Post by ogeezer on Oct 25, 2006 11:21:50 GMT -6
And you thot this was about stocking fish. If I'd put it in recipes, you fishermen probably never see it.
Using all of the catch: My first formal lesson in fish cookery was how to prepare, cook, cool, and store a 20-gallon batch of fish stock. We use all of this stock to make a clam or fish chowder for the weekly soup-and-sandwich Friday special, so we made a fresh batch of stock every week. Some flesh always remains on the fish bones and head after filleting and steaking.
Today, when you mention the word “stock,” many cooks, professionals included, turn pale with thoughts of pots bursting with meat, bones, and vegetables simmering for hours on top of the stove. To the contrary, fish stocks require about 5 minutes of preparation and, usually, only 30 minutes of simmering. Three or four pounds of fish bones or heads, a small amount of vegetables, some water, a bit of seasoning, and that’s it.
A good fish stock is essential to the successful preparation of fish and shellfish stews, chowders, soups, and sauces. The alternatives to a good fish stock are water and bottled clam juice. Water does little to enhance flavor, and bottled clam juice is a salty, heavy tasting product that masks rather than complements the delicate flavor of high quality fresh and frozen fish.
Here is a simple fish stock that can be prepared in less than an hour, reduced in volume to save space, and frozen in small plastic containers in two-cup portions. Mix two cups of this concentrated fish stock with two cups of water and you will have enough full-bodied stock to make a soup, chowder, or stew for six people.
This recipe makes about two cups of concentrated stock.
Ingredients:
1 small bouquet garni (½ tsp. dried basil, ½ tsp. dried thyme,
1 sprig fresh rosemary)
4 lbs. fresh fish heads, and bones
1 small onion, chopped
1 small carrot, chopped
8 cups water
Method:
1. Make the bouquet garni by tying the basil, thyme, and rosemary in a small piece of cheese cloth.
2. Remove the gills from the fish heads if they haven’t been removed already. Discard the gills and all skin and wash the fish under cold running water.
3. In a suitable size stock pot combine all of the ingredients except the bouquet garni. Bring the mixture to a boil and reduce the heat. Let the stock simmer, uncovered, at the lowest possible heat for 15 minutes. Add the bouquet garni and continue to simmer the stock for 15 minutes.
4. Strain the stock though dampened cheese cloth that is 4 layers thick.
5. Return the stock to the pot and simmer uncovered until it is reduced by half. Do not boil the stock. Boiling will make it muddy.
6. Cool the stock in the refrigerator. Freeze or refrigerate in plastic containers.
Instead of throwing out the usual unused portions of the catch, reconstitute the better parts for a worthwhile cause - Good Food!
Using all of the catch: My first formal lesson in fish cookery was how to prepare, cook, cool, and store a 20-gallon batch of fish stock. We use all of this stock to make a clam or fish chowder for the weekly soup-and-sandwich Friday special, so we made a fresh batch of stock every week. Some flesh always remains on the fish bones and head after filleting and steaking.
Today, when you mention the word “stock,” many cooks, professionals included, turn pale with thoughts of pots bursting with meat, bones, and vegetables simmering for hours on top of the stove. To the contrary, fish stocks require about 5 minutes of preparation and, usually, only 30 minutes of simmering. Three or four pounds of fish bones or heads, a small amount of vegetables, some water, a bit of seasoning, and that’s it.
A good fish stock is essential to the successful preparation of fish and shellfish stews, chowders, soups, and sauces. The alternatives to a good fish stock are water and bottled clam juice. Water does little to enhance flavor, and bottled clam juice is a salty, heavy tasting product that masks rather than complements the delicate flavor of high quality fresh and frozen fish.
Here is a simple fish stock that can be prepared in less than an hour, reduced in volume to save space, and frozen in small plastic containers in two-cup portions. Mix two cups of this concentrated fish stock with two cups of water and you will have enough full-bodied stock to make a soup, chowder, or stew for six people.
This recipe makes about two cups of concentrated stock.
Ingredients:
1 small bouquet garni (½ tsp. dried basil, ½ tsp. dried thyme,
1 sprig fresh rosemary)
4 lbs. fresh fish heads, and bones
1 small onion, chopped
1 small carrot, chopped
8 cups water
Method:
1. Make the bouquet garni by tying the basil, thyme, and rosemary in a small piece of cheese cloth.
2. Remove the gills from the fish heads if they haven’t been removed already. Discard the gills and all skin and wash the fish under cold running water.
3. In a suitable size stock pot combine all of the ingredients except the bouquet garni. Bring the mixture to a boil and reduce the heat. Let the stock simmer, uncovered, at the lowest possible heat for 15 minutes. Add the bouquet garni and continue to simmer the stock for 15 minutes.
4. Strain the stock though dampened cheese cloth that is 4 layers thick.
5. Return the stock to the pot and simmer uncovered until it is reduced by half. Do not boil the stock. Boiling will make it muddy.
6. Cool the stock in the refrigerator. Freeze or refrigerate in plastic containers.
Instead of throwing out the usual unused portions of the catch, reconstitute the better parts for a worthwhile cause - Good Food!