James Beard's New Fish Cookery (34 page)

Some of the lake herring catch is sold salted, and much of it is smoked. The smoked fish is exceedingly good; the texture is delicate. Altogether, lake herring is deservedly popular and is one of the most important freshwater catches.

Lake herring sold fresh in the market average 1/2 to 1 pound. Any of the recipes for small trout (pages 336–344) and smelt (pages 229–232) can be followed in preparing them.

Pike and Pickerel

Among the well-known varieties of pike are the common pike, the pickerel, and, most of all, the huge muskellunge. All varieties are popular as sport fish.

The pike is a fierce and voracious fish, even devouring small waterfowl and mammals, and it puts up a strong fight when hooked. Like many fish popular with anglers, it has special local names: lake pickerel, grass pike, jack pike, great northern pike. It is abundant from New York to the mouth of the Ohio River and thence northward to Alaska. Some varieties of pike often weigh up to 25 pounds, but the average market weight is 11/2 pounds to 10 pounds.

Eastern pickerel, called chain pickerel in the North and jack pickerel in the South, is well known to anglers east of the Alleghenies. It can grow to 8 pounds, but the average size is a 22-inch fish weighing 2 to 3 pounds.

There are innumerable ways of cooking pike, but it has often seemed to me that not enough care is taken to bring out its fine flavor and texture.

BROILED PIKE

You may broil either the steaks, the fillets, or the boned and split whole fish. Pike is a lean fish, however, and I do not believe broiling is the best method of preparing it. If you do broil it, be sure to lubricate it well during the cooking with butter or oil. Follow the general rules for broiling on pages 9–10. Serve with maître d’hôtel butter, lemon butter, or parsley butter (pages 31–33).

BAKED STUFFED PIKE

2 cups cracker crumbs

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup chopped green pepper

1/2 cup crabmeat

3 eggs

1 teaspoon salt

Heavy dash of cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1/2 cup melted butter

5-to-6-pound pike

Strips of salt pork

Make a stuffing of the crumbs, chopped vegetables, crabmeat, eggs, seasonings, and melted butter. Clean the fish and stuff it with this mixture. Sew it up and place on an oiled baking dish or pan. Top with strips of salt pork and bake at 425° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8).

Serve with a crabmeat sauce (page 21), saffron rice, and cooked chopped spinach seasoned with garlic, nutmeg, and butter.

BRAISED STUFFED PIKE

5-pound pike

1/2 cup chopped onion

4 tablespoons butter

1/2 pound smoked ham, ground

2 cups dry bread crumbs

1/2 cup chopped parsley

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 eggs

4 tablespoons melted butter

Strips of salt pork

White wine

Beurre manié (page 475)

2 egg yolks, slightly beaten

Lemon juice

Parsley

Clean the fish and prepare for stuffing. Sauté the chopped onions in 4 tablespoons of butter until soft. Combine with the ham, crumbs, parsley, thyme, salt, pepper, eggs, and the melted butter. Stuff the fish with this mixture and sew it up. Place it in a shallow baking pan with enough white wine to cover the bottom of the pan well. Top the fish with strips of salt pork and bake at 425° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8). Baste occasionally, and cover the pan after the first 15 minutes of cooking. When the fish is done, remove the salt pork and arrange the stuffed pike on a platter.

Strain the pan juices and thicken with beurre manié. Stir in the egg yolks and continue stirring until well blended. Do not let the sauce boil. Check for seasoning; add a dash of lemon juice and plenty of chopped parsley. Pour the sauce over the fish.

QUENELLES DE BROCHET I

These have been great favorites in France for many years. They are not simple to make, and they must be done properly or they are not good.

1 cup boiling milk

3 cups soft bread crumbs

1 pound of pike

1 teaspoon salt

1 grind fresh black pepper

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup creamed butter

2 eggs

4 or 5 egg yolks

Pour the boiling milk over the bread crumbs and let the crumbs stand until the milk is entirely absorbed. Mix them well with a wooden spoon until they are practically a paste. Place this over the lowest flame on your stove and dry it out, working it all the time with the wooden spoon. Spread it out on a flat pan and let it cool thoroughly.

Put the pike through the fine grinder twice or chop in the food processor. Then work it in a mortar, or put it in a heavy bowl and work it with a wooden spoon. Add the salt, pepper, and nutmeg and blend thoroughly. Turn it out on a board, combine it with a crumb mixture, and mix well with your hands. Return it to the mortar or bowl, add the creamed butter, and continue blending until it is smooth and thoroughly mixed. Gradually work in the eggs and additional egg yolks. Put the mixture through a fine sieve or a food mill and work it again with a wooden spoon until it has a smooth and silky texture.

Form into flat oval cakes about the size of an egg or a little larger and arrange them in a buttered skillet so that they barely touch one another. Cover them with boiling salted water and poach gently for about 10 minutes. Remove the cooked quenelles to absorbent paper. Serve them with a rich cream sauce (page 23), shrimp sauce (page 21), lobster sauce (page 21), sauce Mornay (page 22), or Hollandaise (pages 25–26).

VARIATIONS

1. Arrange the quenelles on a bed of spinach, top with sauce Mornay, sprinkle with grated cheese, and run under the broiler for a few minutes.

2. Prepare a white wine sauce (page 23). Add small sautéed onions, sautéed mushrooms, and chopped parsley. Add the quenelles to the sauce and heat thoroughly.

QUENELLES DE BROCHET II

This recipe for quenelles may be a little simpler than the one above.

1/2 cup hot water

3/4 cup butter

1/2 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 pound of pike

6 ounces kidney fat, finely chopped

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Nutmeg

3 egg whites

1/2 cup heavy cream

Put the hot water and 1/4 cup of the butter in saucepan. When the butter is melted and the water boiling, add the flour and salt sifted together and stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan and forms a ball in the middle. Remove from the heat and continue beating with the spoon, or use an electric beater. Cool for 10 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, and continue beating until the mixture is waxy and smooth. Cool.

Put the fish through the fine grinder several times, pound it in a mortar, or use a food processor. Work it well in a heavy bowl with a wooden spoon. Gradually add the kidney fat and the pâte à choux (the butter, flour, and egg mixture that you prepared). Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Work in the egg whites, the remaining 1/2 cup butter, and the cream. Work the mixture thoroughly until it is smooth and satiny. Chill for 24 hours.

Form into small oval cakes and poach as in the preceding recipe. Serve with a rich sauce and garnish with fried toast.

PIKE PUDDING OR MOLD

1 pound pike fillets

1 cup heavy béchamel sauce (page 23)

1 egg

3 egg yolks

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Grind the fish very fine. Then pound it in a mortar or give it a second grinding. Beat it with a wooden spoon until it forms a paste. Blend in the béchamel. Gradually work in the egg and the extra yolks. Force the mixture through a fine sieve or a food mill. Season it to taste and pour it into a well-buttered earthenware casserole with straight sides. (A copper or glass oven dish with fairly straight sides will do.)

Place the casserole in a pan of hot water and bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes, or until just set. Unmold on a hot platter and surround with shrimp sauce (page 21) or sauce Béarnaise (page 26). Garnish with cooked shrimp and sprigs of parsley.

MOUSSE OF PIKE

See halibut mousse, page 129.

POACHED PIKE

Pike lends itself to poaching even better than most fish. It can be poached whole or in 3-to-4-pound pieces. Wrap the fish in cheese-cloth, poach in a white wine court bouillon (pages 19–20) according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 12). Serve it with Hollandaise (pages 25–26), Béarnaise (page 26), duxelles (page 27), or shrimp sauce (page 21), or with anchovy (page 32) or lemon butter (page 31).

VARIATIONS

1. Prepare a court bouillon as follows:

Chop fine 8 to 10 shallots or 12 green onions, 2 cloves garlic, 1 leek, 2 or 3 carrots and plenty of parsley; add 1 tablespoon salt, 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, 1 bay leaf, and a heaping spoonful of thyme. Cover with white wine and let stand for 3 hours. Put it on the stove and slowly bring it to a boil. Add the fish and poach according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 12). Remove the fish to a hot platter.

Strain the bouillon through a fine sieve or food mill. Reduce it quickly to 2 cups. Add 1 cup of heavy cream and 4 or 5 egg yolks. Stir well until thickened, being careful that the mixture does not boil. Cream 4 to 5 tablespoons of butter with a little flour and add it to the sauce. Stir until smooth, taste for seasoning, and pour over the fish.

Serve with plain boiled potatoes and follow with a dish of braised celery topped with bits of marrow poached in boiling salted water.

2. Poach pike in simmering salted water with the addition of plenty of fresh dill, parsley, and an onion stuck with 2 cloves. When the fish is cooked, remove it to a hot platter. Make a sauce velouté (page 21) with some of the broth, season it with chopped fresh dill, parsley, and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Pour the sauce over the fish.

COLD PIKE WITH VARIOUS SAUCES

Cold pike is one of the most delicate and flavorful of the white fish. A delightful supper dish in summer is a whole cold pike garnished with cucumbers, tomatoes, salade Russe, stuffed eggs flavored with anchovy and sardines, and olives.

To prepare the fish, poach it in a court bouillon (page 18) according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 12). Chill it, and when cool skin it, leaving the head and tail intact. You may make an aspic of the broth, if you wish, and mask the fish with it. Or simply place the cold poached pike on a platter of greens and garnish to suit your own taste. Serve it with a well-flavored olive oil mayonnaise (page 34), sauce verte (page 34), or sauce rémoulade (page 35).

If you wish to be really elaborate, you may make an aspic of the court bouillon (pages 18–19). Combine some of the aspic with mayonnaise (page 34) and cover the fish with this. Chill until set, then mask with aspic and chill again. Decorate with truffles, pickled mushrooms, capers — anything you like. For suggestions for decorating fish in aspic, see page 131.

IZAAK WALTON’S RECIPE FOR ROASTING A PIKE from
THE COMPLEAT ANGLER

Mr. Walton’s comment on this recipe for roasting pike is ample proof that he enjoyed the cooked results of his angling as much as the angling itself. He wrote: “This dish of meat is too good for any but anglers, or very honest men; and I trust you will prove both, and therefore I have trusted you with this secret.”

Here is the recipe:

“First, open your pike at the gills, and if need be, cut also a little slit towards the belly; out of these take his guts and keep his liver, which you are to shred very small with thyme, sweet marjoram, and a little winter-savory; to these put some pickled oysters, and some anchovies, two or three, both these last whole (for the anchovies will melt, and the oysters should not); to these you must add also a pound of sweet butter, which you are to mix with the herbs which are shred, and let them all be well salted (if the pike be more than a yard long, then you may put into these herbs more than a pound, or if he be less, then less butter will suffice): these being thus mixed with a blade or two of mace, must be put into the pike’s belly, and then his belly so sewed up as to keep all the butter in his belly, if it be possible, if not, then as much of it as you possibly can; but take not off the scales: then you are to thrust the spit through his mouth out at his tail; and then take four, or five, or six split sticks or very thin laths, and a convenient quantity of tape or filleting: these laths are to be tied round about the pike’s body from his head to his tail, and the tape tied somewhat thick to prevent his breaking or falling off from the spit: let him be roasted very leisurely, and often basted with claret wine and anchovies and butter mixed together, and also with what moisture falls from him into the pan: when you have roasted him sufficiently, you are to hold under him (when you unwind or cut the tape that ties him) such a dish as you purpose to eat him out of; and let him fall into it with the sauce that is roasted in his belly; and by this means the pike will be kept unbroken and complete: then, to the sauce which was within, and also that sauce in the pan, you are to add a fit quantity of the best butter, and to squeeze the juice of three or four oranges: last!, you may either put into the pike with the oysters two cloves of garlick, and take it out whole, when the pike is cut off the spit; or to give the sauce a
haut-gout
let the dish (into which you let the pike fall) be rubbed with it: the using or not using of this garlick is left to your discretion.”

Pike Perch

In spite of the name, pike perches are not related to pike. They are, rather, members of the same family as the yellow perch. There are three well-known varieties: blue pike perch, yellow pike perch — also called wall-eyed pike — and sauger or sand pike. These are excellent food fishes with firm white flesh.

Yellow pike perch are found plentifully in streams along the Middle Atlantic seaboard, westward to the Mississippi Valley, and north through the Great Lakes region to Hudson Bay. There is a large commercial catch each year, and sizable amount is caught and cooked by sportsmen. The sauger is found farther west in the Missouri Valley region. The blue pike perch likes deep water and is caught mainly in the Great Lakes.