Cut six slices of bread the width of an American loaf and one-quarter of an
inch in thickness, neatly pare off the crust and fry in a sautoire, together with half
an ounce of fresh butter, so as to make them a light brown color ; then boil eighteen
hard-shell crabs in salted water for about twelve minutes, after which remove and
allow them to become cool, when the upper shell should be removed, and with the
aid of a pointed knife pick out all of the meat, cracking the claws and removing all
the meat from there also ; place it all on a plate, season with a teaspoonful of salt
and half a saltspoonful of red pepper ; then place one ounce of butter in a saucepan,
with a peeled and very finely chopped onion, and cook them together for about two
minutes over a moderate fire ; add two tablespoonfuls of flour, stir again for two
minutes, and add one gill of broth, and stir while slowly cooking for five minutes,
now add the crab meat, and cook for quarter of an hour, stirring once in a while with
a wooden spoon, then remove into another vessel and let it cool for fifteen minutes.
Put in a sautoire a tablespoonful of good butter over a stove, and mix in with one
tablespoonful of flour, and cook for three minutes gently ; add a couple of ounces of
grated Parmesan cheese and an equal quantity of Swiss cheese, stirring well together;
place it in a vessel to cool. Put a layer of crab meat on each slice of toast a quarter
of an inch thick, and divide the prepared cheese in six equal portions, forming them
into ball shapes about two inches in diameter, and arrange them over the layer of
crab meat in the center, place them on a dish and bake in a brisk oven for about five
minutes, then take them out and serve them in the same dish in which they have
been cooked.
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