G4 THE OYSTER. 



blades of mace. Put the whole into a saucepan, and set it over 

 the fire to simmer till thick ; but do not allow it to boil, and 

 stir it well, lest it should curdle. When it is near boiling heat, 

 take it off and pour it over the toast. 



9. Oyster Patties. — " Roll out puff-paste a quarter of an inch 

 thick," says Dr. Kitchener, " cut it into squares with a knife, 

 sheet eight or ten patty pans, put upon each a bit of bread the 

 size of half a walnut ; roll out another layer of paste of the 

 same thickness, cut it as above, wet the edge of the bottom 

 paste, and put on the top, pare them round to the pan, and 

 notch them about a dozen times with the back of the knife, rub 

 them lio-htly with yolk of egg^ bake them in a hot oven about a 

 quarter of an hour : when done, take a thin slice off the top, 

 then, with a small knife or spoon, take out the bread and the 

 inside paste, leaving the outside quite entire : then parboil two 

 dozen of large oysters, strain them from their liquor, wash, 

 beard, and cut them into four, put them into a stew-pan with 

 an ounce of butter rolled in flour, half a gill of good cream, a 

 little grated lemon-peel, the oyster liquor free from sediment, 

 reduced by boiling to one half, some cayenne pepper, salt, and 

 a tea-spoonful of lemon-juice; stir it over a fire five minutes, 

 and fill the patties." 



10. Oyster Poivder. — Open the oysters carefully, so as not to 

 cut them, except in dividing the gristle which attaches the 

 shells ; put them into a mortar, and when you have got as 

 many as you can conveniently pound at once, add about two 

 drachms of salt to a dozen oysters ; pound them and rub them 

 through the back of a hair sieve, and put them into the mortar 

 ao-ain, with as much flour (which has been previously thoroughly 

 dried) as will make them into a paste ; roll the paste out several 

 times, and lastly, flour it, and roll it out the thickness of a half- 

 crown, and divide it into pieces about one inch square ; lay 

 them in a Dutch oven, where they will dry so gently as not to 

 get burned ; turn them every half hour, and when they begin 

 to dry, crumble them. They will take about four hours to dry; 

 then pound them fine, sift them, and put them into dry bottles 



