Are an excellent Seafish which we dress in the several ways following;
To fry Weavers
Having gutted washed and clean’d your Weavers, score them on the sides, drudge them with flour and fry them brown in oil’d Butter; then drain them and serve them with Fry’d Parsley, for a dish of the first course.
We also serve these dry’d Weavers with a Caper-Sauce as follows; having melted the bigness of two Walnuts of Butter in a saucepan put in a pinch of flour and brown it; then add some Chives, parsley and Mushrooms minced very small; put to a little fish broth, season’d with Salt and pepper; then lay in your fry’d Weavers to simmer in it. When it is sufficiently diminish’d, take up your Weavers, lay them in a dish, put a small handful of Capers into the sauce, bind it with a brown Cullis, or with one of Crayfish, pour it on the Weavers and serve them.
We likewise serve them with a Ragoo of Cucumbers. To this end, peel three or four Cucumbers, cut them in two, take out the core, then cut them in dice, and lay them to marinate with Salt, Pepper, Vinegar and a sliced Onion; when they have lain thus for two hours, squeeze them in a napkin; melt some Butter in a saucepan put in your Cucumbers, and brown them; then moisten them with Fish broth and make them simmer over a slack fire; when they are enough, take off the fat, bind them with a brown Cullis, lay the Weavers to simmer with the Cucumbers; then dish them up, pour the Ragoo of Cucumbers upon them; so serve them.
To broil Weavers
Having gutted, washed and dry’d them in a napkin, score them on the sides; then rub them over with melted Butter and Salt, and broil them over a slack fire, turning them from time to time to give them a good colour. Take the hearts of a dozen lettuce, and having blanch’d them in hot water, throw them into cold; then squeeze them one by one. Melt in a saucepan the bigness of an Egg of Butter, put to it a pinch of flour, and keep it always moving till it is brown; then having cut the lettuce in two, put them into the saucepan, give them four or five turns, moisten them with fish-broth, season the whole with Salt, Pepper, a bunch of Sweet Herbs, and let is simmer over a gentle fire. When the Lettuce are enough stew’d take off the fat, bind them with a Crayfish Cullis, and having pour’d this Ragoo into a dish, lay the broil’d Weavers handsomely upon it, so serve them.
We likewise serve these broil’d Weavers with a Ragoo of Truffles or of Mushrooms; as also with an Anchovy Sauce or with a Cullis of Crayfish, all which see in their respective places.
To dress Weavers with Oysters
Having gutted and prepared your Weavers, place them in a saucepan of a convenient size, and season them with Salt, Pepper, Spices a couple of Onions, a Bayleaf, a little Parsley, and a slice or two of Lemon; put to them a pint of White Wine, with a little fish broth and Butter. Melt a piece of butter in another saucepan and make a brown with a little flour; pour into this the liquor from your Weavers, and when it has just boil’d pour it all back again upon them and stew them in it. When they are enough, drain them well, and having laid them in a dish, pour upon them a Ragoo of Oysters, which you must have ready for that purpose according to the Receipt and serve them.
We likewise serve them with a Ragoo of Milts, for which see the Receipt.
To make a Fricassee of Weavers
Having prepared your Weavers, cut them in pieces; and having melted in a saucepan a piece of fresh Butter, put them in it with some Mushrooms and Truffles, season’d with Salt, pepper, and a bunch of Sweet Herbs. Toss up all this together over a brisk fire, put in a pinch of flour, taking care that it do not stick to the saucepan; moisten the whole with a little Fish broth and White Wine, that you have made boil before, and let it stew over a gentle fire. When it is thus stewing, prepare a thickening with the Yolks of three or four Eggs beaten up in Verjuice and a little minced Parsley. The Fricassee being boil’d away as it ought to be, put in the thickening, keep moving it over the stove, taking care that it do not curdle. Then dish it up and serve it.
To farce Weavers
Having gutted, wash’d and dry’d them make a farce as follows; bone a Weaver, lay the flesh on a table, together with some Mushrooms, a little minced Parsley and Chives, season’d with Salt, Pepper, and a little Nutmeg; mince all this together, put to it a piece of fresh Butter, the Yolks of two raw Eggs, the crumb of a French Roll soak’d in Cream, and pound it all together in a mortar; then take out your farce upon a plate, farce your Weavers with it by the gills, and place them in a saucepan. Take a Carp, scale it gut it and cut it in pieces; set over a stove a piece of Butter in a saucepan, peel half a dozen Onions, and cut them in slices; the Butter being melted put them into the saucepan with a Carrot and a Parsnip cut likewise in slices and stir them about with a spoon. When they are half brown, put in some flour and continue to brown them, keeping them always moving. When they are full brown, put in the pieces of Carp, give it two or three turns over the stove, moisten it with thin peas-soop to which add a pint of White Wine, season the whole with Salt, pepper, Sweet herbs and Spices, Parsley, Chives, and some sliced Mushrooms; stew all this together and when it is enough, strain it through a sieve, squeezing the fish with a wooden ladle. Take some of this Liquor, pour it on the farced Weavers that are in the saucepan and set them t6o stew in it. When they are enough, drain them well, and having laid them in a dish, pour over them a Ragoo of Mushrooms, or of green Truffles, or any other that you think convenient.
To bake Weavers
Having farced them in the manner directed in the last Receipt, score them on the sides; then garnish with Butter the bottom of a pastypan, lay in a seasoning of Salt, Pepper, Nutmeg, a very little Sweet Herbs, some Chives and a little minced Parsley. Lay in the Weavers upon this and strew over them some Salt, Pepper grated Nutmeg and shred Parsley; pour into this a pint of Champaign Wine sprinkle them over with melted Butter, drudge them with very small crumbs of Bread, and set them to bake in an oven. When they are all well baked and brown, take off the fat, pour on them a little Crayfish Cullis, or an Anchovy Sauce, and serve them.
We likewise serve them with all sorts of Ragoos, that is to say, we pour a Ragoo into a dish, and lay the baked Weavers upon it.
To roast Weavers
Lard them with bits of Eels and anchovies; thrust a skewer through each Weaver, and tie them to the spit; put into the dripping pan, which must be very clean, a little Vinegar, a quarter of a pint of Fish broth, some whole Chives, some Onions, cut in slices, some slices of Lemon, together with Salt and Pepper; lay down your Weavers, and baste them with this pickle while they are roasting. Meanwhile make a hash’d sauce as follows: Mince one raw Truffle and a couple of Mushrooms, a little Parsley and Chives, all upon a plate by themselves; melt a little bit of butter in a saucepan to which put a pinch of flour and brown it; then put to it first the Chives, then the Parsley, and next the Truffle and Mushrooms; give all this together three or four turns over the stove, moisten it with a little fish broth, season’d with pepper and Salt, and make it simmer over a slack fire. When it is wasted away as it ought, put in an Anchovy and some Capers, and bind it with a good Cullis. Then having taken up the Weavers and laid them in a dish, pour this sauce upon them, and serve them.
Or else you may lard them with Bacon, and roast them as above, basting them with the following pickle; put into the dripping pan a little vinegar, with a little essence of a Westphalia Ham, some Pepper, a little Salt, some Onions cut in slices, some whole Chives, some sliced Lemon and a piece of Butter; while the Weavers are roasting, baste them with this pickle; and when you have dish’d them up, pour on them an essence of a Ham, and serve them.
To dress Weavers with a Ragoo of a Westphalia-Ham
Having gutted, wash’d and dry’d the Weavers, season them with Salt, Pepper, Spices a very little sweet Herbs, and an Onion; then lay them in a saucepan of a size just to hold them; take a pound and a half of a fillet of Veal, cut it in slices and lay it on the bottom of a saucepan, and set it to sweat over a stove; when it begins to stick as when you make Veal-Gravy, put to it a little melted Bacon, and a spoonful of flour, stir it about with a spoon over a stove; and when it is brown moisten it with broth and gravy, of each an equal quantity; set over the fire a pint of Champaign or White Wine and make it boil, then pour it into the saucepan to your Weavers, as likewise the Veal-Gravy, and keep them simmering in it over a slack fire. Meanwhile make a Ragoo as follows. Cut some slices of a Westphalia-Ham and beat them; then cut them in very small slices and lay them into a saucepan cover it and set it over a stove; when they begin to stick to the bottom of the saucepan, moisten them with gravy, put to them some small Mushrooms, and make them simmer over a slack fire; when the gravy is pretty well wasted away, bind your Ragoo with a Cullis of Veal and Ham and set it over live embers. When the Weavers are enough done, take them out of their Liquor and drain them, then lay them in a dish, garnish them with your slices of Ham, pour the liquor of the Ragoo upon them, and serve them for the first course.
Take a peck of Bay Salt, four ounces of Salt-Petre and six ounces of Brown Sugar; put as much water to it as will bear Eggs, and then put in your Hams, so as the liquor may be about an inch thick over them. Let them lie in this Pickle three weeks, then take them out and dry them with a cloth, and hang them up in a chimney ten days. This pickle will last a quarter of a year.
Cut your Woodcocks in four pieces, and save the entrails to make a thickening for the sauce. Then put the quarters of the Woodcocks into a saucepan with some sliced Truffles, some Veal Sweetbreads, and some Mushrooms; toss up all this together with melted Bacon, and moisten it with good Beef-Gravy; season the whole with Salt, white Pepper and Chives, and put to it a couple of glasses of Wine. Boil it all well together and when it is enough, mix amongst the sauce the entrails you saved, to thicken it; or else you may for that purpose make use of a Cullis of Woodcocks or some other good Cullis, but remember first to take off the fat very clean. You may besides add to it one spoonful of the essence of a Ham. So lay your Woodcocks in a dish pour the Ragoo upon them, squeeze in the juice of an Orange, and serve them as above.
To make a Salmi of Woodcocks
When your Woodcocks are half roasted cut them in pieces and put them into a saucepan with a quantity of wine proportional to that of your Woodcocks. Put to them some minced Truffles and Mushrooms, a little anchovy and some Capers and stew the whole together, but without boiling, before you serve, take off the fat: bind the sauce with some good cullis squeeze in the juice of an orange and serve them.
Note We make a Surtout of Woodcocks in the same manner we do one of Pigeons, which see in letter P, see likewise the receipt for making a woodcock-Pie
