Scale, wash, and clean, leaving the head intact. Make a stuffing of two cupfuls of bread-crumbs, one cupful of butter, two eggs well beaten, and enough cold water to make a smooth paste. Season with pepper, salt, grated lemon, minced parsley, thyme, and marjoram. Split the fish, stuff, and sew up. Lay thin slices of salt pork over the fish and put into a baking-pan with a little boiling water seasoned with wine and tomato juice. Bake carefully, basting frequently. The gravy may be thickened and served with the fish.

BAKED BASS—II

Split the fish and stuff with seasoned mashed potatoes. Put a little boiling water and a tablespoonful of butter into the baking-pan, and baste frequently while cooking.

BAKED BASS—III

Rub the inside of the fish with salt, sprinkle the outside with pepper and salt, cover with sliced onion and salt pork. Dredge with flour and put into the baking-pan with sufficient boiling water to keep from burning. Baste frequently while cooking, remove the pork and onion, thicken the sauce with a tablespoonful each of butter and flour blended and mixed with a little tomato catsup. Pour the hot sauce over the fish and serve.

BAKED BASS—IV

Make a stuffing of one cupful of bread-crumbs, one teaspoonful each of melted butter, Worcestershire sauce, tomato catsup, minced parsley, minced onion, minced olives or pickles, lemon-juice, salt, black pepper, and paprika to taste, and sufficient cold water to moisten. Sew up the fish and bake as usual. Serve with Tartar Sauce.

BAKED BASS WITH WHITE WINE

Put a bass into a baking-dish with salt, pepper and mushroom liquor to season, and enough white wine to moisten. Cover with buttered paper and bake for fifteen minutes. Melt two tablespoonfuls of butter, add three tablespoonfuls of flour, and cook thoroughly. Add two cupfuls of white stock and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Take from the fire and add the yolks of three eggs beaten with a little cold water, and the juice of half a lemon. Add a tablespoonful of butter and the juice in the baking-pan. Pour over the bass and serve.

BAKED BASS WITH SHRIMP SAUCE

Marinate the cleaned fish for an hour in oil and vinegar. Put into a baking-pan with slices of salt pork underneath and on top and sufficient boiling water to keep from burning. Add a teaspoonful of butter to the water and baste two or three times during the hour of baking. Strain the gravy and set aside. Melt one tablespoonful of butter, add one tablespoonful of flour and cook until brown. Add one cupful of the liquid left in the baking-pan, making up the required quantity with boiling water if necessary. Cook until thick, stirring constantly; season with cayenne and lemon-juice, and add half a can of shrimps chopped fine. Bring to the boil, pour over the fish, and serve.

BAKED AND STUFFED BLACK BASS

Mix together one cupful of bread-crumbs, two small onions chopped, two eggs well beaten, and cold water to moisten. Season with Worcestershire, tabasco and minced parsley. Stuff a bass with this mixture, rub with melted butter, and bake with a little boiling water, basting as required.

BAKED BASS À LA NEWPORT

Clean the fish, gash the top, season with salt and pepper, and cover with thin slices of salt pork. Pour a little boiling water into the pan and bake slowly, basting as required. Serve with the pork. Bacon may be used instead.

BAKED BASS À LA MANHATTAN

Butter a baking-dish, put in the cleansed fish, rub with melted butter, season with salt and pepper, and cover with thin slices of bacon and bread crumbs. Add a little boiling water and bake in a very hot oven, basting as required.

BAKED BASS AND TOMATOES

Select one large black bass or two small ones; clean the head and let it remain on the fish. Slice four tomatoes and cut in halves. Make a plain bread dressing; open the fish, rub the inside lightly with salt and soft butter; lay a thick layer of tomatoes in, then a layer of the bread dressing, alternating them until the fish is well stuffed; then bind with a tape. Lard the fish with strips of salt pork. Lay in a baking-pan, add one cupful of hot water and one tablespoonful of butter, and bake, basting often. In fifteen minutes take the pan out of the oven and spread the fish with a layer of thinly sliced tomatoes, seasoned with a sprinkling of salt, some melted butter, and a light sprinkling of grated cheese. Bake until the tomatoes are done, then carefully remove to a platter, taking off the tape first. Garnish with parsley and serve.

BAKED BLACK BASS À LA BABETTE

Clean the fish, salt it well, and put into a baking-pan with a cupful of water. Put lumps of butter on top, and season with salt, pepper, and minced parsley. Bake for an hour, basting often. Add a wineglassful of Sherry and a little catsup to the sauce remaining in the pan. Thicken with a teaspoonful of flour, rubbed smooth with a little cold water.

BAKED FILLETS OF BASS

Cut bass into small fillets, sprinkle with salt and pepper, put into a shallow pan, cover with buttered paper and bake for twelve minutes in a hot oven. Serve with a border of boiled rice and Hollandaise Sauce.

BLACK BASS À LA MONTMORENCY

Clean, skin, and bone a bass, and cut into pieces. Butter a baking-dish, put in the fish, season with salt, pepper, and white wine; cover with buttered paper and set in the oven until the fish is partly cooked. Take out the fish and arrange in a baking-pan. Add to the remaining liquor a chopped onion, half a dozen mushrooms, and two sprigs of parsley finely chopped. Add a little stock and thicken with a teaspoonful of flour rubbed smooth in a little cold water. Pour this sauce over the fish, lay a large mushroom on each piece, cover with crumbs, dot with butter, and bake in the oven. Sprinkle with lemon-juice before serving.

Clean the fish and cover it with a marinade of olive-oil and vinegar. Soak for an hour. Fill the fish with chopped salt pork and mushrooms, put into a baking-pan with slices of salt pork underneath and on top, and sufficient boiling water. Bake for forty minutes, cover with slices of tomatoes and half of a sweet green pepper chopped fine. Dot with butter and bake for twenty minutes more. Take up the fish and rub the sauce through a colander. Stir in a tablespoonful of butter rolled in flour, add one teaspoonful of sugar and two teaspoonfuls of grated onion. Dilute with boiling water if too thick, bring to the boil, pour over the fish, and serve.

BASS À LA BORDELAISE

Split a large sea-bass. Put into a baking-dish with a wineglassful of Claret and salt and pepper to season. Sprinkle with chopped shallot, cover with buttered paper, and cook in a moderate oven for fifteen minutes. Lay the bass on a platter, put the juice in a saucepan with half a teaspoonful of beef extract, four chopped mushrooms, and a bruised bean of garlic. Thicken with flour browned in butter, bring to the boil, pour over the fish, and serve very hot.

BOILED BASS

Clean the fish, put it into warm salted water and simmer for twenty minutes.

BOILED SEA-BASS WITH EGG SAUCE

Boil the fish according to directions previously given. Melt one tablespoonful of butter, add two tablespoonfuls of flour, and cook thoroughly. Add two cupfuls of the water in which the fish was boiled, and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Season with salt, pepper, minced parsley, and lemon-juice; add three hard-boiled eggs coarsely chopped, pour over the fish, and serve.

BOILED BASS WITH MUSHROOMS

Boil a bass in water to cover, adding to the water four tablespoonfuls of vinegar, six pepper-corns, and a little salt. Melt one tablespoonful of butter, add one tablespoonful of flour and cook thoroughly. Add one cupful or more of boiling water and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Add the juice of half a lemon, half a can of mushrooms chopped fine, and pepper and salt and minced parsley to season. Bring to the boil, pour over the fish, and serve.

BOILED BLACK BASS WITH CREAM SAUCE

Clean the bass and sew it up in coarse cheese-cloth. Boil in enough water to cover, adding half a cupful of vinegar, a sliced onion, six or eight whole peppers, a blade of mace, and salt to season. Take up the fish and reduce the liquid by rapid boiling. Strain and set aside. Melt one tablespoonful of butter, add one tablespoonful of flour and cook thoroughly. Add a cupful of the strained liquid and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Season to taste, add half a cupful of cream, bring to the boil, pour over the fish, and garnish with sliced lemons.

BLACK SEA-BASS À LA POULETTE

Prepare a Poulette Sauce and pour over a black sea bass boiled according to directions previously given.

COLD BASS WITH TARTAR SAUCE

Boil the fish in court bouillon and drain. Chop fine parsley, pickles, olives, and capers. Mix with a stiff Mayonnaise and spread over the fish. Serve with a border of sliced cucumbers.

BROILED BASS

Clean the fish, split it, and cut each half into two or three pieces. Dip in oil or melted butter, sprinkle with flour, and broil carefully.

BROILED BLACK BASS

Clean and split the fish, remove the bone, rub with melted butter or oil, and broil carefully. Pour over a little melted butter, and garnish with lemon and parsley.

BASS STEWED WITH TOMATOES

Clean the fish, remove the bones and cut into square pieces. Fry two sliced onions in olive-oil. Lay the fish upon it, season with salt and pepper and pour over a can of tomatoes which have been rubbed through a sieve. Season with salt and pepper, cover closely, and cook for an hour. Serve in the same dish.

FRIED BASS WITH BACON

Clean and cut up the fish, season with pepper and salt, roll in flour, and fry in hot lard. Serve with rashers of bacon fried separately. Garnish with parsley and lemon.

FRIED BLACK BASS

Scale, clean, and cut up the fish, season with salt and pepper, dredge with flour, and fry in deep fat.

BREADED FILLET OF BASS

Clean the fish and cut into convenient pieces. Season with salt and pepper, dip in beaten egg, then in crumbs, and fry in deep fat. Serve very hot with Tartar Sauce.

BREADED BASS WITH BACON

Clean the fish and cut into pieces. Season with pepper and salt, roll in flour, then in beaten egg, then in bread-crumbs. Fry in deep fat and serve with a border of rashers of bacon fried separately. Garnish with parsley.

BOILED SEA-BASS WITH PARSLEY SAUCE

Put two medium-sized cleaned sea-bass into a fish-kettle with a bunch of parsley. Cover with salted and acidulated water, bring to the boil, simmer for half an hour, drain, garnish with lemon and parsley, and serve with a parsley sauce.

FRIED SEA-BASS WITH TARTAR SAUCE

Clean and wipe small sea-bass, score the sides deeply, dip in milk, roll in flour, fry in deep fat, drain, sprinkle with salt, and garnish with quartered lemons and fried parsley. Serve with Tartar Sauce.

MATELOTE OF SEA-BASS

Clean three pounds of sea-bass and cut in convenient pieces for serving. Put into a saucepan with a bunch of parsley, salt and pepper to season, and a teaspoonful of sweet herbs. Add two onions, sliced, and two small cloves of garlic. Cover with equal parts of stock and Claret and simmer slowly until the fish is done. Move the fish carefully to a serving-dish and strain the liquid into another saucepan. Brown two tablespoonfuls of flour in as much butter as is required to make a smooth paste, add the liquid, and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Add to the sauce three tablespoonfuls of essence of anchovy and some mushrooms and small button onions fried brown in butter. Pour over the fish and serve.

BROILED SEA-BASS

Select a large fish, clean, and split. Season with salt and pepper, rub with olive-oil, and broil carefully. Serve with MaÎtre D'HÔtel Sauce and garnish with lemon and parsley.

SEA-BASS À LA BUENA VISTA

Prepare and clean a large sea-bass. Cut a long, deep incision lengthwise on each side. Place in a buttered baking-dish with a chopped onion, a bunch of parsley, a pinch of sweet herbs, half a can of tomatoes and a small green pepper, shredded. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, add two cupfuls of stock and one cupful of Port wine. Dot with butter and bake in a moderate oven for forty minutes, basting freely. Take up the fish, and strain the sauce. Melt a tablespoonful of butter, brown in it a tablespoonful of flour, add two cupfuls of well-seasoned beef stock and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Combine these two sauces, cover the fish with broiled tomatoes, pour the sauce over, sprinkle with parsley and lemon-juice, and serve.

BOILED SEA-BASS WITH MELTED BUTTER SAUCE

Boil the fish in acidulated water according to directions previously given. Drain, garnish with parsley, and serve with a sauce made by melting half a cupful of butter with the juice of a lemon, and seasoning with white pepper and a little grated nutmeg.

SEA-BASS À LA FRANCAISE

Clean and trim two large sea-bass. Put into a saucepan, with salt and pepper to season, three tablespoonfuls of butter, two large onions, sliced, a bunch of parsley, and enough Claret to cover the fish. Simmer for forty minutes, drain, and place on a serving-dish. Take out the parsley and keep the liquid warm. Brown two tablespoonfuls of flour in two tablespoonfuls of butter, add the onions and liquid and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Add stock or water if there is not enough liquid. Add a tablespoonful each of melted butter and minced parsley, pour over the fish, and serve.

SEA-BASS WITH BLACK BUTTER

Boil medium-sized sea-bass in salted and acidulated water, drain, and marinate with salt, pepper, and vinegar. Brown a cupful of butter in a saucepan, skim, pour the top part over the fish, leaving the sediment in the pan, garnish with fried parsley, and serve.

STRIPED BASS WITH SHAD ROE

Clean a four-pound striped bass and soak the soft roes of four shad in cold water. Put the bass into a fish-kettle with an onion, salt and pepper to season, a small bunch of parsley, a tablespoonful of butter, two wineglassfuls of white wine, and enough white stock to cover. Cover, cook for half an hour or more, basting as required, and drain. Strain the liquid and add it to a tablespoonful each of butter and flour cooked together. Cook until it thickens, stirring constantly. Add the juice of a lemon and two tablespoonfuls of butter. Cook the roes for five minutes in salted and acidulated water, drain, cut in two, and arrange around the fish. Pour the sauce over, sprinkle with minced parsley, and serve.

FILLETS OF STRIPED BASS À LA BORDELAISE

Clean two striped bass and cut into fillets. Cover the trimmings with water, add one cupful of white wine, two cupfuls of white stock, a sliced onion, a bay-leaf, a sprig of thyme, a tablespoonful of butter, and salt and pepper to season. Skin the fillets, season with salt, and marinate for half an hour in oil and lemon-juice. Drain, sprinkle with flour, dip in egg yolks beaten smooth with a little melted butter, then in crumbs. Broil carefully, basting with melted butter as required. Fry a tablespoonful of chopped onion in two tablespoonfuls of flour and cook to a smooth paste. Add the liquid strained from the fish trimmings and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Add half a cupful of stewed and strained tomato, a tablespoonful of minced parsley, and two tablespoonfuls of butter. Season with red pepper and lemon-juice, pour over the fish, and serve.

FILLETS OF STRIPED BASS À LA MANHATTAN

Clean and trim a four-pound bass, skin, remove the bones, and chop very fine. Add four tablespoonfuls of butter, season with salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg, and add enough cream to make a stiff paste. Shape into cutlets, dip in egg and crumbs and fry in deep fat, or sautÉ in clarified butter. Drain. and serve with Tomato Sauce.

STRIPED BASS WITH CAPER SAUCE

Clean and trim a large striped bass, cut two incisions across the back, tie in a circle, and boil slowly in salted and acidulated water for forty minutes. Drain, pour over a Caper Sauce, garnish with parsley, and serve.

STRIPED BASS À LA DAUPHINE

Clean and trim a striped bass. Put into a fish-kettle with salt, pepper, a bunch of parsley, a pinch of sweet herbs, a sliced onion, two cupfuls of white wine, two cupfuls of water, and four tablespoonfuls of butter. Cook for forty minutes in a moderate oven, basting frequently. Drain the fish, strain the liquor, and add enough white stock or oyster liquor to make the required quantity of sauce. Cook two tablespoonfuls of flour in one tablespoonful of butter, add the liquid, and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Add three egg yolks well beaten with four tablespoonfuls of butter, a tablespoonful of anchovy essence, the juice of half a lemon, and a pinch of paprika. Bring to the boiling point, pour over the fish, and serve. Garnish with fried mushrooms.

STRIPED BASS À LA CARDINAL

Clean and trim a striped bass. Cook in a fish-kettle with two cupfuls of water, one cupful of white wine, four tablespoonfuls of butter, a bunch of parsley, an onion, and a carrot, sliced, and salt and pepper to season. Simmer for forty minutes and drain. Add two cupfuls of white stock to the liquid, strain, and skim off the fat. Cook two tablespoonfuls of flour in a tablespoonful of butter, add the strained liquid and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Take from the fire and add the yolks of four eggs, beaten with the juice of a lemon, four tablespoonfuls of melted butter, and a pinch of paprika. Bring to the boil, then take from the fire, add sufficient dried and pounded lobster coral to color, pour over the fish, and serve.

STRIPED BASS À LA HOLLANDAISE

Clean and trim a striped bass and simmer half an hour in salted and acidulated water to cover. Drain, garnish with parsley, and serve with Hollandaise Sauce.

STRIPED BASS À LA COMMODORE

Clean and stuff a striped bass. Put into a fish-kettle with a bunch of parsley, a cupful of mixed vegetables cut fine, a cupful of white wine, a cupful of oyster liquor, and enough water or stock to cover. Simmer for forty minutes and drain. Strain the gravy, skim off the fat, and set aside. Brown two tablespoonfuls of flour in one tablespoonful of butter, add one cupful of stock and cook until very thick, stirring constantly. Add the strained sauce and reheat, stirring until smooth. Add a tablespoonful of anchovy essence, four tablespoonfuls of butter, and lemon-juice to taste. Pour over the fish and serve.

STRIPED BASS À L'AMERICAINE

Cook together one tablespoonful each of butter and flour, add a pint of oysters, with their liquor, and the yolks of two eggs, well beaten. Cook until thick, stirring constantly. Prepare and trim a striped bass, fill with the oyster mixture, season, and sew up. Put into a fish-kettle with enough white wine and water, in equal parts, to cover. Add a sliced onion, a bunch of parsley, a little salt and pepper and a tablespoonful of butter. Simmer for an hour and drain. Strain the gravy and skim off the fat. Cook together two tablespoonfuls of flour and one of butter, add the strained liquid and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Take from the fire, add the yolks of four eggs beaten with four tablespoonfuls of melted butter, the juice of a lemon, and a tablespoonful of minced parsley. Bring to the boil, pour over the fish, and serve. Garnish with fried oysters.

STRIPED BASS À LA MARSEILLES

Clean a large striped bass and divide into fillets. Put into a fish-boiler with three tablespoonfuls of butter, two large onions, sliced, a bunch of parsley, a bay-leaf, salt and pepper to season, and red wine and water, in equal parts, to cover. Simmer for an hour, drain the fish, take out the parsley, strain the liquid, and spread the cooked onions over the fish. Cook three tablespoonfuls of flour in two tablespoonfuls of butter, add the strained liquid and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Take from the fire, add the juice of a small lemon, a tablespoonful of anchovy essence, and two tablespoonfuls of butter. When the butter is melted, pour over the fish and serve.

STRIPED BASS À LA CONTI

Clean and trim a large striped bass. Put into a baking-pan with four tablespoonfuls of olive-oil, a small onion, chopped fine, salt and pepper to season, a bunch of parsley, and two cupfuls each of white wine and white stock. Cover and cook for an hour in a moderate oven, basting often. Drain the fish and remove the parsley. Strain the sauce. Brown two tablespoonfuls of flour in one of butter, add the strained liquid, and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Add the juice of half a lemon and a tablespoonful of minced parsley. Pour over the fish and serve.