535. Crimped Skate, A La Pascaline

Turn the pieces of skate round in the usual manner, boil, drain, and dish them up; then pour over the fish a well-seasoned sauce a la Pascaline (No. 15) made rather piquante; garnish round with glazed croutons of fried bread, on which should be placed a neatly-trimmed piece of the liver, and send to table.

536. Skate, A La Royale

Boil the skate till it is half done, drain it, and after allowing it to cool, cut it into pieces about two inches long, place these in a basin and marinade them in oil, vinegar, pepper, and salt. Twenty minutes before dinner, drain the pieces of skate on a napkin, and then having first dipped each piece separately in some frying batter prepared for the purpose, fry them of a fine color in plenty of hogs'-lard, heated for the purpose ; dish the skate up in a pyramidal form, sauce round with Ravigotte or Poivrade sauce, garnish the dish with alternate groups of fried parsley and pieces of the liver, and serve.

537. Whitebait

This very delicious fish is in season during the months of June, July, and August: it is then eaten in the greatest perfection at Greenwich and Blackwall. Owing to the extreme delicacy of this fish, and its very fragile nature, it cannot be conveyed any distance during the season, without injuring its quality, neither can it be kept many hours after it has been taken.

The following is the best method of preparing whitebait for the table.

Drain the fish on a clean napkin, thoroughly absorbing all the water; then roll them in flour, and afterward drop them into some heated frying fat: as soon as they become crisp, drain them on a sieve, and after drying them for a minute or two before the fire, sprinkle on them a little salt, dish them on a napkin, and.send to table accompanied by plates of white and brown bread and butter, and quarters of lemon, - to be handed round, with cayenne pepper.

538. Scolloped Oysters. Open A Sufficient Quantity Of Oysters For The Purpose, And Put Them

in a stewpan on the fire to blanch or parboil; after boiling for a few minutes, drain them on a sieve, reserving their liquor to make the sauce with ; immerse the oysters in cold water so as to wash off any scum or surf that may adhere to them ; take away the beard and gristly substance, and place the oysters thus prepared on a plate, while the sauce is being made in manner following: Into a small stewpan put two ounces of fresh butter, one tablespoonful of flour, a very little pepper, and salt; with a wooden spoon mix the whole thoroughly, moisten with the oyster liquor and half a pint of cream, add a small piece of glaze, and then stir the sauce on the fire till it boils; keep stirring this for about ten minutes, by which time it will be sufficiently reduced to admit of the oysters being added to it; then squeeze in the juice of half a lemon, mix the whole well together, and after putting the oysters in the silver scollop-shells, (or, clean scoured oyster-shells will do,) cover them with fried bread-crumbs. About ten minutes before serving, place them in the oven till they are sufficiently hot to send to table, dish them on a napkin, and serve.

538a. Scolloped Oysters Another Way

The oysters being prepared as set forth in the foregoing recipe, first boil down their liquor to a fourth part of its original quantity, add thereto half a pint of white sauce, the yelks of two eggs, a little grated nutmeg, c|yenne pepper, and the juice of half a lemon, a tea-spoonful of essence of anchovies and a similar quantity of Harvey sauce; and, after stirring the whole over the fire for five minutes, the oysters should be mixed in, and then, after being placed neatly in the shells, - finished as directed in the preceding article.

Scolloped muscles, cockles, shrimps, lobsters, or crayfish, may be prepared in like manner; a little essence of anchovies should however be added to the sauce for all these - except muscles and cockles; and for lobsters, the coral should be added also.