No. 157. Crabs a la Creole.—Put into saucepan, one oz. of butter, one onion chopped fine, and a little water, season with salt, cayenne and mace; simmer for fifteen minutes, add half a pint strained tomato pulp, a gill of chicken broth and a little celery salt. Cut six soft-shelled crabs in halves, removing the spongy parts and put them into the sauce; simmer eight minutes and serve.
No. 158. Farcied Crabs.—Remove meat from four dozen boiled, hard-shell crabs and chop fine. Put in a saucepan one chopped onion and one oz. butter, when beginning to color slightly add one dozen chopped mushrooms and four oz. bread crumbs, which have been previously soaked in consomme ([No. 14]) and then press nearly dry, add salt, pepper, cayenne and half a gill tomato ketchup. Mix all well together while heating and cook five minutes. Clean the crab shells, fill with the mixture, cover with crumbs and a little butter, brown in oven a light color. Lobster may be served in the same way.
No. 159. Crab Saute.—Soft-shell crabs cut in two and all objectionable matter removed may be sauted in butter or salad oil, with a seasoning to suit. Canned crab meat may be served in the same way.
No. 160. Crab Toast.—Put one pint boiled crab meat in saucepan, with melted butter, one teaspoon chopped celery, a pinch of flour, a gill of cream, salt and pepper to taste; simmer until reduced to suitable consistency for spreading on thin slices of toast; garnish with a few oyster crabs on each slice. A dash of sherry is an improvement. Lobster toast may be made in same way.
No. 161. Crab Bisque.—Boil four hard-shelled crabs in salted water for fifteen minutes, wash and drain and pound in a mortar; add one quart of white broth, one bouquet of herbs, tablespoon of rice, salt and pepper and boil three-quarters of an hour; strain through a fine sieve, add one cup of cream, heat without boiling, and serve with small squares of fried bread.
No. 162. Lobster Bisque may be made same as crab, using canned lobster meat, if more convenient.
No. 163. Oyster Crabs.—These may be had of leading grocers. Heat them in melted butter for a moment only, stir carefully to keep them from sticking. Butter split crackers, toast and butter them and serve the crabs on them.
No. 164. Crab Soup, Stuffed Crab and other dishes may be prepared same as lobster.
No. 165. Lobsters.—Lobsters are in our markets the year round, but are in best condition during the late summer and early autumn months. Canned lobsters may be used in many made dishes. The ordinary cook book contains all needed information about boiling and opening them; hence, for want of space, we omit any directions of that kind, for it is the purpose of this book to supply information not to be found in the ordinary cook book.
No. 166. Boiled Lobster.—Hot. (To open and serve.) Plain lobster is usually served cold, but it is delicious served hot, although it does not present a very attractive appearance when served in this way, for to have it good and hot it must be served in the shells. Break off the claws and crack them; separate the tail part from the body, and if too large to serve in one piece, cut the tail parts in pieces crosswise, and split the body, removing the lady; then the body may be quartered, but without removing from the shell. In this way each piece can be served in the shell in a way that will admit of opening with a knife and fork. Serve with plain drawn butter only. Seasoning to taste.