FISH STOCKS
Fumets de Poisson
Fumet de Poisson au Vin Blanc
[White-wine Fish Stock]
The following proportions are for the production of a fine, well-flavored fish stock to be used as the basis of a fish velouté sauce. A smaller quantity of fish would produce a lighter stock suitable for fish-poaching, or fish soups.
For about 2 cups
A 6- to 8-quart enameled or stainless steel saucepan or kettle
2 pounds (about 2 quarts) lean, fresh fish, fish heads, and/or bones and trimmings (halibut, whiting, or flounder are recommended, or use frozen fish of good quality. Fresh or cooked shellfish leftovers may be included.)
1 thinly sliced onion
6 to 8 parsley stems—not the leaves, which will darken the stock
1 tsp lemon juice
¼ tsp salt
1 cup dry white wine or ⅔ cup dry white vermouth
Cold water to cover ingredients
Optional: ¼ cup fresh mushroom stems
Place all the ingredients in the saucepan or kettle. Bring to the simmer, skim, then simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve, and correct seasoning. Fish stock may be refrigerated or frozen. If refrigerated, boil it up every 2 days to keep it from spoiling.
Emergency Fish Stock — Clam Juice
A good substitute for fresh fish stock may be made with bottled clam juice; but remember that clam juice is very salty and becomes even saltier if it is reduced.
For about 2 cups
A 6-cup enameled or stainless steel saucepan
1½ cups bottled clam juice
1 cup water
1 cup dry white wine or ⅔ cup dry white vermouth
1 thinly sliced onion
6 parsley stems
Optional: ¼ cup fresh mushroom stems
Place all ingredients in the saucepan and simmer for 30 minutes, allowing the liquid to reduce to about 2 cups. Strain, and correct seasoning. If very salty, use in diluted form.
CHAPTER THREE
EGGS
Oeufs
ONCE AN EGG is taken out of the breakfast category and put to use as a hot entrée, a luncheon, or a supper dish, it offers a great variety of presentations and you can draw on practically your whole cooking experience for its saucing and garnishing. In the following selection of recipes, we have concentrated on poaching, shirring, baking, scrambling, and omelette making, with a fundamental recipe for each, and a group of variations.
Wine and eggs have no great sympathy for each other, but as one usually likes to serve wine with an entrée, the best choice would be a fairly dry white wine with some body—such as Graves, Chablis, or Pouilly-Fuissé—or a rosé.
POACHED EGGS
[Oeufs Pochés]
A poached egg is one that has been dropped without its shell into a pan of barely simmering liquid and cooked for about 4 minutes until the white is set but the yolk remains liquid. A perfect specimen is neat and oval in shape, and the white completely masks the yolk. The most important requirement for poaching is that the eggs be very fresh; the yolk stands high, the white clings to it in a cohesive mass, and only a small amount of watery liquid falls away from the main body of the white. A stale egg with a relaxed and watery white is unpoachable because the white trails off in wisps in the water leaving the yolk exposed. If the eggs are not quite as fresh as you could wish, simmer them in their shells for 8 to 10 seconds before poaching. This will often firm up the white just enough so it will hold its shape around the yolk when the egg is broken into the water. And a fine solution is the oval metal perforated egg poacher, carried in most gourmet-type cookware shops. Simmer the eggs 10 seconds in their shells, as suggested; place the poachers in the simmering water, adding vinegar if you think your eggs need help, and break an egg into each poacher, time as usual, and you get a beautiful egg. A final solution is the 6-minute boiled egg, l’oeuf mollet; when you peel it, you can substitute it for poached eggs in any recipe.
How to poach eggs
To transfer the egg from the shell to the water you may either break it directly into the water as described below, or break it into a saucer, tilt the saucer directly over the water, and slip the egg in.
A saucepan or a skillet 8 to 10 inches in diameter and 2½ to 3 inches deep
Vinegar (which helps the eggs to hold their shape)
Pour 2 inches of water into the pan or skillet and add 1 tablespoon of vinegar per quart of water. Bring to the simmer.
4 very fresh eggs
A wooden spoon or spatula
A skimmer or slotted spoon
Break one of the eggs, and, holding it as closely over the water as possible, let it fall in. Immediately and gently push the white over the yolk with a wooden spoon for 2 to 3 seconds. Maintain the water at the barest simmer and proceed with the other eggs in the same manner.
A bowl of cold water
After 4 minutes, remove the first egg with the skimmer and test with your finger. The white should be set, the yolk still soft to the touch. Place the egg in the cold water; this washes off the vinegar and stops the cooking. Remove the rest of the eggs as they are done, and poach others in the same water if you are doing more.
(*) The eggs may remain for several hours in cold water, or may be drained and refrigerated.
A bowl of hot water containing 1½ tsp salt per quart
A clean towel
To reheat the eggs, trim off any trailing bits of white with a knife. Place them in hot salted water for about half a minute to heat them through. Remove one at a time with a slotted spoon. Holding a folded towel under the spoon, roll the egg back and forth for a second to drain it, and it is ready to serve.
A SUBSTITUTE FOR POACHED EGGS
Oeufs Mollets
[Six-minute Boiled Eggs]
This is a boiled egg with a set white and a soft yolk which can be peeled and substituted for poached eggs.
2 quarts boiling water
6 eggs with uncracked shells
Lower the eggs into the boiling water and boil slowly according to the following table, adding 1 minute if the eggs are chilled.
U.S. Large Eggs 6 minutes
Extra Large 6½ minutes
Jumbo 7 minutes
As soon as the time is up, drain off the boiling water and run cold water into the pan for a minute to set the white, and to cool the eggs enough to remove the shells. Tap gently on a hard surface to break the shells, peel carefully under a stream of water.
If to be served cold, refrigerate. If to be served hot, warm for a minute in a bowl of hot water.
OEUFS SUR CANAPÉS
OEUFS EN CROUST ADES
[Poached Eggs on Canapés, Artichoke
Bottoms, Mushroom Caps, or in
Pastry Shells]
A practically limitless series of elegant little hot first courses or luncheon dishes may be concocted with poached eggs, sauces, minces, and imagination. Here are some ideas:
Oeufs à la Fondue de Fromage
[Poached Eggs on Canapés with
Cheese Fondue Sauce]
This is a particularly good sauce for eggs; it is creamy, wine-flavored, cheesy, and has just a whiff of garlic. Sauce mornay (béchamel with cheese) may always be substituted.
For 6 servings (1½ cups)
A 4-cup saucepan
1 Tb minced shallot or green onions
1 Tb butter
A small clove mashed garlic
Cook the shallots or onions for 1 to 2 minutes in the butter without browning. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds more.
1½ cups dry white wine or ¾ cup dry white vermouth
¼ cup stock or canned beef bouillon
Then add the wine and stock and boil rapidly until liquid has reduced to 3 or 4 tablespoons.
1½ Tb cornstarch
1¼ cups whipping cream
A small mixing bowl
Blend the cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of the cream, then stir in half of the remaining cream. Pour it into
the wine and shallots and simmer, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add more cream by spoonfuls to thin the sauce—it should coat a spoon fairly heavily.
½ to ⅔ cup grated Swiss cheese
Salt and pepper
Pinch of nutmeg
Stir in the cheese and simmer, stirring, until the cheese has melted and the sauce is smooth and creamy. Add more spoonfuls of cream if necessary. Correct seasoning, set aside, and reheat when needed.
6 poached eggs or 6-minute boiled eggs
6 canapés (oval slices of white bread sautéed in clarified butter)
Prepare the eggs and canapés.
3 Tb grated Swiss cheese
1 Tb melted butter
A broiling pan or fireproof serving platter
Shortly before serving, preheat broiler to very hot. Place a cold drained egg on each canapé, spoon the sauce over, sprinkle with cheese and butter. Run for about a minute under the hot broiler to reheat the eggs but not to overcook them, and to brown the top of the sauce lightly. Serve on a platter or on serving plates.
Other Ideas
Mix a spoonful or two of cooked, chopped spinach, or minced sautéed ham with a bit of the sauce and spread over each canapé to act as a bed for the egg. Use pastry shells, broiled mushroom caps, or cooked artichoke bottoms instead of canapés.
Oeufs en Croustades à la Béarnaise
[Poached Eggs and Mushrooms,
Béarnaise Sauce]
For 8 servings
1 lb. finely minced fresh mushrooms
3 Tb butter
3 Tb minced shallots or green onions
An enameled skillet
A handful at a time, twist the mushrooms into a ball in the corner of a towel to extract their juice. Sauté the mushrooms in hot butter with the shallots or onions for 7 to 8 minutes, until the pieces begin to separate from each other.
1½ Tb flour
Sprinkle on the flour and stir over moderate heat for 3 minutes.
¼ cup Madeira or port
½ cup whipping cream
½ tsp salt
Pinch of pepper
Stir in the wine and boil for a minute. Then stir in two thirds of the cream. Add the seasonings. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, adding more cream by spoonfuls if the mushroom mixture becomes too thick. Correct seasoning and set aside.
8 cooked pastry shells 2 to 2½ inches in diameter and 1½ inches high
8 poached eggs or 6-minute boiled eggs
2 to 2½ cups sauce béarnaise, or sauce choron (béarnaise with tomato)
Just before serving, reheat the mushrooms, pastry shells, and eggs. Put 2 or 3 tablespoons of the mushroom mixture into each shell, lay an egg over it, and coat with the sauce. Serve immediately on a platter or individual serving plates.
Other Ideas
Instead of mushrooms, use creamed shellfish; follow the recipe for fondue de crustacés, and top with hollandaise. Broiled mushroom caps, broiled tomatoes, or cooked artichoke bottoms may replace pastry shells.
Oeufs à la Bourguignonne
[Eggs Poached in Red Wine]
This is a good dish for a light supper or a winter luncheon, and can be made more important if it is garnished with sautéed chicken livers or braised onions, and sautéed or broiled mushrooms. Accompany it with a light red Burgundy or Beaujolais. Traditionally the eggs are poached in the wine, but they may be done in water in the usual way, if you wish.
For 8 servings
2 cups of brown stock or canned beef bouillon
2 cups good, young red wine
An 8-inch saucepan
8 very fresh eggs
Bring the stock and wine to the simmer and poach the eggs in it. Remove the eggs to a fireproof dish, add 1/16 inch of poaching liquid, and set aside. About 5 minutes before serving, set the dish uncovered over simmering water to reheat the eggs.
½ bay leaf tied with 2 or 3 parsley sprigs
¼ tsp thyme
1 clove mashed garlic
1 Tb minced shallot or green onion
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Pinch of pepper
After poaching the eggs, add the herbs, garlic, shallot or onion, and seasonings to the wine and boil it down rapidly until it has reduced to 2 cups. Remove parsley and bay leaf.
1½ Tb softened butter
2 Tb flour
Optional: 1 Tb red currant jelly
Blend the butter and flour to a smooth paste—beurre manié. Off heat, beat it into the wine mixture with a wire whip. Boil for 30 seconds. Beat in the optional currant jelly for color and flavor, and correct seasoning.
(*) If not to be used immediately, set aside uncovered, top dotted with part of the enrichment butter.
1 to 2 Tb softened butter
Just before serving, reheat the sauce to the simmer. Off heat, beat in the butter.
8 canapés (ovals of white bread sautéed in clarified butter. They may be rubbed with a cut clove of garlic if you wish.)
2 to 3 Tb fresh minced parsley
Place a hot egg on each canapé and arrange on a platter or serving plates. Surround with whatever garniture you may have chosen, and spoon the hot sauce over. Decorate with parsley, and serve.
Oeufs en Gelée
[Poached Eggs in Aspic]
This recipe is in the chapter on cold buffets.
SHIRRED EGGS
[Oeufs sur le Plat — Oeufs Miroir]
A shirred egg is one that is broken into a small, flat, buttered dish and cooked quickly under the broiler. The white is softly set and tender, and the yolk is liquid, but covered by a shimmering, translucent film. Shirred eggs should never be attempted in the oven, as it toughens them.
For each serving
Preheat broiler to very hot.
A shallow, fireproof dish about 4 inches in diameter
½ Tb butter
1 or 2 eggs
Place the dish over moderate heat and add the butter. As soon as it has melted, break the egg or eggs into the dish and cook for about 30 seconds until a thin layer of white has set in the bottom of the dish. Remove from heat, tilt dish, and baste the egg with the butter. Set aside.
Salt and pepper
A minute or so before serving, place the dish an inch under the hot broiler. Slide it in and out every few seconds and baste the egg with the butter. In about a minute the white will be set, and the yolk filmed and glistening. Remove, season, and serve immediately.
VARIATIONS
Using the technique of the preceding recipe, shirred eggs may be dressed up in the following ways:
Au Beurre Noir
[With Black Butter Sauce]
Substitute beurre noir, for plain butter.
Aux Fines Herbes
[With Herb Butter]
Substitute herb or tarragon butter for plain butter.
À la Crème
[With Cream]
Use half the amount of butter. After bottom of egg has been lightly cooked on top of the stove, pour 2 tablespoons of whipping cream over the egg, then set it under the broiler. Basting is not necessary.
Gratinés
[Browned with Cheese]
This is the same as à la crème, but sprinkle a teaspoon of grated cheese over the cream, and dot with butter.
Pipérade
[With Tomatoes, Onions, and Peppers]
Prepare the pipérade mixture of cooked onions, green peppers, and tomatoes. Then proceed as for the main recipe, spooning the pipérade around the egg before it goes under the broiler.
Other Suggestions
Just before serving, surround the egg with sautéed mushrooms, kidneys, chicken livers, sausages, asparagus tips, broiled tomatoes, tomato sauce, or whatever else strikes your fancy.
EGGS BAKED IN RAMEKINS
[Oeufs en Cocotte]
These are individual servings of 1 or 2 eggs baked in porcelain, pyrex, or earthenware ramekins. The ramekins must be set in a pan of boiling water, otherwise the intense heat of the oven toughens the outside layer of egg before the inside has cooked.
>
For each serving
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
½ tsp butter
1 ramekin 2½ to 3 inches in diameter and about 1½ inches high
2 Tb whipping cream
A pan containing ¾ inch of simmering water
1 or 2 eggs
Butter the ramekin, saving a dot for later. Add 1 tablespoon of cream and set the ramekin in the simmering water over moderate heat. When the cream is hot, break into it one or two eggs. Pour the remaining spoonful of cream over the egg and top with a dot of butter.