James Beard's New Fish Cookery - James Beard [75]
3. Split a shad and place it in the following marinade: 1 cup olive oil, 2 cloves crushed garlic, 1 sliced onion, 1 bay leaf, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, 1/4 cup lemon juice, and enough white wine to cover. Let it stand for 12 hours. Prepare a stuffing with the following: 1 small chopped onion sautéed in 4 tablespoons fat, 1 cup dry bread crumbs, salt, pepper, 1/4 cup chopped parsley, 1/2 cup sliced, toasted almonds, and enough of the marinade to moisten. Mix this thoroughly and stuff the fish with it. Place it on an oiled pan or baking dish and bake as above. Heat the marinade separately and use as a basting sauce. Serve with the pan juices.
NOTE: In France, shad is often served with sorrel — more commonly known in this country, where it grows wild, as “sour grass.” To some extent sorrel is cultivated here as a vegetable. It is delicious in soups; or it may be cooked in the same way as spinach; or it may be combined with spinach and made into a puree.
If you like the taste of sorrel, try stuffing a shad with a sorrel puree, or baking a shad on a bed of the puree. In France, shad stuffed with sorrel puree is often baked for seven hours, something we do not recommend.
SHAD BAKED IN CREAM
Split a shad and place it on an oiled baking dish. Dot with butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 450° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8). Add 3/4 cup heavy cream for the last 5 minutes of baking time. Serve with plenty of chopped parsley and the pan juices.
Shad Roe
This is one of our finest treats. Strangely enough, it is practically unknown in France, where the shad is greatly appreciated, and it is not done well in England. It seems to be a dish that has but two extremes — wonderful and horrible. The mistreatment of roe may almost always be attributed to overcooking. It should never be dry, never tasteless.
Roe are usually sold by the pair. They are apt to be expensive except at the end of the season, when they become plentiful. I believe that the only way to cook shad roe is as follows:
SMOTHERED SHAD ROE
For 2 pairs of roe, melt 6 ounces butter — 12 tablespoons — in a covered skillet. When the butter is melted and warm, but not hot, dip the roe in it and arrange them in the pan. Cover and simmer over a low flame for about 12 to 15 minutes, turning once. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and chopped parsley. Serve with lemon wedges and the butter from the pan. Accompany this dish with crisp bacon and boiled potatoes. This is a dinner that deserves to be enhanced by a good bottle of Chablis or a fine Meursault.
BROILED SHAD ROE
Personally, I think that to parboil and then broil shad roe is to make it unfit for human consumption. If you must broil it, do so without parboiling. Brush it well with butter and baste often during the process. Even then, it tends to become dry and uninteresting.
SHAD ROE SOUFFLÉ
2 pairs shade roe
Salt
1 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons melted butter
4 tablespoons butter (for sauce)
4 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup milk
Freshly ground black pepper
4 egg yolks, slightly beaten
6 egg whites, beaten stiff
Poach the shad roe in boiling salted water according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 12). Remove, and when cool enough to handle break up into small bits. Add the lemon juice and melted butter. Prepare a thick white sauce: Melt the 4 tablespoons of butter, blend in the flour, and add a little of the water in which the shad roe was cooked and about 3/4 cup of milk. Stir until thick and smooth. Season to taste and cool slightly.
For the soufflé, add the egg yolks to the white sauce. Mix the shad roe through it. Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold these into the mixture. Pour it into a buttered soufflé mold and bake at 375° for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the soufflé is puffy and brown. Serve with