James Beard's New Fish Cookery (12 page)

OLD-FASHIONED NEW ENGLAND EEL STIFLE

6 eels

6 fairly large potatoes, peeled and sliced

4 large onions, peeled and sliced

Freshly ground black pepper

Flour

Salt pork

Butter

Skin and clean the eels and cut them into 4-inch lengths. In a buttered baking dish or casserole, place a layer of the potatoes, a layer of the onions, and a layer of eels. Sprinkle each layer lightly with pepper and flour. Cover the top with small bits of salt pork, dot with butter, and add almost enough water to cover. Cover and bake at 375° until tender, approximately 45 to 50 minutes, or cook slowly on top of the stove until done.

EELS BORDELAISE

This dish is usually made with the lampreys caught near Bordeaux. It is a specialty of the house in one of the famous restaurants in Saint émilion, where some of the finest wines of that district are used to prepare the food, and, of course, are drunk with it. Strangely enough, Saint émilion is famous for another gastronomic delight — macaroons.

3 pounds eels

Carrot, thinly sliced

Onion, thinly sliced

1 clove garlic

Pinch thyme

1 leaf and stalk of celery

Several sprigs parsley

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Red wine to cover

6 to 8 pieces of the white of leek

1/3 cup diced raw ham

3 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons flour

Skin and clean the eels and cut them in 4-inch pieces. Line a skillet or saucepan with sliced carrot and onion. Put the pieces of eel on top. Add garlic, thyme, celery, parsley, bay leaf, salt, pepper, and red wine to cover. Cover the skillet, bring it to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, brown the pieces of leek in butter. Add the ham and the cooked eel. Make a roux of the butter and flour and add it to the broth in which the eel was cooked. Simmer for 20 minutes. Force this sauce through a sieve onto the eel, leeks, and ham. Simmer this all together for 15 or 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste for seasoning.

Arrange the fish and leeks on a serving dish. Thicken the sauce with beurre manié (page 475) if necessary, and pour it over the eel.

BAKED EELS, NEW ENGLAND FASHION

Skin and clean 6 eels but do not split them. Cut them in lengths of 3 to 4 inches. Remove the intestines with a fine-pointed knife, or a fork or skewer. Arrange the pieces on an oiled baking pan, season, and top with slices of onion and salt pork. Bake at 450° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8).

POACHED EELS

Skin and clean eels and cut them into 3-inch lengths. Poach them in a court bouillon (page 18). They should be tender in about 8 or 9 minutes. Remove them to a hot dish, reduce the broth, and use it to prepare a sauce velouté (page 21). Pour this over the eels and garnish with chopped parsley.

VARIATIONS

1. Prepare a curry sauce (page 29). Pour the sauce over the poached eels and serve with rice and chutney.

2. Poach the eels. Prepare the sauce velouté and lace it heavily with paprika. Serve with buttered noodles.

3. Poach the eels in white wine. Sauté 24 mushroom caps in butter. Brown 1/2 cup of artichoke hearts in butter. Arrange these in a baking dish or casserole with the eels. Add 3 pimientos cut in fine strips. Prepare a white wine sauce with the broth (page 24), season it with paprika, and pour it over the eels and vegetables. Heat in a 350° oven for 12 minutes.

4. Cut the eels into lengths of 5 or 6 inches and poach in a court bouillon for about 6 minutes. Let them cool in the broth. When cool enough to handle, wipe them well, dip in flour, then in beaten egg yolk, and roll in crumbs. Grill or broil until nicely browned. Served with tartar sauce (pages 35–36).

MARINATED EELS

Red wine

Garlic

1 carrot

1 onion stuck with cloves

1 stalk celery

3 or 4 sprigs parsley

Pinch thyme

1 leek

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

3 eels

Prepare a marinade of all the ingredients except the eels. Skin, clean, and cut the eels in pieces. Soak them in the marinade. Poach them in the marinade for 15 or 20 minutes. When tender, remove them to a hot dish. Reduce the broth and put it through a fine sieve or food mill. Reheat and pour over the pieces of eel.

COLD EEL (EELS IN JELLY)

6 large eels

White wine court bouillon (pages 18–19)

3 cloves garlic

Olive oil

Chopped parsley

1 envelope gelatin (if desired)

Sauce rémoulade (page 35)
or
sauce gribiche (pages 36–37)

Skin and clean the eels, and cut them in 3-inch pieces. Prepare the court bouillon. Poach the eels until tender, remove them, and arrange in a mold.

Chop the garlic and sauté in olive oil until brown. Add to the mold. Sprinkle chopped parsley over the pieces of eel.

Reduce the bouillon and strain. It should make a good jelly without the addition of gelatin. However, if you will feel safer, use 1 envelope dissolved in 1/4 cup of water. Stir it into 2 cups of the hot broth. Chill slightly and pour over the pieces of eel. Stand in the refrigerator until firm. Unmold on a platter with your favorite garnishes and serve with sauce rémoulade or sauce gribiche.

FLEMISH GREEN EELS

This is certainly one of the finest of cold dishes. I like it as an hors d’oeuvre or as a full course for a summer buffet.

3 pounds eels

6 tablespoons butter

1/4 pound chopped sorrel
or
spinach

1/2 cup chopped parsley

1/4 cup chervil

1 tablespoon fresh
or
1 teaspoon dried tarragon

Savory

Rosemary

Sage

Thyme

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

White wine

4 egg yolks, slightly beaten

11/2 tablespoons of lemon juice

Skin and clean the eels, and cut them into 3-inch pieces. Brown them in the butter; when they are just colored add the herbs. Mix the herbs well with the pieces of eel, add salt and pepper to taste, and cover with white wine. Cover the pan and poach just until the eel is tender. Remove the fish to a large earthenware or glass dish.

Stir the egg yolks into the broth, and continue stirring and cooking until lightly thickened. Be careful not to let the sauce boil. Taste for seasoning, add lemon juice, and pour over the eel. Chill and serve cold.

SMOKED EEL

Smoked eel is excellent as a cocktail snack, as a first course, or as part of a smoked fish platter at a buffet or supper party. You may buy it by the pound.

It is not necessary to skin it and cut it up for serving, but it does make a nicer appearance that way. Its oily flesh takes well to a sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper and a little squeeze of lemon juice.

CANNED EEL

There are several different varieties of canned eel in jelly, and they are all good for cold snacks and summer luncheons. Serve on a bed of greens with a garnish of thinly sliced onions. Use a sauce rémoulade (page 35) or green mayonnaise (page 34).

Fluke

This is a fish that has become popular with summer fish enthusiasts along the lower Northeastern Coast. It is also known as the summer flounder and is in fact a member of the flounder family. It has much more spirit, however, than its close relatives, and this accounts for its appeal as a game fish.

In some local areas in southern New England, especially on the island of Nantucket, fluke is called plaice, although it bears no relationship to the European fish of that name. It is found in the markets only during the summer months, when it comes close to shore to feed.

Because of its somewhat poor taste and texture, it is not held in esteem by fish enthusiasts.

Although fluke can grow to 25 pounds, the average size caught is 1 to 5 pounds. It is a delicious food fish with white meat of an unusually delicate texture. Prepare it in any of the ways suggested for sole or flounder (pages 234–261).

Groupers

The many varieties of groupers are all members of that large family of fish known as sea bass, which is so common all through the Atlantic coastal area, and in fact, common all over the world. The red grouper is probably the best known, and it is important commercially from Virginia on south. The Nassau grouper is found around Florida, while the yellowfish and black grouper and the gag are mainly Gulf fish.

An interesting characteristic of the grouper family is the ability of its members to conceal themselves by taking on the color of their surroundings. In coral or seaweed they camouflage themselves with stripes. When they rise to the surface of the sea, they turn pale, almost colorless, blending with the water. Apparently this ability is something they can flash on and off at will, for they can turn on their colored bands when they see a fish of a different species approaching.

Another interesting fact about groupers is that they seem to be very friendly. One scientist who made underwater investigations some years ago found that red groupers he had been feeding would let him handle them and would even poke around in his pockets in search of tidbits.

Groupers can weigh as much as 40 pounds, but the market fish generally weigh from 5 to 15 pounds. They are sold whole, in steaks or fillets.

Groupers can be cooked in any of the ways suggested for sea bass or red snapper (pages 214–216, 167–171).

Grunion

These amusing fish are
gathered
on shore instead of being hooked or netted in the sea. During their spawning season, grunions come up on the beach and dig holes in the wet sand, where they deposit their eggs. Their floundering antics have always reminded me of a disorderly, unrehearsed ballet.

The grunion “run” can be forecast from year to year, and the seasonal sport of gathering them has many followers on the West Coast. I have never encountered grunions on the Atlantic seaboard. The fish is small, delicate, and flavorful, and somewhat resembles the smelt.

BROILED GRUNIONS

Clean the fish, dip them in flour, dot well with butter, and broil under a hot flame according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 10). Brush with oil or butter during the cooking process. Season to taste and serve with a tartar sauce (pages 35–36).

FRIED GRUNIONS

Here are grunions at their best.

Heat the fat in your French fryer to 375°. Clean the fish, dip them in flour, then in beaten egg, and roll them in corn meal. Fry according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 11) until brown and crisp. Drain on absorbent paper and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Serve with lemon butter or parsley butter and lemon quarters.

Haddock

The haddock and the cod are close relatives, but you can easily tell them apart once you have seen them side by side in the market. The haddock is usually smaller, the average market fish weighing about 21/2 to 3 pounds; its mouth is smaller than that of the cod; and it has a black, rather than a whitish, lateral line.

A great deal of haddock is sold in fillets, either fresh or frozen, and like ocean perch and cod, it is shipped frozen all over the country. Americans now consume over one hundred million pounds of haddock a year.

Finnan haddie — or smoked haddock — is an extremely popular dish of Scottish origin. Years ago it was known as Findon haddock, after the Scottish fishing port of Findon.

Fresh Haddock

BROILED HADDOCK

See directions for broiling fish, pages 9–10.

SAUTÉED HADDOCK

See directions for sauté meunière, page 10. For fillets, see recipes for ocean perch, pages 154–159.

FRIED HADDOCK

See directions for frying fish and fillets, page 11.

HADDOCK TURBANS WITH LEMON SAUCE

6 haddock fillets

1/2 pound shrimp

Fresh dill

Parsley

Court bouillon

Sauce velouté (page 21)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Place one or two shelled, uncooked shrimp on each fillet and a little fresh dill and parsley. Roll the fillets and secure with toothpicks. Poach them in court bouillon according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 12). Remove to a hot serving dish. Reduce the stock, prepare the sauce velouté, and add the lemon juice at the last minute. Pour the sauce over the fillets.

HADDOCK FILLETS VéRONIQUE

6 haddock fillets

Court bouillon (page 18)

White wine

Sauce velouté (page 21)

1/2 cup white seedless grapes

Half-whipped cream

Poach the fillets in court bouillon and white wine according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 12). Arrange them in a shallow baking dish. Make a sauce velouté with the bouillon and some heavy cream and add the grapes. Pour this over the fillets. Dribble a little half-whipped cream on top, and run under the broiler for a minute or two to give it a glaze.

FILLETS OF HADDOCK IN CREAM SAUCE

Sauce béchamel (page 23)

2 tablespoons sherry
or
Madeira

Fresh fennel
or
fennel seeds

6 haddock fillets

Chopped parsley

Prepare the béchamel and flavor it with sherry or Madeira and the fennel or fennel seeds. Place the fillets in a flat baking dish and pour the sauce over them. Bake at 425°–450° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8). Remove and sprinkle liberally with chopped parsley. Serve with crisp fried potatoes and a cucumber salad.

BAKED HADDOCK FILLETS IN WHITE WINE AND TARRAGON

6 haddock fillets

Fresh
or
dried tarragon

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

11/2 cups white wine

Butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

3 egg yolks

Arrange the fillets in a shallow baking dish and sprinkle liberally with tarragon. Salt and pepper to taste. Add the wine and dot with butter. Bake at 425°–450° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8). Remove fish to a hot platter. Reduce the wine to 3/4 cup and combine with the cream mixed with the egg yolks. Stir until the sauce is thickened, but do not let it boil. Season to taste, pour over the fillets, and sprinkle with additional tarragon.