The Second Avenue Deli Cookbook (32 page)

SERVES
6

1. Place water, sugar, bay leaves, onions, celery, and carrots in a large stockpot, and boil for 10 minutes. Add salt, pepper, thyme, and garlic, and stir in.

2. Place salmon steaks in large skillet, and pour above mixture over them (for 6 steaks, you'll probably need 2 skillets; divide broth ingredients equally). Simmer 6 minutes, or until fish flakes easily with a fork and center is pinkly juicy but not raw. Remove salmon from pan, discard all else, and trim off skin and fat. Serve chilled with herbed mayonnaise and
cucumber salad
. Garnish salmon steaks with lemon slices.

HERBED MAYONNAISE (GREEN SAUCE)

Keep this sauce in mind for other cold fish as well as poached salmon.

1. Place the cucumber, dill, and lemon juice in a food processor, and combine very thoroughly.

2. Empty contents of food processor into a large bowl, add all other ingredients, and mix very well with a fork. Refrigerate overnight. Serve chilled, with salmon or any other cold fish.

MAKES ABOUT
9

These salmon cakes are delicious hot, but they also make great cold sandwich fillings the next day with some lettuce and mayonnaise. The julienned leeks, an optional step, add crunchy appeal and make for a more elegant presentation.

1. Pour olive oil into a large skillet, and sauté celery, onions, and red peppers, stirring occasionally, until nicely browned. Remove to a bowl with a slotted spoon, and set aside. Retain remainder of olive oil in skillet.

2. In a large bowl, mash potatoes, cream cheese, and salmon together. Add parsley, scallions, lemon juice, marjoram, 1 egg, salt, pepper, and sautéed vegetables, and integrate very thoroughly.

3. Cover a cookie sheet with wax paper. Form the fish-potato mixture into 3-inch patties (about ¾ inch high), and place them on wax paper. Place sheet in freezer for 1 hour.

4. Beat remaining 2 eggs with ¼ cup water. Dip fish patties, one at a time, in the egg-water mixture, coating them completely; then dredge well in bread crumbs. Sprinkle both sides of each patty fairly generously with paprika, place them back on wax-papered cookie sheet, and return to freezer for 15 minutes.

5. While patties are chilling, chop off the tops and roots of your leeks, retaining only the lighter green part that separates easily into layers. Wash all the layers thoroughly (they usually have soil deposits), and cut them (vertically) into thin sticks about 3 inches long and ⅛ inch wide. Set aside.

6. Add butter to olive oil in skillet, and heat. Carefully place the fish patties in the pan, lower heat a bit, and sauté until nicely browned on both sides, covering the skillet after you turn them to make sure they heat through. (You'll probably have to cook the patties in batches or use 2 skillets; in the latter case, you'll need double the amount of oil and butter.)

7. Remove patties from skillet, squeeze a lot of fresh lemon juice over them, and cover to keep warm. Toss the leeks into the remaining oil and butter and, stirring constantly, sauté until lightly browned and crispy. Serve salmon cakes immediately, topped with leeks.

SERVES
6

Carp was scarcely known in America before the latter part of the nineteenth century, when it was introduced by German immigrants. But it became even more widely available in the next few decades as millions of Jews arrived on these shores. Carp has always been a “Jewish fish”—a frequently enjoyed entrée and an essential ingredient of gefilte fish. After all, it was Jews (silk
merchants trading in China) who brought carp to Europe in the first place, and it was Jews who farmed carp and popularized it in Poland.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place tomato purée, onions, celery, carrots, bay leaves, and sugar in a large skillet with 2 cups water. Bring to a boil; then reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes.

2. Sprinkle carp steaks lightly (
lightly
is the key word in this sentence) with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, and rub in well. Transfer contents of skillet and green peppers to a large baking dish. Arrange fish steaks over the vegetables, and bake, uncovered, for 25 minutes, turning them and basting with sauce midway (to test for doneness, slice open a large steak; the meat should be mostly white, with a little rosy pink around the edges).

3. Remove to a platter, discard bay leaves, and serve, hot or cold, with lemon wedges.