A guide to modern cookery

962—MAYONNAISE DE HOMARD

Proceed as for Mayonnaise de Saumon—that is to say, garnish the bottom of a salad-bowl with ciseled lettuce leaves, and season them moderately.

Upon this salad lay the remains of the lobster, and upon the latter place the thin slices of the tail. Cover with mayonnaise sauce, and decorate with strips of anchovy fillets, capers, olives, hard-boiled eggs, roundels of pink radishes, the hearts of lettuce, &c.

N.B.—I have already pointed out the futility of prescribing a decorative design. As a rule, the matter is so intimately connected with the taste and fancy of the individual, and the products used for the purpose lend themselves to such indefinite variation, that I prefer merely to enumerate these products, and to leave the question of their arrangement to the artistic ingenuity of the operator.

963—SALADE DE HOMARD

See “Salade de Saumon” (No. 810). As the preparation and seasoning of the latter are identical with those of the dish under consideration, all that is needed is to replace the salmon of recipe No. 810 by the collops of lobster.

Spiny Lobsters. (Langouste.)

All culinary preparations dealing with lobsters may be adapted to spiny lobsters. There is, therefore, no need to repeat them here. Of the cold recipes, two are much better suited to the spiny than to the ordinary kind, though, as they are used for both specimens, I gave them earlier in the book. The two recipes referred to are:—

Crayfish. (Écrevisses.)

When crayfish are prepared after one of the recipes most commonly used on the Continent, i.e., whole, they are not much relished in England. This is doubtless accounted for by the fact that ladies, dining in evening dress, find them somewhat difficult to manage.

They are therefore only served in the form of an aspic, a [328] mousse, mousselines, timbales, &c., or as the garnish of some other fish; for in all these cases they are shelled.

Be all this as it may, I give below the various recipes relating to them, and from among these it ought to be possible to choose one which will meet the requirements of any particular case.

966—ÉCREVISSES A LA BORDELAISE

N.B.—Whatever be their mode of preparation, crayfish should always be thoroughly cleansed and cleared of their intestines, the extreme end of which is to be found under the middle of the tail. In order to remove the intestines, take the telson or tail-segment between the point of a small knife and the thumb, and pull gently. If this were not done, the intestines, especially in the breeding season, might render the crayfish disagreeably bitter.

As soon as their intestines have been removed, the crayfish should be set to cook, otherwise, i.e., if they be left to wait, their juices escape through the anal wound, and they empty.

For twelve crayfish, after having cleaned and eviscerated them, put them into a vegetable-pan with one tablespoonful of very fine mirepoix, completely cooked beforehand, and two-thirds oz. of butter. Toss them over an open fire until the shells have acquired a fine, red colour. Moisten with three tablespoonfuls of burnt brandy and one-quarter pint of white wine; reduce by a third, and complete with one tablespoonful of Espagnole, two tablespoonfuls of fish fumet, the same quantity of tomato purée, and one spoonful of special mirepoix (No. 229).

Put the lid on, and set to cook for ten minutes.

Dish the crayfish in a timbale; reduce the sauce by a quarter, and finish it with a few drops of meat glaze, one oz. of butter, a very little cayenne, chopped chervil, and tarragon. Pour this over the crayfish, and serve instantly.

967—ÉCREVISSES A LA MARINIÈRE

In the case of twelve crayfish, toss them in two-thirds oz. of butter over an open fire, until the shells are of a fine red. Season with salt and pepper; add two finely chopped shallots, a bit of thyme and a bit of bay; moisten with one-third pint of white wine; cover; cook for ten minutes, and dish in a timbale.

Reduce the cooking-liquor to half; thicken with two tablespoonfuls of fish velouté; finish the sauce with one oz. of butter, and pour it over the crayfish.

[329]
Sprinkle with a pinch of chopped parsley, and serve at once.

968—ÉCREVISSES A LA NAGE

For twelve crayfish, ten minutes beforehand prepare a court-bouillon of one-half pint of white wine, one-quarter pint of fish fumet, a few roundels of carrot and onion, one stalk of parsley cut into dice, a small pinch of powdered thyme and bay, and a very little salt and cayenne pepper.

Put the crayfish into the boiling court-bouillon; cover, and leave to cook for ten minutes, taking care to toss the crayfish from time to time.

When about to serve, pour the crayfish with the court-bouillon and the aromatics into a timbale.

969—ÉCREVISSES A LA LIÉGEOISE

Cook the crayfish in court-bouillon as explained in the preceding recipe. Dish them in a timbale, and keep them hot. Strain the court-bouillon; reduce it by a quarter; add one oz. of butter, and pour it over the crayfish.

Sprinkle with a pinch of concassed parsley.

970—MOUSSELINES D’ÉCREVISSES

What I said with reference to “Mousseline de Homard” (No. 951) applies perfectly here, and my remarks relative to the variation of the garnishing ingredients, which are the same as those in No. 951, also hold good.

971—TIMBALE DE QUEUES D’ÉCREVISSES A LA NANTUA

For ten people prepare (1) a shallow timbale crust, and a cover decorated with a design of leaves or some other ornamental treatment; (2) toss sixty crayfish in butter with two tablespoonfuls of very fine mirepoix cooked in butter beforehand. When the crayfish are of a distinct red, moisten with one glass of white wine and three tablespoonfuls of burned brandy; season with salt and cayenne pepper; cover them, and keep them on the side of the fire for ten minutes, taking care to toss them again from time to time; (3) shell the tails and put them into a small saucepan with twenty small quenelles of whiting forcemeat, finished with crayfish butter; fifteen small, grooved mushrooms, cooked and very white, and three oz. of truffles in slices. Add a few drops of the mushroom cooking-liquor to this garnish, and keep it hot; (4) pound the remains and carcasses of the crayfish very finely; add two-thirds pint of cream sauce to the resulting purée; rub it through tammy, and add it to the garnish; (5) when about to serve, pour [330] this garnish into the timbale crust, which should be very hot, and deck the top with a crown of fine slices of very black truffle. Close the timbale with its cover, and dish it on a napkin.

972—SOUFFLÉ D’ÉCREVISSES A LA FLORENTINE

Make a preparation of Soufflé au Parmesan (No. 2295a) combined with two tablespoonfuls of crayfish cream per pint. The cream is prepared after the manner of lobster cream (No. 295).

Put this preparation in a buttered timbale in alternate layers separated by litters of sliced truffle and crayfish tails. Cook the soufflé after the manner of an ordinary one.

973—SOUFFLÉ D’ÉCREVISSES LÉOPOLD DE ROTHSCHILD

Prepare a soufflé as above, and add thereto a bare tablespoonful of freshly-cooked asparagus and slices of truffle, and crayfish tails placed between the layers of the soufflé preparation. Cook as above.

974—SOUFFLÉ D’ÉCREVISSES A LA PIÉMONTAISE

This is identical with No. 972, except that the ordinary truffles are replaced by shavings of Piedmont truffles.

975—ASPIC DE QUEUES D’ÉCREVISSES A LA MODERNE

Cook twelve fine crayfish in accordance with the directions under No. 966, but substitute champagne for the white wine.

Shell the tails; trim them evenly; cut them in two lengthwise, and keep them in the cool until they are wanted. Remove the creamy parts from the carapaces of the crayfish; add the trimmings of the tails, the meat from the claws, and the mirepoix in which the crayfish have cooked.

Pound the whole very finely in a mortar, and rub it through a sieve. Put the resulting purée in a receptacle; add thereto one-quarter pint of very cold, melted aspic, and three tablespoonfuls of barely beaten cream. Leave this preparation to settle.

Trim the crayfish carapaces; fill them with a little prepared mousse, and decorate each carapace with a small roundel of truffle.

Put the remainder of the mousse in the middle of a little crystal bowl, and mould it to the shape of a cone, narrow towards the base, and as high as possible.

Arrange the garnished crayfish carapaces on their backs in the bowl around the cone of mousse, and set some crayfish tails in superposed rings up the cone. The crayfish tails should [331] be dipped in half-melted jelly, that they may stick fast to the cone. Lay a small, very round truffle on the top of the cone to complete the decoration. This done, coat the whole again and again by means of a spoon with half-melted, succulent, clear fish jelly, and incrust the timbale in a block of ice, or set it amidst the latter broken up.

976—MOUSSE D’ÉCREVISSES

For ten people cook thirty crayfish as for potage Bisque. This done, remove the tails, and reserve a dozen fine carapaces. Finely pound the remainder, together with the mirepoix in which the crayfish have cooked, and add thereto one-half oz. of butter, one oz. of red butter (No. 142), one-quarter pint of cold fish velouté, and six tablespoonfuls of melted fish jelly. Rub through tammy, and put the resulting purée in a saucepan; stir it over ice for two or three minutes; add three-quarters pint of half-beaten cream, and the crayfish tails cut into dice or finely sliced.

Before beginning to prepare the mousse, line the bottom and side of a Charlotte-mould with paper, that the mousse may be moulded as soon as ready.

Pour the preparation into the mould, taking care to reserve enough for the twelve carapaces already put aside, and put the mousse on ice or in a refrigerator until dishing it. Fill the twelve trimmed carapaces with the reserved mousse, and decorate each with a round slice of truffle. When about to serve, turn out the mousse on a small, round cushion of semolina or rice, one-half inch thick, lying on a dish. Remove all the paper, and decorate the top of the mousse with a crown of fine slices of truffle dipped in melted jelly, that they may be glossy.

Surround the semolina or rice cushion with a border of chopped jelly, and arrange the garnished carapaces upon this jelly, setting them almost upright.

N.B.—(1) Instead of being served on a cushion, the crayfish mousse may be sent to the table in a deep silver dish with a border of chopped jelly, and surrounded by the garnished carapaces. The utensil is then laid on a flat dish in a bed of broken ice, or it is incrusted direct in a block of carved ice.

(2) For the moulding of crayfish mousse, the mould may be “clothed” with fish jelly and decorated with slices of truffle, as directed under “Mousse de Homard moulée” (No. 957).

A mousse prepared in this way may be either dished on a semolina or rice cushion, or in a deep silver entrée dish, as described above.

[332]
976a—SUPRÊMES D’ÉCREVISSES AU CHAMPAGNE

Select forty medium-sized crayfish that seem full of life; cook them quickly in a highly-seasoned mirepoix, moistened with one half-bottle of dry champagne. This done, shell them; trim their tails, and keep them in the cool in a small bowl. Pound their shells as finely as possible with one-quarter lb. of fresh butter, and put the resulting purée in a saucepan, together with one-half pint of boiling velouté containing four or five leaves of gelatine, and the cooking-liquor of the crayfish passed through a fine strainer.

Set to boil for a few minutes, that the remains may exude all their flavour; rub through tammy over a basin lying on ice, and whisk the preparation in order to accelerate its cooling. As soon as it begins to thicken, add one pint of half-whipped cream to it. Then pour the whole into a silver or porcelain timbale, taking care that the utensil be not more than three-quarters full.

When the mousse has set, decorate the surface with the reserved crayfish tails, to which are added, as a finish, bits of truffle and chervil leaves. Cover the decoration with a thin coating of easily-melting and amber-coloured fish jelly, and put the timbale on ice. When about to serve, incrust it in a block of carved ice, or place it on a silver dish with broken ice all round.

977—MOUSSE D’ÉCREVISSES CARDINAL

For ten people cook the crayfish as explained in No. 976, but take forty instead of thirty. Shell the tails; trim them and cut them into dice. Prepare the mousse in the same way, but use twice as much red butter. Garnish twelve carapaces after the same manner, and decorate each with a slice of truffle.

Clothe a dome- or Charlotte-mould somewhat thickly with jelly; garnish its bottom and sides with crayfish tails, previously dipped in half-melted jelly, and arranged in superposed rows; and place the crayfish so that the tails of the first row lie to the left, those of the second row to the right, and so on. As often as possible, do this work before preparing the mousse, in order that the latter may be put into the mould as soon as ready.

When about to fill the mould, add twenty fine slices of truffle to the mousse. Dish after one of the two methods directed in the appended note to No. 970, and take care to dip the mould quickly into hot water before attempting to turn out its contents.

[333]
978—PETITS SOUFFLÉS FROIDS D’ÉCREVISSES

Prepare the crayfish mousse as directed under No. 976, and replace the fish velouté by cold Béchamel. The addition of sauce is even unnecessary in this case, and the preparation may be all the more delicate for consisting only of the crayfish cullis and two tablespoonfuls of fish jelly.

For the moulding of these small soufflés I can only repeat what I said under “Petites Mousses de Homard” (No. 958). Let a thin coating of jelly set on the bottom of the small cassolettes or timbales used; garnish their insides with a band of white paper, reaching one inch above their brims; stick the end of this band with a little batter.

Now garnish the timbales with mousse, letting it project above their edges to the extent of two-thirds of an inch, and leave it to set in the cool. When about to serve, remove the band of paper, holding in the projecting mousse, and the appearance of the garnished timbales is exactly that of small, hot soufflés. Allow one soufflé for each person.

979—SHRIMPS AND PRAWNS (Crevettes Grises et Crevettes Roses)

Prawns are chiefly used for hors-d’œuvres, but they may, nevertheless, be prepared in Aspics; Mousses; small cold Soufflés, &c.

As regards shrimps, their use is entirely limited to garnishes, hors-d’œuvres, and to the preparation of soups, shrimp butters, and creams.