Post by Dread Gnat on Nov 12, 2012 23:45:24 GMT -5
The Vicaul:
Baked Eels
3-4 lbs. eels
Salt
Saffron
Pepper
Red wine
If using fresh eels, skin & clean, then cut them into portion-sized pieces. (See instructions for cleaning eels, below.) Lay them in a baking dish and sprinkle on salt, pepper, & saffron. Add enough red wine to just come to the top of the eels. Cover the dish and place in a 375° F oven. Bake for approx. 30 to 45 minutes, or until the eels are thoroughly cooked and tender when tested with a fork. Serve.
Cleaning eels:
Slip a noose around the eel's head and hang the other end of the cord on a hook, high on the wall. Cut the eel skin about 3 inches below the head all around, so as not to penetrate the gall bladder which lies close to the head. Peel the skin back, pulling back hard - if necessary with a pair of pliers - until the whole skin comes off like a glove. Clean the fish by slitting the white belly and removing the gut which lies close to the thin belly skin.
Stavanger Fiskesuppe
Ingredients
3 lbs fresh cod or haddock
1 sm. head cauliflower, separated
12 whole white peppers
2 1/2 cups milk
1 tbsp. chopped parsley
1-cup thin cream
1 bay leaf
Dill to taste
A tiny pinch Nepal pepper
3 or 4 carrots cut in 1 in. pieces
Salt
Pepper
2 or 3 small white onions cut in half
Set whole piece or pieces of fish over heat in enough cold water to cover. Add whole peppers, parsley, bay leaf & dill; let simmer until fish comes away from bone easily. Take fish out of pot; remove all skin & bones. Flake fish into fairly large pieces. Boil down fish stock until it is reduced by half. In the meantime, in another pot place the cut-up carrots, onions and cauliflower flowerets cover with 1 1/2 cups water. When cooked (but not too soft) add these vegetables, and the water they were cooked in to the fish stock. Add heated milk and cream to this, & a small pinch of Nepal pepper. Salt according to taste. Put fish back into pot with all the other ingredients and heat well. Serve in a large soup tureen, or individual large soup bowls, with chopped dill sprinkled on top for garnish.
Bacalao
Salt cod
Garlic
Olive oil
Parsley
Onions
Pimentos
Tomato sauce
Dry White Wine
Wash the cod, changing the water three or four times. Soak it overnight in water to cover. Drain.
Cut the fish into 2-inch pieces. Place the pieces in cold water to cover, bring to boil, and drain well.
Chop the onions and garlic and fry them, along with the drained pimentos, in olive oil.
When the vegetables are tender, stir in the tomato sauce, parsley and wine. Cover and simmer over very low heat for 30 minutes.
Place the cod in the sauce and simmer, uncovered, 30 to 45 minutes, or until the fish flakes easily.
Salt Cod with Prunes
Prepared Salt Cod
Onion
Celery
Dried Prunes
Pine Nuts
Dried Bread
Thinly chop the onion and the celery, including the leaves. Heat the oil in a skillet, add the onion and celery and sauté quickly. Add the soaked salt cod fillets, the dried prunes and the pine nuts. Let simmer until the oil begins to emulsify, taking care not to stir too often so as not to break up the fillets. (If necessary, add water. The final result should be very liquid.) Adjust for taste and serve over 2-day old, toasted bread slices.
Harðfiskur
Drying haddock, cod and flounder:
Wash the fish and scrape off the slime. Gut the fish and remove the head. Haddock and cod can either be butterflied or filleted before drying. Flounder is filleted. If you butterfly the fish, you must take care to keep the fish spread open while it is drying. To hang, cut a small slit through the flesh and skin of the tail end of the fillet, and thread a wooden dowel or a piece of string through it. The fish may be dipped briefly in brine before drying (recommended for flavour and prevention of spoilage during the drying process). Hang out to dry. To properly dry the fish, it should be done outside, in fairly cool (below 10 °C) and dry weather. The fish needs air movement to dry properly, and if it is windy, the wind will keep flies off the fish. Drying time depends on wind, air temperature and humidity.
When the fish is dry and papery to the touch, it should be ready for eating. Test it by breaking the thickest part of it, and if it breaks easily and is dry all the way through, you can eat it. The fish should now be beaten with a small mallet, a meat hammer or a rolling pin, until it flakes easily and can be torn apart with the hands. Eat it either as it is, or spread with butter.
Marinated herring
Ingredients
3 salted herrings
1 med. Onion
6 black peppercorns
1 laurel leaf, broken into pieces
200 mL white vinegar
200 mL water
100 mL sugar
First, the salt herring must be de-salted: Wash the fish under cold, running water. Soak in plenty of cold water for 24 hours, changing the water every few hours. Fillet and soak in cold water for 1-2 hours.
Cut each fillet diagonally across, into finger-wide pieces, OR roll up, beginning at the tail end. Slice the onion. Put the herring into a sterilized jar, layering with onion slices and spices. Stir together vinegar, water and sugar until sugar dissolves. Pour over herring until covered. Close the jar, and give the herring a few days to marinate properly.
Serving suggestions:
-serve with hot, cooked potatoes and rye bread
-arrange on a slice of rye or pumpernickel bread with slices of sweet apple, banana and hard boiled egg. Serve with or without this sweet curry sauce:
Mix some mayonnaise with half as much sour cream. Add some honey to make it slightly sweet (don't use too much, or the sauce will be too sweet). Add some mild or medium hot curry powder to taste. The sauce should be creamy and smooth, with a definite curry taste and a hint of honey. Pour over the fish and fruit on the bread and top with slices of hard-boiled egg.
-cut the fish, egg and fruit into small pieces and mix into the sauce. Serve as a salad.
Fisklummur – Fish-pancakes
Ingredients
½ fillet of leftover fish
2-3 small potatoes, cooked and finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
garlic to taste
3 tbsp flour
1 tbsp potato starch
salt and fish-spice, to taste
1 egg, beaten
milk, as needed
Take leftover cooked fish pieces, remove any bones and flake with a fork. Put in a bowl with potatoes, onion, and garlic to taste. Stir in flour and potato starch. Flavour with salt and favourite fish-spice. Add one beaten egg. Thin to the desired consistency with milk (should be like thin porridge). Fry on a medium hot skillet until golden, and serve with potatoes and melted butter.
Gravlax - Pickled salmon/trout
2 400g. Fillets of salmon or trout
6 tbsp coarse salt
24 black peppercorns, ground
4 tbsp sugar
dill weed, enough to cover the fish
Mix up a batch of the pickle mix (don't mix in the dill), and divide in half. Cover the bottom of a serving dish or other container with dill. Lay a salmon fillet on top, skin down, and cover with one batch of the pickle mix. Put the other half on the other fillet. Cover the first fillet with dill weed and lay the other fillet on top, skin up, head end to tail end. Cover and weigh down, for example with a heavy cutting board. Keep in the refrigerator for about 48 hours, turning every 12 hours or so. When ready, gently scrape off the pickle mix and pat dry. It will keep for a few days in the refrigerator, or a couple of months in the freezer. Serve as hin slices on toast with mustard-dill sauce.
Graflaxsósa - Mustard-dill sauce for Gravlax
250 g mayonnaise
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp mustard
1 tsp dill
salt and ground pepper, to taste
Mix mayonnaise, mustard and honey. Add dill, salt and pepper, or pickle mix from the gravlax. If using dried dill, allow the sauce to stand for at least 10 minutes before serving.
Trout with Herbs
For each person you need:
1 small trout or other small fish
a few sprigs of lemon balm
some flour
oil, butter, or dripping for frying.
Clean each fish and stuff a few herbs in the body cavity. Roll the fish in the flour, heat the fat in your skillet, and fry the fish for about 5 minutes each side until cooked through. Serve hot, with bread.
Fruit Pudding (Kissell)
This calls for raspberries, but you can use any kind of soft fruit you can get. This will serve about 6-8 people.
2lb. or so of soft fruit
1 pint. Cider
4-6 oz. Honey,
a few sprigs
seed heads of Sweet Cicely, chopped
Put the cider and honey in a pan and bring to the boil. Simmer briskly for about 5-10 minutes, until reduced by about a third. Move the pan to a cooler part of the fire and add the fruit and Sweet Cicely. Cook gently until the fruit is tender. Allow the fruit to cool (covered, out of the sun), then break it up with a wooden spoon. Serve warm or cold, with buttermilk or yoghurt.
Stuffed Porpoise Stomach
INGREDIENTS:
Porpoise blood
Porpoise grease
Oatmeal
Salt
Pepper
Ginger
One porpoise stomach
This recipe is essentially a porpoise haggis, as it uses all the elements found in the traditional haggis of a boiled sheep stomach with an oatmeal stuffing.
If for some reason you are unable to find a porpoise stomach, you might try a sheep stomach, still used today when making haggis. Alternatively, you may do the "American" version of making haggis, which leaves out the stomach entirely and has the mixture baked in a loaf pan.
Also, you may substitute a little white wine for the porpoise blood and butter or suet for the porpoise grease. Vegetable shortening or fish grease may be also be used for the porpoise grease.
DIRECTIONS:
Combine the porpoise blood, porpoise grease, and oatmeal, & season it with salt, pepper, & ginger. This should be a thick & moist stuffing-like mixture. Stuff the porpoise stomach about half full with this, as the stuffing will swell during cooking.. Sew up the stomach tightly or secure each end with string, & prick it all over with a large needle to avoid bursting. Put an upturned plate in the base of a pot of boiling water, stand the stomach on this and bring back to the boil; boil steadily for 3 to 4 hours. Cook until done; remove from water and drain well. Place in a broiler and cook for several minutes on both sides to slightly crisp the skin, then serve.
Umbles of Mussels
INGREDIENTS:
mussels, cockles, or periwinkles
Almond Milk (can be bought in the store)
pinch saffron (or substitute with a pinch of turmeric or a few drops of yellow food coloring)
DIRECTIONS:
Boil or steam the shellfish until done; drain. Chop into large pieces. Make a thick Almond Milk, color it with the spice or food coloring, and add the shellfish. This is meant to be a pottage, a thick soup or a thick blended dish. The final result therefore can be either like a thick soup - similar to today's shellfish cream soups - or like a stiff, chunky meat sauce. The choice is yours.
Breach Eggs[/b]
INGREDIENTS:
Seagull Eggs, hard-boiled (OOG: use duck or other large eggs found at local ethnic markets)
Parsley, fresh, minced
Spices -salt, pepper, & any medieval/period spice that you prefer; suitable seasonings could be a savory blend of such herbs as basil, thyme, savory, etc., or a sweet mixture of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, etc. Keep in mind that whatever you choose needs to be complimented by the freshly chopped parsley.
Egg, raw
Butter
OPTION: Batter - flour, eggs or milk, & a pinch of salt
DIRECTIONS:
Slice the eggs in half length-wise. Remove the yolks. Set the whites aside.
In a large bowl, mash the yolks. Combine with the freshly chopped parsley and seasonings. Add enough beaten raw egg to thoroughly moisten the mixture. Spoon the stuffing into the hollow egg whites. Cook as indicated in the next step, or follow the option of batter-coating.
In a skillet or frying pan, melt the butter until sizzling. Fry the eggs, stuffed side up, until the bottoms are lightly browned. Gently turn over the eggs and fry the stuffed sides until lightly browned as well. Remove from the butter & serve.
OPTION: Make a slightly thick batter of flour, eggs or milk, and a pinch of salt. Dip the stuffed eggs in the batter and thoroughly coat. Fry the batter-covered eggs in hot butter until the batter is completely cooked and lightly browned.
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Recipes Courtesy of Molly Rabe