With the Chafing Dish: Crabs and Lobsters

With the Chafing Dish

BY CHRISTINE TERHUNE HERRICK

Crabs and Lobsters

MIDSUMMER is the time when the crab and the lobster are cheapest and most plentiful. They are never a luxury which the very poor can afford themselves, except perhaps on the sea-coast, where they are to be had for the gathering, so to speak. But people of moderate means can treat themselves to lobster or crabs once in a while without feeling they are guilty of unwarrantable extravagance. And surely there are few things that are better to the taste.

The crustacean shares one peculiarity of the egg, in that it is better when just cooked than after it has stood for a while. On this account it is especially to be commended for the chafing dish. It does not enjoy a high reputation for digestibility, but in this respect it has been a bit belied. Much of its doubtful character is due to the way in which it is often cooked and the time at which it is eaten. When it has not been allowed to stand long enough after cooking to become tough, and when there is enough cayenne or paprika put with it to stimulate digestion, there is no reason why it should not agree with healthy, normal stomachs.

Deviled Crabs

Cut two cups of crab meat into small pieces, and lay them for half an hour in a good French dressing. When ready to use, put into the chafing dish three tablespoonfuls of butter, one teaspoonful of lemon juice, one teaspoonful of mustard, half a teaspoonful of paprika, as much salt, and two tablespoonfuls of tomato catsup. Let all cook together until they come to the boil, turn in the crab meat, let it become smoking hot and serve at once.

Savory Crabs

Have ready, as in the preceding recipe, two cups of crab meat, cut into small pieces. Melt a teaspoonful of butter in the chafing dish, and stir into it a saltspoonful each of salt and dry mustard, a pinch of paprika, and a teaspoonful of Worcestershire sauce. Put in the lobster, and when it is hot through add to it three tablespoonfuls of Madeira or sherry and a teaspoonful of lemon juice. Cook one minute longer, or until the dish has recovered from the chill given by the addition of the wine.

Lobster a la Poulette

Make a sauce by cooking together two tablespoonfuls of butter and one of flour until they bubble, and pouring upon them one cup of cream. Stir until the sauce is thick and smooth, put in the meat from one large lobster, — there should be about two cupfuls altogether, including fat and coral. When it is hot turn in carefully the whites and yolks of two eggs, beaten well without separating them. As soon as the sauce looks thick and creamy,—this should be in two or three minutes if the cooking is done in the blazer,— season with a teaspoonful of salt and a couple of dashes of red pepper. Serve at once, and pass lemon with it.

If the cooking is done over hot water, it will take longer for the egg to cook sufficiently.

Creamed Lobster

Cook together two tablespoonfuls of butter and one of flour and when they bubble add to them half a pint of milk. Into this stir two cups of lobster meat cut into neat pieces. Let it get hot through. Add to it a scant teaspoonful of salt and a pinch of paprika or a dash of cayenne. When the lobster and the sauce are both boiling hot, put in two tablespoonfuls of rich, thick cream, and before the boil is regained, put out the lamp. Add to the dish the juice of half a lemon and serve at once. The excellence of this dish is largely due to the taste of the uncooked cream. If the sauce comes to the boil again after the raw cream goes in, its flavor is lost.

Lobster a la Newburg

Recipes for this dish have been given by the score but there is always room for another if it is good and simple, like the following : Cook together in the double boiler of a chafing dish a half pint of cream and the yolks of three eggs, until they thicken. Put in them the meat from one large or two small lobsters and when this is smoking hot pour in a gill of sherry. Cook until the mixture is hot, season with a scant teaspoonful of salt and a couple of dashes of cayenne, and serve at once. For those who like it, a tablespoonful of good brandy may be added.