OYSTERS ON A CHAFING-DISH
Put into the chafing-dish four or five tablespoonfuls of the oyster liquor; add salt, white pepper, and a tablespoonful of butter, and stir till it is scalding hot. Drop the oysters in, a dozen at a time, and cook till they are plump and tender; then skim out and place on slices of hot buttered toast; add more oysters as required.
PILAU
One half pint of rice; one pint of stock; one half can of tomato. Soak the rice in cold water for an hour. Pour off the water, and put the rice, with the stock and one quarter of a white onion, in a double boiler. Stew till the rice absorbs the stock.
Stew the tomato thoroughly, and season with butter, salt, and pepper. Mix it with the rice.
Sauté in butter to a light color jointed chicken, slightly parboiled, or slices of cold cooked chicken or turkey. Make a hole in the rice and tomato, put in the chicken and an ounce of butter, and stew all together for twenty minutes. Serve on a platter in a smooth mound, the red rice surrounding the fowl.
SPICED SHAD
Scale the fish, cut off the heads and tails, and divide them into four pieces.
Chop four or five small onions, and sprinkle a layer on the bottom of a stone jar; on this place a layer of fish, packing closely. Spice with black and cayenne pepper, cloves, allspice, whole peppers, and a little more onion. Then add another layer of fish, and so on till the jar is full. Arrange the roe on top, spice highly, and fill the jar with the strongest vinegar procurable. Place thick folds of paper on the jar under the cover, and bake for twelve hours. The vinegar will dissolve the bones, and the fish can be sliced for a tea-table relish.