La Lama Mountain Ovens
Old Italian family recipes
and archives, baking tips, and bakery gifts
Family Secrets
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La Lama Mountain Ovens |
The best of the recipes, techniques, and methods practiced by our large extended Italian-American family - with emphasis on the legacy handed down to us by the original immigrants. This is a cookbook-in-process project. If you try any of these recipes please let us know how they turn out, whether or not you had any difficulties, and any clarifying improvements you might recommend to make them foolproof. We will of course acknowledge genuine "test-kitchen" assistance. |
Family Secrets #34Fish Casserole and Fish Soup By CeCe Dove, La Lama Mountain Ovens |
| Because we grew up far
from the ocean and before the advent of mass
distribution, fresh fish was a rare luxury. I remember as
a child once each week the local poultry store would get
a shipment of fish, and it would be limited to two or
three varieties. But my mother always took advantage of
this shipment and would make her weekly purchase of cod
or snapper. She had a few tried and true recipes that I
still fall back on when I want a taste of comfort foods,
but it wasn’t until I moved to northern California
that I really began to appreciate the diversity and
nuances of the many kinds of fish available. During this
period I came to understand and use the endless variety
of seafood readily available, and to experiment with
recipes both old and new. Fish is so wonderfully versatile that it adapts itself to any season. It is a welcome change from steak or ribs on the grill in the summer. On cold rainy evenings the first recipe, a casserole of potatoes and cod, will warm you up. The second recipe, zuppa de pesce (fish soup), is a part of every Italian family's tradition along the coast of the Mediterranean, and each little village has their own version. In America, we have adapted many of these old recipes to make use of the seafood we have in such abundance. This is a dish that can be enjoyed in any season because it is both light and easy to diges, while hearty enough to be a meal in itself. The length of the recipe may seem intimidating, but be assured it goes together easily, and if you make the base a day ahead it will take even less time. Teglia di Pesce (Fish Casserole) |
Serves six
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| Peel and slice the
potatoes about 1/4" thick. Blanch in boiling salted
water for 3 to 4 minutes to barely soften. Drain and pat
dry. Wash the fish and remove any obvious bones with a
tweezers. Pat dry and set aside. Use a moderately deep
casserole with lid. Brush the dish well with olive oil.
Place an overlapping layer of potatoes on the bottom,
salt and pepper them, add a single layer of fish (you may
need to cut them to fit), sprinkle with some of the
parsley, garlic and breadcrumbs and a little more salt
and pepper, then drizzle with olive oil. Continue the
next layer of potatoes, then fish, the same way, ending
the layers with potatoes on top. Divide the parsley,
garlic, olive oil and breadcrumbs to use them all
according to how many layers your pan will hold. Ideally
you should have two layers of fish and three layers of
potatoes. Cover and place in a preheated 350° oven. Bake
for 45 minutes. Serve piping hot! Zuppa de Pesce Soup Base (serves six): |
|
 1948 - CeCe didn't get a bite. |
| Sauté the onion in
the olive oil until soft and translucent, about 7 or 8
minutes. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Add
shrimp shells and cook one minute. Add wine and let
simmer an additional couple of minutes until almost
boiled away. Add the remainder of the ingredients. Bring
to a boil, turn down to simmer and partially cover.
Simmer for 30 minutes. Strain this base and refrigerate
if not using immediately. It may be made a day ahead. Soup ingredients: |
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| Ideally you should use
an attractive soup pot that you can bring to the table
because it is very difficult to transfer the soup to a
tureen. Alternatively you could plate the soup for
service. Warm the oil in your soup pot. Add the onion and sauté until golden. Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute or two, just until fragrant. Add the tomatoes, parsley and soup base. Bring to a simmer and taste for salt. Add a few grinds of black pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes. Begin adding fish by the toughest or densest first, such as swordfish and tuna with the most delicate added to the pot last. Your object is to have all the fish thoroughly cooked but not dry and overcooked. Add the shrimp last since they will only take about two or three minutes to cook. The entire process, once you begin adding fish, should take no more than 12 minutes. Serve at once. Traditionally this is served with grilled or toasted bread, but garlic bread is a nice alternative. Notes on fish. The most complex and interesting flavors are developed by having a variety of fish. I would not make this with less than three varieties. Good possibilities include sea bass, tuna, swordfish, snapper, cod, halibut, and salmon. Be careful with oily, dark fleshed fish such as mackerel or eel because they can overpower the dish. Wash the fish in cold running water. Pat dry and pull out any obvious bones. Cut into chunks about 2" by 2". If you are able to get a couple of fish heads or frames from your vendor, add them to the soup base, eliminate the bottled clam juice and increase the water by 2 cups. Altitude Adjustment: Over 5,000 feet increase cooking time for soup base by 10 minutes. |
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