Category — Fish

4 dozen oysters
150 g – 5,25 oz. butter
2 shallots
2 tablespoons minced parsley
Salt, pepper
Breadcrumbs

Open the oysters carefully, reserving both shells and liquid. Strain the liquid into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Lift the flesh off the oysters with a small fork and poach in the liquid for 1 minute. Then drain and reserve.

Preheat the oven to a high temperature. Mince the parsley and shallots very finely and work them into the butter until it is soft and creamy. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Put the poached oysters back into their shells, fill them with the shallow butter, sprinkle with breadcrumbs, and bake in the hot oven for 5 minutes.

Serve very hot.

4 servings.

Source: A Taste of the Belgian Provinces, Enid Gordon and Midge Shirley (published by The Tuesday Group, rue Frans Merjay, 1060 Brussels).

  

400 g – 14 oz. asparagus
4 fish steaks of 80 g – 8.75 oz. each
pepper, salt
mustard
50 g – 1,75 oz. butter
100 g – 3,5 oz. breadcrumbs
chives
nutmeg
4 dl – 1 1/3 cup fish stock
2 dl – 6,6 fl. oz. eau de vie (“Jenever” – from Belgium)
cayenne pepper
saffron
smoked (Ardennaise) ham

Cook the asparagus in salted water. Season the fish steaks with salt and pepper. Coat them with a mixture of 1,5 teaspoon mustard, 50 g – 1,75 oz. butter, 100 g – 3,5 oz. breadcrumbs, chopped chives and nutmeg. Put the fish in an oven dish and pour the fish stock and the eau the vie (Jenever) over them. Leave for 20 minutes in a preheated oven of 180? C – 355? F.

Remove the fish steaks from the oven dish and add a lump of butter to the sauce. Season with cayenne pepper and some saffron. Heat the asparagus in the sauce. Put the fish and the asparagus on 4 warm dishes. Garnish with sauce and strips of smoked ham.

Remarks: 4 servings.

Source: my collection

  

FOR THE FISH BALLS:
350 g – 12 oz. leftover fish, boned and skinned
500 g – 1,1 lb boiled floury potatoes
1 clove garlic
2 tb chopped parsley
1 tb chopped chervil
1 tb chopped chives
50 g – 1,75 oz. softened butter
2 egg yolks
FOR THE BATTER:
100 g – 3,5 oz. plain flour
1 tb olive oil
1.5 dl – 5 fl. oz. lukewarm beer
Whites of 2 eggs
Pinch of salt

Mix the flour and salt with the oil and the beer, beating well together. Cover and leave in the kitchen, not the refrigerator or the cool larder, until required. This gives the batter a chance to ferment slightly, which improves its texture. Just before the batter is about to be used, beat the egg whites until stiff and fold in carefully.

Remove any skin or bones from the cooked fish. Mash the boiled potatoes and mix the fish, potatoes, chopped garlic, herbs and the softened butter together. Add the egg yolks one at a time: the mixture should hold its shape and be neither too dry nor too liquid. Use only one egg yolk if this gives the right consistency, or the second egg yolk and a drop of milk if the mixture is too dry.

Season to taste. Take a tablespoon of the mixture, roll between the palms of your hands, into a small ball: continue until all the mixture has been used up, flouring your hands from time to time.

Using a fork, dip each ball in the batter and then plunge into hot fat.

When brown and crispy, remove and serve with tomato sauce or mayonnaise.

Remarks: 4 servings.

Source: A Taste of the Belgian Provinces, Enid Gordon and Midge Shirley (published by The Tuesday Group, rue Frans Merjay, 1060 Brussels).

  

4 trouts
100 g – 3,5 oz butter
3 shallots
100 g – 3,5 oz. mushrooms
2 tb flour
Juice of one lemon
1 tb chopped parsley
0.75 l – 3 cups red wine
Salt, pepper

(You will need a casserole big enough to hold the fish side by side and deep enough to take the liquid, and which can be used on top of the stove.)

Melt the butter and saute the finely chopped shallots until they just begin to soften. Add the sliced mushrooms. Brown gently and add the flour. Mix well, and when the flour has soaked up the butter, add the wine. Bring slowly to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes.

Clean and wipe the trout dry. Add to the wine, with salt and pepper, and cook very, very gently so that the liquid is just simmering for 15 minutes.

Place the trout on a warmed serving dish and reduce the sauce to thicken slightly. Check the seasoning. Away from the heat, add the lemon juice and stir in a walnut-sized piece of butter.

Sprinkle with parsley and serve with boiled potatoes.

Remarks: 4 servings.

Source: A Taste of the Belgian Provinces, Enid Gordon and Midge Shirley (published by The Tuesday Group, rue Frans Merjay, 1060 Brussels).