OYSTERS IN SHELLS OR RAMQUIN DISHES.
Cook the oysters and make the sauce the same as for Creamed Oysters. Remove the sauce from the fire, add the oysters and the beaten yolks of two eggs, butter the shells or dishes and fill about two-thirds full. Cover the top with buttered bread crumbs and bake in a hot oven for five minutes, or until the crumbs are brown.
To Butter Crumbs.—Melt one tablespoonful of butter, add to it two tablespoonfuls of crumbs, stir them into the butter.
SCALLOPED OYSTERS.
Wash and pick over the oysters. Butter a baking dish and place in a layer of oysters. Sprinkle them with salt, pepper and bits of butter and a layer of cracker crumbs. Before putting on the top layer of crumbs add three tablespoonfuls of sherry, if liked. Cover the top with buttered crumbs. (Buttered crumbs given in the preceding receipt.) Bake for twenty minutes in a hot oven or try the oysters in the center and see if the edges are curled.
PIGS IN BLANKET.
Season large oysters with salt and pepper an hour before using, then wrap each oyster in a thin slice of bacon and fasten with a wooden toothpick. Cook on a hot spider or frying pan or in the chafing dish until the bacon is brown. Serve on small pieces of buttered toast.
Oysters in Batter.—(See fritter batter.) Select large oysters, clean and dry dip in fritter batter. Fry till brown in hot fat. Drain on soft paper.
CLAMS.
Little Neck Clams are the best for serving raw. Serve the same as raw oysters.
CLAM CHOWDER.
Boil four quarts of clams. Remove from the shells. Remove skin from the head and cut off the end. Strain the liquor. Fry until brown and crisp diamond squares of salt pork and one onion chopped fine. Peal and slice potatoes. Cook until tender. Add to the clam liquor with the pork scraps and onion. Add the clams. Melt two tablespoonfuls of butter. Stir into it two of flour and mix with some of the hot liquor. Then stir all into the chowder. Add one cup of rich milk. Serve with crackers. Canned clams may be used in place of fresh ones.
ROASTED CLAMS.
Roast the same as oysters.
STEAMED CLAMS.
Wash the shells until clean and free from grit. Put them in a kettle without water, cover closely and cook until the shells open. Serve hot in the shells, with melted butter. Serve a small glass of the clam water to each person.
CLAMS IN BATTER.
Cook the same as for steamed clams. Cut off the head (the black tip) and dip in batter; fry in smoking hot fat until brown. (See fritter batter.) The clams may be chopped before adding to the batter if desired.
CLAMS A LA TOURINE.
Twelve clams chopped fine or one small can of minced clams. Loaf of bread. Remove the bread from the crust and soak in milk until soft. Add one tablespoonful of onion chopped fine. One tablespoonful of melted butter. Pepper and salt to taste.
Mix all together. Add clam juice if not moist enough. Bake in shells with buttered crumbs on top.
SCALLOPS.
Wash quickly, dry between cloths, dip in cracker crumbs that have been seasoned with salt and pepper, then in slightly beaten egg that has two tablespoonfuls of water added to it, and in the crumbs again. Place them in a frying basket, immerse it in smoking hot fat for one minute. Drain on brown paper. Serve with tartare sauce.
CRABS.
Crabs are at their best during the months of May, June, July and August. Crabs, like lobsters, shed their shell once a year. When the shell is forming they are soft shell crabs.
SOFT SHELL CRABS.
Soft Shell Crabs should be used only when fresh. Remove the sand bag, gills and intestines. Wash and wipe dry. Roll in cracker crumbs, egg, and crumbs again, immerse in smoking hot lard for two minutes or roll in flour and sauté in hot butter on both sides. Serve with tartare sauce.
BOILED CRABS.
Plunge them head first in hot water (not boiling), then add one tablespoonful of salt; boil for twenty minutes. When cold remove the outside shell and take out the meat carefully.
DEVILED CRABS.
Mince the meat fine and mix with half the amount of white sauce; season with salt, paprica or a little cayenne, teaspoonful chopped parsley, teaspoonful lemon juice, yolk of hard-boiled egg. Replace in the shell, cover with buttered crumbs and brown in a hot oven.
CRAB FLAKES IN TARTAR SAUCE.
Mix the crab flakes with tartar sauce. Serve ice cold in small glasses or in double glasses surrounded by ice as a first course at luncheon or dinner. Serve with it hot toasted crackers.
DEVILED CRABS OR LOBSTER, NEW ORLEANS.
Pick the fish apart in fine pieces. Make a soft paste of fine fresh bread crumbs and thin cream. Add the fish, salt and pepper, bake until brown in shells with finely powdered buttered crumbs on top.
FRIED FROG LEGS.
After being skinned, dip in cracker crumbs seasoned with salt and pepper; then in egg and the crumbs again. Put in a frying basket, immerse in smoking-hot fat for one minute. Drain. Serve with a cream or mushroom sauce or a drawn butter sauce.
DEVILED SHRIMP.
1 pint of shrimp.
1 cup white stock or milk.
4 tablespoonfuls butter.
2 tablespoonfuls flour.
1 teaspoonful mustard.
1/4 teaspoonful cayenne.
1 teaspoonful salt.
1 tablespoonful lemon juice.
Make a sauce by melting the butter, stirring in the flour and seasonings and the milk or stock. When smooth add the minced shrimps. Sprinkle shells or ramquin dishes with buttered crumbs, cut in the shrimp mixture. Cover over with buttered crumbs. Cook from ten to twelve minutes in a hot oven.
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LOBSTERS.
Lobsters are difficult to digest and should only be eaten when fresh. Select a heavy lobster for the size. These will be found to be the most meaty.
TO BOIL A LOBSTER.
Have enough water in a kettle to cover, and before the water gets very hot put in the lobsters. This seems the most merciful way, as it smothers them at once. Add two tablespoonfuls of salt, cover and boil for thirty minutes.
TO OPEN A LOBSTER.
When the lobster is cold, break off the large claws, separate the tail from the body. Remove the small claws. Save the coral and the green liver. Break the tail by pressing the sides together; then open and take out the meat and remove the intestinal canal, which runs the full length. Break off the gills. The gills, stomach and intestines are the only parts not used. Break the body in