STRIPED BASS EN CROUTE (recipe, dairy)

 What a wonderful Shavuot lunch or dinner. As you can see, this recipe makes a spectacular presentation. Your guests will first feast with their eyes, then with their nose and finally with their mouth. Despite the many steps involved, this is not a difficult recipe to prepare as is if you leave yourself some time. If making and rolling dough isn't in the cards, use packaged dough. You can find it dairy and pareve. If cleaning leeks isn't your thing, chop up onions instead, Don't use the frozen chopped onions because they are too watery. Serve this fish with a beautiful salad and steamed asparagus and you will have a feast.

STRIPED BASS EN CROUTE D SERVES: 6

The cream cheese crust melts in your mouth and enhances the flavors of the bass, sautéed mushrooms and leeks.

Prep time: Dough: 10 min.  Chilling time: 120 min.  Fish: 15-20 min.

Leeks: 20-25 min.  Assembly: 20 min.  Baking time: 30-45 min.

        INGREDIENTS

        Dough

        8 ounces cream cheese- softened

        ½ pound sweet butter- softened

        2 cups flour

        ½ teaspoon salt

2 egg yolks

Fish & Filling

4 pounds striped bass/red snapper-

skinned and filleted

1 large shallot

¼ pound mushrooms

1 bunch Italian flat leaf parsley

1 cup vegetable broth

¼ cup vinegar

salt & pepper

2 small bunches leeks/1 large bunch-should yield 5-6                   cups sliced leeks

3 tablespoons sweet butter

¼ cup unseasoned breadcrumbs

Egg Glaze: 1 egg yolk beaten with 1-2 tablespoons water

EQUIPMENT

rolling pin

baking pan large enough to hold fish

cookie sheet

baking parchment

saucepan with cover

tin foil

baking spray

DIRECTIONS

1. Dough: You can mix this up in an electric food processor or by hand. Using a large fork, mix cream cheese and butter. Add flour and salt and mix well. Stir in yolks. When mixture is well blended, divide it into two balls- one slightly larger than the other. Dust each ball with flour, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for two hours.
2. Cut leeks down the center and wash very well. Chop the white part coarsely. Save the green parts for decoration. Melt butter in saucepan over low heat. Add chopped leeks, stir well and cover. Cook leeks until they are soft and translucent- about 20 minutes. Stir often to make sure they don’t burn. Allow leeks to cool. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Preheat oven to: 350 F. Spray baking pan.
4. Peel shallot and mince. You should have about ¼ cup. Scatter on bottom of baking pan.
5. Wipe off mushrooms and mince.
6. Wash parsley and mince enough to yield one half cup.
7. Sprinkle each fillet with salt and pepper. Lay fillets side by side over shallots in baking pan. Cover the fish with mushrooms and parsley. Pour vinegar and broth over all. Add just enough water to cover it.
8. Spray a large piece of foil and cover the baking pan with it. Poach fish in oven for about 10 minutes. DO NOT ALLOW LIQUID TO COME TO A BOIL. You should barely smell the fish as it is cooking. After 10 minutes, take pan out of the oven. Take the chopped mushrooms and parsley off  the fillets with a slotted spoon. Set aside. Carefully, lift fillets out of the cooking liquid and set aside to cool. Discard cooking liquid or save it for future fish stock.
9. Raise oven heat to: 400 F. Line cookie sheet with parchment
10. Remove dough from refrigerator. Roll out smaller ball of dough in an oblong fish shape directly on to the baking parchment. It should be large enough to hold the fillets. Sprinkle dough with bread crumbs. Carefully, lay one fillet on top of crumbs. Cover it with mushrooms, shallots, parsley and leeks. Lay the remaining fillet on top of vegetables.
11. Brush the edges of the bottom pastry with egg glaze.
12. Roll out the larger ball of dough to match the fish shape on a floured surface. Gently, lift dough and cover fish with it. Press the edges together all the way around. Trim off any excess dough and use for decorations. You can pinch off small pieces and attach them to the top piece of dough with a little egg glaze to create fish scales. Brush the entire fish en croute with egg glaze. Any designs you want to make with a sharp knife will show up through the egg glaze. Bake 30-45 minutes or until pastry has turn golden brown. Your kitchen will smell heavenly. Serve with a beautiful salad and colorful vegetable.

Meatless Monday: Cod Cakes (recipe, pareve, passover)

Cod Cakes P Yield: 8 Cod Cakes

Cod is a medium firm white fish with a delicate flavor. It flakes easily and lends itself to absorbing many different flavors. These cod cakes are light, satisfying and so “non-fishy” that even your guests who shy away from fish will love them. They make a great light lunch, dinner or late afternoon snack.
Prep time: 60 min.  Cooking time: 15 min.
Ingredients
1 ¾ pounds fillet of cod-skin off
2 bay leaves
6 peppercorns
Juice of 1 small lemon
1 medium red onion
2 carrots
1 stalk celery
1 red pepper
1 large clove garlic
¼ cup fresh dill-chopped
½ cup matza meal
3 eggs
2 cups matza meal/ground nuts-
1 ½ cups vegetable oil
Equipment
Pan to poach fish
Electric food processor
Medium skillet with cover
Medium mixing bowl
2 shallow bowls
Directions

1. Rinse cod and place in pan with water to barely cover. Add bay leaves and pepper corns. Bring to a boil and quickly reduce to a simmer. Simmer about 10 minutes on one side before carefully flipping fillet over and finish poaching on other side. Be sure fish is completely opaque before removing from liquid. Place poached cod in mixing bowl and flake. Remove any peppercorns that might have gotten stuck in fish. Sprinkle with lemon juice and cool.
2. Peel onion, garlic and carrots. Cut into chunks and place in bowl of processor. Wash and chunk celery and add to processor. Rinse, core and chunk pepper and add to other vegetables. Pulse vegetables until they are minced.
3. Pour ½ cup oil in skillet. Heat over medium flame. Add vegetables and stir well. Reduce heat and cook vegetables until they are very soft and the carrots can be broken with the back of a wooden spoon. Allow vegetables to cool.
4. Drain cod again before mixing with cooked vegetables, one beaten egg, matza meal and dill. Taste. Season with salt and pepper  to taste. Form eight patties with your hands making sure not to pack them too tightly. Set aside.
5. Pour matza meal/ground nuts in one shallow bowl. Beat remaining two eggs in another shallow bowl.
6. Dredge cod cakes in matza meal/nuts, then in egg, and again in matza meal/nuts. Chill them for 30 minutes before frying.
7. Pour ½ cup oil in skillet. Heat over medium flame.  Carefully, place three or four cod cakes in skillet and brown on one side before turning them over and browning on second side.  If you have used nuts-lower the heat and be careful the codcakes don’t burn. Add more oil as needed. Drain cooked cod cakes on paper towel before arranging them on serving platter. Serve with Caper Mayonnaise or cocktail sauce.

Meatless Monday: Baked Poached Salmon (recipe, pareve)

BAKED POACHED SALMON P SERVES: 8

Oven poaching is so much easier than fighting with the stainless steel poacher on top of the stove and the results are just as moist and delicious. Here’s how!

Prep time: 10 minutes   Cooking time: 45 minutes  Chilling time: 12 hours  

Decorating: 20 minutes

INGREDIENTS                   

6 ½ pound whole salmon*           

optional: head and tail left on           

1 large onion-peeled and sliced

1 small bunch parsley

1 large celery stalk-scrubbed and sliced

1 large bay leaf

2 sprigs fresh thyme

2 cups dry white wine/water

2 tablespoons olive oil

EQUIPMENT

large baking sheet

heavy duty tin foil

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to: 375 F.
2. Tear three sheets of foil long enough to encase salmon and form handles at either end. Place on baking sheet. Brush olive oil over top piece of foil.
3. Rinse salmon and place it on foil.
4. Scatter onions, celery and herbs around salmon. Lift up the edges of the foil and pour liquid over the salmon. Seal foil over the salmon and roll up the ends into handles at either side.
5. Bake salmon 45 minutes to one hour. You should only be able to smell the herbs and wine while fish is oven poaching. If it begins to smell fishy, lower the temperature of the oven. The salmon should be opaque when tested with a knife. When done, open foil and let cool thoroughly. Reseal foil and chill overnight.
6. TO SERVE: 1. Remove vegetables and parsley from around salmon. Peel skin off salmon with a sharp knife. Carefully, lift salmon and place on serving platter. Cover salmon with a layer of very thinly sliced cucumbers to resemble fish scales. Weave sprigs of dill through the cucumbers. Surround salmon with lemon wedges. Serve green sauce on the side. 2. Cut salmon into portions and arrange on a serving platter with green sauce in the middle. Decorate each portion separately.

A Dressed-Up Weeknight Supper: Sauteed Tilapia Almondine with Braised Red Cabbage

Sauteed Tilapia Almondine with Braised Red Cabbage

Serves: 4

Tilapia is a firm fleshed white fish with a deliciously mild and sweet taste. The almonds offer a nice crunch and the slightly sweet and sour flavor of the cabbage balances the dish perfectly.
Prep time: 20 min. Cooking time: 30 min.
Ingredients
4 tilapia fillets
¼ lb. pareve margarine (or butter if you want it to be dairy)
½ cup flour
½ teaspoon black pepper
2 lemons
1 cup sliced almonds
1 small red cabbage
1 large shallot
1 large Granny Smith or other crisp tart apple
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup apple juice/cider
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
Equipment
2 skillets- one with cover
Colander
Oven to table serving platter
Directions

1. Core and slice cabbage into ¼ inch slices. Place sliced cabbage in colander and rinse well.
2. Peel and chop shallot.
3. Peel, core and slice apple thinly.
4. Pour oil into skillet and heat over medium flame. Add chopped shallot and sauté until soft. Add sliced cabbage and mix well until cabbage is coated in oil. Add sliced apple, apple cider and vinegar. Stir well and cover. Braise over low heat stirring every 10 minutes or so to be sure cabbage is cooking down but not burning. The cabbage should take about 30 minutes to cook.
5. Prepare tilapia while cabbage is cooking. Remove center bone from fillets. Rinse and dry fillets.
6. Mix flour and pepper on a flat surface. Dredge fillets on both sides in flour and set aside.
7. Melt two tablespoons margarine in other skillet over medium-high heat. Add two or three fillets so that they fit comfortably and are not crowded in pan. Sauté tilapia 3-4 minutes on each side or until flour has browned slightly. Transfer fish to platter, cover with foil (or keep warm in 325 F. oven). Repeat process adding margarine to pan-two tablespoons at a time- until all the fish has been cooked. Squeeze juice from one lemon over cooked fish. Keep warm.
8. Add sliced almonds to remaining margarine in pan (add two tablespoons more if necessary) and stir until they toast. Squeeze juice from remaining lemon in pan and stir well. Pour contents of pan over tilapia fillets.

To Serve: You can serve the Tilapia separately from the cabbage or serve it like I did in the picture. Make a bed of braised red cabbage and arrange the 2 tilapia fillets over the cabbage.