How to Cook Fish

by Myrtle Reed

Cook four pounds of blackfish in Catawba wine and water to cover, seasoning with parsley and onion, three cloves, salt, and half a dozen pepper-corns. Boil for half an hour, strain the sauce, and thicken with two tablespoonfuls of flour browned in butter. Cook until thick, add two tablespoonfuls of butter and the juice of half a lemon. Strain over the fish and surround with a border of baked tomatoes.

BAKED BLACKFISH—I

Put two cleaned blackfish into a buttered baking-pan with one cupful of Port wine and two cupfuls of water. Add salt, white and red pepper, grated nutmeg, minced parsley, and sweet herbs to season. Dot the fish with butter, cover with buttered paper, and bake for forty-five minutes, basting as required. Take out the fish, strain the sauce, and put it into a saucepan with two cupfuls of stock. Thicken with two tablespoonfuls of butter blended with an equal quantity of flour, and boil for ten minutes. Skim, add two tablespoonfuls each of butter and anchovy paste, and lemon-juice to taste. Reheat, pour over the fish, and serve.

BAKED BLACKFISH—II

Remove the skin and fins from a six-pound fish and place in a baking-pan. Cover with two cupfuls of bread-crumbs moistened with hot water, and seasoned with butter, salt, pepper, sage, summer savory, and sweet marjoram. Bake for an hour and a half and serve with any preferred sauce.

BLACKFISH WITH PORT WINE SAUCE

Put two cleaned blackfish into a pan with one cupful of Port wine, one cupful of water, one cupful of white stock, and salt, pepper, minced parsley, and sweet herbs to season. Cover and simmer for forty minutes. Take out the fish, add two cupfuls of stock to the sauce, thicken with one tablespoonful of butter blended with two of flour, and cook until of the proper consistency. Strain through a cloth, add two tablespoonfuls of butter, and lemon-juice and red pepper to season. Pour over the fish and serve.

TWENTY-SIX WAYS TO COOK BLUEFISH

BAKED BLUEFISH À L'ITALIENNE

Score and scale the bluefish and put it into a buttered pan with three tablespoonfuls each of white wine and mushroom liquor, a tablespoonful of chopped onion, half a dozen chopped mushrooms and salt and pepper to season. Cover with buttered paper and bake for fifteen minutes. Take out the fish and add to the sauce half a teaspoonful of beef extract, dissolved in half a cupful of boiling water. Add a wineglassful of white wine and thicken with one tablespoonful each of butter and browned flour. Pour the sauce over the fish, sprinkle with chopped parsley, and serve.