Recipe: Shaker Baked Fish with Herb Dressing

Shaker Baked Fish with Herb Dressing
rec.food.cooking/Tara (1996)
From: Shaker Cooking by Crescent Books

1 whole fish (2 pounds), cleaned
6 soda crackers, crushed
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon minced parsley
1 tablespoon mince thyme
1 tablespoon powdered cloves (see note)
1 tablespoon butter
Fish broth to moisten
4 strips of salt pork
Salt and pepper
Corn meal for dredging

Scrape fish well and wash; remove head and tail in water, cover fish in water which will be used as fish broth.

Make a dressing of crushed crackers, salt, pepper, sugar, minced herbs, and butter. Moisten with fish broth.

Stuff fish and fasten with wooden skewers. Place in butter baking dish and cut a few shallow slashes across fish. Lay on thin strips of salt pork and dredge with salt, pepper, and corn meal.

Bake in slow oven (325 degrees) for 1 1/2 hours. Serve on hot platter surround with tomato sauce and wedges of lemon or horseradish sauce.

Note: The tablespoon of cloves seems a lot to me but that is the way it was in the recipe.