James Beard's New Fish Cookery - James Beard [107]
GEFILTE FISH
5 to 6 medium-large onions
4 pounds fish (buffalo, whitefish, carp, pike, or a mixture), including heads and bones
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 bay leaf
4 to 5 eggs
11/2 slices bread (soaked in water)
5 to 6 carrots
Chop 2 of the onions very coarsely, place them in a large pot, add the fish heads and bones, water to cover, and bring to a boil. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons salt and simmer this to make fish stock while you prepare the fish. Grind the cleaned and skinned fish with the rest of the onions. Mix them together, chop them in a large bowl, pound them in a mortar, or put them through the food processor until they are thoroughly blended. Salt and pepper to taste. Beat the eggs slightly and add to the mixture gradually. Add the bread, which has been soaked for an hour or so, and pound again until thoroughly smooth.
Scrape the carrots and cut them into rather thick slices. Strain the broth and bring to a boil. Shape the fish mixture into egg-sized balls and drop them, with the carrot slices, into the boiling broth. If the broth has cooked down too much, add a bit more water. Simmer for 1 to 11/2 hours. Cool in broth. Remove the fish balls and strain the broth. Clarify it with egg whites and shells (page 18), if you wish. Chill the broth and fish overnight in the refrigerator. Serve garnished with a slice of carrot and the jellied broth as a sauce. Grated horseradish and beet salad go well with this dish.
SMOKED CARP
Smoked carp is served a great deal as an appetizer, as a luncheon dish, or with salad. It has a rather nice texture, though not so delicious as smoked sturgeon or so delicate as smoked whitefish.
Catfish
Even though you may never have eaten catfish, you most certainly know someone who has. Commercially, over 10,000,000 pounds are consumed each year, and many millions more are carried home by individual anglers. Despite the impressive quantities, catfish remains an inland dish. It is rarely sold in coast markets.
Common sorts of catfish are the channel cat, blue cat, spotted or fiddler cat, yellow or goujon, and the differently designed bullhead or horned pout. These vary in size from 1 to 50 pounds or more, but none equals the European catfish, which, in full sail, may weigh over 400 pounds.
For flavor, the best American catfish is the spotted or fiddler cat, which runs around 5 pounds and is found everywhere in the Mississippi Valley — as far south as Mexico and as far north as the Great Lakes. Catfish must be skinned before cooking. Draw a sharp knife around the fish just in back of the gills and strip off the skin by hand or with tweezers.
Catfish are oily and lend themselves to many different forms of cookery. They are sold whole or skinned and dressed.
SAUTÉED CATFISH
Small-sized catfish may be sautéed as for sauté meunière (page 10).
PAN-FRIED CATFISH
Use either the whole fish or pieces of fish. It is customary to use lard or oil for frying in this manner — which actually is not pan-frying, but semi-deep-frying. Dip the fish in milk, then in crumbs or corn meal. Cook rapidly in the skillet in fat about 1 inch deep. Season to taste.
FRIED CATFISH
Deep-fried catfish is probably the most usual method of preparation. Use either the whole fish or pieces of fish.
Heat the fat in your deep fryer to 375°. Beat 2 eggs lightly. Roll out bread or zwieback crumbs or use corn meal. Dip the fish in flour, then in beaten egg, and roll in the crumbs. Fry according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 11). Drain and season to taste. Serve with tartar sauce (pages 35–36), rémoulade (page 35) or mustard sauce (page 23).
POACHED CATFISH
Catfish may be poached in salted boiling water or in a court bouillon (page 18). Serve it with lemon butter (page 31) or with Hollandaise (pages 25–26), Béarnaise (page 26), or lobster sauce (page 21).
It may be served cold with mayonnaise (page 34) or rémoulade (page