James Beard's New Fish Cookery (33 page)

PÂTÉ CHAUD DE CARPE

This is an elaborate dish for a buffet party or a magnificent first course for a special dinner party at which you wish to display your prowess as a cook.

Puff paste

4-pound carp

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 medium onion, sliced

1 carrot, sliced

Parsley

2 cups white wine

1/2 cup cream

4 egg yolks

1 teaspoon rosemary

1/3 cup mixed chopped herbs (chives, parsley, and the like)

1 cup dry bread crumbs

4 tablespoons butter

Prepare puff paste from any good recipe.

Clean the carp and place it on a well-oiled baking dish. Salt and pepper to taste and add the onion, carrot, a few sprigs of parsley, and the wine. Bake at 425° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8), basting frequently. When the fish is cool enough to handle, remove the bones and the skin and add them to the liquid in the pan. Reduce the liquid to 1 cup. Strain and return to the stove. Add the cream mixed with the egg yolks and cook over low heat, being sure it does not boil, until the sauce is thickened.

Mix the rosemary, herbs, bread crumbs, and blend in the butter.

Roll out the puff paste and cover the bottom of a round pan or pie plate with a layer of the paste. Add the crumbs and herb mixture. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add the fish, cut into good-sized pieces, and top these with the sauce. Cover all with a crust of puff paste. Cut 2 vents in the top and bake at 450° for 12 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350° and continue baking until the paste is nicely browned and cooked through.

Cut into wedges or squares and serve very hot.

CARPE À LA CHAMBORD

This is a simplification of one of the most elaborate dishes in all cookery. Over the years many variations of it have been created, but this I feel is the best.

Fish forcemeat (page 41)

4-to-6-pound carp

Salt pork

2 medium onions, finely chopped

3 carrots, finely chopped

3 stalks of celery, finely chopped

4 tablespoons butter

Red wine and water
or
fish broth

Beurre manié (page 475)

Prepare the forcemeat.

Clean and scale the carp and stuff it with the forcemeat. Sew it up securely and cover it with strips of salt pork, tying them well around the fish.

Cook the onions, carrots, and celery in the butter for 8 minutes. Place in the bottom of a well-buttered fish cooker or Dutch oven and put the fish on top. Now pour in a mixture of red wine and fish broth or water — 2/3 wine to 1/3 water or broth. Fill up to two-thirds the thickness of the fish. Cover and bake at 425° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8). Remove the fish to a hot platter dressed either with a bed of rice or a croustade that is large enough to be a base for the whole fish.

Reduce the sauce, strain it through a fine sieve, and check for seasoning. Thicken it with a little beurre manié. Serve the sauce separately.

Garnish the fish generously with cooked mushroom caps; quenelles, if you feel like taking the trouble to make them; truffles, if available; or crawfish. This is a classic dish and will win you a round of applause when it reaches the table.

MARINATED CARP

3-to-4-pound carp

1 large onion, chopped

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1 piece of chopped fresh ginger
or
11/2 teaspoons powdered

3 tablespoons oil

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2/3 cup white wine

Beurre manié (page 475)

2 egg yolks

4 tablespoons cream

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Clean the carp and place it in a steamer or fish boiler. Add the onion, parsley, ginger, and oil to the fish. Cover and let it stand for 3 hours. Turn the fish from time to time.

Add salt and pepper to taste and the wine, and poach the fish according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 12). When it is done, remove it to a serving dish. Thicken the sauce with beurre manié. Stir in the egg yolks mixed with the cream and blend well, but do not let it boil. At the last minute, stir in the lemon juice. Pour the sauce over the fish and serve with Lyonnaise potatoes heavily laced with parsley.

COLD CARP WITH VARIOUS SAUCES

Serve poached carp cold with:

1. Mayonnaise (page 34)

2. Sauce rémoulade (page 35)

3. Sauce verte (page 34)

Garnish cold carp with cucumbers, tomatoes, salade Russe, olives, truffles, greens. Or, if you like, you may put the cold carp in an aspic (see salmon in aspic, pages 198–201).

SWEET AND SOUR CARP, JEWISH FASHION

This is one of the oldest recipes for carp. Sometimes it is made without the addition of the vinegar and raisins, but it is almost invariably served cold.

4-to-5-pound carp

2/3 cup olive oil

3 or 4 shallots, chopped

2 large onions, chopped

4 tablespoon flour

1 pint white wine

1 pint water

1 teaspoon salt

Few grains cayenne pepper

Bit of nutmeg

1 bay leaf

Pinch of thyme

2 cloves garlic, crushed

3/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1/2 cup seedless raisins

1/2 cup currants
or
sultana raisins

1/3 cup wine vinegar

2 tablespoons brown sugar

Cut the carp into 2-inch slices. Heat the 2/3 cup of olive oil in a large skillet or deep Dutch oven. Add the shallots and onions to the oil. When they are soft add the flour and blend thoroughly. Gradually stir in the wine and water; continue stirring until thickened. Add the salt, cayenne, and nutmeg. Bring to a boil; then add the pieces of fish, the bay leaf, thyme, and garlic. Simmer according to the Canadian cooking theory for braising (page 11). Remove the carp and arrange it on a long deep serving dish.

Now reduce the sauce over a medium flame to a third of its volume. With a whisk or electric mixer at medium speed or in a blender beat in the 3/4 cup of olive oil as you would if making mayonnaise. When thoroughly blended, add the parsley, raisins, currants, vinegar, and sugar. Pour over the carp and chill thoroughly.

POACHED CARP WITH VARIOUS SAUCES

Poach whole carp in court bouillon (page 18). Serve with:

1. White wine sauce (page 23)

2. Hollandaise sauce (pages 25–26)

3. Sauce duxelles (page 27)

4. Shrimp sauce (page 21)

5. Lobster sauce (page 21)

6. Sauce Béarnaise (page 26)

POTTED CARP

This is an old Central European dish that has a flavor entirely different from that of most fish dishes.

4 carrots, thinly sliced

8 gingersnaps

1/2 cup sherry

4 carp fillets

Flour

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Butter

Blanch the carrots until they are just tender. Soak the ginger-snaps in the wine. Butter a large skillet that can be covered. Dip the fillets in flour and arrange them in the pan. Salt and pepper lightly, top with the carrots and their cooking water, and the sherry-gingersnap mixture. Cover, bring to a boil, and simmer according to the Canadian cooking theory for braising (page 11). Serve with steamed rice and a crisp green salad.

GEFILTE FISH

5 to 6 medium-large onions

4 pounds fish (buffalo, whitefish, carp, pike, or a mixture), including heads and bones

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 bay leaf

4 to 5 eggs

11/2 slices bread (soaked in water)

5 to 6 carrots

Chop 2 of the onions very coarsely, place them in a large pot, add the fish heads and bones, water to cover, and bring to a boil. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons salt and simmer this to make fish stock while you prepare the fish. Grind the cleaned and skinned fish with the rest of the onions. Mix them together, chop them in a large bowl, pound them in a mortar, or put them through the food processor until they are thoroughly blended. Salt and pepper to taste. Beat the eggs slightly and add to the mixture gradually. Add the bread, which has been soaked for an hour or so, and pound again until thoroughly smooth.

Scrape the carrots and cut them into rather thick slices. Strain the broth and bring to a boil. Shape the fish mixture into egg-sized balls and drop them, with the carrot slices, into the boiling broth. If the broth has cooked down too much, add a bit more water. Simmer for 1 to 11/2 hours. Cool in broth. Remove the fish balls and strain the broth. Clarify it with egg whites and shells (page 18), if you wish. Chill the broth and fish overnight in the refrigerator. Serve garnished with a slice of carrot and the jellied broth as a sauce. Grated horseradish and beet salad go well with this dish.

SMOKED CARP

Smoked carp is served a great deal as an appetizer, as a luncheon dish, or with salad. It has a rather nice texture, though not so delicious as smoked sturgeon or so delicate as smoked whitefish.

Catfish

Even though you may never have eaten catfish, you most certainly know someone who has. Commercially, over 10,000,000 pounds are consumed each year, and many millions more are carried home by individual anglers. Despite the impressive quantities, catfish remains an inland dish. It is rarely sold in coast markets.

Common sorts of catfish are the channel cat, blue cat, spotted or fiddler cat, yellow or goujon, and the differently designed bullhead or horned pout. These vary in size from 1 to 50 pounds or more, but none equals the European catfish, which, in full sail, may weigh over 400 pounds.

For flavor, the best American catfish is the spotted or fiddler cat, which runs around 5 pounds and is found everywhere in the Mississippi Valley — as far south as Mexico and as far north as the Great Lakes. Catfish must be skinned before cooking. Draw a sharp knife around the fish just in back of the gills and strip off the skin by hand or with tweezers.

Catfish are oily and lend themselves to many different forms of cookery. They are sold whole or skinned and dressed.

SAUTÉED CATFISH

Small-sized catfish may be sautéed as for sauté meunière (page 10).

PAN-FRIED CATFISH

Use either the whole fish or pieces of fish. It is customary to use lard or oil for frying in this manner — which actually is not pan-frying, but semi-deep-frying. Dip the fish in milk, then in crumbs or corn meal. Cook rapidly in the skillet in fat about 1 inch deep. Season to taste.

FRIED CATFISH

Deep-fried catfish is probably the most usual method of preparation. Use either the whole fish or pieces of fish.

Heat the fat in your deep fryer to 375°. Beat 2 eggs lightly. Roll out bread or zwieback crumbs or use corn meal. Dip the fish in flour, then in beaten egg, and roll in the crumbs. Fry according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 11). Drain and season to taste. Serve with tartar sauce (pages 35–36), rémoulade (page 35) or mustard sauce (page 23).

POACHED CATFISH

Catfish may be poached in salted boiling water or in a court bouillon (page 18). Serve it with lemon butter (page 31) or with Hollandaise (pages 25–26), Béarnaise (page 26), or lobster sauce (page 21).

It may be served cold with mayonnaise (page 34) or rémoulade (page 35).

CATFISH HEAD SOUP

This is a great favorite in the South.

2 or 3 good-sized catfish heads

1 onion stuck with 1 clove

1 carrot

1 leek

A few sprigs of parsley

6 cups water

1 tablespoon salt

1/2 teaspoon thyme

Wash the catfish heads well and let the tap water run over them. Place them in a saucepan with the onion stuck with a clove, the carrot, leek, and parsley. Add the water and bring it to a boil. Add the salt and thyme and simmer for 45 to 60 minutes. Remove the heads and take the meat from the bones. You may use this in the soup or serve it the next day in a soufflé or creamed fish dish — any of your favorite ways of using leftover fish.

Strain the broth and taste for seasoning. Serve any of the following ways:

1. Add 1 cup of finely chopped carrots and string beans cooked for 12 minutes in boiling salted water.

2. Add 1/2 cup of finely broken noodles. Cook these in the broth for 12 minutes.

3. Add the meat from the catfish heads and chopped parsley and grated cheese.

4. Prepare a recipe of fish forcemeat (page 41) and drop small balls of it into the boiling broth. Let them poach for 15 minutes, or until the tiny dumplings are cooked through.

NOTE
: Catfish may be used in any of the fish stews or in bouillabaisse (pages 42–43).

Chub

The varieties of chub, which is a member of the whitefish family, are known mainly for their excellence as smoked fish. The fish resembles whitefish, of course, but is smaller and thinner. The flesh is extremely soft.

Prepare chub as you would whitefish.

Crappies

Crappies are seldom taken commercially because of state prohibitions. An excellent pan fish, they are caught frequently by sportsmen. They propagate readily, and in sections where fish is scarce they are sometimes planted in ponds and used for individual family consumption.

The crappie is a small fish, seldom weighing more than a pound or exceeding a foot in length. The white crappie, also known as the chinquapin or white perch, is found in New England and down the Mississippi Valley. The black crappie, also known as the strawberry bass, is found in almost the same section.

BROILED CRAPPIES

The usual portion is one crappie to a person. Oil the fish well, or brush it with melted butter, and broil according to the directions on pages 9–10.

CRAPPIES SAUTÉ MEUNIÈRE

See directions on page 10.

PAN-FRIED CRAPPIES

When pan-frying crappies, it is probably better to remove the heads and tails of the fish. Clean them well, run the fins, and wash thoroughly. Dip them in flour, then in milk, and roll them in crumbs or corn meal. Sauté in butter, oil, or bacon fat according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 10). Serve with tartar sauce (pages 35–36) or lemon wedges.

Lake Herring

These small fish, plentiful in the Great Lakes region, are no relation to the herring of the sea but resemble whitefish. They are popularly known as “ciscoes.”