Smelts
All Fish Recipes For:
Salmon Tuna Mackerel Cod Halibut Perch Flounder Smelts Rock Fish Shad
Turbot Trout Herring Eel Haddock Shad Roe Bluefish Finnan Haddie Salt Fish
SAUTED SMELTS.
To be most satisfactory, smelts are generally sauted. Fish of this kind are prepared for cooking by cutting off the heads and removing the entrails through the opening thus made; or, if it is desired to leave the heads on, the entrails may be removed through the gill or a small slit cut below the mouth. At any rate, these fish are not cut open as are most other fish. With the fish thus prepared, roll them in fine cracker crumbs and saute them in melted butter until they are nicely browned. Serve with slices of lemon.
SMELTS A LA TARTARE.
Clean the smelts by drawing them between the finger and thumb, beginning at the tail. This will press out the insides at the opening at the gills. Wash them, and drain in the colander; salt well, and dip in beaten egg and bread or cracker crumbs (one egg and one cupful of crumbs to twelve smelts, unless these are very large).
Dip first in the egg, and then roll in the crumbs. Fry in boiling fat deep enough to float them. They should be a handsome brown in two minutes and a half. Take them up, and place on a sheet of brown paper for a few moments, to drain; then place on a hot dish. Garnish with parsley and a few slices of lemon, and serve with Tartare sauce in a separate dish; or, they may be served without the sauce.
SMELTS AS A GARNISH.
Smelts are often fried, as for ‘a la Tartare’; or, rolled in meal or flour, and then fried, they are used to garnish other kinds of fish. With baked fish they are arranged around the dish in any form that the taste of the cook may dictate; but in garnishing fish, or any other dish, the arrangement should always be simple, so as not to make the matter of serving any harder than if the dish were not garnished. Smelts are also seasoned well with salt and pepper, dipped in butter and afterwards in flour, and placed in a very hot oven for eight or ten minutes to get a handsome brown. They are then served as a garnish or on slices of buttered toast.
When smelts are used as a garnish, serve one on each plate with the other fish. If you wish to have the smelts in rings, for a garnish, fasten the tails in the opening at the gills, with little wooden tooth picks; then dip them in the beaten egg and in the crumbs, place in the frying basket and plunge into the boiling fat. When they are cooked take out the skewers, and they will retain their shape.
All Fish Cooking Method Recipes For:
Boiled Fish Broiled Fish Baked Fish Sauted Fish Stewed Fish Creamed Fish
Fish Salad Fried Fish Fish Soup Fish Chowder Fish Balls Fish Sauces Fish Stuffings
Fish Dressings Fish Tartre Fish Au Gratin Planked Fish Pan Fish Fish Croquettes