Very small soles will be done in six minutes, and large ones in about ten. They may be floured and fried, without being egged and crumbed, but this is not a very usual mode of serving them.

Small soles, 6 minutes; large, about 10 minutes.

TO BOIL SOLES.

When

The flesh of a fine fresh sole, when boiled with care, is remarkably sweet and delicate: if very large it may be dressed and served as turbot, to which it will be found little inferior. Clean and wash it thoroughly, but do not skin it; cover it plentifully with cold water, throw in a handful of salt and a morsel of saltpetre, about half the size of a hazel nut. the water boils skim it well, and let the fish simmer very softly from five to ten minutes. Soles of moderate size should be laid into warm water, and will be sufficiently done with five minutes' simmering: these should be freed from the dark skin before they are dressed, and dished with the white skin upwards. Send shrimp, lobster, or anchovy sauce and dressed cucumber to table with them.

Very large sole, 5 to 10 minutes; moderate sized, 4 to 6 minutes.

FILLETS OF SOLES.

The word fillet, whether applied to fish, poultry, game, or butcher's meat, means simply the flesh of either (or of certain portions of it), raised clear from the bones in a handsome form, and divided or not, as the manner in which it is to be served may require. It is an elegant mode of dressing various kinds of fish, and even those which are not the most highly esteemed, afford an excellent dish when thus prepared. Soles to be filleted with advantage should be large; the flesh may then be divided down the middle of the back, next, separated from the fins, and with a very sharp knife raised clean from the bones.* When thus prepared, the fillets may be divided, trimmed into a good form, egged, covered with fine crumbs, fried in the usual way, and served with the same sauces as the whole fish; or each fillet may be rolled up, in its entire length if very small, or after being once divided if large, and fastened with a slight twine, or a short thin skewer; then egged, crumbed, and fried in

A celebrated French cook gives the following instructions for raising these fillets:-"Take them up by running your knife first between the bones and the flesh, then between the skin and the fillet; by leaning pretty hard on the tab.e they will come off very neatly."

plenty of boiling lard; or merely well floured and fried from eight to ten minutes. When the fish are not very large, they are sometimes boned without being parted in the middle, and each side is rolled from the tail to the head, after being first spread with pounded shrimps mixed with a third of their volume of butter, a few bread-crumbs, and a high seasoning of mace and cayenne; or with pounded lobster mixed with a large portion of the coral, and the same seasoning, and proportion of butter as the shrimps; then laid into a dish, with the ingredients directed for the soles au plat; well covered with crumbs of bread and clarified butter, and baked from twelve to sixteen minutes, or until the crumbs are coloured to a fine brown in a moderate oven.

The fillets may likewise be cut into small strips or squares of uniform size, lightly dredged with pepper or cayenne, salt and flour, and fried in butter over a brisk fire; then well drained, and sauced with a good bechamel, flavoured with a teaspoonful of minced parsley.

BAKED SOLES. (Soles au plat.) GOOD.

Clarify from two to three ounces of fresh butter, and pour it into the dish in which the fish are to be served; add to it a little salt, some cayenne, a teaspoonful of essence of anchovies, and from one to two glasses of sherry, or of any other dry white wine; lay in a couple of fine soles which have been well cleaned and wiped very dry, strew over them a thick layer of fine bread-crumbs, moisten them with clarified butter, set the dish into a moderate oven, and bake the fish a quarter of an hour. A layer of shrimps placed between the soles is a great improvement; and we would also recommend a little lemon-juice to be mixed with the sauce.

Baked, 15 minutes.

Obs. The soles are, we think, better without the wine in this receipt. They require but a small portion of liquid, which might be supplied by a little additional butter, a spoonful of water or pale gravy, the lemon-juice, and store-sauce. Minced parsley may be mixed with the bread-crumbs when it is liked.

SOLES STEWED IN CREAM.

Prepare some very fresh middling sized soles with exceeding nicety, put them into boiling water slightly salted, and simmer them for two minutes only; lift them out, and let them drain; lay them into a wide stewpan with as much sweet rich cream as will nearly cover them; add a good seasoning of pounded mace,

cayenne, and salt; stew the fish softly from six to ten minutes, or until the flesh parts readily from the bones; dish them, stir the juice of half a lemon to the sauce, pour it over the soles, and send them immediately to table. Some lemon-rind may be boiled in the cream, if approved; and a small teaspoonful of arrow-root, very smoothly mixed with a little milk, may be stirred to the sauce (should it require thickening) before the lemon-juice is added. Turbot and brill also may be dressed by this receipt, time, proportioned to their size, being of course allowed for them.

Soles, 3 or 4: boiled in water 2 minutes. Cream, } to whole pint; salt, mace, cayenne: fish stewed, 6 to 10 minutes. Juice of half a lemon.

Obs.-In Cornwall the fish is laid at once into thick clotted cream, and stewed entirely in it; but this method gives to the sauce, which ought to be extremely delicate, a coarse fishy flavour which the previous boil in water prevents.

At Penzance, grey mullet, after being scaled, are divided in the middle, just covered with cold water, and softly boiled, with the addition of branches of parsley, pepper, and salt, until the flesh of the back parts easily from the bone; clotted cream, minced parsley, and lemon-juice are then added to the sauce, and the mullet are dished with the heads and tails laid even to the thick parts of the back, where the fish were cut asunder. Hake, too, is there divided at every joint (having previously been scaled), dipped into egg, then thickly covered with fine bread-crumbs mixed with plenty of minced parsley, and fried a fine brown.

TO FRY WHITINGS.

In full season from Michaelmas to beginning of February.

Clean, skin, and dry them thoroughly in a cloth, fasten their tails to their mouths, brush them equally over with beaten eggs, and cover them with the finest bread-crumbs, mixed with a little flour; fry them a clear golden brown in plenty of boiling lard, drain and dry them well, dish them on a hot napkin and serve them with good melted butter, and the sauce cruets, or with well made shrimp or anchovy sauce. A small half-teaspoonful of salt should be beaten up with the eggs used in preparing the whitings: two will be sufficient for half a dozen fish.

5 to 8 minutes, according to their size.

FILLETS OF WHITINGS.

Empty and wash thoroughly, but do not skin the fish. Take off the flesh on both sides close to the bones, passing the knife

from the tail to the head; divide each side in two, trim the fillets into good shape, fold them in a cloth, that the moisture may be well absorbed from them; dip them into, or draw them through, some beaten egg, then dip them into fine crumbs mixed with a small portion of flour, and fry them a fine light brown, in lard or clarified butter; drain them well, press them in white blotting-paper, dish them one over the other in a circle, and send the usual sauce to table with them. The fillets may also be broiled after being dipped into eggs seasoned with salt and pepper, then into crumbs of bread, then next into clarified butter, and a second time into the bread-crumbs (or, to shorten the process, a portion of clarified butter may be mixed with the eggs at first), and served with good melted butter, or thickened veal gravy, seasoned with cayenne, lemon-juice, and chopped parsley. Five minutes will fry the fillets, even when very large: rather more time will be required to broil them.

TO BOIL WHITINGS.

(French Receipt.)

Having scraped, cleaned, and wiped them, lay them on a fish-plate, and put them into water at the point of boiling; throw in a handful of salt, two bay leaves, and plenty of parsley, well washed, and tied together; let the fish just simmer from five to ten minutes, and watch them closely that they may not be over-done. Serve parsley and butter with them, and use in making it the liquor in which the whitings have been boiled.

Just simmered from 5 to 10 minutes.

BAKED WHITINGS À LA FRANÇAISE.

Proceed with these exactly as with baked soles, page 59, or, pour a little clarified butter into a deep dish, and strew it rather thickly with finely-minced mushrooms, mixed with a teaspoonful of parsley, and (when the flavour is liked, and considered appropriate) with an eschalot or two, or the white part of a few green onions, also chopped very small. On these place the fish, after they have been scaled, emptied, thoroughly washed, and wiped dry season them well with salt, and white pepper, or cayenne; sprinkle more of the herbs upon them; pour gently from one to two glasses of light white wine into the dish, cover the whitings with a thick layer of fine crumbs of bread, sprinkle these plentifully with clarified butter, and bake the fish from fifteen to twenty minutes. Send a cut lemon only to table with them. When the wine is not liked, a few spoonsful of pale veal gravy can be

can be used instead; or a larger quantity of clarified butter, with a tablespoonful of water, a teaspoonful of lemon-pickle and of mushroom catsup, and a few drops of soy.

15 to 20 minutes.

TO BOIL MACKEREL.

In full season in May, June, and July; may be had also in early spring. Open the fish sufficiently to admit of the insides being perfectly cleansed, but not more than is necessary for this purpose; empty them with care, lay the roes apart, and wash both them and the mackerel delicately clean. It is customary now to lay these, and the greater number of other fish as well, into cold water when they are to be boiled; formerly all were plunged at once into fast-boiling water. For such as are small and delicate, it should be warm, but not scalding; they should be brought gently to a soft boil, and simmered until they are done; the scum should be cleared off as it rises, and the usual proportion of salt stirred into the water before the mackerel are put in. The roes are commonly replaced in the fish, but as they sometimes require more boiling than the mackerel themselves, it is better, when they are very large, to lay them upon the drainer by their sides. From fifteen to twenty minutes will generally be sufficient to boil a full-sized mackerel: some will be done in less time, but they must be watched, and lifted out as soon as the tails split, and the eyes are starting.

Dish them on a napkin, and send fennel or gooseberry sauce to table with them, and plain melted butter also.

¦ Small mackerel, 10 to 15 minutes; large, 15 to 20 minutes.

TO BAKE MACKEREL.

After they have been cleaned and well washed, wipe them very dry, fill the insides with the forcemeat, No. 1 of Chapter VI. sew them up, arrange them, with the roes, closely together in a coarse baking-dish, flour them lightly, strew a little fine salt over, and stick bits of butter upon them; or pour some equally over them, after having just dissolved it in a small saucepan. Half an hour in a moderate oven will bake them. Oyster forcemeat is always appropriate for any kind of fish which is in season, while the oysters are so; but the mackerel are commonly served, and are very good with that which we have named. Lift them carefully into a hot dish after they are taken from the oven, and send melted butter, and the sauce cruets to table with them.

hour.