Fried Fish à l'Anglaise
Beat 2 eggs with ¼ cup milk, 2 tablespoons salad oil and 1 teaspoon salt. Wipe the fish dry. dip it in flour, then in the egg mixture and finally into fine. dry bread crumbs. The excess egg mixture should be allowed to drain off before the final dipping. Fry the fish in deep hot fat at 360° F. to 380° F., depending upon the size of the fish. Small fish should be fried at the higher temperature. Drain thoroughly on paper toweling. Serve with tartar sauce (June, 1955) or any desired sauce.
Batter-Fried Fish
Into a warm bowl sift 1 cup flour and a pinch of salt. Make a well in the Center and add 1 tablespoon salad oil, ¾ cup warm water and 1 egg yolk. Mix together quickly and thoroughly, but be careful not to overmix or the coating will be tough. The batter will be thick.; Cover the bowl and let the batter stand in a warm place for 3 to 4 hours. Fold in 1 egg white, beaten stiff. Dip the fish into the batter, drain off the surplus batter, and fry in hot deep fat at 360° F. to 380° F., depending upon the size of the fish. Small pieces of fish should be fried at the higher temperature. Drain thoroughly on paper toweling and serve with any desired sauce.
BROILING
Broiling is a particularly successful method with oily fish like mackerel. bluefish and shad. The fish may be left whole; or it may be split open, with the bones removed or not, and laid flat on the broiler; or the fish may be cut into slices or into steaks or filets. The broiling oven and pan should be preheated before the fish is put in, so that the hot oven and the hot pan will cook the under side of the fish while the flame browns the top side.
Broiled Shad
Season the fish, prepared as above, and brush it with oil or butter. Broil on a hot grill, with the top of the fish 3 or 4 inches from the heat, for 12 to 18 minutes, depending upon the thickness of the fish. Fish steaks for broiling should be cut ¾ inch thick and cooked for 10 to 12 minutes. Baste the fish with butter once or twice during the cooking. Serve with maître d'hôtel butter (May, 1955).
BAKING
Large fish may be baked or braised. The fatty fish such as shad, bluefish, and mackerel, are usually baked, while less fatty fish are apt to become dry in baking, and are better braised. Fish are baked or braised with the skins, so it is important that the scales be removed.
Baked Fish
Dip the well-cleaned and carefully scaled fish in flour seasoned with a little salt. Put a ¼ inch layer of salad oil or freshly rendered pork fat in a shallow baking dish and put the dish in a hot oven (450° F.). When the fat is hot, lay the fish in it and bake for 10 to 20 minutes; the size and thickness of the fish determines the cooking time, and the fish is done when it flakes easily with a fork, loses its translucency, and can be cleanly lifted away from the bones. Baste the fish frequently with the oil in the pan. If the fish is large, it is wise to bake it in a dish which can be brought to the table. Pour off the cooking far and serve the fish with mustard sauce (April, 1955) or with maître d'hôtel butter (May, 1955).
BRAISING
The liquid in which fish is braised includes many flavors and seasonings, and is used to make the sauce in much the same way that the liquid used in poaching fish is used to make the sauce.
Braised Fish
In a large baking dish put 1 sliced onion. 1 sliced carrot, some mushroom stems and peelings, a sprig of parsley. a bay leaf, a pinch of thyme, 1 cup fish stock or water, and ½ cup red or white wine. Lay the cleaned and scaled fish on the vegetables and season it with salt and pepper. Cover the pan and cook the fish in a moderate oven (375° F.) for 30 minutes to 1 hour, depending upon the size of the fish. Transfer the fish to a heated serving dish and remove and discard the skin. Cook the liquid until it is reduced to 1/3 its original volume. If the sauce was made with white wine, thicken it with 1 cup thick cream sauce or with beurre manié made by kneading 2 tablespoons butter with 1 tablespoon Hour. If red wine was used to make the stock, thicken the sauce with the beurre manié. Strain the sauce over the fish on the platter.
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