James Beard's New Fish Cookery (22 page)

SMOKED SALMON CORNUCOPIAS

Roll perfect slices of smoked salmon into small cornucopias and secure them with toothpicks. Fill them with a mixture of cream cheese combined with freshly grated horseradish. Serve as an hors d’oeuvre.

CANAPÉ DANOIS

This is merely a round or square of fried toast with a layer of smoked salmon topped with a thin slice of ham and decorated with olives. Serve it as a first course with a little horseradish sauce (horseradish mixed with sour cream).

SMOKED SALMON APPETIZERS

The finest quality of smoked salmon has practically no salt content and has a very delicate flavor. It is expensive, but worth it. Serve thin — very thin — shavings of this fish delicacy, and allow several to each portion. The usual and certainly the best accompaniments are freshly ground black pepper, capers, and thin slices of Spanish or red Italian onion in an olive oil and lemon dressing. Pumpernickel or rye bread and butter sandwiches go with this.

SMOKED SALMON SANDWICHES

These may be used for luncheon or supper sandwiches or cut into small bits to serve with cocktails. Smoked salmon calls for rye or pumpernickel or a heavy whole wheat bread. It also needs plenty of butter — preferably unsalted. Try these combinations:

1. Smoked salmon, coarse black pepper.

2. Smoked salmon, cream cheese, sliced onion.

3. Smoked salmon, onion, ham.

4. Smoked salmon, cream cheese, sliced egg, sliced onion.

SMOKED SALMON QUICHE

PASTRY

13/4 cups flour

8 tablespoons butter

1 egg yolk

2 tablespoons ice water

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon lemon juice

FILLING

8 ounces cream cheese

5 eggs, slightly beaten

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon grated lemon rind

1/2 cup minced onion

Butter

1/4 pound smoked salmon

To make pastry:
Work the flour and butter together until it forms small granules. Then add the egg yolk, salt, and lemon juice. With tightly cupped hands, work the dough into a mass, pulling in any crumbs in the bottom of the bowl. Place on a lightly floured board, break off some small pieces — about 2 to 3 tablespoons each — and, with the heel of your hand, push each one across the board to flatten it. With the aid of a baker’s scraper or spatula, pull them together. Continue this process, called the
fraisage,
until all the dough has been flattened, then form into a ball and wrap in wax paper or foil and chill well before using.

To make pastry in a food processor:
Place the flour, salt, and butter in the beaker. Process for 10 seconds. Add the lemon juice and egg yolk and process, pouring in enough water to form a ball on the top of the blades. Remove pastry and chill.

Roll out the pastry and line a 9-inch pie pan. Cover the inside of the shell with foil, weight down with rice or beans, and bake in a 425° oven for 12 minutes; remove beans and foil and bake a few minutes longer, to bake the center. Brush the bottom of the shell with beaten egg and put in the oven for a minute or two to set the glaze.

Filling.
Soften the cream cheese and mix with slightly beaten eggs and heavy cream. Add the mustard, salt, pepper, cayenne, and lemon rind. Sauté the onions in a little butter until soft. Chop the smoked salmon into coarse pieces, approximately 1/4-to-1/2-inch squares, and add to the softened onion, stirring until the salmon just barely warms through. Drain the butter from the onion and salmon mixture into the cream mixture and mix thoroughly. Arrange the onion and salmon in the pastry shell. Pour the cream mixture over and bake in a 350° oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the quiche tests done when a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Other Salmon Dishes

SALT SALMON AND SALMON BELLY

Both these preserved parts of salmon, as well as salmon tips, are very salty. Soak them for several hours or overnight before cooking. They are all primarily breakfast or luncheon dishes. Steam or poach them according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 12) and serve with a sauce béchamel (page 23) to which you have added chopped parsley and chopped hard-cooked eggs.

SALMON CHEEKS

These tiny delicacies — they are about the size of a fifty-cent piece — are hard to come by. If you live near the canneries or in the salmon district, possibly you can get some. To my taste, the cheeks are the very best part of the fish. They should be lightly dipped in flour and sautéed in butter. Serve them with lemon and finely chopped parsley.

Cheeks are often kippered and put in tins or glasses for cocktail tidbits. They are remarkably good.

KIPPERED SALMON

Kippered salmon is fish that has been cooked while it was being smoked. It has a pleasant flavor and is a most attractive luncheon dish with salad or it may be heated for a breakfast or supper. Flaked and mixed with horseradish, chopped fresh dill, and sour cream, it makes a wonderful spread for sandwiches or canapés.

SALMON ROE

The roe of salmon, like that of similar fish, is a delicacy of which many people are very fond. Try it sautéed or poached. Salmon roe is also used and cured, in various grades, as red caviar. (See shad roe, pages 222–224.)

Sand Dabs

Unfortunately this delightful morsel is not available outside the state of California. I can think of no other fish that is so delicately, subtly flavored.

BROILED SAND DABS

To broil these delicate fish, anoint them well with butter and cook quickly. The meat must not harden or dry out or the perfect texture will be destroyed. Season to taste and serve with a delicate sauce.

SAUTÉED SAND DABS

To my taste, the best way a sand dab can be cooked is sauté meuniére (page 10).

BAKED SAND DABS

Helen Evans Brown says in her
West Coast Cook Book
that sand dabs are excellent cooked in parchment, as follows:

Cut heart-shaped pieces of cooking parchment big enough to hold filleted, skinned pieces of sand dab. Butter the paper well and place a fillet on each piece of parchment, a little to one side. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add a thin slice of ham, 2 or 3 mushroom caps that have been lightly cooked in butter, and a sprinkling of chives and parsley. Fold the parchment over and crimp the edges together. Bake at 425° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8), adding 5 minutes for the paper.

Sardines

No doubt there are many children — and possibly some adults — who think that sardines are caught in cans. The fresh fish are available, also, and may be prepared in a variety of ways. For myself, I prefer them tinned.

Actually, there is no one fish named “sardine.” The term refers to any tiny fish with weak bones that can be preserved in oil. They are probably called sardines because they were first prepared in this manner on the island of Sardinia. In the Mediterranean and in the English Channel the pilchard is used for sardines. The Norwegian sardine is the brisling or sprat. Our East Coast variety is an infant alewife or herring, while the West Coast version, as in the Mediterranean, is the pilchard.

The sardines of Maine and California would be tops if the packers seasoned them well and used good oil. Since this is not the case, I recommend the fine Portuguese, whole, and skinned and boned. Try also the smaller Norwegian fish.

Sardines are the perfect emergency food. If your shelves are stocked with these, and good canned salmon and tuna, you need never worry about feeding the unexpected guest.

Fresh Sardines

Either the pilchard of the West or the infant alewife or herring of the East cooks well and makes a tasty dish.

GRILLED SARDINES

Estimate 4 to 5 sardines per person. Remove the heads, brush with oil, and broil 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper and serve at once with lemon wedges.

SAUTÉED SARDINES

Split and bone the fish. Dip them in milk and crumbs and sauté them in butter very quickly until nicely browned on both sides. Serve with a tartar sauce (pages 35–36), a lemon-flavored vinaigrette sauce (page 36), or a mustard sauce (page 23).

FRIED SARDINES

Wash and clean the fish. Dip them in flour, in beaten egg, and then in corn meal or crumbs. Fry in deep hot fat according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 11). Remove to absorbent paper and season to taste. Serve with tartar sauce or tomato sauce. Fried parsley (page 253) as an accompaniment is a “must.”

BAKED SARDINES

Bone the fish or not, as you choose. Arrange the sardines in a buttered baking dish or pan and top with finely cut shallots or green onions (about 4 to a fish). Season to taste, dot with butter, and barely cover with white wine. Bake at 425° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8).

Serve with plain boiled potatoes and grilled tomatoes.

SARDINES IN ESCABECHE

This recipe is suitable for any small fish. It makes an outstanding first course or luncheon dish.

36 fresh sardines

2/3 cup olive oil

Flour

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 small carrots, thinly sliced

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon thyme

3/4 cup chopped parsley

1/2 cup wine vinegar

2/3 cup water

Pimiento

Green pepper

Clean the sardines but leave their heads and tails intact. Heat the oil in a skillet. Dust the fish with flour and salt and pepper them to taste. Sauté them in the oil just long enough to brown. Remove to a hot dish.

Add the carrots and onions to the oil and let them cook until almost tender. Add the garlic, bay leaf, pepper, thyme, and parsley. Pour the vinegar and water over this and bring it to a boil. Add the sardines and simmer for about 5 minutes. Let the fish cool in the sauce and chill thoroughly before serving. Decorate with strips of pimiento and green pepper.

Serve with a cucumber salad for contrast.

Canned Sardines

Few simple meals are tastier than a can of fine sardines, lemon, good bread and sweet butter, and a glass of chilled white wine or beer. But here are some suggestions for “dolling up” the tinned variety.

GRILLED SARDINES

Carefully remove the fish from the can. (There is a permanent key for sardine cans that has a good lifter as part of the gadget.) Arrange the sardines in a shallow pan or rack and pour the oil over them. Run them under the broiler flame just long enough to heat through. Serve on pieces of fried toast with lemon wedges.

This makes a good fish course as well as a good luncheon or supper dish.

VARIATIONS

1. Sprinkle the sardines with a little curry powder and chopped parsley and give them a squeeze of lemon juice. Grill them and serve them on toast with chutney.

2. Arrange sardines on a baking sheet, sprinkle with lemon juice and grated Gruyére or Swiss cheese. Broil until the cheese melts. Serve on fried toast.

3. Grill sardines with curry powder and serve on a bed of scrambled eggs.

4. Arrange grilled sardines on fried toast. Cover with a sauce Mornay (page 22) and run under the broiler flame for a minute or two.

SARDINE PUFFS

1 can skinned and boned sardines

2 tablespoons onion juice

2/3 cup grated Gruyére
or
Cheddar cheese

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 egg whites, stiffly beaten

Bread

Mash the sardines with a fork. Add the onion juice, cheese, and pepper and blend thoroughly. Fold in the egg whites. Toast slices of bread on one side. Spread the sardine mixture on the untoasted side and place under the broiler or in a 450° oven. Cook until they puff and brown lightly, or about 4 minutes. Serve as a first course or as a cocktail snack.

SARDINE TURNOVERS

Sardines

Pastry
or
puff paste

Lemon juice

Grated onion

Chopped parsley

Beaten egg yolk

Roll pastry or puff paste out thin and cut into circles large enough to accommodate a whole sardine with some room to spare. Place a sardine to one side of each circle. Sprinkle with lemon juice, a bit of onion, and the parsley. Fold the pastry over and crimp the edges. Brush the top with beaten egg yolk. Bake at 450° until the pastry is puffed and brown — about 12 to 15 minutes. Serve hot with cocktails or as a first course for luncheon or dinner.

SUMMER SUPPER IN A HURRY

For a perfect summer meal prepared in a rush, open 1 or 2 cans of fine sardines, a can of solid-pack tuna, and perhaps a can of crabmeat or the frozen lobster meat that comes in cans. Arrange these delicacies on a large platter with hard-cooked eggs, wedges of tomato, and plenty of sweet onions sliced to transparent thinness. Accompany this with a bowl of mayonnaise, some good pumpernickel bread, and sweet butter. Serve chilled white wine or beer.

This same dish may be served to a large group as a first course at dinner if you plan to follow it with a rather light meat course.

SARDINE SALAD

Arrange a bed of greens and make a sunburst of sardines in the center. Garnish with halved hard-cooked eggs, onion rings, pimiento strips, and capers. Serve with a bowl of mayonnaise.

For 2 servings, use 1 large can of sardines, 4 eggs, and 1 onion.

For 6 servings, use 3 cans of sardines, 12 eggs, and 2 large onions.

NORWEGIAN SARDINE APPETIZER

2 pounds cream cheese

1/3 cup lemon juice

3 to 4 cans sardines, mashed well

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Paprika

Onion juice

This is strictly a spread and a wonderful one.

Mash the cream cheese well with a fork. Beat in the lemon juice, bit by bit, and then beat in the sardines. Season with salt, pepper, and paprika, and blend the mixture thoroughly. (If you are going to eat it all during one sitting, add a little onion juice; if you plan to keep some, omit the onion to avoid a stale taste.)