James Beard's New Fish Cookery (24 page)

2 pairs shade roe

Salt

1 tablespoons melted butter

2 tablespoons melted butter

4 tablespoons butter (for sauce)

4 tablespoons flour

3/4 cup milk

Freshly ground black pepper

4 egg yolks, slightly beaten

6 egg whites, beaten stiff

Poach the shad roe in boiling salted water according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 12). Remove, and when cool enough to handle break up into small bits. Add the lemon juice and melted butter. Prepare a thick white sauce: Melt the 4 tablespoons of butter, blend in the flour, and add a little of the water in which the shad roe was cooked and about 3/4 cup of milk. Stir until thick and smooth. Season to taste and cool slightly.

For the soufflé, add the egg yolks to the white sauce. Mix the shad roe through it. Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold these into the mixture. Pour it into a buttered soufflé mold and bake at 375° for 30 to 40 minutes,
or
until the soufflé is puffy and brown. Serve with lemon butter (page 31) or shrimp sauce (page 21).

SHAD ROE EN PAPILLOTTE

Partially cook 6 rashers of bacon. Cut 6 pieces of cooking parchment in heart shapes — about 9 by 11 inches — and butter them. Place a piece of shad roe on one side of each piece of parchment. Brush well with softened butter; season to taste with salt, pepper, and chopped parsley. Top with a rasher of bacon. Fold the parchment over this and crimp the edges together, making an airtight package. Bake on a buttered pan at 450° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8), adding 5 minutes for the paper.

CANNED SHAD ROE

This is excellent when sautéed quickly in butter. It is also delicious when made into a quiche or sieved first and then baked into a soufflé.

Sheepshead

The sheepshead, a relative of the porgy, abounds in Florida, Gulf, and California waters. It is no relative of the freshwater sheepshead (page 333), which belongs to the croaker family.

The smaller sheepshead are the ones usually found in Southern markets. Occasionally a 20-to-25-pounder is available. Sheepshead are sold either whole or filleted.

BROILED SHEEPSHEAD

Either the whole sheepshead or the fillets may be broiled. Follow directions for broiling on pages 9–10. Serve with lemon, lemon butter, or parsley butter (pages 31, 33).

SAUTÉED SHEEPSHEAD

For sautéing the whole fish or the fillets, see the directions for sauté meunière (page 10) or for sauté à l’Anglaise (page 142). Serve with lemon butter (page 31), lemon quarters, or sauce rémoulade (page 35).

BAKED SHEEPSHEAD

Clean and split the fish. Dot with butter, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and sprinkle with parsley. Place on an oiled baking dish or pan and bake at 425° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8).

BAKED STUFFED WHOLE SHEEPSHEAD OR FILLETS

Prepare your favorite fish stuffing (pages 39–41). Clean a whole fish, stuff it, and tie it securely. If you are using fillets, spread them with the stuffing, roll, and tie securely. Dot with butter, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and bake at 425° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8). Baste frequently with the juices in the pan.

Skate

Abundant on both coasts, the skate, or
raie
as it is called in France, is regarded by most people as something odd and uneatable that floats in on the tide. Children are fascinated by them and dogs like to roll on top of them, apparently preferring them to any other type of dead fish. The fact is that, despite its strange look, the skate is good eating. Especially on the East Coast, it is beginning to be more popular.

The wings are the part generally used for cooking. The flesh is very gelatinous and the flavor is delicate and distinctive. I have eaten it since I was a child, in both English and French versions. If you have never tried it, you owe it to yourself to make the experiment.

In eating skate, you do not cut through the meat as you do with other fish. You scrape along the wings with your knife and fork. This gives you the full benefit of the long strips of delicious flesh.

SKATE BEURRE NOIR

This is the best-known fashion of serving skate. If you buy large wings, cut them into serving-sized pieces. If you buy the small ones, cook them whole.

Prepare a court bouillon of vinegar, salt, and water. Poach the wings in the bouillon according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 12) and drain them thoroughly. Place them in a serving dish. Melt and brown butter; add a little wine vinegar and plenty of capers. Pour this over the fish.

SKATE WITH TOMATO SAUCE

Prepare skate wings as above. Serve with sautéed onions and a rich tomato sauce (page 23).

COLD SKATE RÉMOULADE

Prepare skate wings in court bouillon, using white wine (pages 19–20). Remove to a deep platter. Let the bouillon cook down to half its volume and pour it over the fish. Cool and chill in the refrigerator. Serve with sauce vinaigrette (page 36) or rémoulade (page 35).

VARIATION

The meat of the skate may be scraped from the bones and used in a salad combined with finely chopped celery and onion. Moisten with mayonnaise and serve on a bed of greens.

You will find that this dish is a welcome change from the usual fish salad.

Smelt

Columbia River smelt, which are related to Eastern smelt, are the best I have tasted. They are fat, rich, and mildly flavored. Their oil content is so high that Indians used to dry them in large quantities and then burn them for light, a practice that led to their being known as “candlefish.”

During my childhood the smelt run in the Columbia River and its tributaries resembled an orgy. The word that the fish were running attracted thousands of people, many of whom had never baited a hook. The smelt were so abundant that the channel of a small stream would glisten with the silver of their bodies. I have watched entire families — men, women, and children — dragging the fish from the water with nets, bird cages, gunny sacks, and even old dresses knotted together. The squirming fish were dumped into boxes, and the sight of so many smelt and so much waste was far from appetizing. For a long time I disliked the fish and only in recent years have I become fond of them.

The smelt is sometimes called the “king” of the small fishes. Its relationship to the salmon gives it a distinctive flavor and good texture. Sometimes the smelt is excessively oily, or it may absorb unpleasant flavors of the river. When this happens, the only thing to do is discard the fish.

In New England, as on the Pacific Coast, the smelt is a migrating saltwater fish. The Great Lakes smelt is a transplant from New England. It has flourished in fresh water, but has retained the migratory habits of its marine ancestors. During the spawning seasons, it runs up the streams and rivers of the Great Lakes region. In all locations, coastal and inland, the spawning season of the smelt is variable, and a run may last a week or so.

Most people like smelt cooked crisp in butter or oil, and some people like them crisp enough to eat the bones. As a matter of personal preference I recommend boning the fish.

BROILED SMELT

Split and clean the smelt. Brush them well with butter, dip in cream, and roll in crumbs until they are well coated. Broil over charcoal, basting with butter during the broiling process. (You may skewer them, if you wish, and make your task easier.) Salt and pepper to taste.

SAUTÉED SMELT

Split and clean the smelt and bone them if you wish. However, it is a simple job to do this after they are cooked — just remove the head and backbone at one time.

Dip the fish in flour and sauté them quickly in butter or oil. Season to taste and serve with tartar sauce (pages 35–36) or sauce rémoulade (page 35).

VARIATIONS

1. Split the smelt at the back and remove the bone. Dip the fish in beaten egg and then in finely rolled crumbs. Sauté quickly in butter, browning well on both sides. Season to taste and serve with tartar sauce.

2. Bone the smelt as above and then marinate them in lemon or lime juice for 1 hour. Roll them in flour and sauté in olive oil very quickly. Season to taste and serve with lemon or lime butter (pages 31–32).

3. Split the smelt at the back and remove the bone. Dip the fish in beaten egg and then in finely rolled crumbs. Sauté in butter and add 1/2 cup buttered, toasted almonds to the pan. Season to taste.

4. Dip the fish in milk and roll in seasoned corn meal. Sauté in butter or olive oil. Serve with a tomato sauce (page 23).

5. Split the fish and remove the bones. Spread with mustard, dip in crumbs, and sprinkle with dry mustard, salt, and cayenne. Sauté in butter or oil and serve with a sauce diable (page 29).

FRIED SMELT

You may bone the fish, or not, before frying. Heat fat in your deep fryer to 375°. Dip the smelt in crumbs, then in beaten egg, then in crumbs again. Fry according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 11). Drain, season to taste, and serve with tartar sauce (pages 35–36) or sauce rémoulade (page 35). Always serve fried parsley (page 253) with smelt.

VARIATIONS

En Brochelle.
Skewer the smelt S-shape by running the skewer through the head, then through the middle, and then through the tail. Or you may make loops of them by running the skewer just through the heads and tails. Dip the skewered fish in flour, then in beaten egg, and roll in crumbs. Fry as above.

Curried.
Mix 1 cup or more of corn meal with 1 teaspoon salt and 11/2 tablespoons curry powder. Beat 2 eggs very light and add 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper and 1 teaspoon curry powder. Dip the smelt in flour, then in the beaten egg, and roll in the seasoned corn meal. Fry as above. Serve with rice heavily laced with curry. Chutney goes well with this.

Rolled.
Split and bone the smelt and lay them out flat. Place an anchovy fillet on each fish, sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and some chopped parsley. Roll them up and fasten on brochettes. Dip in flour, then in beaten egg, and roll in crumbs. Fry as above. Serve with anchovy butter (page 32).

Piquant.
Clean the smelt but do not bone them. Dip them in flour, then in beaten egg, and roll them in crumbs mixed with finely chopped garlic, salt, and cayenne. Fry as above and serve with a tomato sauce (page 23).

BAKED SMELT AU GRATIN

Oil

Chopped onion, carrot, and celery

Smelt

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Butter

White wine

Buttered crumbs

Grated Parmesan cheese

Oil a large flat baking dish or pan. Cover the bottom with the chopped vegetables. Clean the smelt and arrange them on top. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and dot with butter. Add enough wine to the pan to half cover the fish. Bake at 425° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8). Remove the pan from the oven; sprinkle the top with buttered crumbs and grated Parmesan cheese. Run under the broiler for a few minutes.

Cold Smelt

BAKED SPICED SMELT

We often used to have this dish when the smelt run was on. It was a great favorite at our home. The fish should be very cold, and are delicious accompanied by potato salad, pickled beets, and rye bread. Have beer to drink with it, too.

36 to 48 smelt

2 large onions, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 carrots, grated or chopped

2 bay leaves

8 peppercorns

5 lemon slices

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup wine vinegar

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon of allspice, cloves, and cinnamon bark mixed

1 teaspoon paprika

2 cups water

1 cup white wine

Clean and arrange the fish in a large baking dish. Combine all the other ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes. Pour this sauce over the fish and bake at 425° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8). Let the smelt cool in the pickle and serve chilled.

SMELT ORIENTAL

This is another delicious cold dish. It may be used as hors d’oeuvre or part of a buffet supper.

36 smelt

Olive oil

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Paprika

3 cups tomato sauce

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Juice of 2 lemons

3 tablespoons chopped parsley

Clean the fish, dip them in olive oil, and arrange on an oiled baking dish. Brush again with oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and paprika.

Mix the tomato sauce with the garlic, lemon juice, and parsley. Cover the smelt with this mixture and bake at 425° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8). Let the fish cool in the sauce. Serve very cold and garnish with lemon slices, chopped parsley, and hard-cooked egg.

Sole and the Flounder Family

There is no genuine sole in American waters, but more fish called sole are served in our restaurants than any other kind. We tend to apply the name “sole” to any white fish that comes in fillets, with the result that the average diner has only the haziest idea of what fish he is eating. Generally, he is eating one of the abundant members of the flounder family — the dab, the gray sole, the yellowtail, the winter flounder, the lemon sole.

In Eastern cities you can easily obtain true Channel sole imported from England, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Denmark. It comes frozen, of course, and demands a fine price. Its texture is quite different from that of the so-called American sole.

In the fish markets of seaboard towns, a great percentage of the flounders and sole are sold in fillets, and even greater quantities are sold as frozen fillets all over the country. However, the fish is also often sold whole. The most common American flounder is a flat fish, darkish gray on top and white on the bottom, with its two eyes on top.

Any of these recipes will fit any type of flounder and will be just as appropriate to the true Channel or Dover sole. It is difficult to tell you just how much to buy since fillets vary so much in size, as does the whole fish. If you figure on about a half pound per person, you will always have plenty. Some people contend that a pound of fish will serve three, but I find this skimpy. In the following recipes for fillets. I have counted on one large fillet per person.