Salt Fish requires from twelve to thirty-six hours' soaking, flesh downward, in cold water before cooking, depending on the hardness and dryness of the fish. Change the water two or three times to remove surplus salt. Start in cold water, then, and boil until the flesh parts from the bones. When done, cover with bits of butter, or serve with one of the sauces given in the chapter on Fish.

Broiled Salt Fish

Freshen the flakes of fish by soaking in cold water. Broil over the coals, and serve with potatoes.

Stewed Codfish

Soak over night in plenty of cold water. Put in pot of fresh, cold water, and heat gradually until soft. Do not boil the fish or it will get hard. Serve with boiled potatoes, and with white sauce made as directed under Fish.

Codfish Hash

Prepare salt codfish as above. When soft, mash with potatoes and onions, season with pepper, and fry like corned beef hash.

Codfish Balls

Shred the fish into small pieces. Peel some potatoes. Use one pint of fish to one quart of raw potatoes. Put them in a pot, cover with boiling water, cook till potatoes are soft, drain water off, mash fish and potatoes together, and beat light with a fork. Add a tablespoonful of butter and season with pepper. Shape into flattened balls, and fry in very hot fat deep enough to cover.

Smoked Herrings

(1) Clean, and remove the skin. Toast on a stick over the coals.

(2) Scald in boiling wate* till the skin curls up, then remove head, tail, and skin. Clean well. Put into frying-pan with a little butter or lard. Fry gently a few minutes, dropping in a little vinegar.

Smoked Sprats

Lay them on a slightly greased plate and set them in an oven until heated through.

Canned Salmon, Creamed

Cut into dice. Heat about a pint of them in one-half j>int milk. Season with salt and Cayenne pepper. Cold cooked fish of any kind can be served in this way.

Canned Salmon, Scalloped

Rub two teaspoon-fuls of butter and a tablespoonful of flour together. Stir this into boiling milk. Cut two pounds of canned salmon into dice. Put a layer of the sauce in bottom of a dish, then a layer of salmon. Sprinkle with salt, Cayenne pepper, and grated bread crumbs. Repeat alternate layers until dish is full, having the last layer sauce, which is sprinkled with crumbs and bits of butter. Bake in very hot oven until browned (about ten minutes).

Canned Salmon On Toast

Dip slices of stale bread in smoking-hot lard. They will brown at once. Drain them. Heat a pint of salmon, picked into flakes, season with salt and Cayenne, and turn into a cupful of melted butter. Heat in pan. Stir in one egg, beaten light, with three tablespoonfuls evaporated milk not thinned. Pour the mixture on the fried bread.

Sardines, Fried

Fry them and give them a dash of red pepper. They are better if wiped free of oil, dipped into whipped egg, sprinkled thickly with cracker crumbs, fried, and served on buttered toast.