James Beard's New Fish Cookery - James Beard [36]
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Red wine to cover
6 to 8 pieces of the white of leek
1/3 cup diced raw ham
3 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
Skin and clean the eels and cut them in 4-inch pieces. Line a skillet or saucepan with sliced carrot and onion. Put the pieces of eel on top. Add garlic, thyme, celery, parsley, bay leaf, salt, pepper, and red wine to cover. Cover the skillet, bring it to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, brown the pieces of leek in butter. Add the ham and the cooked eel. Make a roux of the butter and flour and add it to the broth in which the eel was cooked. Simmer for 20 minutes. Force this sauce through a sieve onto the eel, leeks, and ham. Simmer this all together for 15 or 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste for seasoning.
Arrange the fish and leeks on a serving dish. Thicken the sauce with beurre manié (page 475) if necessary, and pour it over the eel.
BAKED EELS, NEW ENGLAND FASHION
Skin and clean 6 eels but do not split them. Cut them in lengths of 3 to 4 inches. Remove the intestines with a fine-pointed knife, or a fork or skewer. Arrange the pieces on an oiled baking pan, season, and top with slices of onion and salt pork. Bake at 450° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8).
POACHED EELS
Skin and clean eels and cut them into 3-inch lengths. Poach them in a court bouillon (page 18). They should be tender in about 8 or 9 minutes. Remove them to a hot dish, reduce the broth, and use it to prepare a sauce velouté (page 21). Pour this over the eels and garnish with chopped parsley.
VARIATIONS
1. Prepare a curry sauce (page 29). Pour the sauce over the poached eels and serve with rice and chutney.
2. Poach the eels. Prepare the sauce velouté and lace it heavily with paprika. Serve with buttered noodles.
3. Poach the eels in white wine. Sauté 24 mushroom caps in butter. Brown 1/2 cup of artichoke hearts in butter. Arrange these in a baking dish or casserole with the eels. Add 3 pimientos cut in fine strips. Prepare a white wine sauce with the broth (page 24), season it with paprika, and pour it over the eels and vegetables. Heat in a 350° oven for 12 minutes.
4. Cut the eels into lengths of 5 or 6 inches and poach in a court bouillon for about 6 minutes. Let them cool in the broth. When cool enough to handle, wipe them well, dip in flour, then in beaten egg yolk, and roll in crumbs. Grill or broil until nicely browned. Served with tartar sauce (pages 35–36).
MARINATED EELS
Red wine
Garlic
1 carrot
1 onion stuck with cloves
1 stalk celery
3 or 4 sprigs parsley
Pinch thyme
1 leek
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 eels
Prepare a marinade of all the ingredients except the eels. Skin, clean, and cut the eels in pieces. Soak them in the marinade. Poach them in the marinade for 15 or 20 minutes. When tender, remove them to a hot dish. Reduce the broth and put it through a fine sieve or food mill. Reheat and pour over the pieces of eel.
COLD EEL (EELS IN JELLY)
6 large eels
White wine court bouillon (pages 18–19)
3 cloves garlic
Olive oil
Chopped parsley
1 envelope gelatin (if desired)
Sauce rémoulade (page 35) or sauce gribiche (pages 36–37)
Skin and clean the eels, and cut them in 3-inch pieces. Prepare the court bouillon. Poach the eels until tender, remove them, and arrange in a mold.
Chop the garlic and sauté in olive oil until brown. Add to the mold. Sprinkle chopped parsley over the pieces of eel.
Reduce the bouillon and strain. It should make a good jelly without the addition of gelatin. However, if you will feel safer, use 1 envelope dissolved in 1/4 cup of water. Stir it into 2 cups of the hot broth. Chill slightly and pour over the pieces of eel. Stand in the refrigerator until firm. Unmold on a platter with your favorite garnishes and serve with sauce rémoulade or sauce gribiche.
FLEMISH GREEN EELS
This is certainly one of the finest of cold dishes. I like it as an hors d’oeuvre or as a full course for a summer buffet.
3 pounds eels
6 tablespoons butter
1/4 pound