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Sheep's Head a la Creole
Into a stewpan put a chopped onion, and after removing the seed, a finely chopped green pepper. Brown for five minutes in a gill of oil; adding then a tomato, cut up, 4 mushrooms sliced, a stalk of parsley, 1 of celery, a bay leaf, and a sprig of thyme, some cloves, and a little garlic. Season with salt and pepper, and moisten with sauce Espagnole. Cut a 6-pound fish into, say, 6 slices; lay into the stewpan flat, and cook one hour over a very slow fire. When ready sprinkle chopped parsley over the whole. If desired, the fish may be left whole instead.
A Creole court-bouillon in all but name: aromatics browned in oil, a brown sauce base, and thick fish steaks laid in to finish. The one thing to change is the hour on the fire.
- The hour is the problemSix pounds of sheepshead cut into steaks will be done in 20 to 25 minutes at a bare simmer, and flakes to threads long before an hour is up. Left whole, a 6-pound fish needs roughly 35 to 45 minutes; cook until the flesh is opaque and just parts at the bone (145F at the thickest point is the standard guidance) and let it rest in the sauce.
- A gill of oilA gill is half a cup, which is generous for softening one onion and a pepper. Two to three tablespoons will brown the vegetables properly; the rest only floats on the finished sauce.
- Sauce EspagnoleThe brown mother sauce, built from a brown roux, mirepoix and veal or beef stock, reduced for hours. About two cups is right here. A well-reduced beef or dark chicken stock thickened with a brown roux stands in acceptably; the dish is not a delicate one.
- The fishSheepshead (Archosargus probatocephalus) is a firm, sweet Gulf and Atlantic inshore fish, sold whole at Southern coastal markets and less often elsewhere. Black drum, red snapper, grouper or a large porgy all hold up the same way. Avoid anything soft and flaky such as cod.
- Cloves and garlic"Some cloves" means whole cloves, and three or four is plenty in two cups of sauce; more turns the pot medicinal. "A little garlic" is a clove or two, chopped, added at the end of the browning so it does not scorch.
- Herbs to fish outThe parsley stalk, celery stalk, bay leaf and thyme sprig are all meant to be removed before serving. Tie them together if you want them out cleanly.
- YieldSix steaks from a 6-pound fish serves six as a main course, with rice to take the sauce.