Lobster Cutlets

The Book of Household Management · Beeton, Mrs. (Isabella Mary) · 1861

Source: The Book of Household Management
Time: Cook: 8 min Total: 8 min
Yield: 5.0 – 6.0 persons
Status: success · extracted 13 days ago
Not a recipe: No

Ingredients (12)

For the cutlets

1 large hen lobster ↝ Lobster [Shellfish]
1 oz. fresh butter ↝ Butter, stick, unsalted [Dairy and Egg Products]
1/2 saltspoonful of salt ↝ Salt, table, iodized [Spices and Herbs]
pounded mace ↝ Spices, mace, ground [Spices and Herbs]
grated nutmeg ↝ Oil, nutmeg butter [Fats and Oils]
cayenne and white pepper to taste ↝ Spices, pepper, red or cayenne [Spices and Herbs]
cayenne and white pepper to taste ↝ Spices, pepper, white [Spices and Herbs]
egg ↝ Eggs, Grade A, Large, egg whole [Dairy and Egg Products]
bread crumbs ↝ Bread, crumbs, dry, grated, seasoned [Baked Products]
a little of the spawn ↝ Lobster [Shellfish]

For frying

boiling lard ↝ Lard [Fats and Oils]

To serve with

béchamel ↝ Sauce, NFS [Dips, gravies, other sauces]

Instructions (5)

Pick the meat from the shell, and pound it in a mortar with the butter, and gradually add the mace and seasoning, well mixing the ingredients; beat all to a smooth paste, and add a little of the spawn; divide the mixture into pieces of an equal size, and shape them like cutlets.
They should not be very thick.
Brush them over with egg, and sprinkle with bread crumbs, and stick a short piece of the small claw in the top of each;
fry them of a nice brown in boiling lard, and drain them before the fire, on a sieve reversed;
arrange them nicely on a dish, and pour béchamel in the middle, but not over the cutlets.

Original Text

LOBSTER CUTLETS (an Entree).

275. INGREDIENTS.—1 large hen lobster, 1 oz. fresh butter, 1/2 saltspoonful of salt, pounded mace, grated nutmeg, cayenne and white pepper to taste, egg, and bread crumbs.

Mode.—Pick the meat from the shell, and pound it in a mortar with the butter, and gradually add the mace and seasoning, well mixing the ingredients; beat all to a smooth paste, and add a little of the spawn; divide the mixture into pieces of an equal size, and shape them like cutlets. They should not be very thick. Brush them over with egg, and sprinkle with bread crumbs, and stick a short piece of the small claw in the top of each; fry them of a nice brown in boiling lard, and drain them before the fire, on a sieve reversed; arrange them nicely on a dish, and pour béchamel in the middle, but not over the cutlets.

Time.—About 8 minutes after the cutlets are made.

Average cost for this dish, 2s. 9d.

Seasonable all the year. Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.

ANCIENT MODE OF COOKING THE LOBSTER.—When this fish was to be served for the table, among the ancients, it was opened lengthwise, and filled with a gravy composed of coriander and pepper. It was then put on the gridiron and slowly cooked, whilst it was being basted with the same kind of gravy with which the flesh had become impregnated.

TO DRESS LOBSTERS.

276. When the lobster is boiled, rub it over with a little salad-oil, which wipe off again; separate the body from the tail, break off the great claws, and crack them at the joints, without injuring the meat; split the tail in halves, and arrange all neatly in a dish, with the body upright in the middle, and garnish with parsley. (See Coloured Plate, H.)

Notes

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