Fish Coubouillon Recipes

COURT BOUILLON FOR POACHING FISH

Steps:

• For the bouillon: Place all ingredients in medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer uncovered for 20 to 30 minutes. Strain and reserve. Can be refrigerated 3 days or frozen for months.
• For the fish: Run fingers over fish fillets to feel for tiny bones; if there are any, remove with needlenose pliers or tweezers. Lightly oil or butter the bottom of a deep skillet big enough to fit fish fillets in a single layer and place fish thus in skillet. Bring court bouillon to a simmer. Gently pour court bouillon over the fish, covering completely. Turn heat on very low so that liquid steams but does not quite simmer for 2 minutes. Turn off heat and let fish sit in liquid an additional 5 minutes per inch of thickness. Start checking fish for doneness: a thin knife inserted in thickest part of fillet should meet with just slight resistance. Fish should still be slightly translucent in center. Remove fish from skillet with slotted spatula, blot the bottom lightly with a paper towel, and serve.
• For the almonds: Heat large nonstick skillet over medium flame. Add almonds and cook for 2 minutes, tossing frequently, until light brown and smelling toasty. Reduce heat to low. Drizzle oil over nuts and toss well. Sprinkle soy and lime juice over and toss well. Sprinkle cayenne, black pepper, garlic and scallion white/light greens over and toss very well. Continue to cook, stirring and tossing frequently, for 5 minutes or until nuts are dry and scallion and garlic are soft. Add scallion greens, toss again, and serve over poached bass or snapper with a wedge of lime.
• For the emulsion: Wash watercress and remove the thickest stems. Bring medium pot of water to a boil and add 1 tablespoon salt. Have a medium bowl of ice water at hand for refreshing. When water returns to the boil, plunge watercress in and cook for 30 seconds. Drain watercress and quickly drop in ice water. When thoroughly chilled, drain watercress again and lightly squeeze out water. Chop blanched watercress roughly on cutting board. Place in blender and puree, adding a little water if necessary to get the mixture going. With blender running, gradually pour in oil until emulsion is formed. Add rest of salt and pepper, puree again and taste, adjusting seasoning if needed. Serve over poached salmon.

CREOLE REDFISH COURT-BOUILLON

Steps:

• Heat the 1/2 cup of the oil in a Dutch oven or large, heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add the flour, reduce the heat to medium, and cook, stirring constantly with a large wooden spoon, to make a roux the color of peanut butter, about 15 minutes. Add the onions, bell peppers, and celery, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the garlic and bay leaves, and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Place the tomato paste in a small bowl and whisk in the sherry to blend. Add to the pot, and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the stock, whisking to blend. Add the tomatoes and their juices, the sugar, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes, and cook, stirring, occasionally, for 20 to 25 minutes.
• Reduce the heat to low then whisk in the butter, bit by bit, until incorporated. Remove from the heat, taste, and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Preheat a grill to medium. To grill the fish, brush the fish all over with the olive oil and season the fish with the Essence. Grill the fish, basting occasionally with additional olive oil for about 8 minutes. Turn the fish and grill briefly on the second side. Return the court bouillon to the heat, add the fish, and simmer until just cooked through, about 3 to 4 minutes longer. To serve, spoon 1/2 cup of rice into the center of six large soup bowls and divide the red fish court bouillon equally among them. Serve immediately, garnished with parsley or green onion.

POACHED WHOLE SALMON

Steps:

• Prepare poacher Pour the Court Bouillon into a fish poacher and set the poacher over two burners on the stove. Lower the rack so it rests on the vegetables (in the court bouillon), then lay salmon on rack (trim the tail if necessary to fit inside). Add enough cool water to cover the fish completely; or, if only a small bit of fish is showing, you can cover it with a piece of parchment paper (cut to fit inside poacher).
• Poach fish Bring the liquid to a simmer over medium-high heat, then immediately reduce heat to medium-low. Check temperature with a candy thermometer and adjust heat so it is between 165° and 180°F (very few bubbles will break the surface but there should be steam coming from the surface). Poach salmon, adjusting heat as necessary to maintain the proper temperature, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest section registers 130°F (fish will continue cooking off heat). You can also test by inserting a knife into the flesh along the backbone; the flesh should still be slightly translucent and offer little resistance. The cooking time should be about 5 minutes per inch of thickness (once liquid has reached a simmer). Remove poacher from heat and allow it to cool until you no longer see any steam, about 1 hour. Lift the rack with the salmon from the poacher and set it over a large pan (or the sink) to allow the salmon to drain until just cool enough to handle, about 30 minutes.
• Prepare fish for serving Transfer salmon to a clean work surface. Use your fingers and a paring knife to pull and scrape off the skin from the top side of the fish. Use the back of the knife to scrape off any brown areas from the surface. Using two large spatulas, carefully slide the salmon onto a serving platter. At this point, the salmon can be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 4 hours.
• Serve Slice the cucumber lengthwise into very thin strips. Arrange the strips diagonally across salmon, spacing them about 1 inch apart, and tuck the ends underneath so they appear to wrap around the fish. Garnish with watercress. Separate into pieces and serve sauce and lemon wedges on the side.
• The salmon is garnished with a mixture of watercress and Upland cress (a member of the mustard family with a sharp, spicy flavor), which are also used in the accompanying sauce. You can find Upland cress (also called English cress or garden cress) at farmers' markets, or use all watercress instead.
• A poacher is just the right size and shape for cooking a large whole fish, such as the salmon in this recipe. For smaller whole fish, a roasting pan fitted with a wire rack can be used instead.
• To make the paper-thin strips of cucumber that appear to wrap around the fish, a mandoline is the best tool. A Japanese-style mandoline, such as Benriner, is inexpensive and sold at most kitchen supply shops. A vegetable peeler can be used instead, but it will not be able to produce the same uniform thickness as the mandoline.
• Peel and finely chop 1 English cucumber, then toss with 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt and 1 tablespoon each Champagne vinegar and small (nonpareil) capers that have been rinsed and drained. Set aside for 5 minutes, then stir in 1 cup sour cream and 1/2 cup finely chopped cress (use half watercress and half Upland cress, if you can find it). Season with freshly ground pepper and more salt. Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate up to 4 hours before serving. Makes about 2 1/4 cups.

COURT-BOUILLON

Steps:

• Fill a large stockpot with 7 quarts of water. Make a bouquet garni: Place the herbs, spices, and bay leaves on a square of cheesecloth; tie into a bundle with kitchen twine. Add to pot. Stir in wine, leek, carrots, lemon, and salt.
• Cover, and bring mixture to a simmer over medium-low heat. Uncover; gently simmer 30 minutes. Pour through a fine sieve into a large bowl; discard solids. Let cool completely.

LOUISIANA COURT-BOUILLON (OR CAJUN COURT BOUILLON)

Steps:

• Cut fish into 3 inch chunks and sprinkle with creole seasoning. Set in fridge.
• Cook veggies in butter until tender.
• Add roux (either use 4 tablespoons flour browned in a pan or oven or make with 4 tablespoons flour browned in 3 tablespoons butter).
• Add bay leaves.
• Add stock, tomatoes, other liquid ingredients and salt and pepper. Note: chicken stock or clam juice (or both) can be used if you have no fish stock.
• Simmer 20 minutes.
• Add fish, seasonings, and parsley and simmer gently for 15 more minutes.
• Adjust seasonings to taste.
• Serve with rice in bowl.

FISH COUBOUILLON

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large heavy pan, add the flour and cook, stirring, to make a medium brown roux (the color of peanut butter).
• Add the onions, garlic, celery, and green pepper and cook until softened, stirring occasionally.
• Stir in the tomatoes with their juice, the tomato paste, stock or water, wine, salt, peppers, cayenne to taste, lemon juice, bay leaves and thyme.
• Bring to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes, stirring frequently.
• Add fish chunks and simmer 10 minutes longer.
• Sprinkle with chives and parsley and serve hot.