Smoked Haddock

The best and simplest way to cook a smoked haddock is to put it on a gridiron over a clear fire, and grill it. A moderate-sized one takes about six or ten minutes. The time varies with the thickness. Always grease the gridiron. Rub a piece of butter over it to make it look moist before sending to table.

Some boil the haddock for a few minutes, and then bake it a short time in the oven; or it can be plain boiled. Put it into cold water. When it boils it is done.

Fresh Haddock

The nicest way to eat fresh haddock is to have it plain boiled (see No. 1), with a little oiled butter (see Butter, Oiled), served separate, and a few nice floury potatoes.

Haddock can also be baked. Bone the fish, and put it in a pie-dish with some butter, pepper and salt. Turn the pieces occasionally. Add some chopped parsley and lemon-juice before serving.

Hake

This is a cheap and excellent fish. It can be boiled plain (see No. 1), and served with oiled butter (see Butter, Oiled), and potatoes. It can be cut in slices and fried plain (see No. 6), or with egg and bread crumbs (see No. 20), or in batter. (See Batter, and No. 6.) It can be stewed exactly like stewed eels. (See Eels, Stewed.) It can be boned, stuffed with veal-stuffing (see Veal-stuffing), and baked. The bones will make some good stock for sauce. (See Fish Sauce from Fish Stock.) It is a cheap fish stuffed and baked, and served with this sauce, which is like good brown gravy, and a dish of potatoes, really makes a thoroughly good dinner.

Halibut

This is a large fish, sold generally in pieces from fourpence to eightpence a pound. It can be cooked in any of the ways recommended for Hake (See Hake.) Cold Halibut will make a good curry.

Hasty Pudding

Put some milk in a saucepan. Let it boil. When it boils, and not before, dredge in some flour, and keep stirring all the while - it is apt to burn - till the whole becomes thick enough. Turn it out, only continue to stir for a minute after you take the saucepan off the fire. Add a little butter, and sweeten with sugar. Any kind of jam can be served with this pudding.

Hearts

Hearts, whether bullocks', calves', or sheep's, are all cooked the same way. They all require very careful washing and soaking, and sometimes a little vinegar added to the water is an improvement, especially in hot weather. All hearts should be parboiled (indeed, a bullock's heart should be allowed to simmer for a couple of hours); then take them out, and fill them with veal stuffing. (See Veal Stuffing.) Bake them in the oven (see No. 4) for a couple of hours. They want a good deal of basting, and, if possible, it is best to put some solid pieces of fat on them to melt and run down. Turn the hearts once or twice when this is done. Send some gravy to table with them.

Sweet Herbs

It is always best to have a bottle of dried sweet herbs by you. They are called mixed sweet herbs. Mixed herbs generally consist of two parts parsley, one part marjoram, one part savoury, one part lemon thyme. For soups, such as turtle or mock turtle, the best herbs are one-third sweet basil and the other two-thirds equal parts of marjoram, savoury, and lemon-thyme. Parsley can be added separately.