James Beard's New Fish Cookery - James Beard [115]
VERY DRESSY STUFFED TROUT
This is a spectacular dish for special occasions.
12 good-sized trout
3 large onions, chopped
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter plus 6 tablespoons
2 cups dry white wine
1 cup very heavy béchamel (page 23)
FILLING
2 medium onions, chopped
Butter
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound raw white-meated fish
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
3 egg whites
Chopped tarragon
Chopped parsley
Clean the fish and prepare them for stuffing. Leave the heads intact.
Filling. Sauté the onions in butter until they are soft and golden. Salt them lightly. Grind the white-meated fish several times; salt and pepper it to taste. Add it to the onions and blend the two together with a wooden spoon. Add the egg yolks and egg whites and season with tarragon and parsley. Stuff the fish with this mixture.
Sauté the onions in the 6 tablespoons of butter until soft. Force them through a sieve or food mill. Cover the bottom of a baking dish with this puree and arrange the trout on top. Dot with butter, add the wine, and bake at 450° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8).
Remove the fish to a hot platter. Force the sauce through a sieve or food mill and combine it with the béchamel and the remaining butter. Blend thoroughly and pour over the fish. Sprinkle with chopped parsley. Serve with julienne potatoes and a good green salad.
TROUT SMOTHERED IN MUSHROOMS
8 trout
1 pound mushrooms, finely chopped
6 tablespoons butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
11/2 cups and 2 tablespoons heavy cream
Butter
Beurre manié (page 475)
Fried toast
Parsley
Clean and wash the trout. Sauté the mushrooms in butter until they are soft. Season with the garlic, salt, and pepper. Add the 2 tablespoons of cream and let it cook down.
Arrange the trout on a well-oiled baking dish and top with the mushrooms. Dot with butter and bake at 425° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8). Remove to a hot platter. Add the remaining cream to the pan, heat, and blend thoroughly. Add the beurre manié and stir until nicely thickened. Taste for seasoning and pour over the trout. Garnish the platter with pieces of fried toast heavily sprinkled with chopped parsley.
TRUITE AU BLEU
This, I am told, was originally an outdoor meal, and the trout were cooked as soon as caught. In fact, they are supposed to be alive, or practically alive, when they are plunged into the boiling acidulated water. Many restaurants have tanks of trout so that they can pull them out and pop them into the cauldron on order.
Prepare a court bouillon of 3 parts water to 1 part vinegar. Add 6 peppercorns, a part of a bay leaf, and 1 teaspoon of salt to each quart of liquid. Bring this to a boil. Plunge in the trout and poach them according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 12). Serve them hot with melted butter and boiled potatoes, or chill and serve cold with mayonnaise.
The vinegar in the water turns the skin of the fish a vivid metallic blue, hence the name.
POACHED TROUT
Trout are delicious if they are poached lightly in a court bouillon (page 18) according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 12). It is better to poach them in a flat dish so that they are barely covered. It is difficult to remove them from a deep pan. Serve the poached trout with beurre noisette (page 31), shrimp sauce (page 21), sauce Béarnaise (page 26), or Hollandaise sauce (pages 25–26).
COLD TROUT IN JELLY
6 trout
White wine court bouillon (pages 19–20)
White of egg and eggshells
11/2 envelopes gelatin
1/3 cup water
Green onion or leeks or chives or tarragon leaves
Hard-cooked eggs
Poach the trout in the bouillon as above and remove them to a platter. Reduce the bouillon to 3 cups and clarify with the lightly beaten egg white and shells (page 18). Strain. Soak the gelatin in the water and combine it with the boiling broth. Chill until it is thick and syrupy.
The fish may be decorated as elaborately as you choose. Or you may prefer to serve them plain, simply masked with