James Beard's New Fish Cookery (28 page)

Cover each cooked fillet with a highly seasoned tomato sauce to which you have added the basil. Decorate with slices of hard-cooked egg and sliced olives. Cover with some of the jelly and chill. When set, brush again with jelly and chill.

Arrange a bed of greens on a platter and place the fillets on top. Decorate with onion rings that have been marinated in a French dressing. Garnish with hard-cooked egg slices and serve with tomato mayonnaise.

VARIATION

Prepare the fillets of sole as above but omit the greens. Make a rice salad by combining 3 cups cold cooked rice, 1 cup chopped cooked shrimp, 1/2 cup each of chopped onion, green pepper, and parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Make a sauce vinaigrette (page 36) and add chopped pickles and herbs. Pour this over the rice mixture. Arrange the rice salad on a platter, and place the fillets on top in the shape of a fan. Put rows of chopped jellied bouillon between the fillets. Garnish with sliced pickles and hard-cooked eggs. This is an easy but spectacular dish for a supper party.

JELLIED FILLETS WITH TARRAGON

8 fillets of sole

Fish forcemeat (page 41)

Fresh tarragon leaves

White wine court bouillon (pages 19–20)

Egg white

2 envelopes gelatin

3 to 4 cups salade Russe (page 372)

Green mayonnaise

Small tomatoes

Sliced cucumbers

Sauce verte (page 34)

Spread the fillets with the highly seasoned forcemeat and tarragon leaves. Roll and secure with toothpicks. Poach in court bouillon according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 12). Chill. Reduce the bouillon, strain, and clarify with egg white (page 18). Melt the gelatin in 1/2 cup of cold water and combine with the boiling bouillon. Cool until thick but not solid. Pour the jelly into eight small molds or one large mold and place in the refrigerator to chill until a thin layer has formed on the bottom and sides. Pour off the rest of the jelly and arrange the fillets, topped with additional tarragon leaves, in the mold. Pour the rest of the jelly over this and chill until firm. Arrange the molds of fillets on a platter with a mound of salade Russe in the center. Surround with tiny tomatoes and cucumber slices. Serve with sauce verte.

WHEEL OF SOLES

This is another spectacular buffet dish. The fillets are arranged in the form of a wheel around a mound of salade Orientale and coated with a mayonnaise colée.

12 fillets of sole

Court bouillon (page 18)

Egg white

2 envelopes gelatin

2 cups mayonnaise (and a little extra)

Chopped parsley

Hard-cooked eggs

Chopped onion

Chili sauce

Salade Orientale

5 cups cold cooked rice

12 chopped anchovies

1/2 cup chopped parsley

1 cup chopped green onion

1/2 cup chopped pimiento

Sauce vinaigrette (page 36) mixed with 1/4 cup chili sauce

Trim the fillets until they are of equal size and are each pointed at one end. Poach them in court bouillon according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 12). With a spatula (or with a pair of them) remove the fish carefully to a platter to cool. Reduce the bouillon to 3 cups, strain, and clarify with egg white (page 18). Dissolve the gelatin in 1/2 cup of cold water and add to the boiling bouillon. Cool. When it is syrupy, combine 2 cups of the jelly with an equal amount of thick mayonnaise. Chill.

Combine the ingredients for the salade Orientale and chill. When ready to serve, mound the salad in the center of a large serving platter, arrange the fillets in the form of a wheel, and spoon the mayonnaise colée (jellied mayonnaise) over them. Sprinkle the fillets heavily with chopped parsley.

Halve each hard-cooked egg horizontally and remove the yolk. Mash it and mix with a little mayonnaise, some chopped parsley, chopped onions, and a dash of chili sauce. Fill the egg whites with this mixture piped through a pastry tube. Decorate the platter with the stuffed eggs in the center and between the fillets.

No additional dressing is needed for this dish, but you may serve a bowl of mayonnaise with it if you wish.

Spanish Mackerel

The ichthyologist Mitchell, writing in 1815 in his
Fishes of New York,
gave the Spanish mackerel this brief but favorable biography: “A fine and beautiful fish; comes in July.”

The Spanish mackerel is a handsome wanderer. It loves the warm seas of the south, and in the summer it migrates to the cool northern waters. Then it heads south again before cold weather sets in. Smart fish.

A fine sport, Spanish mackerel gives a good battle. It is vigorous and sometimes grows to 50 to 75 pounds in weight. In the markets, however, the average weight of the fish sold is about 2 pounds, and it usually comes whole. It is readily bought in the Atlantic Coast area, but unfortunately is rare along the Pacific Coast.

BROILED SPANISH MACKEREL

The Spanish mackerel either split or filleted makes a magnificent dish when broiled and served with lemon butter (page 31), tartar sauce (pages 35–36), or any of the favorite fish sauces (see pages 21–38).

SAUTÉED SPANISH MACKEREL

Sauté fillets of Spanish mackerel or small whole fish according to directions for sauté meunière, page 10.

BAKED SPANISH MACKEREL

This fish is particularly adapted to baking, either plain or stuffed. It varies in size from 1 to 4 pounds. If you have a large number to serve, you may need to plan on baking 2 mackerel.

Place the fish on an oiled pan or baking dish, dot with butter, and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bake at 450° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8). Baste frequently.

Serve with parsley butter (page 33), lemon butter (page 31), maître d’hôtel butter (page 31), or tomato sauce (page 23).

BAKED STUFFED SPANISH MACKEREL I

Choose 4 mackerel small enough for individual portions. Make the following mixture:

1/2 cup soft bread crumbs

1 tablespoon grated onion

1 cup sliced green olives

1/4 cup melted butter

Combine the ingredients, stuff the fish, and sew them up securely. Place them on an oiled sheet or pan and surround them with 11/2 cups of ripe olives (the dried Italian or green ones are best). Brush the fish lavishly with olive oil and sprinkle with pepper. Bake at 450° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8). Serve with the olive garnish, steamed potatoes, and a cucumber salad.

BAKED STUFFED SPANISH MACKEREL II

6 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup finely chopped green onions or scallions

1/4 cup parsley

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup fine bread crumbs

1 large Spanish mackerel (or 2 medium-sized mackerel)

Blend the butter, herbs, salt, and pepper and gradually work in the crumbs. Stuff the mackerel and sew up securely. Place the fish in an oiled baking dish or pan, dot with butter, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 425° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8). Serve with parslied potatoes and a tomato and cucumber salad. This will serve four people.

BAKED STUFFED SPANISH MACKEREL III

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

2 green peppers, chopped

6 tablespoons oil or fat

4 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped

1/2 cup crumbs

8 anchovy fillets, chopped

1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

2 tablespoons capers

1 large Spanish mackerel

Sauté the garlic, onion, and green pepper in the oil until soft. Add the tomatoes and let them cook down for about 20 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients, mix well, and stuff a good-sized fish. Sew it securely. Place the fish in a well-oiled baking dish and brush with olive oil. Bake at 425° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8), basting frequently. Serve with a tomato sauce (page 23).

Spot

This is an Atlantic Coast member of the croaker family and, like its relatives, can play little tunes with the aid of its air bladder. Spot is not well known and is rarely found in the markets at this time. This is regrettable, since it is an attractive fish.

Prepare spot according to the directions for sea trout or butter-fish.

Squid

Also called poulpe, inkfish, and cuttlefish, this elongated ten-armed cousin of the octopus was once a “poor man’s” dish, and was eaten only by the Italians, Spaniards, and the Orientals. Squid is now becoming “chic” and it is served in the most elegant restaurants.

The Spaniards and Italians like the squid stewed in its own ink, and so do I. But for most dishes you should slit the belly and remove the bone, which, incidentally, has a number of commercial uses – canary food, for one thing. Wash the squid well under running cold water.

FRIED SQUID I

Cut the tentacles into small pieces, dust them with flour, and dip in beaten egg and crumbs or in batter. Fry quickly in oil heated to 375°. Drain on absorbent paper and salt and pepper to taste. Serve with tartar (pages 35–36) or mustard sauce (page 23).

These are excellent as part of a “mixed fry” in the Italian style. Use a selection of small bits of fish, all fried and served with a highly seasoned sauce.

FRIED SQUID II

Cut the tentacles into small pieces and dust well with flour. Sauté in plenty of olive oil. It’s wise to cover the pan, for the small pieces of squid may fly out and hit you in the face. Salt and pepper well and serve with puree of spinach lightly flavored with garlic.

BAKED SQUID

Clean the squid and soak it in milk for an hour. Roll it well in buttered bread crumbs and arrange it in an oiled pan or baking dish. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and dot with butter. Bake at 500° for 12 minutes. Serve with a sauce diable (page 29), tartar sauce (pages 35–36), or tomato sauce (page 23).

Striped Bass

Striped bass, known below the Mason-Dixon Line as rockfish, is a great favorite with anglers on both coasts and an important commercial fish on the East Coast.
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Though not yet a household food in the same sense as mackerel and cod, its popularity is growing. Occasionally you may see an exceptionally large striped bass in your market, but on the average the fish runs from 15 to 18 inches long. Some is sold filleted, some frozen.

BROILED STRIPED BASS

Either fillets or the whole split fish may be broiled according to the recipes on pages 9–10. Serve with lemon butter (page 31) or Hollandaise sauce (pages 25–26), cucumber sauce with sour cream (page 37), tartar sauce (pages 35–36), oyster sauce (page 21), or lobster sauce (page 21).

VARIATIONS

1. Flambé. Broil a whole striped bass. When it is done, arrange it on a large metal platter on a bed of dried fennel or thyme. Top with a mixture of dried herbs – fennel, thyme, parsley. Add cognac and ignite. Let the herbs burn down so that their flavors permeate the whole fish. You may vary the dried herbs as you wish, but fennel and thyme seem to me to be the perfect combination.

2. Split a whole striped bass and remove the backbone. Oil the broiler pan well and place the fish on it, skin side down. Oil the fish well, and broil it according to the Canadian cooking theory (pages 9–10). Halfway through the cooking time, cover it with paper-thin slices of lemon, salt, and pepper to taste and continue broiling until done. Remove the lemon slices and add herb butter (page 33).

STUFFED STRIPED BASS I

Split a whole striped bass and remove the backbone. Stuff it with thin slices of onion, tomato, green pepper, and plenty of chopped parsley. Salt and pepper to taste; add some fresh or dried tarragon to taste and dot heavily with butter. Sew the fish together or secure with skewers and twine. Flour it lightly, butter it well, and season to taste. Place it in an oiled baking dish and add 1 cup of red wine. Bake at 425° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8). Baste with the wine while it is cooking. Serve with a tomato sauce well flavored with the wine and some garlic.

STUFFED STRIPED BASS II

Prepare a stuffing mixture of the following:

1 pound crabmeat

1/4 cup chopped chives
or
green onion

1/4 cup chopped parsley

4 tablespoons melted butter

3 tablespoons chopped celery

1/2 cup crumbs

1/4 cup heavy cream

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Stuff the fish and sew it up or fasten it with skewers and twine. Oil and season it and place it on an oiled baking dish or pan. Bake at 425° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8). Serve with a sauce rémoulade (page 35) that you have mixed with1/2 cup of crabmeat.

STUFFED STRIPED BASS III

2 slices salt pork, cut in small pieces

4 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1/4 cup finely chopped celery

1/4 cup finely chopped green pepper

1/2 cup finely rolled crumbs

1 teaspoon fennel
or
thyme

1/2 cup toasted chopped almonds

Striped bass

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Bacon strips

Cook the salt pork in the butter. Add the onion, celery, and green pepper. Sauté until just soft. Mix in the crumbs, fennel or thyme, and toasted chopped almonds (the canned ones are excellent). Stuff the fish and sew it up or fasten it with skewers and twine. Season to taste, place in an oiled baking dish, and top with strips of bacon. Bake at 425° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8). Serve with a tomato sauce (page 23) or a cucumber and sour cream sauce (page 37).

STUFFED STRIPED BASS IV

Prepare an omelet fines herbes with 4 or 5 eggs and a mixture of herbs. Stuff the fish with the omelet and sew it up. Make a bed of sliced shallots or green onions on the bottom of an oiled baking dish or pan. Add enough white wine to cover halfway. Place the fish on top; oil and season it to taste. Bake at 425° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8), basting often. Remove the fish to a hot platter and strain the liquid in the pan. Reduce quickly to 11/2 cups. Correct the seasoning and add 1/2 cup of heavy cream mixed with 2 or 3 egg yolks. Stir until the sauce is thickened, being careful that it does not boil. Serve with the fish.