Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking - Marcella Hazan [33]
For 4 to 6 servings
1 pound fresh sardines OR smelts OR other small fish OR ¾ pound fish fillets
Vegetable oil
An 8- to 9-inch skillet
½ cup flour, spread on a plate
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
1 cup onion sliced very thin
½ cup wine vinegar
4 whole bay leaves
1. If using whole fish, gut it, scale it, and cut off the heads and the center back fins. If using fillets, cut them into 4 to 6 pieces. Wash the fish or fillets in cold water, and pat thoroughly dry with paper towels.
2. Pour enough oil into the skillet to come 1 inch up its sides, and turn the heat on to medium-high. When the oil is hot, dredge both sides of the fish in the flour, and slip it into the pan. Do not crowd the pan. If necessary, you can fry the fish in two or more successive batches.
3. Fry for about 2 minutes on each side until both sides have a nice brown crust.
4. Using a slotted spoon or spatula, transfer the fish to a shallow serving platter, sprinkling it with salt and a few grindings of pepper. Choose a platter just large enough for the fish to form a single layer without overlapping.
5. When all the fish is fried, pour out and discard half the oil in the pan. Put the sliced onion into the same skillet and turn on the heat to medium-low. Cook at a gentle pace, stirring occasionally, until the onion is tender, but not colored.
6. Add the vinegar, turn up the heat, stir rapidly, and let it bubble for half a minute. Pour all the contents of the skillet over the fish. Top with the bay leaves.
7. Cover the platter with foil or with another platter. Allow the fish to steep in the marinade for at least 12 hours before serving. Turn it over once or twice during that period. It does not need to be refrigerated if you are going to have it within 24 hours. In the refrigerator it will keep for several days. Before bringing it to the table, remove it from the refrigerator an hour or two in advance to permit it to come to room temperature.
Cold Trout in Orange Marinade
OF THE MANY WAYS the Italian tradition has of putting up fried or sautéed fish in a marinade, the most gently fragrant and the least acidic is the one given below, consisting of orange, lemon, and vermouth. It goes best with trout or other fine, freshwater fish.
For 6 servings
3 trout, perch, or other fine freshwater fish, about ¾ pound each, gutted and scaled, but with heads and tails left on
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
½ cup flour, spread on a plate
2 tablespoons onion chopped very fine
1 cup dry white Italian vermouth
2 tablespoons chopped orange peel, using only the rind, not the white pith beneath it
½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
The freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
1½ tablespoons chopped parsley
OPTIONAL GARNISH: unpeeled orange slices
1. Wash the gutted, scaled fish in cold water and pat thoroughly dry with paper towels.
2. Put the oil in a skillet and turn on the heat to medium. When the oil is hot, lightly dredge both sides of the fish in flour and slip into the skillet. Don’t overcrowd the pan; if all the fish does not fit loosely at one time, cook it in batches, dredging it in flour only at the moment you are ready to put it into the pan.
3. Brown the fish well on one side, then turn it and do the other, calculating about 5 minutes the first side and 4 minutes the second. Using a slotted spatula or spoon, transfer the fish when browned to a deep serving dish broad or long enough to accommodate all of it without overlapping. Do not pour out the oil in the skillet.
4. With a well-sharpened knife, make two or three skin-deep diagonal cuts on both sides of the fish. Be careful not to tear the skin, and avoid cutting into the flesh.
5. Put the chopped onion into the skillet that still contains the oil