James Beard's New Fish Cookery (30 page)

RED CAVIAR CHEESE

Cream 1/2 pound cream cheese. When it is light and fluffy, add 1/2 cup red caviar, 1 tablespoon grated onion, and 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. Season to taste with lemon juice and beat thoroughly with a fork. Serve with crackers or toast.

CAVIAR EGGS

This is a delightful hors d’oeuvre. For 6 servings:

6 hard-cooked eggs

6 tablespoons caviar (red
or
black)

1 tablespoon chopped chives
or
green onion

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

1 tablespoon mayonnaise
or
sour cream

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Shell the eggs, cut them in halves, and remove the yolks. Mash these well and combine with the remaining ingredients. When it is thoroughly whipped together, heap it into the whites with a spoon, or pipe it in, using the rosette end of a pastry tube.

For a first course, serve 2 halves per person. Arrange them on greens and pass a Russian dressing. Or double the recipe and serve it as a salad course with watercress, Russian dressing, and crisp French bread.

Surf Perch and Sea Perch

Sometimes called striped or blue perch, the surf perch is a small Pacific fish. I like it cooked simply and served with a good sauce, such as an olive sauce or a sweet-sour sauce.

The sea perch of the Atlantic is sometimes sold as frozen fillets, which can be cooked according to the recipes for ocean perch (pages 154–159). New England anglers, fishing off the rocks, often catch sea perch. It is a very bony fish to cook whole; however, it may be prepared in the same ways as the Pacific surf perch.

BROILED SURF PERCH

Broil the fish whole, following the directions on pages 9–10.

SAUTÉED SURF PERCH

Follow the directions for sautéing, page 10.

Swordfish

This continues to hold its place among the most popular fish marketed in the United States. Swordfish is caught on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and in most coastal waters around the world. For years we have imported it in large quantities, sometimes bringing in more poundage than is caught in American waters. Swordfish is a fine game fish and is eagerly sought by anglers.

The meat of the fish is firm, oily, and well flavored. It is sold mainly in steaks, sometimes in fillets. Usually it is served broiled with a variety of sauces, but it is also often baked or sautéed. The flesh tends to be dry if not basted often.

BROILED SWORDFISH

Swordfish steaks are large and will usually serve several people. The size of the steak – it can be cut from 1/2 to 2 inches thick – will depend on the number of servings you wish.

Brush the fish well with butter or oil and place it on an oiled rack about 2 inches from the flame. Broil according to the Canadian cooking theory (pages 9–10), basting with more butter or oil during the cooking process, and turning once. Be careful not to let the flesh become too dry.

Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper and serve with lemon wedges, lemon butter, tarragon butter, parsley butter, or beurre noisette (pages 31–33). Excellent accompaniments are sautéed potatoes and a tart salad, such as celery in French dressing made with plenty of dry mustard. Cold broiled swordfish, served with a mayonnaise, is a great delicacy.

VARIATIONS

1. Baste the fish with a mixture of melted butter, white wine, and dried or fresh tarragon.

2. Marinate the fish for 1 hour in a mixture of lemon juice, chopped onion, olive oil, and basil. Baste with this sauce while broiling. Season and serve with crisp julienne potatoes and slices of raw onion and cucumber in vinaigrette sauce (page 36).

PLANKED SWORDFISH STEAKS

This is a festive dish for a dinner party.

Select 1 or 2 large steaks – about 5 to 6 pounds – for 6 people. Broil them as above, but remove them just before they are done. Arrange them on a hot hickory or oak plank and surround with a border of duchess potatoes and vegetables, as follows:

Mash or puree 8 large boiled or baked potatoes. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper; add 1/4 pound butter and the yolks of 3 eggs beaten with a little cream. The potatoes must be stiff enough to force through a pastry tube. Using the large rosette end of the tube, make a border of the potatoes around the edge of the plank. Then make strips, like spokes, of the potatoes running from the fish in the center out to the potato border. Fill the spaces between the spokes with green peas, julienne beets, tiny grilled tomatoes, and snap beans.

Sprinkle the top of the whole plank with paprika, dot with butter, season with salt and pepper, and run it under the broiler flame to brown slightly. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.

A sweet-sour cucumber salad is delicious with this, and needless to say, the addition of some good chilled white wine will make this dinner party one your guests will never forget.

BARBECUED SWORDFISH STEAK

This is an outstanding fish dish when cooked over charcoal and basted with a good tart sauce. But it’s almost as good cooked indoors as outdoors.

Use your own special barbecue sauce, or try this one:

Barbecue Sauce

1/2 cup soy sauce

2 cloves garlic, chopped

4 tablespoons tomato sauce
or
catsup

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1 teaspoon finely powdered oregano

1/2 cup orange juice

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Mix the ingredients together and soak the swordfish steak in it for 2 hours before cooking. Brush or baste the fish with the sauce during the broiling. Serve with braised kidney beans, a hearty salad of greens, tomatoes, and onion rings, and a red wine.

SWORDFISH STEAK WITH PEPPER

2-inch-thick steak

Flour

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

Oil

Butter

Salt

1/4 cup white wine
or
sherry

Dredge the steak with flour and grind the pepper onto the surface. Press the pepper into the flesh of the fish with the heel of your hand. Brush with oil and sauté in 5 tablespoons of butter according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 10). Turn once during the cooking. Salt to taste and remove the steak to a hot platter. Add a little more butter to the pan and the wine. Swirl it around and pour it over the fish. Serve with lemon quarters, plain boiled new potatoes, and beets dressed with sour cream and dill.

VARIATION

Swordfish Steak with Rosemary.
Follow the recipe above, but substitute dried or fresh rosemary for the pepper. The rosemary gives a rare and unusual flavor to the fish.

BAKED SWORDFISH STEAK

2 steaks, 1 inch thick

Flour

Oil

Fresh dill

Sliced onions

Butter

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 cup white wine

1 cup cream

3 egg yolks

Dust the steaks with flour and brush with oil. Place one in the bottom of a well-oiled baking dish. Spread it with a layer of dill and then a layer of onion slices. Dot with butter and season with salt and pepper. Top with the second steak, and dot this with butter and seasonings. Pour 1/2 cup of the wine into the pan and bake at 425° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8). Baste the fish several times during the cooking.

Remove the fish to a hot platter. Add the remaining 1/2 cup wine to the pan, bring it to a boil, and gradually stir in the cream mixed with the egg yolks. Stir until well thickened and smooth. Pour the sauce over the fish.

BAKED SWORDFISH WITH MUSHROOMS

2 steaks, 1 inch thick

Butter

Crumbs

3 cans of “broiled in butter” chopped mushrooms

2 tablespoons chopped shallots
or
onions

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup white wine

1 cup cream

Beurre manié (page 475)

Place one steak in the bottom of an oiled baking dish. Spread the steak with butter and top with crumbs. Open 2 cans of chopped mushrooms and drain, saving the juice. Spread the mushrooms over the steak. Add the shallots or onions, salt and pepper to taste, and dot with butter. Top with the second steak, dot this with butter and season with salt and pepper. Add the wine to the mushroom liquid and pour over the fish. Bake at 425° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8), basting with the pan juices.

Remove the fish to a hot platter. Open the third can of mushrooms and add them to the pan juices. Add 1 cup of cream and thicken with beurre manié. Taste for seasoning and pour over the fish. Serve with crisp sautéed potatoes and braised endive. A chilled rosé is the perfect complement.

BAKED SWORDFISH CASTILIAN

4 green peppers, shredded

Olive oil

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon lemon juice

3 medium onions, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 cups stewed
or
canned tomatoes

1 teaspoon oregano

1 tablespoon chili powder

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Fresh coriander
or
cilantro

1 thick swordfish steak

Butter

Sauté the peppers in the oil, season to taste, and add the lemon juice. Sauté the onion and garlic in oil. Add the tomatoes, oregano, chili powder, parsley, and coriander (or cilantro, if available). Simmer for 25 minutes.

Place the steak in an oiled baking dish. Dot it with butter and season with salt and pepper. Bake at 425° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8). Pour the sauce over the fish, top it with the green peppers, and return it to the oven for 5 minutes to blend thoroughly. Serve with rice and sautéed eggplant.

Tautog (Blackfish)

This is a good game fish that is well known to sportsmen on the North and Middle Atlantic Coast. In New England it is known as tautog; elsewhere it is called blackfish, or sometimes black porgy or saltwater chub. It is usually caught near shore, since it is a fish that likes rocks and ledges. It is also fond of snooping around piers and old wrecks.

The tautog, or blackfish, is taken commercially from Cape Cod to Delaware Bay. The average fish weighs 2 to 3 pounds and is 12 to 18 inches long. The flesh is white, juicy, and has a pleasant flavor.

SAUTÉED TAUTOG

Clean and split the fish and sauté according to the directions on page 10.

BROILED TAUTOG

Broil according to the directions on pages 9–10.

BAKED TAUTOG

Bake tautog as you would striped bass (see page 269).

Tuna and Related Fish

This is a fish that I think is better canned than fresh. There are many varieties of tuna on both coasts, and all are robust game fish. The albacore, which has the true white meat, is the one used for the finest pack tunafish and for the most delicate dishes. The others are not so white, varying in color from a sort of amber to a purply red. Bonito is an important Pacific member of the family, all members of which are related to the mackerel.

Small tuna weigh 10 to 15 pounds, large ones up to 600 pounds. The fish is sold whole, in steaks, and in fillets.

Some smoked tuna is found here and there on the market, but other varieties of smoked fish are more popular.

Fresh Tuna

GRILLED TUNA WITH VARIOUS SAUCES

Marinate 1-inch-thick tuna steaks in olive oil flavored with garlic and lemon juice. Soak the fish for 1 hour before cooking. Grill the steaks over charcoal or in the broiler, basting well with additional oil. Cook according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 9), turning once. Season the steaks with salt and freshly ground black pepper, remove them to a hot platter, and serve with any of the following sauces; Hollandaise (pages 25–26), Béarnaise (page 26), lobster (page 21), shrimp (page 21), lemon butter (page 31), or parsley butter (page 33).

VARIATION

Marinate the fish in your favorite barbecue sauce and brush it with the sauce while it is grilling. Serve with sautéed potatoes and plenty of garlic bread to dunk into the sauce.

TUNA SAUTÉ AMANDINE

4 pounds tuna steaks

1/2 pound almonds

6 tablespoons butter

Flour

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Lemon wedges

Use 1-inch-thick tuna steaks. Blanch and sliver the almonds, or open a can of the chopped buttered almonds. Melt the butter, flour the fish lightly, and brown quickly in the butter. Salt and pepper them to taste. When you have turned the steaks, add the almonds and chopped parsley. Total cooking time will be 10 minutes per inch thickness. Add more butter to the pan if necessary. Remove the fish to a hot platter, pour the almonds and butter over the top, and surround with lemon wedges.

Serve with plain boiled potatoes.

SAUTÉED ALBACORE WITH TARRAGON AND WHITE WINE

1 albacore steak

4 tablespoons butter

2/3 cup dry white wine

1 teaspoon dried, or 1 tablespoon fresh, tarragon

Choose a good-sized albacore steak – about 1 inch thick or thicker. Melt the butter in a skillet, add the steak, and brown lightly on both sides according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 10), over fairly brisk heat. Add the white wine in which you have soaked the tarragon while the steak is browning. Let the wine cook down rapidly and spoon it over the fish. Remove the fish to a hot platter and pour the wine sauce over it.

Serve with tiny new potatoes smothered in butter and small glazed onions.

FRIED FINGERS OF TUNA

These are delicious for a luncheon dish. If you have the patience to cut the fingers very small, you can serve them as an appetizer with a good dunk sauce.

Cut tuna steaks into small fingers about 3 inches long and 1/2 inch through. Marinate these in oil for 1 hour. Dip them in flour, then in beaten eggs, and roll them in crumbs or corn meal. Fry in deep hot fat heated to 375°. They will take 5 minutes according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 11). Drain on absorbent paper, season with salt and pepper, and serve with tartar sauce (pages 35–36), sauce rémoulade (page 35), or sauce diable (page 29).