Good Fish_ Sustainable Seafood Recipes From the Pacific Coast - Becky Selengut [82]
Reduce the oven temperature to 350ºF.
Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a food processor, add the egg, and purée, adding just enough cream (if needed) to facilitate the mixing process. Pulse for at least 3 minutes, or until the purée is very smooth.
To assemble the tarts, spread the filling onto the tart shells and bake in the oven for 5 minutes, or until the filling sets up. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a medium sauté pan over medium heat and add the leeks. Sauté until they are tender but not browned, about 8 minutes. When the celery root topping is nicely set, top the tarts with the leeks, then slice each one into 8 pieces and garnish with a Parmesan curl and a small scoop of caviar.70
PAIRING: A muscadet sur lie, such as Domaine de la Moutonniere, Sèvre et Maine 2008, Loire Valley, France, or a Chablis.
appendix a: a note on eating raw seafood
I’d like to clear up a few misconceptions. Some people are scared to eat sushi, or more accurately, raw fish. They are afraid it will make them sick. I can understand—I felt the same way when my oldest brother and sister-in-law first tried to tempt me with ruby-red slabs of tuna and meltingly tender bites of yellowtail. “I don’t want to get sick,” I protested, and they just shook their heads and said, “More for us!”
I’m not a microbiologist, but I would reckon that a warmish bowl of cooked rice left out for hours is more likely to make you sick than chilled raw fish in the cold case or a scallop crudo. One thing people don’t realize is that the majority of fish you are served in the raw (with some exceptions) has been frozen before it gets to your plate. This is a good thing—not a sign of inferior quality. You want your fish to have been frozen if you eat it raw because deep-freezing kills parasites. This is especially important with salmon, which is prone to parasites. Please, for your own health and the health of your family, do not eat raw fresh salmon at home. And before you get the notion that you can just throw your salmon fillet in a home freezer for a few days before you eat it raw (or cure it), know this: a home freezer isn’t kept cold enough to kill those parasites. If you are going to cure or prepare salmon sushi, buy high-quality fish that you know has been commercially frozen.
The following is taken directly from the Food and Drug Administration’s web-site: “Freezing and storing at–4ºF (–20ºC) or below for 7 days (total time), or freezing at–31ºF (–35ºC) or below until solid and storing at–31ºF (–35ºC) or below for 15 hours, or freezing at–31ºF (–35ºC) or below until solid and storing at–4ºF (–20ºC) or below for 24 hours is sufficient to kill parasites. FDA’s Food Code recommends these freezing conditions to retailers who provide fish intended for raw consumption.” Another misconception? There is no legal definition of “sushi-grade.” It is and always has been a marketing term.
While we are on the topic of misconceptions, “cooking” raw fish in acid, as when you make seviche, does not eliminate parasitic contamination. It alters the protein, firming it up and changing the color of the fish, but it does not make it safe to eat. I use commercially frozen and then thawed fish when I make seviche.
The truth is that cooking food is always the safest way to go. This applies to all foods, not just fish. These days, if you are still buying bagged commercial lettuce, you may want to cook that too. I jest, but not entirely. If you are immune compromised, pregnant, or very young, it’s important to reduce your risks. Cooking food is a great way to do that. But for the rest of us, eating your fish raw shouldn’t scare you—just take appropriate precautions.
It is actually illegal to serve raw fish in the United States unless it has first been frozen. The only exceptions to this rule are shellfish and tuna (as a deep-sea fish, tuna