504. MATELOTTE OF EELS, A LA BORDELAISE.

The modern cook · Charles Elmé Francatelli · 1846

Source: The modern cook
Status: success · extracted 12 days ago
Not a recipe: No

Ingredients (26)

For the matelotte

Cut some eels into three-inch lengths ↝ Fish, eel [Fish]
sliced carrot ↝ Carrots, raw [Vegetables and Vegetable Products]
onion ↝ Onions, raw [Vegetables and Vegetable Products]
parsley-roots ↝ Parsley, raw [Not included in a food category]
mushrooms ↝ Mushrooms, raw [Other vegetables and combinations]
thyme ↝ Thyme, fresh [Spices and Herbs]
bay-leaf ↝ Spices, bay leaf [Spices and Herbs]
mace ↝ Spices, mace, ground [Spices and Herbs]
four cloves ↝ Garlic, raw [Vegetables and Vegetable Products]
a few pepper-corns ↝ Corn, raw [Corn]
a little salt ↝ Salt, table, iodized [Spices and Herbs]
a bottle of claret

For the sauce

a ladleful of brown sauce
some essence of mushrooms ↝ Mushrooms, raw [Other vegetables and combinations]
two glasses of claret

For finishing the sauce

a pat of butter ↝ Butter, stick, unsalted [Dairy and Egg Products]
three anchovies
a tea-spoonful of capers ↝ Capers, canned [Spices and Herbs]
a clove of garlic ↝ Garlic, raw [Vegetables and Vegetable Products]
a little nutmeg ↝ Oil, nutmeg butter [Fats and Oils]

For garnishing

a glazed croûton of bread ↝ Bread, vegetable [Yeast breads]
quenelles of perch ↝ Fish, ocean perch, Atlantic, raw [Finfish and Shellfish Products]
a trimmed and glazed crayfish ↝ Crayfish, cooked [Shellfish]
white muscles
button-mushrooms ↝ Mushrooms, white button [Vegetables and Vegetable Products]
stewed button-onions ↝ Onions, raw [Vegetables and Vegetable Products]

Instructions (4)

Cut some eels into three-inch lengths, place them in a stewpan with sliced carrot, onion, parsley-roots, mushrooms, thyme, and bay-leaf, mace, four cloves, and a few pepper-corns: season with a little salt, and moisten with a bottle of claret.
Set the eels to stew on the fire, and when done, drain, trim, and place them in a clean stew-pan with a little of their liquor to moisten them.
Then put the remainder of the liquor into a stewpan with a ladleful of brown sauce, some essence of mushrooms, and two glasses of claret; let this boil; then set it by the side of the stove to continue gently boiling, that it may throw up the scum, and become bright; when this is effected, reduce it to its proper consistency, by boiling it down quickly, stirring the sauce the whole time with a wooden spoon to prevent its sticking to the bottom of the stewpan and burning.
Then pass the sauce through a tammy into a bain-marie, and just before using it, make it hot, and incorporate with it the following prepara-tion:—mix a pat of butter with three anchovies, a tea-spoonful of capers, a clove of garlic, and a little nutmeg, pound the whole together and pass them through a sieve: having well worked this into the sauce, pour it over the matelotte, and dish up the latter as follows:—place the pieces of eel on the dish in circular order, each piece resting on the other, with a glazed croûton of bread between,—fill the centre with quenelles of perch, place a trimmed and glazed crayfish across each croûton, and garnish round the inner edge of the dish with alternate groups of white muscles, button-mushrooms, and stewed button-onions.

Original Text

504. MATELOTTE OF EELS, A LA BORDELAISE.
Cut some eels into three-inch lengths, place them in a stewpan with sliced carrot, onion, parsley-roots, mushrooms, thyme, and bay-leaf, mace, four cloves, and a few pepper-corns: season with a little salt, and moisten with a bottle of claret. Set the eels to stew on the fire, and when done, drain, trim, and place them in a clean stew-pan with a little of their liquor to moisten them. Then put the remainder of the liquor into a stewpan with a ladleful of brown sauce, some essence of mushrooms, and two glasses of claret; let this boil; then set it by the side of the stove to continue gently boiling, that it may throw up the scum, and become bright; when this is effected, reduce it to its proper consistency, by boiling it down quickly, stirring the sauce the whole time with a wooden spoon to prevent its sticking to the bottom of the stewpan and burning. Then pass the sauce through a tammy into a bain-marie, and just before using it, make it hot, and incorporate with it the following prepara-tion:—mix a pat of butter with three anchovies, a tea-spoonful of capers, a clove of garlic, and a little nutmeg, pound the whole together and pass them through a sieve: having well worked this into the sauce, pour it over the matelotte, and dish up the latter as follows:—place the pieces of eel on the dish in circular order, each piece resting on the other, with a glazed croûton of bread between,—fill the centre with quenelles of perch, place a trimmed and glazed crayfish across each croûton, and garnish round the inner edge of the dish with alternate groups of white muscles, button-mushrooms, and stewed button-onions.

Notes

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