The Rocky Mountain Cook Book : For High Altitude Cooking. Caroline Trask Norton

      FISH.

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      Fish, to be palatable and nutritious, should be fresh, well cleaned and thoroughly cooked. When fresh, the eyes are bright, the flesh firm and elastic to the touch. Fish should be cleaned, washed in cold water and dried (not soaked) as soon as it reaches us and put directly on the ice or in a cold place. It should not be put in the compartment with milk or butter, as they absorb the odors very quickly. Frozen fish should be laid in cold water until they become limber.

      TO SKIN AND BONE A FISH.

      Cut through the skin, down the back bone, taking of the fins. Beginning at the head, loosen the skin and strip it down. Use a knife to help loosen the skin, and a little salt on the fingers enables one to get a firmer hold. Then slip the knife under the flesh, keeping it close to the bone, to remove the flesh or fillets. They can be served whole or divided in uniform piecs if the fish is large.

      TO BOIL A FISH.

      Put the fish into a kettle of boiling water, enough to cover, with a teaspoonful of salt and a tablespoonful of vinegar or half the juice of a lemon. This hardens it. Do not let the water boil rapidly after the fish is put in, as that breaks it; let it simmer on top of the stove. A little celery, onion, bay leaf and peppercorns put in the water improves the flavor of white fish. Allow fifteen minutes to a pound. If a fish kettle is not used, place the fish in a plate and tie the plate in a cloth before putting in the kettle. Prepared in this way it is much easier to remove from the kettle.

      TO BROIL FISH.

      Clean the fish, wash and wipe dry. Cover with a little softened butter, season with salt and pepper. Rub the broiler with salt pork or butter. Broil first the flesh side until brown before turning. A thick fish should cook about twenty minutes, a thin one less time. Try with a fork. When done, place on a hot platter, season with butter, salt and pepper and a little chopped parsley. Garnish with lemon or water cress or serve with a sauce.

      TO BAKE FISH.

      Place in the bottom of the pan two or three thin slices of salt pork to prevent the fish from sticking, or on the rack, if rack is used. If part of a fish is to be baked, wash it and wipe dry, cover the fish with buttered cracker crumbs that have been well seasoned with salt, pepper, lemon juice, chopped parsley and a little onion juice, or sprinkle with flour; or, salt and pepper, little pieces of butter, and five minutes before removing from the oven cover the top with grated cheese, seasoned with a little salt and paprica.

      STUFFING FOR FISH.

      1 cup of powdered cracker crumbs.

      1 teaspoonful salt.

      A little pepper.

      1 teaspoonful chopped parsley.

      1 teaspoonful onion juice.

      1/4 cup melted butter.

      2 teaspoonfuls of pickles, chopped, or, one of capers and one of pickles.

      If not moist enough, use a little hot water. An egg may be used, but it is not necessary. This should be a dry stuffing.

      TO BAKE A WHOLE FISH.

      Stuff and sew up the fish. Place the fish upright in the pan. If broad and short they may be kept in place by propping up. If not the right shape to prop, skewer in the shape of the letter S. If prepared in this way will keep their shape after cooking. Place when done on a hot platter. Pour a sauce around it, place a slice of lemon in the mouth. Before baking, cut gashes (three or four) across the back and place in each a slice of salt pork. The head and tail should be left on.

      FISH CHOWDER.

      When it is available, cod or haddock is used, but halibut makes a very good chowder. Have the fish cut in serving pieces. Cut salt pork in tiny squares. Fry until brown, with one finely chopped onion; put in a kettle with the fish. Cover with boiling water, add a little salt. Cook until the fish is tender. Cook sliced potatoes until tender. Add those to the chowder, and one cup of rich milk. Melt two tablespoonfuls of butter, stir into it one of flour; use one cup of the hot liquid to make a sauce, stirring gradually into the butter and flour, then add this to the chowder, season with pepper and salt to taste; put a few crackers on top when ready to serve.

      TO COOK SMELTS.

      Clean,, wash and dry them, season with salt and pepper, dip in fine granulated corn meal or flour. Fasten together with a toothpick forming a ring (or fry without). Place in as many as will cover the bottom of a frying basket, dip in smoking hot fat and cook for one minute. Or, fry out in frying pan half a dozen slices of salt pork. Cook the smelts in this, first on one side and then the other, until they are brown. Serve with tartare sauce.

      FILLETS BAKED WITH TOMATOES.

      Any kind of fillets or sliced fish can be cooked in this way. Place on the bottom of the pan four slices of salt pork, one onion cut in slices, wash and wipe the fish dry, cover the top with butter-seasoned crumbs. Place in the pan on top of the pork and onions. Wipe clean half a dozen tomatoes (or enough to serve one to each person), place them around the fish. Cook in a hot oven until the fish is done, basting several times, both the tomatoes and fish with the fat in the pan. When done place the fish carefully on a hot platter and arrange the tomatoes around it. Serve with Hollandaise, white or Bearnaise sauce.

      STUFFED FILLETS OR SLICED FISH.

      Wash and wipe the fish dry, season with salt and pepper, spread a layer of “stuffing for fish” over the pieces, about an inch thick. Roll up and tie securely with a string. Place in a buttered pan or on slices of salt pork. Cover the top and sides with buttered crumbs. Cook in a hot oven three-quarters of an hour. Serve with maitre d’hotel butter or a white sauce made from the fat in the pan.

      BOILED SALMON.

      Prepare and cook as for boiled fish. Serve on a hot platter with Hollandaise sauce and the little ball potatoes, placing some of the potatoes on top of the fish to form a bunch of grapes.

      SALMON CUTLETS.

      One cup of cold fish minced fine, season with one teapsoonful of salt, a little pepper, one teaspoonful chopped parsley, two teaspoonfuls lemon juice. Mix with one-half cup of thick white sauce. (See sauces.) When cold shape in cutlet form. Roll in crumbs and egg and crumble again. Fry in deep hot fat until brown. Serve with the paper ruffles stuck in the small end of each, placing the large end to the center of the platter. Pour around them a Hollandaise or white sauce. Any left-over whitefish is delicious prepared in this way.

      FISH TIMBALE.

      Cut one pound of raw fresh whitefish in small pieces, chop or pound to a pulp, press through a coarse sieve. To every cup of the fish pulp add one tablespoonful of fine bread crumbs that have soaked in a third of a cup of milk or cream until soft. One teaspoonful of salt, one-eighth teaspoonful of pepper, one-half teaspoonful of onion juice, the yolk of one egg well beaten. Beat all well together for five minutes, then fold in lightly the stiffly beaten white. Butter a mould or bowl; fill it not over two-thirds full; set it in a pan of hot water. Cover the mould with a greased paper and set in a moderate oven. Cook until the center is firm, from twenty minutes to one hour, according to size of the timbale. Turn from the mould and surround with a lobster, shrimp or tomato sauce.

      PLANKED SHAD AND POTATO ROSES.

      Place the shad