A Little Cook Book for a Little Girl | Page 6

Throw a bit of bread

into the fat in the kettle, and see if it turns brown quickly; it does if the
fat is hot enough, but if not you must wait. Put four smelts in the wire
basket, and stand it in the fat, so that the fish are entirely covered, for
only half a minute, or till you can count thirty. As you take them out of
the kettle, lay them on heavy brown paper on a pan in the oven, to drain
and keep hot, and leave the door open till all are done. Lay a folded
napkin on a long, narrow platter, and arrange the fishes in two rows,
with slices of lemon and parsley on the sides.
Fish-balls
One morning there was quite a good deal of cold mashed potato in the
ice-box, so Margaret decided to have fish-balls for
breakfast. Her rule
said: Take a box of prepared codfish and put it in a colander and pour a
quart of boiling water through it, stirring it as you do so. Let it drain
while you heat two cups of mashed potato in a double boiler, with half
a cup of hot milk, beating and stirring till it is smooth. Squeeze the
water from the codfish and mix with the potato. Beat one egg without
separating it, and put this in, too, with a very little pepper, and beat it
all well. Turn it out on a floured board, and make into small balls,
rolling each one in flour as it is done, and brushing off most of the flour
afterward. Have ready a kettle of hot lard, just as for smelts, and drop in
three or four of the balls at one time, and cook till light brown. Lift
them out on a paper in the oven, and let them keep hot while you cook
the rest. Serve with parsley on a hot platter.
Creamed Codfish
Pour boiling water over a package of prepared codfish in the colander
and drain it. Heat a frying-pan, and, while you are waiting, beat the
yolk of an egg. Squeeze the water from the fish. Put one tablespoonful
of butter in a hot pan, and when it bubbles put in two tablespoonfuls of
flour, and stir and rub till all is smooth. Pour in slowly a pint of hot
milk, and mix well, rubbing in the flour and butter till there is not a
single lump. Then stir in the fish with a little pepper, and when it boils
put in the egg. Stir it all up once, and it is done. Put in a hot covered
dish, or on slices of buttered toast.

Salt Mackerel
This was a dish Margaret's grandmother liked so much that they had it
every little while, even though it was old-fashioned.
Put the mackerel into a large pan of cold water with the skin up, and
soak it all one afternoon and night, changing the water four times. In
the morning put it in a pan on the fire with enough water to cover it,
and drop in a slice of onion, minced fine, a teaspoonful of vinegar, and
a sprig of parsley. Simmer it twenty minutes,--that is, let it just bubble
slowly,--and while it is cooking make a cup of white sauce as before:
one tablespoonful of butter, melted, one tablespoonful of flour, one cup
of hot milk, a little salt. Cook till smooth. Take up the fish and pour off
all the water; place it on a hot platter and pour the sauce over it.
MEATS
When it came to cooking meat for breakfast, Margaret thought she had
better take first what looked easiest, so she chose--
Corned Beef Hash
1 pint of chopped corned beef.
1 pint of cold boiled potatoes.
1 cup
of clear soup, or one cup of cold water.
1 tablespoonful of butter.
1
teaspoonful of finely minced onion.
1/2 teaspoonful of salt.
3
shakes of pepper.
Mix all together. Have a hot frying-pan, and in it put a
tablespoonful
of butter or nice fat, and when it bubbles shake it all around the pan.
Put in the hash and cook it till dry, stirring it often and scraping it from
the bottom of the pan. When none of the soup or water runs out when
you lift a spoonful, and when it seems steaming hot, you can send it to
the table in a hot dish, with parsley around it. Or you can let it cook
without stirring till there is a nice brown crust on the bottom, when you
can double it over as you would an omelette. Or you can make a
pyramid of the hash in the middle of a round platter, and put poached
eggs in a circle around it.

Many people like one small cold boiled beet cut up fine in