Clam Toast.—Chop up two dozen small clams into fine pieces; simmer for thirty minutes in hot water enough to cover them. Beat up the yolks of two eggs; add a little cayenne and a gill of warmed milk; dissolve half a teaspoonful of flour in a little cold milk; simmer all together; pour over buttered toast, and serve.
Clam Broth.—Procure three dozen Little-Neck clams in the shell; wash them well in cold water; put them in a saucepan, cover with a quart of hot water; boil fifteen minutes; drain; remove the shells; chop up the clams, and add them to the hot broth with a pat of butter; salt if necessary, and add a little cayenne; boil ten minutes, pour into a soup-tureen, add a slice of toast, and send to table. This is the mode adopted when we do not have a clam-opener in the house.
Raw, freshly opened clams should be chopped fine and prepared in the manner above described. The large clams are better for chowders than for stews and broth.
Clam Fritters.—Chop medium fine twenty-five large quahaugs, or seventy-five Little Necks. To a pint of flour add the beaten yolks of three eggs, half a teaspoonful of salt, a teaspoonful of lemon-juice, a dash of cayenne, and an ounce of melted butter. Mix well, and make a batter by adding about a gill of milk. Add the clams, and if the batter is too thick add a little of the clam broth. To make them light, beat the mixture well; drop spoonfuls in hot fat, and fry brown, as you would doughnuts.
Fried Soft Clams.—Select half a dozen of large Guilford clams. Remove the shells, and trim off the dark tough parts. Cut into dice a quarter of a pound of salt pork, and fry it. In the pork-fat fry the clams, but first dredge them with flour. Serve with a slice of broiled or fried fat pork.
CRABS.
Hard-shell Crabs.—The common blue crab is the species of the crab family which we are most familiar with. We remember how rapidly they darted away from us when we pointed the net towards them, when on our summer vacation. We also have vivid recollections of their anxiety to shake hands with us when in captivity.
Hard crabs are to be had during almost the entire season, and the average price asked for them is $3.00 per hundred. Those found in market in winter were raked out of the mud, where they had buried themselves until the advent of warm weather.
Select a dozen hard crabs, and rinse them well in fresh water. Have ready a kettle two-thirds full of boiling water, slightly salted; plunge them into it, and boil them for about twelve minutes; drain, and when cool put them in the ice-box to become cold.