James Beard's New Fish Cookery (14 page)

BAKED STUFFED HALIBUT STEAKS

Choose 2 good-sized halibut steaks, about 4 pounds each or more. Prepare the following stuffing:

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

4 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup sliced mushrooms

1/2 cup dry bread crumbs

1/4 cup finely chopped parsley

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon thyme

Heavy cream

Sauté the onion in the butter. Add the mushrooms, bread crumbs, parsley, pepper, salt, and thyme. Mix thoroughly and moisten with a little heavy cream.

Oil a baking dish and put one of the fish steaks on the bottom. Spread it with the stuffing and top with the second steak. Secure the two steaks together with toothpicks or tie lightly with string. Brush with butter or oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 425° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8). Baste often during the process. Serve with a sour cream cucumber sauce (page 37) or with parsley sauce (page 23).

Tiny buttered new potatoes and green peas bonne femme are excellent with this.

VARIATIONS

1. Begin the preparation of a stuffing with 6 rashers of bacon cut in bits and tried out until crisp; remove to absorbent paper. Add 1 large onion, finely chopped, to the fat and sauté gently until soft. Add 1/2 cup bread crumbs, 1 7-ounce can minced clams with the liquor, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon thyme or more. Mix well, adding a few more bread crumbs if the stuffing seems too soft. Finally, add the crisp bacon pieces. Spread this on one steak, cover with the other, and place in a baking dish or pan. Top with strips of bacon and bake at 425° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8). Serve with parsley butter (page 33).

2. Stuff the fish with your favorite stuffing and place in an oiled baking dish or pan. Cover with sour cream and bake as above. Sprinkle well with paprika and chopped parsley just before serving.

3. Stuff the fish with your favorite stuffing, place in an oiled baking dish and brush with butter. Add 1/2 cup white wine to the pan and bake as above. Baste with additional butter and white wine. Remove the fish to a hot platter, add balls of beurre manié (page 475) to the liquid in the pan, and stir until thickened. Add 1/2 cup of heavy cream and heat thoroughly. Serve with the fish.

4. Prepare a stuffing with 1 small onion, finely chopped and sautéed in butter with 1/2 green pepper, finely chopped. Add 3/4 cup bread crumbs, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, and 1 cup chopped oysters. Blend well, stuff the steaks, and place them in a well-oiled baking dish. Brush with butter and bake as above, basting every 10 minutes. Serve with a sauce béchamel (page 23) prepared with some of the oyster liquor. At the last moment add 1/2 pint of oysters to the sauce and taste for seasoning. The oysters should be small, or else they should be cut in several pieces.

5. Place a halibut steak on an oiled baking dish. Top with a layer of paper-thin onion slices, a layer of peeled tomatoes sliced very thin, a layer of thinly sliced green pepper, a layer of chopped parsley, and another layer of sliced onions. Dot each layer with a little butter and sprinkle lightly with salt. Top the whole with the second steak and brush well with butter or oil. Add 1 cup of red wine to the pan and bake as above. Remove the halibut to a hot platter. Add an additional 2/3 cup of wine to the pan juices and bring it to a boil. Add to this 1/4 cup each of finely chopped parsley and green onion or scallion. Season to taste and, if you wish, thicken the sauce with small balls of beurre manié.

6. Stuff the halibut with a layer of thick tomato paste, a layer of finely chopped garlic, a layer of anchovy fillets, a layer of ripe olives, a layer of pimientos, and another layer of the tomato puree. Add some fennel or basil, salt, and freshly ground pepper. Place in an oiled baking dish and add 1 cup of tomato paste mixed with 1 cup of red wine. Bake as above. Serve with the juices in the pan and sprinkle lavishly with chopped parsley and sliced black olives.

7. Chop very fine 1/2 cup fresh dill sprigs, 1 cup parsley sprigs, and 6 to 8 green onions or scallions. Blend with 1/4 cup butter and spread on a halibut steak. Season to taste and top with another steak. Brush with butter and bake as above. Serve with boiled potatoes and a tartar sauce (pages 35–36) heavily flavored with dill.

FRIED HALIBUT

Buy halibut steaks cut about 3/4 inch thick. Cut them into fingers about the same width, roll them in flour, dip in beaten egg and crumbs, and deep fry according to the directions on page 11. Serve with a rémoulade sauce (page 35).

POACHED HALIBUT

Halibut is firmly meated but has a certain delicacy that lends itself well to poaching. Have a piece about 11/2 to 2 inches thick cut for you, and poach it in a well-seasoned court bouillon (page 18). See note on poaching on page 12. Serve it in any of the following ways:

VARIATIONS

1. Serve with Hollandaise sauce (pages 25–26). Pass boiled potatoes with parsley.

2. Serve with aïoli (pages 33–34). Serve with parsley potatoes, string beans, and tomatoes Provençale.

3. Prepare a sauce velouté (page 21) with the court bouillon and a little cream added. Spike it with lemon or lime juice.

4. Add 1/2 pound shelled shrimp to the court bouillon for the last five minutes of cooking. Remove the shrimp and halibut. Reduce the bouillon and make a sauce béchamel (page 23). Add the shrimp to the sauce and season it well with chopped fresh dill and freshly ground black pepper.

5. Prepare a sauce béchamel, using oyster liquor and some of the court bouillon. Add 1/2 pint or more of small or chopped oysters to the sauce and let them just heat through.

6. Poach the halibut in salted water instead of the bouillon. Prepare a sauce béchamel using clam juice, and add 1 7-ounce can of minced clams and some chopped parsley to the sauce.

7. Poach the halibut in salted water. Prepare a curry sauce (page 29) and serve with a ring of saffron rice; garnish with chutney, bits of crisp bacon, and chopped hard-cooked eggs.

8. Poach the halibut in salted water. Serve with a highly seasoned tomato sauce, baked rice, and a cucumber salad.

HALIBUT MOUSSE

1 pound halibut

3 eggs whites

1 cup heavy cream

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Nutmeg

Cayenne pepper (if desired)

Finely chopped fresh dill (if desired)

Chop the halibut or put it through a fine grinder. The preferred method is to grind it and then pound it in a mortar or work it with a heavy wooden spoon. Place the bowl with the fish over cracked ice and gradually beat in the egg whites, using a whisk or wooden spoon to smooth the fish and make it absorb all the liquid. Then gradually stir in the cream, making sure every bit of it is absorbed as you work it in. Add salt, pepper, and a little nutmeg — you may add cayenne or finely chopped fresh dill if you wish. Let it stand over the ice for an hour.

Butter a fish mold and stir the mixture thoroughly before pouring it into the mold. Cover it with waxed paper or buttered brown paper and place it in a pan with about 1 inch of hot water. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until the mousse is firm.

Serve with a sauce mousseline (page 26), a sauce béchamel with shrimp or lobster added (page 23), or with a cucumber sour cream sauce (page 37). Tiny new potatoes and sliced cucumber salad are good accompaniments.

HALIBUT AU GRATIN

Poach a 3-to-4-pound halibut steak. Prepare a sauce Mornay (page 22). Place the fish in a flat baking dish and cover it with the sauce. Sprinkle with buttered crumbs and finely grated Swiss or Cheddar cheese and run under the broiler for a minute to brown.

HALIBUT SOUFFLÉ

Prepare as you would salmon soufflé (page 192). Serve with a Hollandaise, shrimp, or oyster sauce (pages 25–26, 24).

HALIBUT WITH LOBSTER

1 large lobster (2 to 21/2 pounds)

Court bouillon

2 halibut steaks (4 pounds)

2 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons butter

Heavy cream

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Chopped parsley

Artichoke hearts filled with peas

Potato balls browned in butter

Poach the lobster in court bouillon (page 18). When it is cool, remove the meat from the shell, setting aside the tomalley and coral, if any. Return the shells to the bouillon. Cut the lobster meat into pieces and keep it warm.

Poach the halibut steaks in the bouillon according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 12). Remove them to a hot platter. Strain the court bouillon and reduce it to 1 cup. Prepare a sauce velouté (page 21) using the bouillon, flour, butter, heavy cream, and seasonings; add the lobster tomalley and the coral. Arrange the lobster meat on one of the steaks, top with the other, and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Garnish the platter with artichoke hearts filled with tiny green peas and small potato balls browned in butter. Serve the sauce separately.

COLD HALIBUT

Court bouillon (page 18)

Large piece of halibut or 2 halibut steaks

1 egg white

2 envelopes gelatin

2 cups well-seasoned mayonnaise

Sliced cucumbers, hard-cooked eggs, or other garnish

Vegetable salad (mixed vegetables, finely cut, small whole tomatoes and green peppers)

Prepare a rich court bouillon with fish bones and heads. Poach a large piece of halibut or 2 halibut steaks. For cold dishes, some people prefer one or two large pieces without bones. Others like the appearance of one large piece cut right through the center of the fish with the bone left in.

When the fish is done, remove it to a plate to cool. Reduce the bouillon to 4 cups for a large piece of fish. When the liquid is reduced, strain, and clarify it with the white of an egg (see page 18). Strain it again, this time through a linen napkin. Return it to the stove, bring it to a boil and add the gelatin which has been softened in 1/2 cup of cold water. Stir well and cool.

Skin the fish and arrange it on a serving dish. When the gelatin mixture is almost set, combine 1 cup of it with the mayonnaise and mask the fish with it. Decorate the top with slices of cucumber, ripe olives, hard-cooked eggs, tarragon leaves, or anything you like.

Prepare a mixed vegetable salad. Mix it with some of the jellied mayonnaise. Hollow out a few small tomatoes and small green peppers and fill them with the vegetable salad. Surround the fish with these. When the first coating of jelly is almost firm on the fish, add a coating of the plain jelly. Brush the tops of the stuffed tomatoes and peppers with jelly and chill thoroughly. When ready to serve, chop the remaining jelly and sourround the fish with it. Serve with a mayonnaise sauce (page 34).

VARIATIONS

1. Poach halibut in a simple court bouillon (page 18) or in plain salted water. Serve cold with mayonnaise and a potato and cucumber salad.

2. Poach the halibut and serve with a sauce rémoulade (page 35), cole slaw, and sliced tomatoes.

3. Poach the halibut and serve with parsley, hard-cooked eggs, and a mayonnaise heavily spiked with dill.

4. Serve the poached halibut with a Russian dressing, a tossed green salad, sliced cucumbers, and hard-cooked eggs.

Herring

Herring is one of the most plentiful catches in the Atlantic. There is no great demand for it fresh, but it is enormously popular in other forms — smoked, pickled, salted, kippered. Every year millions of herring find themselves in cans labeled “sardines.” The young fresh herrings, however, are considered a great delicacy in the spring, so much so that on almost every street corner in Holland herrings are held by the tail and devoured to the finger by adults and children alike.

For centuries herring have been a mainstay of commercial fishermen, and for many more centuries they have been the prey of practically every voracious fish in the sea. So great is the general chase for herring that the supply fluctuates sharply, and no one can accurately predict the catch.

Fresh herring weighing over a pound are seldom found in the markets. In fact, they are usually much smaller. They can be cooked whole or cut into fillets. Plan one or two fish per serving, depending on the size of the fish.

Fresh Herring

GRILLED HERRING

Split the fish and remove the backbone. Brush well with butter or oil, sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper and a dash of paprika. Grill according to directions on page 9.

VARIATIONS

1. The whole fish may be grilled without splitting. Be sure to turn it once during the cooking process.

2. Baste with butter, and sprinkle dried fennel or thyme on top a few minutes before the fish is done.

HERRING SAUTÉ MEUNIÈRE

Clean and trim the fish. Roll in flour and follow the directions for sauté meunière on page 10.

HERRING, ENGLISH FASHION

Split and remove the bones from 8 small herring. Dip them in milk, then in finely rolled crumbs, and sauté quickly in 6 tablespoons of butter. Turn once. Salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle with lemon juice. Serve with tartar sauce (pages 35–36).

VARIATIONS

1. Dip the herring in milk and then in corn meal seasoned with salt, curry powder, and a little chopped garlic. Sauté as above and serve with mayonnaise blended with chutney.

2. Add finely chopped tomato to the pan while you are sautéing the fish. Or add 1/2 cup tomato paste to the pan after the fish are removed. Heat the paste, add 4 tablespoons sherry or red wine, let it cook up, and pour over the fish. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.

FRIED HERRING

Clean the fish and fillet them. Dip them into beaten egg and then into crumbs, and deep fry according to directions on page 11.

BAKED HERRING BOULANGÈRE

Oil

4 large herring

Butter

4 large or 6 medium potatoes

2 large onions

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Pinch of dried thyme

Oil a flat oval baking dish. Clean the fish and arrange them in the dish. Dot them with butter, covered with a layer of thinly sliced potatoes and then a layer of thinly sliced onions. Dot with butter again, season with salt, pepper, and a little dried thyme. Bake at 350° until the potatoes are cooked through. Baste from time to time with the pan juices.