James Beard's New Fish Cookery - James Beard [78]
Curried. Mix 1 cup or more of corn meal with 1 teaspoon salt and 11/2 tablespoons curry powder. Beat 2 eggs very light and add 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper and 1 teaspoon curry powder. Dip the smelt in flour, then in the beaten egg, and roll in the seasoned corn meal. Fry as above. Serve with rice heavily laced with curry. Chutney goes well with this.
Rolled. Split and bone the smelt and lay them out flat. Place an anchovy fillet on each fish, sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and some chopped parsley. Roll them up and fasten on brochettes. Dip in flour, then in beaten egg, and roll in crumbs. Fry as above. Serve with anchovy butter (page 32).
Piquant. Clean the smelt but do not bone them. Dip them in flour, then in beaten egg, and roll them in crumbs mixed with finely chopped garlic, salt, and cayenne. Fry as above and serve with a tomato sauce (page 23).
BAKED SMELT AU GRATIN
Oil
Chopped onion, carrot, and celery
Smelt
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Butter
White wine
Buttered crumbs
Grated Parmesan cheese
Oil a large flat baking dish or pan. Cover the bottom with the chopped vegetables. Clean the smelt and arrange them on top. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and dot with butter. Add enough wine to the pan to half cover the fish. Bake at 425° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8). Remove the pan from the oven; sprinkle the top with buttered crumbs and grated Parmesan cheese. Run under the broiler for a few minutes.
Cold Smelt
BAKED SPICED SMELT
We often used to have this dish when the smelt run was on. It was a great favorite at our home. The fish should be very cold, and are delicious accompanied by potato salad, pickled beets, and rye bread. Have beer to drink with it, too.
36 to 48 smelt
2 large onions, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 carrots, grated or chopped
2 bay leaves
8 peppercorns
5 lemon slices
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup wine vinegar
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon of allspice, cloves, and cinnamon bark mixed
1 teaspoon paprika
2 cups water
1 cup white wine
Clean and arrange the fish in a large baking dish. Combine all the other ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes. Pour this sauce over the fish and bake at 425° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8). Let the smelt cool in the pickle and serve chilled.
SMELT ORIENTAL
This is another delicious cold dish. It may be used as hors d’oeuvre or part of a buffet supper.
36 smelt
Olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Paprika
3 cups tomato sauce
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Juice of 2 lemons
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
Clean the fish, dip them in olive oil, and arrange on an oiled baking dish. Brush again with oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and paprika.
Mix the tomato sauce with the garlic, lemon juice, and parsley. Cover the smelt with this mixture and bake at 425° according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 8). Let the fish cool in the sauce. Serve very cold and garnish with lemon slices, chopped parsley, and hard-cooked egg.
Sole and the Flounder Family
There is no genuine sole in American waters, but more fish called sole are served in our restaurants than any other kind. We tend to apply the name “sole” to any white fish that comes in fillets, with the result that the average diner has only the haziest idea of what fish he is eating. Generally, he is eating one of the abundant members of the flounder family — the dab, the gray sole, the yellowtail, the winter flounder, the lemon sole.
In Eastern cities you can easily obtain true Channel sole imported from England, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Denmark. It comes frozen, of course, and demands a fine price. Its texture is quite different from that of the so-called American sole.
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