Fillets of Bass Sicilian Style

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds fillets of bass
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1/2 cup fish broth
• 1 scallion, minced
• Salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup butter
• 3 mushrooms, chopped
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 dozen clams, or oysters
• 1/2 cup lobster meat, diced

Method

1. 1

   Lay fillets in oiled earthenware casserole.

2. 2

   Add wine and broth made from boiling fish bones and heads; sprinkle with scallion and season with salt and pepper.

3. 3

   Dot with 2 tablespoons of the butter.

4. 4

   Cover closely and bake, or cook on top of stove.

5. 5

   Brown mushrooms slightly in remaining butter; add flour, stir until well mixed; add broth from fish and thin with a little clam or oyster liquor; season, and boil for 5 minutes.

6. 6

   Have clams or oysters already poached.

7. 7

   Add lobster meat to sauce and bring to a boil.

8. 8

   Add oysters or clams, pour sauce over fish and serve in casserole.

As published

This recipe was extracted from The European cookbook for American homes (from Italy, Spain, Portugal and France) (1936) by Brown, Cora Lovisa Brackett Mrs., page 14. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

*4 cup butter 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan Yz cup Marsala wine cheese Meat broth Wash rice through several waters, drain and dry in a towel. Slowly fry onion in l/2 the butter until golden; add rice and fry 32 THE EUROPEAN COOKBOOK 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add half the Marsala wine and sufficient boiling broth to cook rice; season and cook rapidly until grains swell; reduce heat and finish cooking until nearly dry. Uncover, add rest of butter and Marsala, and the saffron mixed smooth in a little broth. Set over steam or in open oven until rice is dry and fluffy. Take up, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. This is the finest of the Milanese risottos and is served on special occasions. A little skill is required to cook it properly and attain the fluffiness at the end without draining off the liquid. The rice recipes of the Portuguese, Spaniards and Italians bear close resemblance, all of them being of Arabian origin in- troduced through North African invasions and occupations. In- land cities, like Milan, eat their rice flavored with meats and vegetables; coast cities, where sea food is plentiful and fresh, prefer the fishy flavors. The combinations are legion; rice with chicken giblets, with green peas, with minced veal or pork, with frogs' legs, with sea snails, black rice cooked with the inky squid, pink rice cooked with crayfish, rice with tench (a sort of flounder), with mussels, and with the tiny clams of the Bay of Biscay. Invariably the method of cooking differs from that of the Far East in that the liquid is a flavoring broth, instead of water, and is retained in the finished dish, the quantity being gauged so as to be completely evaporated at the end of the cook- ing time. Saffron is a frequent flavoring and imparts an ap- petizing color. r 5 POLENTA— I i cup yellow cornmeal 2 cups rich hash of left-over 1 quart boiling salted water, or meat or fish stock 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan 2 tablespoons butter cheese ITALIAN 33 Sprinkle cornmeal into boiling liquid stirring constantly until there are no lumps; cook over slow heat or in double boiler l/2 hour, adding butter while cooking. Pour out on a hot platter in a ring. Fill the center with hot hash. Sprinkle the mush thickly with Parmesan cheese. POLENTA— II Make cornmeal mush as above; pour a thin layer into a buttered baking dish, spread with thick tomato sauce, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Then another layer of mush, tomato sauce, and cheese; repeat, finishing with a layer of cheese. Brown in a hot oven (4000 F.). Serve with tomato sauce. BAKED POLENTA Make cornmeal mush as above; let cool and stiffen in a shallow mold; slice with a wet knife. Have ready a rich brown gravy containing bits of chicken giblets or other tidbits. Place a layer of polenta slices in buttered baking dish; add a little gravy; sprinkle with grated cheese. Repeat. Cover the top with remaining gravy and bake 10 minutes in a hot oven (4oo°F.). FRIED POLENTA 1 small onion, chopped 1 celery stalk, sliced Yl garlic clove, minced 1 green pepper, chopped 3 tablespoons butter 1 quart boiling water l/z pound pork sausage or ham- 1 cup cornmeal burger % cup flour Salt and pepper Fry onion and garlic in 1 tablespoon of the butter for a few minutes, add meat and mash it as it fries to keep it from cooking in lumps. Turn into a saucepan with celery, pepper and boiling water. Let boil, covered, 10 minutes. Season. Add the cornmeal a little at a time, stirring out all lumps. Finish 34 THE EUROPEAN COOKBOOK cooking over steam, or in double boiler. Cool in a mold. Slice. Dredge slices with flour and fry in remaining butter. Polenta was originally made of chestnut flour, as its name signifies. Then American maize took kindly to the soil and climate of Northern Italy and became an important crop. In the Fall, ears of corn, with husks turned back, gild the outer walls of farm houses and barns and add to the gaiety of the rural landscape. The grain is afterward ground in local mills as needed, for cornmeal must be fresh to lend its full flavor to the daily polenta dish eaten by every family throughout the winter. The score of polenta recipes range from the simple ones given here, to the rich Milanese polenta timbale, which is a thin, hollow mold of cold polenta, filled with a thick sweetbread ragout made with white wine and a dozen other ingredients, baked in the oven, and afterward elaborately garnished. FISH (Pesce) FILLET OF FISH ALLA MASSENA i pound fillet of flounder or i carrot, chopped fluke i onion, chopped Salt and pepper I sprig parsley Head and bones of the fish i tablespoon butter Cold water % cup flour and water paste Salt and pepper the fillets and place in a large soup plate. Cover head and bones with cold water, add carrot, onion, and parsley. Bring to a boil and cook % hour; strain; reduce broth to i cupful. Pour broth over fillets. Lay another soup plate on top and seal the two together with paste made of flour and water, so no steam can escape. Bake in a medium oven (350° F.) for 20 to 25 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillets. Open at the table, and the flavor will be amazing. FILLET OF WHITING ALLA VENITIA Grill the fillets dipped in oil. Season with salt and pepper, dust with grated Parmesan cheese and scatter over bits of finely minced or coarsely grated finocchio (sweet fennel). FILLETS OF BASS SICILIAN STYLE 1 Y2 pounds fillets of bass *4 cup white wine % cup fish broth 1 scallion, minced Salt and pepper *4 cup butter 3 mushrooms, chopped 1 tablespoon flour 1 dozen clams, or oysters Y2 cup lobster meat, diced 3

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.