pounds of crimped skate. Have ready in an enamelled frying pan about two ounces of butter made hot and a tablespoonful of vinegar. Put it over the fire and let it slightly burn. Fry the skate in it for twenty minutes and then serve on a hot dish with a few slices of lemon laid round it.
118. Pickled Herrings or Mackerel
Have eight fresh herrings or four large mackerel cleaned and remove the heads. Lay not very closely together with the backs upwards in a pie-dish. Fill the dish with vinegar and a few peppercorns, a little salt, an onion (sliced), and a piece of butter about the size of a walnut. Bake in a moderately quick oven for about one and a half hours. Serve in a glass dish and strain the vinegar over them.
119. Herrings in Paper
Have ready cleaned and beheaded say six herrings with soft roes if possible. Lay six pieces of paper (buttered) on the hot shelf of the oven to melt the butter, then wrap each fish in a piece of paper. Have ready about a quarter of a pound of tub lard melted in an enamelled frying pan and lay the fish in the papers in the boiling fat. The fire must not be too fierce. Fry for about twenty or twenty-five minutes over a brisk fire. Dish up and serve in the papers.
120. Red Mullet
Take for four persons two good-sized mullets. (Remove the head if desired; never split them open.) Have a deep enamelled frying pan ready. Put into it three ounces of butter, four or five wafer-thin slices of onion, two tablespoonfuls of bottled tomato sauce or catsup. Bring to a boil and lay the fish gently in the hot pan. Keep the butter boiling lightly round the fish. Baste frequently with a large spoon; then carefully turn the fish, taking care not to tear the skin (thus spoiling the appearance). Generally it will take from thirty to forty minutes to cook the fish through. This can be easily ascertained by passing the blade of a fine knife gently through the fish by the side of the bone. Have a little more butter and tomato catsup melted together in a basin. Place the fish on a hot dish and pour the melted butter and tomato sauce you have ready over the fish and serve very hot. It should never be allowed to brown, so as to retain its pretty red colour.
FOWLS AND GAME BIRDS
Roasting and Between Boiling