Soaking Salt Fish

Do not soak salt mackerel for next day's breakfast in warm water, or too long. By bad soaking the fish is sometimes spoiled, made flabby and tasteless, and voted a failure, when if properly treated it would be appetizing. Use cold water, or, if milk is plenty with you, cold milk, and keep while soaking in a cool place.

Baked Salt Cod

Mix a cup of salt codfish picked up fine with twice its quantity of mashed potatoes. Add a pint of milk or cream, and then stir in two wellbeaten eggs and half a cup of butter. Taste and see if the dish will not be salt enough without adding salt. Stir in a dash of cayenne, and put in a baking dish and bake half an hour in a moderate oven.

Codfish Balls

Codfish balls may be made in simpler fashion by using one cup of softboiled potatoes, mashed while hot and fresh into half a cup of shredded codfish. Fish and potato should be well mashed together, seasoned with a tablespoon of butter and a beaten egg, dropped into a pan or kettle of boiling hot lard and fried till a delicate brown. When lifted from the fat they should drain a moment on brown paper and go to the table hot.

A longer process for the making of the balls and some claim a better one is to soak a piece of salt codfish for seven or eight hours in cold water, changing the water once or twice. Then shred the fish, let it cook gently till tender, and put it through a sieve before adding it to hot potatoes.

Creamed Salt Cod

In the preparation for freshening the fish, proceed as directed in the receipt just before, or use the shredded cod bought at grocers'. For a cup of codfish take a pint of fresh milk, and heat in a saucepan over a moderate fire. When the milk becomes hot stir in two tablespoons of flour whetted with half a cup of cold milk. Stir constantly, that the milk may not scorch, and cook till the flour thickens. Stir in two beaten eggs as you take the creamed fish from the fire. Pour on a hot platter, drop over it tiny lumps of butter, add a dash of pepper, and serve.

Drawn Butter Salt Cod

Cut threequarters of a pound of nice white codfish. Lay it overnight in cold water enough to cover it. If required for a late dinner, put it to soak in the morning. Pour off half the water and add more fresh water to cover it Boil until tender, which will be about fifteen minutes. After boiling five minutes taste. If too salt, pour off all the water, add more, and finish boiling.

When done, pick out all the bones, and chop fine. Boil and mash potatoes, have nothing with them but a little salt Add to the chopped fish as much potato as you have fish, and half as much more when mixed together, season with red pepper, and salt to taste, making it slightly hot with the pepper, and enough salt to give it a salt fish flavor, though not too salt. To this add one beaten egg, and enough drawn butter to wet it up, rather stiff.

Serve very hot with drawn butter, made as follows: Take two heaping tablespoons of butter and two heaping tablespoons of flour, and mash together in a small saucepan. Set in another saucepan which has a little water in it. Pour over the mixed butter enough warm water to dissolve it Add more water to make threequarters of a pint. Add salt to taste. Boil the water in the under saucepan slowly. Stir constantly to prevent lumping, and as it thickens now and then raise the upper saucepan from the water and stir hard that it may be perfectly smooth.

When done, let it stand away from the fire, in the water, to keep hot and cover to avoid a scum forming on top. Have two or three cold hardboiled eggs. Slice and lay them on a separate small plate. When the fish is served to each person, put on the plate with it two slices of egg, and over the egg and fish pour drawn butter. Add also a sprinkle of red pepper, if wished. This is a very nice and delicate way of preparing salt codfish.

Picked Salt Cod

Put into a crock, and cover with cold water, threequarters of a pound of salt codfish. Soak this overnight. If wanted for a late meal put it to soak in the morning. At the end of the time pour off half the water and add enough more cold water to cover it. Boil five minutes, and taste. If too salt, pour off more water, and add fresh warm water to cover it. Taste again. The flavor should be that of salt fish, but not too salt. Boil until tender, which will be about fifteen minutes.

When done, pour off the water, pick out the bones, and break the fish into pieces little less in size than the bowl of a teaspoon. Place the fish in a granite saucepan and cover it with cold milk. Season with salt if necessary, and red pepper to taste. Having been salted, the fish will require little. Add one beaten egg and one tablespoon and a half of flour dissolved in cold water. Stir all together. Set the saucepan in another saucepan with hot water in it. As the water boils the milk will gradually thicken. Stir constantly, and when it is creamy and moderately thick it is done. Add at this time two teaspoons of butter, and stir it through until melted. Move it from the hot part of the stove and leave it standing in the hot water to keep warm. Cover it until ready to serve.