THIRTY-FIVE WAYS TO COOK SMELTS

BROILED SMELTS--I

Dip prepared smelts in lemon-juice and seasoned melted butter, then in flour; broil in a double-broiler, and serve with Remoulade Sauce.

BROILED SMELTS--II

Draw and clean large smelts, dip in oil, season with salt and pepper, and broil on a double-broiler. Serve with Maitre d'Hotel Sauce.

BROILED SMELTS--III

Split and bone large smelts, rub with seasoned oil, and broil. Serve with Bearnaise Sauce.

BROILED SMELTS--IV

Soak the prepared fish for an hour in seasoned olive-oil, drain, broil carefully, and serve with Maitre d'Hotel Sauce.

[Page 368] BROILED SMELTS--V

Take off the heads, split the fish, remove the back-bone, and broil for five minutes on a buttered broiler. Garnish with lemon and parsley and serve with melted butter, made very hot with red pepper.

BROILED BONED SMELTS A LA BEARNAISE

Split a dozen good-sized smelts, take out the back-bone, rub with seasoned oil, and broil on a double-broiler. Pour Bearnaise Sauce into the platter, lay the smelts upon it, and serve.

BROILED SMELTS WITH ONION SAUCE

Clean six or seven large smelts, dip in beaten egg, then into seasoned crumbs, and string on skewers by the heads. Broil, basting with melted butter as required. Fry two teaspoonfuls of chopped onion in butter, but do not brown. Take from the fire, add a teaspoonful of vinegar, and an equal quantity of minced parsley. Pour into a bowl and put on ice until cool. When ready to serve, mix a tablespoonful and a half of fresh butter with the sauce and make it into small balls. Serve one ball of the butter with each fish.

[Page 369] BAKED SMELTS--I

Remove the heads, split, dip in melted butter, then in flour. Put into a buttered baking-pan, bake for ten minutes, sprinkle with cayenne and lemon-juice, and serve.

BAKED SMELTS--II

Put prepared smelts into a buttered baking-dish, sprinkle with chopped parsley and mushrooms, and salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg to season. Pour over half a cupful of white wine, cover with a Cream Sauce, sprinkle with crumbs, dot with butter, and bake in the oven. Squeeze lemon-juice over and serve in the baking-dish.

BAKED SMELTS--III

Clean eighteen or twenty smelts and put into a baking-dish with one tablespoonful each of chopped onion and celery, a wineglassful of white wine, and salt and pepper to season. Cover with large fresh mushrooms and a cupful of Spanish Sauce. Sprinkle with crumbs, dot with butter, and bake in a hot oven. Sprinkle with parsley, squeeze lemon-juice over, and serve.

[Page 370] BAKED SMELTS A LA DUXELLES

Put a dozen cleaned and prepared smelts into a buttered baking-dish and sprinkle with chopped onion, parsley, mushrooms, salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg, cover with Drawn-Butter Sauce to which a wineglassful of white wine has been added. Sprinkle with crumbs, dot with butter, and bake for thirty minutes. Squeeze lemon-juice over and serve.

BAKED SMELTS A LA MANTON

Prepare according to directions given for Baked Smelts a la Duxelles, omitting the chopped onion and the wine from the sauce. Sprinkle with crumbs and grated Parmesan cheese, dot with butter, and brown in the oven. Squeeze the juice of a lemon over and serve.

FRIED SMELTS--I

Dip the prepared fish into seasoned, melted butter, then into corn-meal, and fry in deep fat. Or, dip in beaten egg and corn-meal.

FRIED SMELTS--II

Clean the fish, season with salt and pepper, and saute in hot fat. Or, dip in egg and crumbs and fry in deep fat.

[Page 371] FRIED SMELTS--III

Dredge the cleaned fish with flour, dip in egg and crumbs, and saute in a frying-pan with butter, or fry in deep fat.

FRIED SMELTS--IV

Dip the cleaned smelts in cream, then in seasoned flour, and fry in fat to cover. Serve with Tartar Sauce.

FRIED SMELTS--V

Clean small smelts, season with salt and pepper, dip in egg and crumbs, and string on skewers, piercing the head with a skewer. Fry in deep fat and serve with Mayonnaise or Tartar Sauce.

FRIED SMELTS--VI

Clean the smelts, trim off the tails, and remove the back-bone. Sprinkle with salt and pepper inside and out and skewer into circles with tooth-picks. Dip in egg and crumbs, fry in deep fat, and serve with Tartar Sauce.

FRIED SMELTS A L'ANGLAISE

Dip the cleaned fish into cracker crumbs, then in beaten eggs, then in cracker crumbs, and fry brown in deep fat. Serve with Tartar [Page 372] Sauce.

FRIED SMELTS AU BEURRE NOIR

Clean the smelts, season with salt and pepper, dip in corn-meal, then in beaten egg and crumbs, and fry in deep fat. Drain and serve with Brown Butter Sauce. If desired, the fish may be skewered in circles before frying.

FRIED SMELTS A LA PARISIENNE

Wash the smelts, remove the bone, wipe dry, dredge with flour, put their tails in their mouths, fasten with a tooth-pick, and fry in very hot fat. Garnish with hard-boiled eggs and serve with Tartar Sauce.

FRIED SMELTS WITH SALT PORK

Clean the smelts, leaving them whole. Dip into fine crumbs or corn-meal. Cut half a pound of fat salt pork into dice, and fry until crisp. Take up the pork, fry the fish in the fat, and drain on brown paper. Make a Cream Sauce, using the pork fat instead of butter, add to it the diced pork, pour around the fish and serve.

[Page 373] STUFFED SMELTS--I

Stuff the cleaned fish with bread-crumbs mixed with tomato and melted butter, seasoning with salt and pepper. Bake in a buttered pan and serve with any preferred sauce.

STUFFED SMELTS--II

Stuff cleaned smelts with chopped oysters and seasoned crumbs. Roll in melted butter, then in crumbs, and bake for fifteen minutes, basting with melted butter; the breading may be omitted if a more simple dish is desired. Serve with Bearnaise Sauce.

STUFFED SMELTS--III

Cook to a paste one cupful of crumbs and one cupful of milk. Beat smooth, add one egg well-beaten, a teaspoonful each of minced parsley, lemon-juice, and chopped olives, and one cupful of chopped oysters. Stuff large smelts, lay them in a pan lined with buttered paper, skewer the head and tail together, and fill the circles with stuffing. Steam for fifteen minutes or sprinkle with crumbs and butter and bake.

STUFFED SMELTS A L'ITALIENNE

Prepare, clean, and split the smelts, stuff [Page 374] with seasoned crumbs, and arrange in a buttered baking-dish, cover with Italian Sauce, and bake. Squeeze lemon-juice over and serve. Chopped oysters or cooked fish may be used with, or instead of, the crumbs.

STUFFED SMELTS AU GRATIN

Chop half a pound of raw fish, either sea-bass or salmon, and pound in a mortar to make very fine. Add two tablespoonfuls of bread-crumbs which have been soaked in hot milk and squeezed dry. Add the yolks of two eggs and the white of one, two tablespoonfuls of cream, and salt and pepper to season. Rub until very smooth and fold in lastly two tablespoonfuls of whipped cream. Let cool thoroughly.

Fry two tablespoonfuls of chopped onion in butter with two tablespoonfuls of minced parsley and a quarter of a pound of chopped fresh mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper and set aside. Stuff the smelts with the fish paste. Butter a silver platter and spread it thinly with the fried onions and mushrooms. Add two tablespoonfuls of white wine and lay the fish upon it. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, spread with the rest of the onion and mushrooms, cover with crumbs, dot with butter, and brown in the oven. Serve in the Same dish.

[Page 375] SMELTS AU GRATIN

Clean and dry eighteen smelts. Fry together in butter a chopped onion, two shallots, twice the quantity of mushrooms, a minced bean of garlic, and a tablespoonful of minced parsley. Butter a baking-dish, spread the cooked vegetables upon it, and lay upon it the prepared fish. Season with salt and pepper, moisten with half a glassful of white wine, cover with large fresh mushrooms, pour over a cupful of Spanish Sauce, sprinkle with crumbs, dot with butter, and bake in the oven. Sprinkle with lemon-juice and minced parsley and serve. The smelts may be boned if desired.

SMELTS AU BEURRE NOIR

Roll the cleaned smelts in flour, saute in butter, and arrange on fingers of buttered toast. Brown half a cupful of butter, add a tablespoonful of vinegar, pour over the fish, and serve.

SMELTS A LA BOULANGER

Clean and dry the fish, dip into cream, then into flour, and fry in deep fat.

SMELTS A LA DAVIS

Prepare and clean the fish, remove the bone, [Page 376] dip in milk, season with salt and pepper, dip in flour, and brown in butter. Melt two tablespoonfuls of peanut butter, add to it the juice of a lemon, pour over the fish and serve, garnishing with lemon and parsley.

SMELTS A LA TOULOUSE

Clean and bone a dozen large smelts. Cook in a saucepan with white wine and mushroom liquor or stock, seasoning with salt and pepper. Drain, and add the remaining liquid to a cupful of Allemande Sauce. Add a few button mushrooms and a tablespoonful of butter to the sauce. Pour over the smelts and serve.

SMELTS A LA DRESDEN

Clean and remove the bone from large smelts and stuff them with seasoned crumbs, chopped oysters, and mushrooms rubbed to a paste with melted butter. Butter a serving-dish, lay the prepared fish upon it, cover with chopped onion, and squeeze over the juice of a lemon. Add a tablespoonful of butter and a cupful of white stock and bake half an hour. Serve with any preferred sauce.

BOILED SMELTS

Cook smelts in salted and acidulated water, or in court bouillon, [Page 377] drain and serve with Tartar Sauce.

SMELTS WITH MAYONNAISE

Dip the cleaned fish into beaten egg, then into crumbs, and fry in deep fat. Serve cold with Mayonnaise.

STEWED SMELTS

Clean the fish and remove the heads. Put into a buttered china baking-dish. Add enough fish or veal stock to cover, and chopped onions, capers, parsley, thyme, pepper and salt, and white wine to season. Bring to the boil, pour over the fish and bake for ten or fifteen minutes. Serve in the same dish.

SMELTS WITH FINE HERBS

Chop together chives and parsley, and sprinkle a buttered baking-dish. Season with salt and pepper, lay prepared smelts upon it, sprinkle with chopped onions and seasoning, add half a cupful of white wine, cover with buttered paper and bake for ten minutes. Take up carefully, thicken the liquid with butter and flour cooked together, and serve with the fish.

[Page 378] SMELT CROQUETTES

Clean and split smelts and remove the backbone. Pound fine a pound of cooked halibut, seasoning with salt, white pepper, and Sherry. Add enough very thick Cream Sauce to make a stiff paste, and cool. Shape into croquettes and roll a smelt around each one, fastening it by sticking the tail through the head. Dip in egg and crumbs and fry in hot lard to cover. Serve with Tartar Sauce.

SMELTS IN MATELOTE

Chop together an onion, a sprig of parsley, three mushrooms, and a bean of garlic. Fry in oil and season with salt and pepper. Put the cleaned smelts into the pan, add enough white wine to cover, and simmer until done. Strain the liquid, thicken it with butter and flour cooked together, pour over the fish, and serve with a garnish of lemon and parsley.