Fish Dishes

FISH

Gefilte fish is a ground fish recipe, popular with people of Ashkenazi Jewish heritage. Formally, it is a type of quenelle, a delicately flavored patty made of lightly seasoned ground fish or white meat. Similar dishes exist in many cultures in local recipes bland or spicy, served plain or sauced, and cooked in simple broth or as part of an elaborate fish stew.

Preparation and serving

In traditional recipes for gefilte fish, the fish is first debunked, often while still at the market. Next, the fish is ground into a fine paste and boiled with carrots and onions. It is then stuffed into a whole fish, giving it the name gefilte (filled or stuffed, compare the German gefullte). When prepared this way, it may be served in slices of the whole fish with the "gefilte" stuffing in the center.

In much modern preparation, including commercial preparation, the whole fish stuffing step is (somewhat paradoxically) omitted. Common home preparation now is often in cooking parchment, removed after cooking, and the ground fish mixture served in balls or thick patties. They are usually chilled and served with a sweetened horseradish-vinegar sauce known as chrain, of which there are two varieties- "red" chrain and "white" chrain, that is, mixed with or without red beet.

Variations

As a dish of homemade origin, gefilte fish preparation varies widely by locality, ethnicity, and from cook to cook, even among commercial varieties. The paste may be so finely ground as to form a dense patty of almost cheese like texture, or may be as coarse as a traditional poultry stuffing.

Gefilte fish can be either sweet (generally among Jews of German, Austro-Hungarian and Polish descent) or seasoned with salt and pepper (common among Jews of Russian and Ukrainian descent). Traditionally, locally cheap fish such as carp, pike, or whitefish were used to make gefilte fish, but more recently other fish with white flesh have been used, and there is even a pink variation using salmon.

Especially in commercial varieties, traditionalists may prefer gefilte fish with a high content of the more richly (and "fishy") flavored carp, an inexpensive and prolific fresh-water fish closely related to the Japanese koi and common goldfish. However, those who prefer a milder taste, even to the point of blandness, look for preparations high in pike and whitefish, with little or no carp.

One impetus for the rise of popularity of gefilte fish was its ease of consumption on the Sabbath. Jewish law dictates that removing bones from fish falls under "separating" (borer), one of the 39 forbidden activities on the Sabbath. Ground and bone-free fish removes this problem. This makes gefilte fish a common starter for one of the three traditional Sabbath meals.

GEFILTE FISH

Fish Balls:

1 lb. fresh or frozen (thawed) haddock, co or similar firm white fillets
1 medium onion
1 carrot
1 large egg
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp. matzo meal

Broth:

1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 medium carrot, thinly sliced
1/4 tsp. black pepper
3 vegetable bouillon cubes

For the fish balls, coarsely cut fish, onion and carrot into chunks. Put in food processor fitted with steel blade and process until smooth.

Add the egg, salt, pepper and matzo meal and process until smooth. Set fish mixture aside while preparing the broth. Place all broth ingredients into a deep pot or Dutch oven. Bring to boil over a high heat; then lower heat and simmer until bouillon cubes dissolve.

With wet hands, shape fish mixture into 1 1/2 inch diameter balls. Gently drop the balls into the simmering broth. Cover and simmer for about 1 hour, occasionally turning balls with a spoon.

Remove the pot from the heat and let the balls cool in the broth. Use a slotted spoon to remove the balls. Strain broth through cheesecloth and pour over fish. Makes about 12 balls.

GEFELTE FISH (BOILED)

2lbs Fish Fillets [pike, carp and white fish]
4 medium onions
4 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 qt water
3 eggs
1/4 cup of cold ice water
3 tbsp matzo meal
3 carrots sliced

Remove the head, skin and bones from the fish. Place these trimmings, 3 onions, 2 tsp, salt and pepper into the quart of water, Simmer about 2 minutes. Grind the fish fillets with the remaining onion. Place in a chopping bowl, add the eggs, ice water, matzo meal and remaining seasonings. Chop mixture until very fine and thoroughly blended. Moisten hands and shape mixture into balls.

Drop balls into the boiling stock abd add carrots. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours. If the stock cooks down too much, add a little water. Cool the fish slightly, and serve with horseradish.

12 Servings.

GEFILTE FISH WITH SLICED WHITEFISH

Ingredients:

2 loaves Ungar frozen gefilte fish *[1]
2 whitefish (Michigan) sliced, salted liberally several hours earlier one carp skin
2 or 3 slices carp, also salted
onions
carrots
salt, a lot
black pepper, a lot
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

Cut up enough onions and carrots to line about 1/4 of the pot. Use more onion than carrot. Cover with water just to top of carrots and bring to a boil. Add loaves of frozen gefilte fish, and bring to boil again, then low simmer. Now add salt and black pepper, and sugar. Let simmer for 20 minutes and taste. It usually needs more salt or pepper. Don't add more sugar, because the onions and carrots will sweeten it too. Simmer fish for about 45 minutes in all.

Place carp skin, scale side up, on top of loaves. The skin makes the liquid gel very well. Wash whitefish and carp slices gently, but do not remove all the salt. Place on top of loaves, add pepper and bring to boil. Keep pot covered throughout cooking. Turn heat to simmer. Taste and add salt and pepper along the way. Simmer until fish is flaky, about 30 minutes, possibly more.

Remove from heat and cool.

"SWEET GEFILTE FISH"

1 lb. (500 gm.) ground fish, or 2 lbs. (1 kg.) whole fish (carp, silver carp, or whitefish, and pike)
1/2 cup matzah meal
black pepper to taste
4 Tbsp. salt
6 Tbsp. sugar
2 eggs
1 carrot
3 onions
oil

Slice 2 onions. Saute a small amount of oil in frying pan over a small flame, until soft and translucent, but not brown. If using whole fish, clean and grind fish. Grind the fried onions. Mix fish well with the onions. Add matzah meal, eggs, 3 Tbsp. sugar, 2 Tbsp. salt, and black pepper. Let set 15 minutes. Fill a medium-sized pot halfway with water. Add sliced carrot, 1 sliced onion, 2 Tbsp. salt, 3 Tbsp. sugar, and black pepper. Bring to a boil. Make fish balls with wet hands, place the balls into the simmering stock. Cook for 3/4 hour. When it has cooled, pour the sauce into a jar and refrigerate until it jells. Use the gel as garnish. Serves 15.

Variation: Spicy Baked Gefilte Fish: Combine 1/2 cup tomato sauce, 1/2 cup water, salt and pepper to taste. Pour over cooked gefilte fish pieces. Bake 1/2 hour at 350 degrees F. (175 degrees C.)

BUBBY IRMA'S GEFILTE FISH

2 carrots
1 large onion
1/2 cup water
1 raw egg
1/2 cup matzo meal
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp pepper
1 kilo fresh ground fish — either carp or a mixture of carp, white fish and/or pike. The fishes can be mixed. Nile perch is a new addition to our list of fishes. Nile perch is used alone.

Grind together all the Ingredients, and then mix in the ground fish. At this point the fish may be formed into logs — approx 3" wide and 12" long — wrapped tightly into tin foil for freezing. Frozen fish may be cooked in the log form. It is easy to slice for individual servings. Or, ovals about the size of a pear can be formed. Drop them into boiling sauce and allow them to cook slowly for 2 hours. Let cool before removing the fish balls from the sauce.

Cooking Sauce for Gefilte Fish

4 cups water
4 carrots
3 onions
1 Tbsp salt & 1 tsp pepper
2 Tbsp sugar
fish bones and heads

Bring to a boil and add the fish balls or logs.

Serve with Horseradish on a bed of lettuce. A slice of the cooked carrot adds color to the dish.

GEFILTE FISH WITH ONIONS

3 medium onions
6 Tbsp. cold water
1 large carrot
1 1/4 tsp. salt (or less)
1 1/2 pounds ground fish
1/2 tsp. pepper
3 eggs
3/4 tsp. sugar (or less)

This is a fast and easy recipe where the fish is baked instead of boiled, avoiding that "fishy" smell.

Grate onions and carrot in food processor until well mixed, approximately 10 seconds. Add fish (a mixture of white and pike is nice — fast and easy if you buy it already ground at your local fish store — stores catering to a Jewish clientele will have it on hand Wednesday to Friday), and process 20 seconds. Then add and process the rest of the ingredients for 15 seconds, scraping the sides of the bowl if necessary. Pour into oiled pan (8" x 11"), and bake at 325 degrees F. (165 degrees C.) for 1 1/4 hours, covering with foil for the last 1/2 hour to avoid its drying out. When done, it should be slightly brown, and a knife inserted in the middle should come out clean. When cool, cut into rectangular pieces and serve cold.

Garnish gefilte fish with sprigs of parsley, place on a bed of lettuce, or add some cherry tomatoes on the plate for color. Instead of just horseradish, try filling a 3-compartment pickle dish with red horseradish, white horseradish, and some spicy mayonnaise.

FISH IN SOUR CREAM SOUSE

3 tbsp butter, 1 big sliced onion, 4 pieces of fish (pike), red pepper, salt, black pepper, 1/2 glass sour cream. Flux butter on the pan and fry onion in it. Put fish on the onion, add salt, pepper, add water and stew it for 45 minutes. Add sour cream and serve hot.

FISH WITH LEMON

1/4 glass oil, 1 glass sliced onion, 6 pieces of fish (pike or cod), salt, pepper, 2 sliced tomatoes, 2 sliced lemons, 1/4 glasses water, 1 tbsp. vinegar, 2 tsp. sugar, 1 bay leaf. Put oil on the pan and fry onion. Put fish on the onion, add other ingredients, add water and stew it for 35 minutes on the small fire. Serve hot or cold.

SOUR SWEET FISH

2 slices onions, 2 sliced lemons, 1/4 glass raisins, 1/2 glass burned sugar, 1 bay leaf, 6 pieces of fish (pike or salmon), 2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. ginger, 1/3 glass vine vinegar, 1/2 glass almonds.

Put in the pot with water onion, lemon, burned sugar, bay leaf, salt and fish, cook 25 minutes. Put the fish on the dish. Add ginger, vinegar and grind almonds to bullion and cook for some time. Pour fish with souse. Serve hot or cold.

FISH BAKED WITH TOMATOES SOUSE

1 kg fish, 2 tsp salt, pepper, 1 big onion, 4 tbsp oil, 1–2 tbsp. sliced greens, 150 g tomatoes souse, garlic, juice from 1 lemon, some water.

Slice an onion and fry it in the butter. Mix tomatoes souse with greens, garlic, lemon and some water. Put fish in the baking form, salt and pepper it. Pour it with oil, fried onions and tomatoes souse. Bake 30 minutes on big fire. Take out the lid and bake for 20 minutes on small fire. Put fish on the dish and decorate with greens and lemon.

FISH KUGEL

2 tbsp oil, 1 sliced onion, 4 big potatoes sliced like for French fries, 600 grams boiled or canned fish, salt, pepper, 2 eggs, 1,5 cream.

Flux butter in the pan and fry onion. Put potatoes, fish and onion in layers to the baking form. Salt and pepper every layer. Mix eggs and cream, pour layers. Bake 45 minutes.

CHOLLENT WITH FISH

600 g fish (bream), 1 big sliced onion, 2 sliced carrots, 1 sliced beet, 3 tbsp oil, salt, pepper. Put half of beet and carrot in layers to the baking form, put fish and cover with rest beet and carrot. Add water to cover everything (not more) and bake 2—2,5 hours.

HOT FORSHMAK

Ingredients:

1 herring
2 tbsp flour
2–3 potatoes
Sour cream — 2–3 tbsp
2–3 eggs

Mince herring in the mincing machine, mince cooked potatoes, and mix it with fried onions. Mix carefully; add flour, butter and sour cream. Mince everything, add fresh eggs, salt, pepper. Put in the pan and bake 30 minutes. Put it in the dish and pour with sour cream with tomatoes.

FORSHMAK WITH NUTS

Ingredients:

1 herring
5 walnuts
1 apple
1 onion
1 cooked egg
2 tbsp oil
1 lemon juice
Black pepper
Greens
bread

Prepare fish, peel an apple. Fry sliced onion in oil. Mince walnuts and fry without oil. Mince herring, apple, onion, bread and walnuts. Season with oil, pepper, lemon juice. Mix and cool it. Decorate with greens and lemon.

DIET FORSHMAK

Ingredients:

Herring - 50g
potatoes - 60g
milk - 20ml
butter - 20g
greens - 10g

Mince herring twice in the mincing machine. Cook a potatoe and grind with milk. Mix with butter and herring. Decorate with greens.