Cheap Fish Dinners Recipe

I have already spoken of the value of fish as strengthening food, and in

support of what I say I need only to remind you how vigorous and healthy

the inhabitants of the sea coast usually are, especially if they eat

red-blooded fish. This fact, in connection with the abundance and

cheapness of fish makes it an important article in the dietary of the

good housekeeper.



Fish may be cooked by boiling, baking, broiling, and frying; boiling is

the least economical method of cooking fish, and fish soup, or fish

chowder the most saving; broiled fish wastes but little of its

nutriment, but its bulk is decreased; baked fish ranks next to fish soup

in point of economy.



Fish are preserved for winter use by cleaning them, rubbing them with

salt, packing them in layers, and covering them with brine. An excellent

way of pickling fish is to clean them, cut off the heads, tails, and

fins, wash them, and then rub them well with salt and spice, pack them

in layers in an earthen crock or deep dish, cover them with vinegar, and

tie the jar over with buttered paper; they are then ready to bake slowly

for about four hours; and will keep for three or four weeks after they

are cooked.



In London, and other large English cities, where fried fish forms an

important item of popular food, it is cooked with great care, and in

such a manner as to retain all its nourishing qualities. It is well

washed in salted water, dried on a clean cloth, cut in slices if large,

dipped in a rather thin batter, made of flour, salt, pepper, and cold

water, and then dropped into a pan containing plenty of fat heated until

it is smoking hot, but does not boil; the pan is then taken from the

fire, and by the time the fat is growing cool the fish is cooked. A

novice would do best by maintaining the fat at the proper degree of heat

until the fish is cooked.



The receipts which I give for fish are calculated to produce compound

dishes from it, hearty enough to make the bulk of a meal.

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