FISH PUDDING
- 1 pound or pint boiled halibut.
- ½ cupful of cream or milk.
- 1½ tablespoonfuls of butter.
- ½ tablespoonful of flour.
- 1½ teaspoonfuls salt.
- ¼ teaspoonful pepper.
- ½ teaspoonful onion juice.
- 2 eggs.
Pound the fish in a mortar until it is thoroughly mashed, then rub it through a purée sieve; season the fish pulp with salt, pepper, and onion juice. Put the butter into a saucepan when melted, add the flour, and cook for a few minutes, then add slowly the cream or milk, stirring constantly until well scalded; then add the fish pulp, take from the fire, add the beaten eggs, and mix thoroughly.
Butter well a border or ring mold holding a pint or little more; put in the mixture, pressing it well against the sides to remove any air bubbles. Cover the mold with a greased paper, and set in a pan of warm water covering one half the mold. Place in moderate oven for thirty minutes, and do not let the water boil. Place the form of fish on a hot dish, fill the center with boiled potato balls (see page [203]), pour over the potato balls some Béchamel or some white sauce, sprinkle chopped parsley over the top. Serve with the fish a generous amount of Béchamel or of white sauce. This is a very good dish.
FISH TIMBALE
Cut one pound of very fresh white uncooked fish into small pieces, put it in a mortar, and pound until the fiber is well separated from the meat, then press it through a purée sieve. To every cupful of fish pulp add one tablespoonful of bread crumbs soaked in milk or cream until soft and then pressed through a sieve; add also the beaten yolk of one egg, ten drops of onion juice, one teaspoonful of salt, one quarter teaspoonful of pepper, and a dash of nutmeg. Beat all well together and for some time, to make it light; then for every cupful of pulp beat in lightly the whites of two eggs whipped very stiff. Put the mixture into a well buttered mold, filling it only three quarters full, set it into a pan of warm water, covering three quarters of the mold, cover the mold with a greased paper, and place in a moderate oven for twenty minutes. Do not let the water boil. Turn the timbale on to a hot dish, and pour around, but not over it, a Béchamel or a tomato sauce. This is a very delicate fish dish, and is particularly good when made of shad.
FISH DISH FOR A PINK LUNCHEON
Cut halibut or any firm white fish into cutlets three quarters of an inch thick, two inches wide, and three inches long. Dredge with salt, pepper, and paprica. Lay them in a pan so they do not touch, cover with salted water, cover the pan, and let them steam in the oven for ten or fifteen minutes until cooked, but remove while they are still firm enough to retain shape. Pound the trimmings of the fish in a mortar, pass it through a sieve, and to one half cupful of the fish pulp add a thickening made as follows: put a dessert-spoonful of butter in a saucepan on the fire; when it is melted add a dessert-spoonful of flour, cook for a minute without coloring, add three tablespoonfuls of cream or milk, a quarter teaspoonful of salt and a dash of pepper, remove it from the fire. Stir in the half cupful of fish pulp and one beaten egg; color it a delicate pink with a few drops of cochineal, beat the whole until light, and spread the cutlets of fish with this mixture one quarter inch thick; smooth it carefully on top and sides with a wet knife. Place the pieces in a pan, cover, set it into another pan containing hot water, and let steam in the oven for ten or fifteen minutes. Range the pieces standing on end around a socle of rice or hominy (see page [326]); mask the top of the socle with prawns, or with parsley, or with water cresses, and a few pink roses or pink carnations. Serve with Hollandaise sauce, colored green or pink.
The pink cutlets may be garnished with capers, or with a thin slice of pickle cut into fancy shape with cutter.
