Matelote of Eels a la Normande

Ingredients

• one and a half pounds of eels
• one tablespoonful of butter
• a glassful of white wine
• three tablespoonfuls of mushroom liquor
• half a pinch of salt
• half a pinch of pepper
• a third of a pinch of nutmeg
• half a pint of good velouté
• six mushrooms
• twelve blanched oysters
• six fish quenelles
• six small, cooked crawfish tails
• three egg yolks

Method

1. 1

   Cut eels into pieces, fry in butter for 2 minutes, add wine, mushroom liquor, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

2. 2

   Cook for 10 minutes, then add velouté, mushrooms, oysters, quenelles, and crawfish.

3. 3

   Cook for 5 minutes, then beat in egg yolks before serving with fried croutons.

As published

This recipe was extracted from The table (1889) by Alexander Filippini, page 138. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

half a pinch of pepper ; cover it, and let it cook as long as possible on a slow fire — at least two hours; then arrange the shad on a dish. Add one tablespoonful of white roux (No. 135) to the juice, thicken well, and pour the sauce over the fish when serving, with some more of its own gravy in .a sauce-bowl. 328. Shad vert-pre. — Pare and scale a small, fine shad, put it on a deep baking-dish, well buttered, and season with one pinch of salt and half a pinch of pepper, adding two finely chopped shallots and half a glass- ful of white wine. Cover with a piece of buttered paper, and cook in a moderate oven for twenty-five minutes. When done, put the juice in a saucepan, with half a pint of Allemande sauce (No. 210), a pinch of finely chopped chervil, and a little spinach green (Breton essence, a saltspoon- ful). Let cook again for three minutes, then pour a little of it, through a Chinese strainer, on the fish, and serve the rest in a separate sauce-bowl. 329. Broiled Fresh Mackerel, maitre d'hotel.— Pare and split two good-sized, fresh mackerel through the back, remove the spine, score them slightly, and rub them with one tablespoonful of sweet oil ; season with a pinch of salt and half a pinch of pepper, then broil them on a brisk fire for ten minutes on the split side, and one minute on the skin side. Lay them on a dish, pour a gill of maitre d'hotel butter (No. 145) over, and serve with a few parsley-greens and six slices of lemon. Broiled Spanish-mackerel are prepared in the same way. 330. Mackerel en Papillotes. — Oil three sheets of white paper a little larger than the length of the fish. Cut six thin slices of cooked, lean ham; lay one slice on each piece of paper, and on top a tablespoonful of cooked fine herbs (No. 143). Select three mackerel; make four or five incisions on each side; season with a good pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper, divided evenly on both sides of the fish, then roll them lightly, and lay the mackerel on top of the fine herbs; spread a tablespoonful more herbs over each mackerel, and cover with a slice of ham. Then lift up the other side of the paper and twist the edges together with the fingers, or a simpler way is to fold them the same as trout (No. 316). When ready, put them in a baking-sheet, place them in a moderate oven, and let bake for fifteen minutes. Have a hot dish ready, and after taking them from FISH. 1 99 the oven, use a cake-turner to lift the fish up gently, and dress them on the dish, leaving the paper undisturbed, then serve. 331. Fresh Mackerel aux Fines Heroes.— Choose two fine, fresh mackerel, make six small incisions on both sides, and place them in a buttered baking-dish, with half a glassful of white wine, three tablespoon- fuls of mushroom liquor, a finely Chopped shallot, and half a pinch of salt, with the third of a pinch of pepper. Cover with a piece of buttered paper, and bake in a moderate oven for fifteen minutes, then place the fish on a dish. Pour the gravy into a stewpan, adding two tablespoonfuls of cooked fine herbs (No. 143), a pint of Allemande sauce (No. 210), and a pinch of chopped parsley. Thicken well with a tablespoonful of butter; stir well until dissolved, and pour it over the mackerel when serving. (All mackerel can be prepared the same way, only adding different sauces to the gravy.) 332. Matelote of Eels. — Pare and then cut one and a half pounds of eels into pieces two inches in length. When well washed, put them in a stewpan with one tablespoonful of butter; fry them for two minutes; add a glassful of red wine, a third of a pinch of nutmeg, half a pinch of salt, and a third ot a pinch of pepper, also a bouquet (No. 254), a glassful of fish-stock (No. 214), or white broth (No. 99), and three tablespoonfuls of mushroom liquor. Add six small, glazed onions (No. 972), and six mushroom buttons. Cook for thirty minutes, then put in a tablespoon- ful of white roux (No. 135); stir well while cooking five minutes longer, and serve with six heart-shaped croutons (No. 133). 333. Matelote of Eels a la Parisienne.— Proceed the same as for the above (No. 332), only lift out the fish when cooked; reduce the sauce to half, adding three tablespoonfuls of Espagnole (No. 151), six mushroom buttons, six glazed onions (No. 972), and six fish quenelles (No. 227). Stir well while cooking two minutes longer, and serve with six fried pieces of bread garnished with Soubise (No. 250). 334. Matelote of Eels a la Normande. — Cut one and a half pounds of eels into pieces, put them in a saucepan with a tablespoonful of butter; fry two minutes; add a glassful of white wine, and three tablespoonfuls of mushroom liquor. Season well with half a pinch each of salt and pepper, and a third of a pinch of nutmeg. Cook for ten minutes, then add half a pint of good velout6 (No. 152), six mushrooms, twelve blanched oysters, six fish quenelles (No. 227), and six small, cooked crawfish tails. Cook again for five minutes, and when ready to serve, beat in three egg yolks, but do not boil again, and garnish with six fried croutons (No. 133). 335. Blanched Eels. — Select a pound and a half of well-skinned eels, cut them into pieces and tie them in rings; put them with cold water in a saucepan, with a good pinch of salt and a little vinegar, a sprig of thyme, two bay-leaves, twelve whole peppers, a quarter of a bunch of parsley- roots, one onion, and one carrot. Place them on a slow fire, and take them off before they boil; lay them in an earthen jar with the water they were boiled in. (These can be used for frying or boiling, according to need). Bluefisll a Plcarienne. — Scale and score two pounds of blue- 2OO THE TABLE. fish, place it on a well-buttered baking-dish, moistening with three table- spoonfuls of mushroom liquor and half a glassful of white wine. Season with half a pinch of salt

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