William Penn Life, 2005 (40. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2005-05-01 / 5. szám
The Hungarian Kitchen with Főszakács Béla Fish, fish, fish FÁRADJON BE A MAGYAR KONYHÁBA At the end of this month I'll be in Detroit for the bowling tournament where there are plenty of readers of the Hungarian Kitchen. The cookbook is coming along very well and the column in the month of August will be devoted to the new cookbook and its entire contents. In the meantime, thanks to all of you that sent in all the fine recipes. While the recipes were very interesting, I really enjoyed all the letters describing how the recipes came into the homes of so many William Penn members. There are a few recipes that date back to the 1920's when the second wave of Hungarians came over from Europe. We all can be proud of the fact we are preserving our Magyar heritage by keeping all the "old country recipes" alive and well for future generations to enjoy and pass down to their children as well. Köszönöm szépen! This month, let's explore another Cow,!* If a baking recipe calls for brushing butter on the top of any product to achieve a brown color, it’s best to use clarified butter instead of regular butter. Regular butter contains milk solids that burn causing dark spots and uneven browning of the food. Clarified butter has no milk solids and produces a uniform golden brown color. food source that is both healthy and very plentiful in most of our supermarkets-fish. Speaking of fish, here is this month's trivia question: What is the only fish we eat that lives in both saltwater and freshwater? The answer will be at the end of the column. There are two categories of fish. Fish have fins, backbones and gills. Shellfish have shells in various forms, like clams, oysters, crabs, lobsters and shrimp. I promise to publish another column about shellfish in the future. Fish can be broken down further into fresh wa ter and saltwater varieties. Perch, trout, catfish, pike, small and large mouth bass are some freshwater species. Cod, flounder, tuna, sea bass, snapper, mackerel, bluefish, salmon, hake, haddock and halibut are from saltwater. Freshwater and saltwater fish can be classified in two other categories: roundfish and flatfish. Roundfish have a round body with eyes on both sides of the head. Flatfish swim horizontally along the bottom with both eyes on the side facing upward. They are also oval or elliptical in their shape. For nutritional purposes, fish can be lean, have moderate fat or high fat. Lean fish have their oil in the liver and the fat content is about two percent. A few examples would be trout, cod, haddock, halibut, ocean perch and tilefish. Moderate fatiish have fat content of six percent or less. Among this group are striped bass, swordfish, bonito tuna and whiting. High fat-as much as 30 percent fat content--is found in herring, butterfish, mackerel, smelts, sturgeon and yellowtail. A wider distribution of fat in fish gives the flesh a darker color, firmer texture and distinctive flavor. A good '* ■>, V ,■* ' I « r X», J- J • — V, ; * *.* example would be salmon which can range in color from pink to redorange. When buying fish, look for a shiny, bright colored skin or scales with clear full eyes. Fish should not smell fishy at all. When you press into a fish with your finger, the flesh should spring right back because of its firmness. A fresh fish will also have red to bright pink gills. You can buy fish a few ways at the market. Drawn fish have been gutted with the gills removed. Dressed is the same as drawn with all the scales removed. Pan dressed fish have the head, tail and fins removed as well as being gutted and free of all scales. Most of the time the fish we buy in the market comes precut as a fillet or steak. A fish fillet has bones cut away from the flesh yielding a boneless Practical Pointer There will be times when you are working with recipes that contain sticky ingredients that must be rolled out or formed into shapes before chilling or baking. Rice Krispie Treats, Chinese Chews and Macaroon Cookies are just a few that come to mind. By dipping your fngers into ice water before handling the sticky mixture, you can eliminate the awkwardness of shaping your products and placing them on your bake ware or service ware. TO William Penn Life, May 2005
