Salmon Surprise.—Boil two quarts of potatoes with their jackets on. When done, peel and mash them with butter and warm milk. Arrange a border of potatoes on a flat, oval dish. In the centre of this put a pound of canned or cold salmon separated into neat-sized pieces, salt, pepper, a very little mace, and a teaspoonful of chopped parsley; cover the salmon with a layer of raw oysters; add a little oyster-liquor, cover the oysters with a thin smooth layer of mashed potato, and brush the beaten yolk of egg over all. Then make a small hole in the centre, and place the dish in an oven hot enough to brown the outside quickly.
Salmon à la Créole.—Scald and put three large tomatoes to simmer in very little water, until tender: chop up very fine a sweet Spanish pepper and quarter of an onion; fry these in a little bacon fat; add the tomato, salt, and little white pepper. Simmer until reduced to a pulp. Open a pound can of salmon; set the can in a saucepan half full of hot water, turn the salmon out on a dish. When it is quite hot, pour the pulp over it, and serve. Canned tomatoes may be used instead of fresh tomatoes.
Salmon Pie.—Cut up four boiled potatoes into neat pieces; cut half a pound of boiled salt pork into dice; divide a pound of canned salmon into symmetrical pieces; roll out quarter of a pound of puff-paste, cut it into squares, and roll each of these into a little ball. Arrange these ingredients alternately in a deep yellow dish, season with salt and pepper, add hot water or gravy to prevent burning, cover the top with paste, make a hole in the centre, and bake in a moderate oven.
Salmon in Jelly.—Take one gallon of clear soup, and boil it down to a quart. Soak a teaspoonful of gelatine in cold water, and add to the reduced soup to make sure that it will be stiff when cold.
Take a two-quart tin mould, set it on ice, and pour enough of the liquid in it to cover the bottom. Let this become firm. Cut into slices, and then into diamonds, boiled beets, white turnips, and cold boiled tongue; dip each into the liquid, and place them in the mould in a very neat and artistic manner; when they become firm, spread over them a layer an inch thick, of cream-mashed potato; now add a pound of canned salmon, and pour round the edges and on top the remainder of the reduced soup, and set the mould in a very cold place to become firm. When wanted, dip the mould into hot water quickly, and turn it out. This is an excellent dish for collations, wedding breakfasts, etc. The potato must be made rich with butter and milk, and beaten to a light consistency before being placed in the mould. Any other kind of cold fish will answer quite as well as salmon for this and other dishes herein mentioned.
Salmon Omelet.—Separate half a pound of canned salmon into flakes, season with salt and pepper, a little lemon-juice, and add a little of the liquid; heat it a little, whip up the eggs for an omelet, prepare it as usual, and just before completing the fold add the salmon; then turn it out on a hot dish.
Salmon, German Style.—Boil two quarts of sauerkraut; drain it, and pile it on a hot dish; have ready a pound of canned salmon hot; make a hole in the centre of the kraut, insert the fish, simmer and season the salmon liquid, pour it over the dish, and serve.
Salmon à l’Italienne.—Boil half a pound of macaroni in water slightly salted; drain. Heat a can of salmon in hot water; turn it out on a dish; arrange the macaroni round it; pour over the macaroni the contents of a pound can of tomato-pulp (hot), sprinkle over this a little grated Parmesan cheese, and serve.
Salmon à la Hollandaise.—Heat a pound of canned salmon in the original can; turn it out on a hot dish, garnish neatly, and pour over it the following sauce: Cream two ounces of butter, whisk into it the yolks of two beaten eggs, add a little salt and white pepper, and half a teaspoonful of strong vinegar; put the pan in a larger one containing hot water, whisk it until it thickens, and just before serving add a little lemon-juice.
Salmon, Hunter’s Style.—One of the best dishes I have ever eaten while hunting was prepared as follows: Take three one-pound cans of salmon (save the liquid), and divide into neat pieces; make a dough as for milk biscuits: divide half of it into little balls; take one box of sardines; put a layer of sliced bacon in the bottom of a gallon crock; add a layer of salmon, a few dough balls, two sardines, salt, cayenne. Continue arranging in alternate layers until the ingredients are all used; add a wineglassful of vinegar to the salmon liquid, and if there is not enough add a little water; cover the top with the remainder of the dough, and tie one or two thicknesses of white cloth over all. Dig a hole deep enough to be lined with mud or stones and to receive the crock; build a fire in and over it (the smoke will keep off the mosquitoes). When reduced to coals, scoop out the ashes and coals from the hole, cover the cloth with mud, set the crock in the hole, and cover up with the hot ashes; let it remain three hours, and a more satisfactory dish cannot be imagined.