Lobsters, Fricasseed, or au Béchamel

Modern cookery for private families · Acton, Eliza · 1845

Source: Modern cookery for private families
Yield: 2.0 lobsters
Status: success · extracted 13 days ago
Not a recipe: No

Ingredients (10)

flesh from the claws and tails of two moderate-sized lobsters ↝ Potatoes, flesh and skin, raw [Vegetables and Vegetable Products]
three quarters of a pint of good white sauce or béchamel ↝ Sauce, homemade, white, medium [Soups, Sauces, and Gravies]
a little lemon-juice ↝ Lemon juice, raw [Fruits and Fruit Juices]
The coral ↝ Lobster [Shellfish]
Good shin of beef stock made without vegetables (see page 97), and somewhat reduced by quick boiling, if mixed with an equal proportion of cream, and thickened with arrow-root
salt ↝ Salt, table, iodized [Spices and Herbs]
mace ↝ Spices, mace, ground [Spices and Herbs]
cayenne ↝ Peppers, raw, NFS [Other vegetables and combinations]
well dried, fine, pale fried crumbs of bread, or with unfried ones, which must then be equally moistened with clarified butter ↝ Bread, crumbs, dry, grated, seasoned [Baked Products]
clarified butter ↝ Butter, Clarified butter (ghee) [Dairy and Egg Products]

Instructions (9)

Take the flesh from the claws and tails of two moderate-sized lobsters; cut it into small scallops or dice; heat it slowly quite through in about three quarters of a pint of good white sauce or béchamel;
serve it when it is at the point of boiling, after having stirred briskly to it a little lemon-juice just as it is taken from the fire.
The coral, pounded and mixed gradually with a few spoonsful of the sauce, should be added previously.
If using the beef stock substitute: mix with an equal proportion of cream, and thicken with arrow-root.
The sauce should never be thin; nor more than sufficient in quantity to just cover the fish.
For a second course dish, only as much must be used as will adhere to the fish.
The fish, after being heated, should be laid evenly into the shells, which ought to be split quite through the centre of the backs in their entire length, without being broken or divided at the joint, and nicely cleaned.
When thus arranged, the lobster may be thickly covered with well dried, fine, pale fried crumbs of bread, or with unfried ones, which must then be equally moistened with clarified butter, and browned with a salamander.
A small quantity of salt, mace, and cayenne, may be required to finish the flavouring of either of these preparations.

Original Text

LOBSTERS, FRICASSEED, OR AU BÉCHAMEL. (ENTRÉE.)

Take the flesh from the claws and tails of two moderate-sized lobsters; cut it into small scallops or dice; heat it slowly quite through in about three quarters of a pint of good white sauce or béchamel; and serve it when it is at the point of boiling, after having stirred briskly to it a little lemon-juice just as it is taken from the fire. The coral, pounded and mixed gradually with a few spoonsful of the sauce, should be added previously. Good shin of beef stock made without vegetables (see page 97), and somewhat reduced by quick boiling, if mixed with an equal proportion of cream, and thickened with arrow-root, will answer extremely well in a general way for this dish, which is most excellent if well made. The sauce should never be thin; nor more than sufficient in quantity to just cover the fish. For a second course dish, only as much must be used as will adhere to the fish, which after being heated should be laid evenly into the shells, which ought to be split quite through the centre of the backs in their entire length, without being broken or divided at the joint, and nicely cleaned. When thus arranged, the lobster may be thickly covered with well dried, fine, pale fried crumbs of bread, or with unfried ones, which must then be equally moistened with clarified butter, and browned with a salamander. A small quantity of salt, mace, and cayenne, may be required to finish the flavouring of either of these preparations.

Notes

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