James Beard's New Fish Cookery (17 page)

8 to 12 ocean perch fillets

Lemon juice

Flour

6 tablespoons butter
or
oil

2/3 cup slivered blanched almonds

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Chopped parsley

Thaw the fillets. Dip them in lemon juice and then in flour. Sauté in butter or oil according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 10). Remove to a hot platter. Add the slivered blanched almonds to the pan and let them brown very quickly. Salt and pepper to taste; add a dash of lemon juice and the chopped parsley. Pour this over the fillets.

FRIED OCEAN PERCH FILLETS

Follow the directions for deep frying fish on page 11. Serve with a very highly seasoned tartar sauce (pages 35–36).

VARIATION

Marinate the fillets in lemon juice for 2 hours before frying them.

BAKED PERCH ESPAGNOLE

1 large or 2 medium onions, chopped

5 tablespoons butter
or
oil

1 clove garlic, chopped

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/4 cup chopped green pepper

11/2 cups tomato paste

2 cloves

1 bay leaf

2 carrots, grated

1/2 cup white wine

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

12 ocean perch fillets

Grated Parmesan cheese

Sauté the onions in the butter or oil. Add the garlic, celery, and green pepper and cook until tender. Add the tomato puree, cloves, bay leaf, carrots, wine, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for3/4hour.

Oil a large baking dish and arrange the fillets on the bottom. Season with salt and pepper, top with the sauce, and bake at 425° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8). Sprinkle with grated cheese and serve with noodles or rice.

OCEAN PERCH FILLETS POLONAISE

Crumbs

Flour

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

8 ocean perch fillets

3 medium onions, sliced

Fresh dill
or
dill pickles

Sour cream

Chopped parsley

Line a well-oiled loaf pan with crumbs. Dredge the fillets in flour and season them with salt and pepper. Place a fillet or two in the bottom of the pan, top with onion slices, then chopped fresh dill (or thinly sliced dill pickle), and cover with sour cream. Repeat these layers until all the fillets are used. Mask the top thoroughly with sour cream and bake at 375° for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the cream is a golden color. Unmold the loaf and sprinkle with chopped parsley and fresh dill, if available.

Serve with boiled potatoes topped with parsley, and cole slaw.

DEVILED FILLETS

1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce

Juice of 3 lemons

1/4 cup beefsteak sauce

1/2 cup chili sauce

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

12 ocean perch fillets

Salt

Buttered crumbs

Butter

Mix the Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, beefsteak sauce, chili sauce, cayenne, mustard, and pepper and spread this mixture on the fillets. Let them stand for 1/2 hour.

Oil a baking dish and place the fillets in it. Bake at 425° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8). A few minutes before the fish is done, season to taste with salt. Remove the pan from the oven, sprinkle with buttered crumbs, dot with butter, and run under the broiler to brown.

Serve with a sauce diable (page 29) or mustard sauce (page 23).

FILLETS MORNAY

Poach 12 fillets in a court bouillon (page 18) according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 12). Remove them to a hot platter and reduce the bouillon. Prepare a sauce Mornay (page 22), using some of the bouillon. Arrange the fillets in a baking dish and cover with the sauce. Sprinkle the top with grated cheese (Gruyère, Cheddar, or Swiss) and run the dish under the broiler to melt the cheese and brown the top.

CURRIED OCEAN PERCH FILLETS

12 ocean perch fillets

Court bouillon (page 18)

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped apple

1/2 cup chopped green pepper

5 tablespoons butter

11/2 tablespoons curry powder

1/2 cup white wine

Beurre manié (page 475)

Poach the fillets in court bouillon as above. Remove them to a hot platter and reduce the bouillon to 11/2 cups.

Sauté the onion, apple, and green pepper in butter until tender. Add the curry powder and white wine and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the reduced bouillon and cook 5 more minutes. If you wish a thicker sauce, add beurre manié, and stir until smooth and well blended. Pour the sauce over the fillets.

Serve with rice, chutney, and chopped toasted almonds.

STUFFED FILLETS FOYOT

8 to 10 ocean perch fillets

1 tablespoon chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped mushrooms

4 tablespoons butter
or
oil

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

1 cup crabmeat

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Court bouillon (page 18)

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1/2 cup cream

1 egg yolk

Lemon juice

Thaw the fillets. Sauté the chopped onion and mushrooms in butter or oil until tender. Add the chopped parsley, crabmeat, and salt and pepper to taste. Blend well. Spread this mixture on the fillets, roll them, and fasten with toothpicks.

Poach the fillets in court bouillon as above. Remove them to a hot platter and reduce the bouillon to 11/2 cups. Add the butter and flour blended together to the bouillon; stir until thickened and smooth. Gradually stir in the cream mixed with the egg yolk. Heat thoroughly but do not let boil. Taste for seasoning and add lemon juice. Pour over the fillets.

Serve with tiny boiled new potatoes and sautéed mushroom caps.

COLD OCEAN PERCH FILLETS

This is an excellent dish for a buffet supper. You can make it as simple or as decorative as you wish.

12 ocean perch fillets

Court bouillon (page 18)

Egg white and shell

1 envelope gelatin

1/4 cup cold water

Garnish of tarragon leaves, olives, hard-cooked egg

Poach the fillets in court bouillon according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 12). Remove to a platter and let them cool. Reduce the bouillon to 2 cups, clarify with egg white and shell (page 18), and strain.

Dissolve the gelatin in the water and add to the boiling court bouillon. Cool, and when it is almost set, cover the bottom of a large platter or serving dish with part of the jelly. Arrange the fillets on top. Decorate them with tarragon leaves, olives, and hard-cooked egg cut into designs. You may make these as elaborate as you wish. (For suggestions on decorating cold fish, see page 131.) Brush the top of the decorated fillets gently with some of the jelly and set aside to chill thoroughly.

Serve with garnishes of salade Russe (page 372), stuffed eggs and olives, and sauce rémoulade (page 35).

Ocean Sunfish

This is a peculiar round, flat fish that appears to be mostly head and very little tail. It tends to grow quite large, about 8 to 10 feet across the flat side, and has a habit of lying almost motionless near the surface of the water. This trick has earned it the popular name of “floater.”

Ocean sunfish are found in warm and temperate waters, but they seem to be considered food fish only in California, where commercial fishermen occasionally bring them in. Their average size is 20 to 24 inches across, and two will serve four to six people. But the skin and the flesh are tough and leathery, and special preparation is required.

OCEAN SUNFISH ITALIAN

Sunfish

Olive oil

2 cloves garlic, crushed

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Lemon juice

White wine

1 cup tomato sauce

First, split the fish in two very carefully and cut the flesh away from the skin. Put the flesh into a kettle with a little boiling water and simmer slowly for an hour to release the fat and the excess gelatinous material. Heat olive oil in a large skillet; add the garlic and the pieces of sunfish meat. Salt and pepper to taste, sprinkle with lemon juice, pour on a little white wine, and simmer slowly for a few minutes. Add the tomato sauce cooking until the fish is tender, about another 5 minutes.

Pollock

A relative of the haddock and the cod, pollock is one of the great sources of fillets for frozen fish sales. It is a well-flavored white fish of good texture that holds up well under freezing. You will find it marketed throughout the country as “ocean-fresh fillets,” “deep-sea fillets,” and with other similar labels. In New England it was once called “Boston bluefish,” but somehow the name failed to stick.

You may prepare pollock in any of the ways given for haddock or cod.

Pompano

Many people — I am not among them — think that pompano is the finest fish caught in American waters.

Most of the catch obtained off Florida and in the Gulf is consumed locally. Some is shipped north and sold to luxury restaurants. It is not a cheap fish. Pompano is thin, with a deeply forked tail and a beautiful silvery skin.

BROILED POMPANO

You may broil either a whole pompano or fillets. The fish should be well oiled or buttered, and the broiling rack should be piping hot and oiled before the fish is placed on it. Broil the fish about 3 inches from the flame or charcoal. Season to taste after cooking. For detailed procedures see pages 9–10.

Serve with lemon wedges, lemon butter (page 31), anchovy butter (page 32), or parsley butter (page 33).

POMPANO SAUTÉ MEUNIÈRE

Roll the fish in flour and follow the directions for sauté meunière, page 10.

BAKED POMPANO

Clean the fish, place it on an oiled baking dish or pan and dot heavily with butter, season with salt and freshly ground pepper, and add a few slices of lemon. Bake at 425° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8).

Serve with lemon butter (page 31), anchovy butter (page 32), or Hollandaise sauce (pages 25–26). My favorite is a good Béarnaise (page 26), with a side dish of very crisp julienne potatoes and grilled tomato.

POMPANO EN PAPILLOTE

This is one of the most elegant ways of preparing pompano. You may use either the whole fish or fillets. For each serving you will need 1 fillet or small whole fish, a heart-shaped piece of cooking parchment that is big enough to wrap the fish in, 2 tablespoons of sauce duxelles, and 3 mushroom caps.

Mushroom caps

Butter

Fillets or small whole fish

Cooking parchment

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Sauce duxelles (page 27)

Chopped parsley

Sauté the mushrooms lightly in butter. Butter the fish well. Place the fish on the parchment, toward one edge. Season to taste, top with the sauce duxelles and the mushroom caps, dot with butter, and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Fold the parchment over the top of the filling and crimp the edges together securely. Bake in a 425° oven according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8), adding 5 minutes for the paper. Serve with shoestring potatoes and lemon wedges.

VARIATION

Place a thin slice of broiled ham on the parchment and top with the fish. Dot with butter, add 2 or 3 shrimp, a little chopped parsley, and, if available, a bit of chopped truffle. Proceed as above.

Porgy or Scup

This fish is found in nearly all Atlantic Coast waters and sometimes in the Gulf. There are a number of different varieties of the fish, all very popular as game fish. It has great commercial value, but is more readily obtainable in coastal markets than inland because it is so seldom filleted. It usually weighs from 3/4 to 2 pounds.

SAUTÉED PORGY

Follow the directions for sauté meunière on page 10.

PAN-FRIED PORGY

Roll the fish in seasoned flour, crumbs, or corn meal and fry in butter or oil. Serve with tartar sauce (pages 35–36).

Redfish

The redfish or red drum is a valuable commercial fish used extensively in Southern cookery. On the West Coast it is known as spot bass. In both the West and South it is regarded as a fairly good game fish.

Something of a gourmet in its own right, the redfish likes shrimp and crab, occasionally varying its diet with mullet and minnows. Redfish comes whole, in steaks, and in fillets. The fish vary in size from about 2 to 25 pounds.

BROILED REDFISH

You may broil steaks, fillets, or whole fish according to the directions on pages 9–10. Serve with lemon (page 31) or parsley butter (page 33) or with a sauce Italienne (page 29), diable (page 29), or Provençale (pages 30–31).

PAN-FRIED REDFISH

Use steaks or fillets for pan frying. Dust the fish with flour, dip in beaten egg, and roll in crumbs or corn meal. Sauté in butter or oil according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 10). Salt and pepper to taste, and serve with lemon wedges, lemon butter (page 31), or tartar sauce (pages 35–36). I like plain boiled potatoes with plenty of butter and cole slaw with this particular dish.

BAKED REDFISH CREOLE

4 slices bacon

3 tablespoons butter

2 large onions, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

3 cups cooked
or
canned tomatoes

1 bay leaf

2 cloves

1/2 teaspoon thyme

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 4- or 5-pound redfish

Sliced hard-cooked eggs

Olives

Try out the bacon until crisp. Drain on absorbent paper and set aside. Add the butter to the bacon fat. Sauté the onions and garlic in the butter and bacon fat until tender. Rub the tomatoes through a sieve or put them through a food mill and add them to the onions and garlic. Add the bay leaf, cloves, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer this for 30 minutes.

Clean the fish, but leave the head and tail intact. Salt and pepper the interior of the fish and place it in an oiled baking pan. Pour the sauce over the fish and bake in a 425° oven according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8). Baste often during the cooking.

Remove the fish to a hot platter and garnish it with the bacon slices, sliced eggs, and black olives. Pour the sauce around it. If the sauce seems too thick, dilute it with a little red wine.