Pirate Patterson's Pirate Recipes

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Pirate Pat's Burning Skillet

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Even More on Stock

Fish Stock
Dover Sole with Basil-lime cream sauce

Recipe 000630 © Pirate Bill "Turtle" Patterson - used with permission

What IS that smell?

Essences et Fumet (Essences and Fumet)

"A sauce is thick, essence is not. Essence is an extract from the most nutritious parts of meat. Fumet, or flavor, is a steam which rises from certain cooked or raw meats, imparting a most agreeable smell and taste; it is the same preparation as essences, but less watery and reduced with Madeira."

The preceding passage was written in 1893 by Charles Ranhoffer. An extraordinary chef, Mr. Ranhoffer was the author of the landmark tome, "The Epicurean". His technique is legendary and still being taught today.

That he is little known is irrelevant and ultimately, inconsequential. His ability remains nameless and yet, essential. It touches YOU to this day whether you realize it or not. Every time you choose to dine in a restaurant of quality, you are undoubtedly experiencing the technique of classically trained culinarians. It is that tradition of culinarians that owes a debt of gratitude to Mr. Ranhoffer (and others) and makes possible what we take for granted today.

What follows is Mr. Ranhoffer's recipe for Fish Stock (Essence de Poisson) with my own basic updates. Not that I would presume to improve on the following but merely to elucidate for the uninitiated.

Fish Stock

"Cut in slices two pounds of bass, porgies or any other bony, and very fresh fish; put them into a saucepan and season with salt, whole peppers and a half pint of white wine. Fry lightly in butter without attaining a color, three ounces of minced onions, three ounces of carrots, a bunch of parsley garnished with two bay leaves and the same of thyme, two cloves and two shallots; add all these to the fish with one quart of water, and cook slowly for forty minutes, then strain through a fine sieve."

Okay; the preceding was written in 1893. It may look straight forward, but it isn't. So let's straighten it out and make some fish stock using the basic formula listed above but in today's terms.

First of all, let's look at the fish being used. Mr. Ranhoffer calls for a fish called "bass." He didn't mean the kind of bass that those Southern fellers catch on TV. You know the TV shows I mean. And don't pretend you don't watch those shows, either. I know you do. You should be ashamed. The Mariners are getting their butts kicked by the Yankees and WHAT ARE YOU DOING? Watching some tobacco chomping nitwit spin-cast for Small-Mouth!! It's all I can do to keep from becoming ill.

But I digress. When Mr. Ranhoffer said "bass", he meant a particular kind of fish. Specifically, saltwater fish. Specifically; Grouper, Black Sea Bass or Striped Bass. He also mentions "Porgy." This is Sea Bream or Scup. All these fish are found in Atlantic waters and not generally found out west.

Big deal. YOU are going to use either True Cod or Halibut. Both of which are readily found out west. There is no reason to waste your time trying to find East Coast fish for your west coast stock.

Let's get one thing understood right now. Fish stock can be sweet and fragrant or it can be stinky and bitter. What you end up with depends entirely on how you handle the BONES. And bones need to be SOAKED.

And SOAKED. And SOAKED.

Start with two or three pounds of fish carcasses. They must be WHITE fish. As I said; halibut or true cod work very nicely. But hey, if you can afford sea bass, then by all means use it!! The richer, red fleshed fish varieties such as Salmon don't make stock of the same quality. Too much fat, flavor and everything else to make good stock. What you want is light, delicate flavored fish for stock. Especially the BONY varieties because they have lots of connective tissue for flavor and body in the stock. So just do what I say and no one will get hurt.

I like halibut bones the best. You may be surprised what you can get for FREE if you simply ask. I almost NEVER pay for fish bones and carcasses.

I am brazen enough to ask for anything and you can do the same thing. When the fish are running then the bones are available. It is just that simple.

The fish dudes gut and fillet the fish and throw the good stuff away, so all you gotta do is ask. If they are butt-heads they might charge you $.50/lb. but either way you get off for nothing or next to nothing.

So you got a couple of pounds of Halibut bones ready to go for stock. Most restaurant kitchens would put the bones in a large pot and run water over them for about 45 minutes. I find this to be extraordinarily wasteful.

Instead, I like to soak the bones in several changes of water over two or three hours. Scrub the bones scrupulously with a soft brush to remove any blood or organ fragments. DO NOT USE GILLS. They have blood. This is critical. Any bloody or organ tissue will create a bitter stock. Remember when we made chicken stock? Same deal, only more pronounced with fish.

So you got all your fish bones totally cleaned and soaked and ready to go.

At this point you will need the following:

1 rather large stock pot. Stainless, of course. And HEY, if you want to taste something truly STINKY, try making fish stock in an aluminum pot. It will cure you of using aluminum, I guarantee it!!!!
1-2 lbs. White fish bones. Soaked and cleaned as above.
1 onion, quartered, UN-peeled.
2 medium carrots, quartered. (optional).
1 leek, dark green part trimmed, quartered and well rinsed.
2 celery stalks, quartered
2-3 rather large garlic cloves, UN-peeled, crushed.
4-5 FRESH, FLAT LEAF parsley sprigs. The curly stuff is worthless.
2 bay leaves.
2 sprigs FRESH Thyme
1/.2 fresh lemon, cut into slices.
8-10 pepper corns.
White wine.
Butter.
Light, flavorless salad oil.

Start with the pot over medium heat and render 1 T butter with 1 T oil.
When melted, add the onion, celery, optional carrot*, leek and garlic. Saute over LOW heat until nearly translucent and then add the fish parts.
Cook until very fragrant and then add the garlic, thyme, parsley, bay and lemon.
Continue to cook for a few minutes and then add the white wine, about 2 cups.
Bring back to a simmer and then add about 8-10 cups of COLD water.
Now pay attention. Bring the water to a SIMMER. DO NOT BOIL. Add the pepper corns. SIMMER. DO NOT BOIL. I REPEAT, DO NOT BOIL. SIMMER. SIMMER FOR ABOUT 45 MINUTES. No longer. The room should positively stink of fish, but the stock should be rather sweet tasting.
Skim the foamy gray yuck-yuck as it rises to the surface.
Strain immediately and put up the same way you would other types of stock. However, fish stock will not have the same life that other stocks will have. It will get super stinky in a hurry. So use it in the following recipe.

(* Many professionals exclude carrots from fish stock because they insist the it will give the stock too much color. Others include it for the sweetness it adds. Try it both ways and decide for yourself.)

Dover Sole with Basil-lime cream sauce

You will need the following:

6 Nice DOVER SOLE Filets, rather small, about 2-4 ounces each.**
1 medium stainless steel sauce pan.
1 medium stainless steel saute pan.
A wee bit of light flavorless salad oil.
White dry white wine, about 1 cup.
Lovely White Fish Stock.
Fresh Lime, about a half of one, cut into 3 or 4 wedges.
Fresh Basil, 2 or 3 sprigs, leaves only.
Extra Heavy Cream.
Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper, preferably WHITE pepper.
Sugar.
1 T. Minced Shallots.
1/2 cup Champagne vinegar or UN-flavored white wine vinegar.
(**True Dover Sole is only found in European waters, so it may be rather difficult to find. Petrale Sole, which is actually a type of flounder, will work quite nicely).

Basil Lime Sauce

1. Begin by cooking minced shallots in the vinegar until nearly dry over very low heat. Be careful not to brown the shallots.
Add the white wine, basil and lime. Make sure you give the lime a good squeeze when you add it to the reduction and keep the basil leaves whole.
Reduce by at least half if not 2/3.
Add about 3/4 cup fish stock. Reduce by at least 1/2 to 2/3.
Add cream. Perhaps 1/2 cup and reduce further to about 2/3 cup total. The sauce should be rich and creamy but not too thick. Check your sauce for salt.
If it has a bitter edge hit it with a pinch of sugar. Strain through a fine sieve and set aside.

Prepare the fish;

Select filets that are very fresh. Look for fish that has a beautiful pearly sheen to it.
Trim away any excess gray fat from the filets. This will be on the skin side of the filet.
Score the skin side with very shallow diagonal incisions 2 or 3 times running the length of the filet. This helps the fish to keep it's shape when cooking.
Season the fish lightly with salt and pepper. Starting with the small end, roll the filet up like an enchilada and secure with a tooth pick if necessary.
Put 3 or 4 T of dry white wine in a small ovenproof skillet. NONSTICK works best for this. If you use stainless, smear a little butter on the skillet first, just as you would a cake pan.
Arrange your filets in the pan and cook in a VERY HOT (500 degree) preheated oven for about 6-7 minutes depending on the size of the filets.
The filets will be tender but slightly resistant to finger pressure when cooked through. You don't want to overcook the fish but, being a bottom fish, you don't want it undercooked either. About medium.
Drain the filets on a towel and arrange like a pinwheel on plates, 3 per person. If you used tooth picks to secure the filets, carefully remove them or leave them as a surprise for your guest.
Bring the sauce back to temp over high heat keeping the pan moving rapidly so as not to scorch. Take the pan off the heat and stir in a pat of butter. Check for seasoning and pour over the filets.

Typically, one would serve white wine with a dish like this. In America that almost always means chardonnay. What a shame. Most chardonnay is to rich and too oaky to really go well with fish, especially if it is served with a cream sauce. Try a Semillon, dry Riesling or a crisp, bracing sauvignon blanc instead. A dry chenin blanc would be ideal in my mind.

Avoid wines that are fermented in oak. They have a tendency to overpower the delicate flavor of the sole. If you insist on having that woody flavor in your meal, then just leave the tooth picks in the fish.

XOXOXO TURTLE


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