My Grandmothers Gefilte Fish Pt 1

My Grandmothers Gefilte Fish Pt 1 Ingredients

4 lb Carp fillets	2 lg Sweet onions, chopped
2 lb Each of whitefish, pike and	1/2 c Sugar
THE RECIPE	1 ts Finely ground black pepper
Fish heads, tails, skin and	8 lg Eggs
Water	2 c Matzo meal
Salt	1 lb Carrots, peeled and sliced
8 Ribs of celery, cut into	Paprika
10 lb Fish fillets, ground (if the	Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions for My Grandmothers Gefilte Fish Pt 1

I live in the L.A. area and never heard of buffalo fish till we moved here. You dont see it often, but its around from time to time...never in the supermarkets, though. Ive found it in seafood stores, mostly, or groceries with an excellent selection of fish. Pretty much, its just a fish, so youre okay substituting another "regular" fish. I wrote an article about my grandmothers gefilte fish that was published in the LA Times a few years ago. My cousin wrote to ask me for the recipe, and here is what I wrote him (unedited): You need 4 kinds of fish...you need carp, whitefish, pike and another kind of your choosing. It must be kosher, of course, but look for a fairly firm fish like the above. Russ Parsons changed my article to say halibut, but thats gross. Do NOT use shad...its too firm and makes the fish hard and dry. Bubbe used mullet, but sometimes you cant get that. She never swore by the above and always told me not to buy fish if it was expensive, but she almost always bought carp, whitefish, pike and mullet in all the years I helped her make it (and she helped me, in the last few years of her life). Carp is a pain...do no less than have them clean it for you...filleting it is the biggest royal pain Ive ever experienced in my kitchen. I can buy it in a place that will fillet it, but I have to pay about $4 a pound for that privilege (though there are times its worth it)...on the other hand, if I pace myself, I can buy all the fish and fillet it myself and save a bundle. There are places in LA and the valley where I can get carp for .79 or .99 a pound...theyll clean it for that price but I cant even pay them to fillet it. Anyway, unless you have fillets in hand, allow yourself a lot of time to take care of this. Here are the proportions I recommend...these are approximate, so nothing is engraved in stone: I make a lot, though Ive cut back in recent years. We used to have two seders, now only one...and Adam used to eat it a lot through the week, but without him here... Anyway, you need not only the fillets, but all the crap that goes with them, too...heads, tails, bones, skin...the works. And lastly, when I was learning how to make it from Bubbe, she taught me to taste the raw fish mixture to determine if it was seasoned properly. Those days are past. What with all the bacteria in animal products, you dont want to do that anymore...so you cook small amounts to taste and adjust seasonings. It takes a lot longer this way, but youre guaranted to make it to the seder in good health. Cut 2 pieces of cheesecloth large enough to hold fish heads, tails, skin and bones. Place in cheesecloth and tie closed. Put cheesecloth packets in 2 large pots and cover with water. Add 1 to 2 teaspoons salt and half of celery and bring to boil. Turn heat down, cover and simmer 2 hours. If fish has not been ground at market, grind fish in meat grinder or in small batches in food processor. Place ground fish in large bowl. Add onions, sugar, 2 T. salt, 1 teaspoon finely ground black pepper and stir to combine. Lightly beat eggs and blend with fish mixture. Mix in matzo meal, 1/2 cup at a time until mixture is almost consistency of light meatballs, adding more if necessary. (If mixture becomes too hard, add a little water.) Place fish mixture in refrigerator to allow flavors to blend while fish stock is simmering. When stock is finished, remove cheesecloth packets, allowing packets to drain back into pot. Discard these packets and their contents. Transfer about 2 cups of fish stock to small pot and bring to simmer. continued in part 2

Main Ingredient: Seafood-OtherCuisine: Uncategorized

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