Jane Grigson's Fish Book - Jane Grigson [220]
Set the processor whirling, quickly cut up the fish and drop it on to the blades, alternating with egg white. Using the pulse switch for close control, pour in the cream. You should end up with a smooth light bulky mass. Season to taste. Put into the refrigerator while you prepare the contrasting bits and pieces. Work fast so that everything remains as cold as possible.
SPECIAL INTEREST
375 g (12 oz) trimmed fish fillet of a contrasting colour or shelled cooked shrimps, oysters, mussels or a mixture that includes Finnan haddock
chopped parsley, chervil, tarragon or chives or cooked spinach, sorrel or laverbread or the cooked tender tips of samphire
salt, pepper, cayenne, and nutmeg if appropriate
Cut the fish into long thin strips and season them. Range the other items beside them, ready to hand.
TO ASSEMBLE Brush a terrine or non-stick loaf tin or 1½ litres (2½ pt) capacity lightly with sunflower oil. Make two strips of doubled foil, one long enough to go down the sides and length of the tin with a little over, the second long enough to go across the tin. Press them into place and brush them with oil, too. When you come to turning out the terrine, you will be able to ease it by moving the ends of these strips.
Into the terrine put three layers of mousseline divided by two layers of the special items you have chosen. Should you be using shrimp, remember not to put them flat but upright, stuck slightly into the mousseline so that they appear in the slices as tight round pink coils. Knock the base of the terrine on the table so that the layers shake down together.
Cover with a buttered paper and either the lid of the terrine or a double layer of foil, tied in place.
TO COOK Switch on the oven to gas 4, 180°C, 350°F. Put together a bain-marie on top of the stove: place a low rack in a deep roasting tin and stand the terrine on the rack. Pour almost boiling water into the tin, enough to come up to the base of the terrine. Turn on the heat and bring the water to boiling point. Transfer the whole thing to the preheated oven. Leave for about 30 minutes. Stick a skewer into the centre. If it comes out hot and the terrine seems firm, it is ready to come out.
TO SERVE HOT OR WARM Let the terrine cool slightly, then turn it out on to a hot serving dish. Pour round it a white wine* or Normandy* sauce, or serve an hollandaise* or sauce Choron* separately.
If you want to leave the terrine to keep warm for 10 minutes, do not remove the cooking terrine or tin but leave it in place over the inverted terrine on its serving dish; this prevents collapse.
TO SERVE COLD Leave to cool, then ease the straps of foil and turn the whole thing over on to a dish. Leave until next day in the refrigerator; the terrine will have parted company from the mould, which can then be lifted off.
LES FILETS DE MERLAN VALLÉE D’AUGE
The Pays d’Auge, the region surrounding the river and its valley, is the heartland of Normandy cooking. All the good things are to be found there – cider and Calvados, excellent cream, Camembert and Livarot cheeses (though Gruyere is used in this recipe, which is the norm in French cookery). In spite of agribusiness and the demands of the EEC, it is still a pretty place, timbered farms and manors with dovecots, farm buildings put down like toys into orchards, with irises growing along the roof ridges. They could be wrapped up and sold at Hamley’s or Harrods’ toy department.
Add to all these advantages, a coastline of ports able to supply the freshest of fish, and you may find a steely envy tightening your jaw. Especially if you live just across the Channel in Kent, where things could be, but are not the same.
This recipe is simple, which means that the ingredients must be good. The fish should be sparkling fresh, the cider good enough to drink with the meal.
Serves 6
6filleted whiting
salt, pepper, cayenne
5 tablespoons clarified butter*
300 g (10 oz) chopped onion
300 ml (10 fl oz) dry cider