Lift the projecting “wings” of the upper shell, and cut or pull off the “feathers” you will find under them. Next trim off the tail, or flap, or “apron,” a round piece of softer shell on the under side of the upper.
Wash quickly and cook without delay lest they die on your hands.
Wash with butter, sprinkle with salt and cayenne pepper, lay within a reversible wire broiler, and cook over clear coals ten minutes, turning twice to broil both sides.
Serve upon thin slices of buttered toast.
Fried soft-shell crabs
Prepare as directed in preceding recipe, sprinkle with cayenne and salt, roll in beaten egg, then in fine crumbs, again in egg, and once more in crumbs and fry in deep, hot fat.
Garnish with water-cress, and pass sliced lemon with them.
Lobster broiled in the shell
Kill the lobster by cutting the tail off with one stroke of the knife, just where it joins the body. With another clean cut divide him lengthwise into two equal parts, shell and all. Take out the coral, the one long intestine and the stomach. Crack the claws with a hammer. Put within a buttered broiler, split side downward, and broil over a fierce fire. As soon as the juice begins to run freely withdraw long enough to wash liberally with melted butter, and return to the fire, turning often to keep in the juices. Cook about ten minutes on the split or flesh side, and eight upon the other.
Have ready a sauce made by rubbing two tablespoonfuls of butter to a cream with lemon juice and finely-minced parsley, adding a little cayenne, and wash the lobster with this while hissing hot. Serve half a lobster to each guest, with oyster forks for extracting the meat.