James Beard's New Fish Cookery (21 page)

4. Mix the salmon with the crumbs and 1/2 cup each of finely diced celery, onion, and parsley. Add 12 to 14 mushroom caps, 3 chopped hard-cooked eggs, 3 tablespoons sherry, and salt to taste. Moisten with milk, top with buttered crumbs, and sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.

5. Brown eggplant slices in butter. Alternate layers of the eggplant, the salmon mixture, the crumbs, and sliced, peeled tomatoes. Top with buttered crumbs and moisten with tomato juice. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.

SALMON CUTLETS

1 can (16 ounces) salmon

2 cups creamy mashed potatoes

1 tablespoon grated onion

11/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon paprika

Flour

1 egg, beaten

Bread crumbs

Fat for frying

Bone, flake, and mash the salmon. Combine it with the potatoes and seasonings and form into cutlets. Chill. Roll the cutlets in flour, dip in beaten egg, and roll in crumbs. Chill for one hour. Fry in deep fat heated to 390°. Serve with egg sauce (page 23) or Hollandaise sauce (pages 25–26).

KEDGEREE

Kedgeree (or cadgery) may be made with either fresh cooked salmon or canned or smoked salmon.
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2 cups cooked rice

1 pound salmon, flaked

4 hard-cooked eggs, sliced

1/4 cup chopped parsley

11/2 cups sauce béchamel (page 23)

1 or 2 tablespoons curry powder

Place alternate layers of rice, fish, eggs, parsley, and béchamel (which has been mixed with the curry powder) in the top of a double boiler or in a mold. Place over hot water and heat thoroughly.

You may wish to serve additional béchamel with curry as a sauce.

VARIATION

Omit the curry and use tomato sauce spiced with chili powder. Or instead of the béchamel use heavy cream — enough to moisten the mixture.

SALMON MOUSSE

See halibut mousse, page 129.

Smoked Salmon – Hot Dishes

SMOKED SALMON À LA BERNARD

4 to 6 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered

1 small onion, sliced

1 pound smoked salmon

Butter

Freshly ground black pepper

Chopped parsley

Barely cover the potatoes and onions with unsalted water and boil until just turning tender. Place the salmon on top and continue cooking until the potatoes are soft and the salmon is heated through. Serve in bowls with the broth from the bottom of the pan, a dab of butter, and a grind of fresh pepper. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.

SMOKED SALMON ROLLS

1/2 recipe flaky pastry

6 to 8 ounces thinly sliced smoked salmon

Finely chopped green onion

Freshly ground black pepper

Beaten egg

Prepare the pastry and roll out into a 9-inch circle. Cover the top with strips of the salmon and add seasonings. Cut the circle into wedge-shaped pieces and roll each one tightly, beginning at the outside edge. Brush the rolls with beaten egg and bake at 425° for about 15 minutes. Serve hot with cocktails.

Cold Salmon Dishes

GRAVAD LAX (SWEDISH MARINATED SALMON)

4 to 5 pounds salmon, dressed weight, bone removed

2/3 cup salt

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper

Bit of saltpeter

Fresh dill

Cut the salmon into two even pieces. Combine the salt, sugar, pepper, and saltpeter
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together and rub the salmon well with this mixture. Line the bottom of a deep pan or casserole with dill branches, place a piece of salmon on them skin side down, sprinkle the top with the spices, and add more dill sprigs. Place the second piece of salmon on this, skin side up. Put a board and a weight on top and place it in the refrigerator for 24 hours or more.

This dish is not cooked. The action of the spices and seasonings gives it an unusual texture and a remarkably good flavor. It is excellent sliced thin and served with black bread as a cocktail snack, or it is a pleasant addition to a luncheon plate of cold meat and salad.

Gravad Lax is traditionally served with a mustard sauce, made by combining 4 tablespoons dark, highly seasoned, prepared mustard with 1 teaspoon powdered mustard, 3 tablespoons sugar, 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar, and 1/3 cup olive or vegetable oil. Combine all the above ingredients well, and mix with 3 tablespoons of fresh chopped dill.

Another delicious way to serve Gravad Lax is to slice it very thin and broil it with the skin attached.

COLD POACHED SALMON

The ultimate in summer dining is cold salmon. New York restaurants proudly advertise it, especially as the “season’s first.” It is a spectacular dish for a buffet supper.

Poach the salmon in a highly spiced court bouillon (page 19). It is wise to use a cheesecloth or cotton wrapper for the fish so that you can lift it from the boiler without breaking it.
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When the fish is done remove it from the bouillon and set the bouillon aside to cool. While the fish is cooling, carefully remove the skin and trim the fish so that it looks inviting. If you are serving a whole fish, you may want to leave the head and tail on it. This gives it a classical appearance. Arrange your fish on a large platter and garnish with sliced cucumbers, tiny or sliced tomatoes, greens — parsley
or
masses of watercress — and thin slices of lemon with scalloped edges or cut into any fancy shapes you wish.

Serve the salmon with any of these sauces:

1. Mayonnaise (page 34)

2. Rémoulade (page 35)

3. Vinaigrette (page 36)

4. Gribiche (pages 36–37)

5. Verte (page 34)

6. Tartar (pages 35–36)

Cucumber salad is the traditional accompaniment, and a salad of string beans in vinaigrette sauce garnished with tiny artichoke hearts is another excellent addition.

Elizabeth David serves a walnut and horseradish sauce with cold poached salmon that is excellent. To make the sauce for 3 or 4 people, use 2 ounces of skinned walnuts. Skin the walnuts, by putting boiling water over them and rubbing off the skins as soon as the walnuts are cool enough to handle. Chop them finely. Stir very lightly into 1/2 cup heavy cream and add 2 tablespoons freshly grated horseradish, 1 teaspoon sugar, a little salt, and the juice of 1/2 lemon.

VARIATIONS

1. Salmon steaks may be poached in court bouillon and chilled and served in the same way. They make an attractive platter if they are of fairly even size. Naturally they take much less cooking time than a large piece of fish.

2. Spiced salmon is another fine cold dish. After poaching the fish, reduce the court bouillon to half its volume. Flavor to taste with vinegar, herbs, and seasonings; pour this over the salmon and let it stand for 24 hours. Drain and serve with a mayonnaise. The pickle should be highly spiced and quite well laced with vinegar.

SAUMON FROID AU CHAMBERTIN

Whole salmon with head

Red wine court bouillon (page 19) (6 cups clarified bouillon)

3 envelopes gelatin

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Prepare about 4 quarts or more of red wine court bouillon, using heads and bones of fish. (The amount you will need depends on the size of the salmon.) Wrap the fish in cheesecloth or place it on a rack and poach it according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 12). Remove the fish carefully to a large board or platter and let it cool. Take off the skin, cutting sharply at the tail and stripping it up to the head.

Reduce the bouillon to about 2 quarts. Clarify it with the white of an egg and the shell (see page 18) and strain it through a linen napkin. Dissolve the gelatin in 3/4 cup of cold water and prepare an aspic, using 6 cups of the hot bouillon stirred into the gelatin.

While the aspic is cooling, prepare the garnishes:

1 cup cooked small peas

1 cup finely cut, cooked snap beans

1 cup finely diced, cooked carrots

1 cup finely diced, cooked potatoes

Mayonnaise (page 34)

Small tomatoes

Ripe olives

15 hard-cooked eggs

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Chopped ripe olives

Cucumbers, sliced

Lemons, sliced

Mix the cooked vegetables with enough mayonnaise to bind them stiffly. Peel and scoop out the tomatoes and stuff them with the vegetable salad. Brush the tops with a thin layer of the aspic and top each one with a ripe olive. Cut the eggs in half horizontally and remove the yolks. Mash and mix with salt, pepper, chopped ripe olives, and mayonnaise. Heap this mixture into the whites, or pipe it through a pastry tube. Glaze the tops with aspic. Brush the salmon with aspic, giving it a thick coating. It is sometimes better to give it a first heavy coating, then let it set thoroughly, and give it another coating. Decorate the fish with thin cucumber slices, lemon slices, and quarters of ripe olives and hard-cooked egg yolk.

You may arrange the platter as elaborately as you wish, for this is a showpiece. Surround the salmon with the stuffed tomatoes and the stuffed eggs. Serve with either mayonnaise or sauce verte (page 34).

SALMON CUTLETS IN ASPIC

6 salmon steaks

White wine court bouillon (pages 19–20)

Fresh tarragon leaves, if available

Hard-cooked eggs

Cucumber

2 envelopes gelatin

Poach the salmon steaks in the bouillon according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 12). Remove them to a dry towel or absorbent paper and take off the skin. Arrange the steaks on a deep platter or in individual serving dishes. Decorate them with tarragon leaves and hard-cooked eggs, or any other garnish you may prefer.

Prepare an aspic by dissolving the gelatin in 1/2 cup of cold water and combining it with 4 cups of hot clarified bouillon. Allow it to cool. When it is partly congealed, brush the decorated salmon slices with this mixture and place them in the refrigerator to chill. When the glaze is firm, pour enough of the rest of the gelatin mixture over the slices to cover them. Chill until ready to serve. Serve with a mayonnaise or sauce verte (page 34).

MOLDED SALMON LOAF

4 salmon steaks

White wine court bouillon (pages 19–20) (2 cups clarified)

1 egg white and shell

1 envelope gelatin

12 stuffed olives

3 hard-cooked eggs

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

1 cucumber, seeded and cubed

2 pimientos cut in strips

Mayonnaise

Greens

Cook the salmon steaks in court bouillon according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 12). Cool them and cut them into small cubes. Reduce the bouillon to 2 cups, clarify it with the egg white and shell (page 18), and strain it through a napkin. Dissolve the gelatin in 1/4 cup of cold water or broth and combine it with the hot bouillon. Let it cool until it starts to set.

Pour a thin layer of the gelatin mixture into a bread pan or small mold and put it in the refrigerator to solidify. Arrange sliced olives, halved hard-cooked eggs, and onion rings on the bottom of the mold. Toss the salmon cubes with the cubed cucumber, the pimiento, and more onion rings and arrange this mixture in the mold. Cover with the remaining gelatin and chill in the refrigerator. Unmold on a bed of greens and serve with either a mayonnaise or a sauce verte (page 34).

SALMON STEAKS PARISIENNE

4 thick salmon steaks (about 2 inches, center cuts)

White wine court bouillon (pages 19–20) (31/2 cups clarified)

1 egg white and shell

2 envelopes gelatin

Sauce verte (page 34)

Asparagus tips

Hard-cooked eggs

Poach the salmon in the court bouillon according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 12). Remove to cool. Cook the bouillon down to about 4 cups. Clarify it with the egg white and shell (page 18) and strain through a napkin. Dissolve the gelatin in 1/2 cup of cold water or bouillon and add the rest of the broth. Let it cool until almost set.

Remove the skin from the salmon steaks. When the jelly is almost set, combine 1 cup of it with 11/2 cups of sauce verte. Give the salmon steaks a liberal coating of this mixture. Spread the jellied bouillon on the bottom of a rather deep platter, arrange the salmon on top of this, and decorate with asparagus tips and hard-cooked eggs. Serve with additional sauce verte.

Cold Canned Salmon

Canned salmon comes in various grades. Some very choice cuts are put up in cans, but there are also some very inferior grades. Because of the requirements of federal law, you can usually judge the quality from the labels. Good grades of salmon may be served in one piece, chilled, with a mayonnaise and cucumber salad. Garnish it any way you choose. Be sure to remove the skin, which is often unsightly.

Here are several salad recipes suitable for either canned or freshly cooked salmon.

SALMON MAYONNAISE

2 cups cold, flaked salmon

Mixed greens

Mayonnaise

Cucumber
or
cooked peas in vinaigrette sauce (page 36)

Arrange the salmon on a bed of greens. Top with mayonnaise and decorate with sliced cucumbers or cold cooked peas that have marinated in a vinaigrette sauce. Serve with additional mayonnaise.

SALMON CELERY SALAD

2 cups cold, flaked salmon

1 cup finely diced celery

Mayonnaise

Greens

1/4 cup chopped parsley

Hard-cooked eggs

Combine the salmon and celery and bind them with mayonnaise. Heap the mixture on a bed of greens, sprinkle liberally with chopped parsley, and decorate with sliced or quartered hard-cooked eggs.

SALMON SALAD BOATS

6 cucumbers

Greens

11/2 cup cold flaked salmon

1/2 cup finely diced celery

1 cup cooked peas

1/2 cup chopped green onion

2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped

Mayonnaise

Halve the cucumbers the long way, remove the seeds, and make the cucumbers into boats. Arrange them on beds of greens. Combine all the other ingredients, binding them together with mayonnaise; fill the cucumbers with this mixture.

VARIATION

Use tomatoes or avocado halves for the boats.

Cold Dishes with Smoked Salmon