Pound cold beef, mutton, or veal, a little, then add some fat bacon, that has been lightly fried, cut small, and some onions, a little garlick or shalot, some parsley, anchovy, pepper, salt, and nutmeg. Pound all fine with a few crumbs, and bind it with two or three yelks of eggs.
The heads of the fish are to be left on one side of the split part, and kept on the outer side of the roll; and when served, the heads are to be turned towards each other in the dish.
Garnish with fried or dried parsley.
Soal, Cod, or Turbot Pie: another sort of stuffing.
Boil two pounds of eels tender; pick all the flesh clean from the bones; throw the latter into the liquor the eels were boiled in, with a little mace, salt and parsley, and boil till very good, and come to a quarter of a pint, and strain it. In the mean time cut the flesh of the eels fine, likewise some lemonpeel, parsley, and an anchovy: put to them pepper, salt, nutmeg, and some crumbs. Melt four ounces of butter and mix, then lay it in a dish at the bottom: cut the flesh of two or three soals clean from the bones, and fins; lay it on the forcemeat, and pour the eelbroth in. The bones of the soals should be boiled with those of the eels. You may boil them with one or two little eels, and pour it, well seasoned, on the fish, and put no forcemeat.
An excellent way of dressing a large Plaice, especially if there be a roe.
Sprinkle it with salt, and keep it twenty four hours, then wash and wipe it dry: wet it over with eggs; cover with crumbs of bread; make some lard or fine dripping, and two large spoonfuls of vinegar boiling hot, lay the fish in, and fry it a fine colour. Drain it from the fat, and serve with fried parsley round, and anchovy sauce. You may dip the fish in vinegar, and not put it in the pan.
To fry Smelts.
They should not be washed more than necessary to clean. Dry in a cloth, then lightly flour, but shake it off. Dip them in plenty of egg, then into bread crumbs grated fine, and plunge them into a good pan of boiling lard. Let them continue gently boiling, and a few minutes will make them a bright yellow brown. Take care not to take off the light roughness of the crumbs, or their beauty will be lost.