RYBA Z KHRONOM (BAKED FISH FILLETS WITH PINK HORSERADISH SAUCE)

Mar 12

Mar 12 RYBA Z KHRONOM (BAKED FISH FILLETS WITH PINK HORSERADISH SAUCE)

The Kitchen Scholar

Fish

SOURCE: MARTA PISETSKA FARLEY. FESTIVE UKRAINIAN COOKING.

Jewish Ukrainians like the freedom-fighting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy or any of their diasporic descendants including Steven Spielberg, Bob Dylan, Mel Brooks, Jon Stewart, Leonard Nimoy, and Mila Kunis, would have encountered a baked casserole of fish clothed with a veil of piquant horseradish in their household dining table at least once in their life. Because horseradish loses a considerable amount of flavor at high temperatures, it does not join the fish during baking. Instead, the fish cooks under a *velouté* sauce to keep moist before the finishing horseradish provides a tasty boost.

Ingredients

6 cod fillets, each weighing 5.5 ounces/150 grams

1 tablespoon/18 grams sea salt

1 tablespoon/15 mL freshly squeezed lemon juice

3 tablespoons/25 grams plus more flour

3 tablespoons/45 grams unsalted butter

1 cup/240 mL fish stock

2 teaspoons/15 grams sugar

Horseradish Sauce

2 tablespoons/28 grams tomato paste

2 to 3 tablespoons/30 to 45 grams ground horseradish

1 cup/240 mL smetana OR crème fraîche

Millet Kasha

Chopped flat-leaf parsley for garnish

Specific Equipment

Large bowl

Large well-buttered baking dish

Small saucepan

Wire whisk

Serves 6

Instructions

1. Season the fish fillets lightly with salt and sprinkle with lemon juice. Set the fish aside in a large bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

2. Dredge the fish fillets lightly with flour, shaking off excess. Arrange the fish fillets in a single layer in a large well-buttered baking dish.

3. Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C.

4. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in 3 tablespoons/25 grams flour for 2 minutes or until the mixture is lightly golden. Stir in the fish stock and sugar, whisking constantly for 4 to 5 minutes or until the sauce has thickened. Pour the entire sauce over the fish fillets. Bake for 15 minutes or until the sauce has formed a crust over the fish fillets.

5. Whisk the tomato paste, smetana or rème fraîche, and hotseradish altogether in the same saucepan over low heat until well-blended. Keep warm.

6. Remove the baking dish from the oven. Spread large spoonfuls of the Millet Kasha in equal portions on individual serving plates and place the fish over. Pour the warm Horseradish sauce over the dish and sprinkle in chopped parsley for garnish.