Beat up the yolk of one egg with a gill of cream containing half a teaspoonful of flour rubbed free from lumps; whisk this gently into the warm butter; keep it quite warm until it thickens, but do not boil, or it will curdle. Pour it over the shad roes, strew over the top a trifle of chopped parsley, and serve.
Broiled Royans.—These delicate little fish are excellent as whet at dinner-parties, and may be served au naturel, or broiled, or served on toast. Procure them from the nearest grocer, open the can carefully to prevent breaking the fish, remove the skin, and broil them over a slow fire; arrange them on toast, squeeze a little lemon-juice over them, and serve.
Broiled Sardines.—When neatly prepared, this forms an excellent breakfast or luncheon dish.
Remove the sardines from the can without breaking them; scrape off the skin, place them between double wire broilers, and broil to a delicate brown; arrange neatly in a hot dish, squeeze a little lemon-juice over them, and serve. Orange-juice is very nice with the above dish.
Broiled Smelts, Sauce Tartare.—Thoroughly clean half a dozen smelts, split them in two, place them on a double wire broiler, and broil. Send to table with sauce tartare, which is made as follows: Chop together a few sprigs of parsley, six capers, one small pickle, a piece of onion as large as a bean. Add these to half a pint of mayonnaise, mix, and add a teaspoonful of French mustard, mix again, and serve.
Smelts Fried, Sauce Tartare.—Clean six small smelts, leave on the heads, dip them in beaten egg, roll them in fine cracker-dust, and fry in very hot fat. Serve with sauce tartare.
Broiled Whitefish.—The whitefish is one of the best of summer fish, but does not stand long transportation very well. See that the flesh is firm, and free from flabbiness. Cut the fish in two lengthwise, remove the backbone, divide each piece in two; brush over it a little sweet butter or olive-oil, and broil over a moderate fire for ten minutes. Place it in a hot dish, squeeze the juice of a lemon over it, add salt and pepper and a tablespoonful of melted butter. Garnish with tufts of parsley and thin slices of lemon, and serve.
Sheeps-head with Drawn Butter.—The Englishman who wrote the extraordinary statement that sheeps-head sometimes sold for “four or five pounds sterling in New York” may be pleased to learn that the price for this excellent fish is fifteen to eighteen cents per pound on an average, and that the best mode of preparing it for table is to boil or steam it, although broiled sheeps-head is very good.
Procure a medium-sized fish, clean it thoroughly, and rub a little salt over it; wrap it in a cloth, and put it in a steamer; place this over a pot of fast boiling water, and steam one hour; then lay it whole upon a hot side-dish, garnish with tufts of parsley and slices of lemon, and serve with drawn butter prepared as follows:—
Drawn Butter.—Take four ounces of butter, and roll it into small balls; dredge these with flour; put one-fourth of them in a saucepan, and as they begin to melt whisk them; add the remainder, one at a time, until thoroughly smooth; while stirring add a tablespoonful of lemon-juice and half a teaspoonful of chopped parsley; pour into a hot sauce-boat, and serve.