Fish & Shellfish

From the earliest times, Salmon was the king of all fish, was prized as a great delicacy and took pride of place at the banquets of the kings of Ireland. Cormac Mac Art, an early high king of Ireland died when a salmon bone stuck in his throat! Haddock is another fish that has a strange story, it is has a special brown mark on its side that is supposed to be the thumb-print of St. Peter, left when he hauled the fish into his boat in the Sea of Galilee! Restaurants in Ireland have an abundance of seafood, Dublin Bay Prawns and Cockles and Mussels being a speciality. Oysters, Crab, Scallops and Lobster are most popular too, to name but a few.

Poached Salmon

2 lbs of fresh salmon
Enough water to cover
A good fistful of kitchen salt
In a saucepan, bring water and salt to the boil (this amount of salt seals in the flavour but doesn't taste the fish!). Put in pieces of salmon and cook with the lid off at a gentle simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Put a tight fitting lid on the saucepan and let the fish finish cooking until the water is fairly warm but not hot. Lift out the fish and serve warm with any sauce you fancy. If you want to serve cold salmon, cook the same way and then leave in the water until ready to serve.

Stuffed Fillets of Haddock (or any white fish)

Two 1 lb fillets of haddock
1 cup white breadcrumbs
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon chopped thyme
1 tablespoon melted butter
Salt & pepper
1/2 cup cream
2 cups mashed potatoes
1 egg (separated)
Put one piece of haddock in the bottom of a buttered casserole dish. Make a savoury stuffing from the breadcrumbs, garlic, parsley, thyme, melted butter and seasonings. Put this on top of the fish and cover with the second fillet. Pour over cream then cover and bake in a moderate oven (350F) for about 15 minutes. Take out of the oven and cover with the mashed potatoes, to which the egg yolk and stiffly beaten egg white have been added. Return to the oven and brown.
Serves 4.

Molly Malone's Mussel Stew

10 lbs mussels in their shells
1 large chopped onion
1 oz butter
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 cloves crushed garlic
Pepper
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 oz extra butter for thickening (optional)
Scrub the mussels under running water and make sure to throw away any with an open shell. Rinse well. Melt the chopped onion in butter in a large saucepan, add mussels, all the other ingredients except salt, parsley and extra butter. Cook over very high heat and cover with a glass plate so you can see when the mussels open (about 5 mins!) Fish them out of the liquid and only keep the top shells to which the mussels are attached for serving. Return the liquid to the heat and let it reduce by fast boiling with the lid off. You can now thicken this if you wish by melting the extra butter with 1 oz flour and 1/2 cup thin cream. Add this to the soup in the pot and boil. When soup is ready, pour it over the half-shelled mussels and garnish with chopped parsley. This dish is always served in large soup plates.
Serves about 8
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