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Codfish Steaks, Meuniere
Procure three nice slices fresh codfish, three-quarters of an inch thick. Season on both sides with a teaspoon salt and two light saltspoons white pepper, well divided. Have a little cold milk on a plate, dip each slice on both sides in the milk, dredge them with a little flour on both sides. Have a very clean frying pan, large enough to contain the three steaks; oil the pan with one tablespoon olive oil; heat well, place the fish in the pan and fry them for five minutes on each side, or until of good golden colour. Then place the pan in the hot oven for ten minutes. Remove from the oven, lay them on a dish, remove the bone of each, suppress the oil in the pan, then place in the same pan one and a half light tablespoons butter and heat on a brisk range until of a light brown colour, tossing the butter without ceasing. Meanwhile squeeze in the juice of half a sound lemon, add a teaspoon chopped parsley, mix a little, then pour over the steaks and serve with six small squares of sound lemon.
CORNED-BEEF HAS, AMERICAN STYLE\ Have a tender, lean piece of corned beef from the rump part, of one pond. Wash it well in warm water, then place it in a saucepan with three quarts water, or see that the water is twice as high as the top of the beef in the pan. Cover the pan and boil for two hours. Remove, drain.
Finely has the beef with twice its quantity of boiled potatoes. Mix both well together. Has very fine one medium onion and one green pepper, and nicely brown these in a small saucepan with a tablespoon of melted butter; then add the beef and potatoes. Moisten with two gills hot broth or hot water. Season with two saltspoons pepper but no slat. Mix well and let cook until all the water is absorbed. Dress the hash in an omelette form on a dish. Arrange a few bread croutons around the hash and serve.
A straightforward meunière: flour-dusted fish fried in fat, finished with browned butter, lemon and parsley. The only real difficulty is that the cooking times belong to an era of thicker steaks and cooler pans.
- SaltspoonAn old measure equal to about a quarter teaspoon. Two "light" saltspoons of white pepper is roughly a scant half teaspoon, split between three steaks.
- Hot ovenRead as 400-425F. The pan goes in as it is, so use a skillet with an ovenproof handle.
- Cut the cooking timeFive minutes a side plus ten minutes in the oven will leave 3/4-inch cod dry and flaking apart. Two to three minutes a side is enough to colour it; cook to 145F at the thickest point, and the oven stage can be skipped entirely for steaks this thin.
- The hinge is the butterBeurre noisette goes from hazelnut to burnt in seconds. Keep the pan moving, pull it off the heat the moment it smells nutty and turns light brown, and add the lemon juice immediately to stop the cooking.
- "Suppress the oil"Pour off the frying oil and wipe the pan before adding butter. Leftover oil dilutes the butter and dulls the nutty flavour you are after.
- Milk and flourThe milk dip is there only to make flour cling. Shake off the excess flour or it will scorch in the pan and cloud the butter.
- Codfish steaksCross-cut steaks with the bone in are uncommon at most counters now. Thick loin fillets work; skin-on pieces hold together better in the pan and there is no bone to lift out.:
- YieldThree steaks, three servings. The lemon squares are meant as a garnish at table, not squeezed in the kitchen.
Meunière means "miller's wife" -- the name is traditionally taken to point at the flour dredge, the one element the method cannot do without: flour, fat, browned butter, lemon, parsley, and nothing else pretending to be a sauce.