Today I got finished with a large project at around and decided to go shopping for a few items we need around the house and go out for lunch. I went to Costco for gas and then a polish dog and while looking for toilet bowl brushes saw that they had a Seafood Fiesta. While considering the Seafood Fiesta offerings, I noticed that there were also beautiful fresh, true cod filets on sale for $5.99/lb. and, since I knew we had a bag of fresh potatoes, I immediately thought of fixing my favorite Swedish fish dish, Fish au Gratin, for Suzette for Valentine’s Day Dinner, so bought a 2.5 lb. package of cod. Perhaps I had started thinking about Swedish dishes after sitting beside Marie Baca (the judge) at the fondue party last night, who told me she had been married to a Swede for over 20 years, and sharing a few Swedish stories. We both lived in Sweden in Gothenborg and memories came flooding back to me as we talked).
After a short stop at Home Depot for the brushes, I went to Trader Joe’s and found fresh artichokes and two new wines I had not bought before, including a Quincon Cote de Provence Rosè (5.99), in case we wanted a pink wine, and a La Ronescina dry Pinot Grigio ($6.99). I also bought a bottle of Blason Burgundy
I then drove home and, after a bit more work, rode 10 miles until and took a shower. At around 5:45 p.m. I found the recipe in my Swedish cookbook, Swedish Cooking at its Best by Marianne Grönwall van der Tuuk (pages 98 and 99). The Fish Au Gratin (fiskgratin) is an elaborate recipe with five steps, first you make Duchesse Potatoes, a rich mashed potatoes dish made with butter and cream and 2 egg yolks; then you bake the fish with 3 Tbs. fresh lemon juice and 2 tsp. of salt for ten minutes, then you sautè and chop ½ lb. of mushrooms, then you make a cream sauce with 1 Tbs. of butter and 2 Tbs. of flour and 1 cup of the fish stock and 2 more egg yolks and add the sautéed mushrooms to the sauce. To construct the dish you fill the bottom of a buttered baking dish with the baked fish, then you pour the sauce over the fish and then cover the sauce with ½ cup of shredded cheddar cheese and then drop dollops of Duchesse Potatoes onto the sauce and then bake the dish to heat it throughout and then broil the dish for 10 to 12 minutes to brown the potatoes and cheese.
Suzette came home about halfway through the process, as I was slicing mushrooms and peeled potato chunks were boiling and asked what she could do, so I asked her to finish the Duchesse Potatoes, while I chopped and cooked the mushrooms and made the sauce and buttered the baking dish.
Suzette then asked, "What about a layer of asparagus?", so I fetched a bag with about one cup of blanched PPI asparagus and cauliflower flowerlets from Sunday’s fondue party. We then constructed the dish together, topping the fish with the asparagus and cauliflower before covering the fish with the sauce, cheese and potatoes.
Two things did not go perfectly. I over-salted the fish. The recipe called for 2 tsp. of salt and I put on about 1 ½ to 2 Tbs. of salt before baking it, so we deleted the salt from the rest of the recipe but the dish was still a little salty. The other problem was we did not chop up the spears of asparagus and the long strands of asparagus made it difficult to remove and serve cleanly segmented portions of the dish from the baking dish since the long strands of asparagus kept pulling the dish apart.
Suzette had been hosting a champagne and chocolate covered strawberry Valentine’s Day Happy Hour at the Bistro, so she chose the La Ronescina Pinot Grigio 2010. It is produced in the Dolegna del Collio DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) within the Fruili Venezia Giulia Region of Italy in the foothills of the Alps north of Venice
After dinner, my old friend Dee Simpson called and said he would be driving into town the next day (February 15, 2012 ), which made me recall that the first time I ever made Fish Au Gratin was with him in his house when we both were neighbors living in Fort Worth
I think it is safe to say that the Swedes have perfected everything one can do with fish and potatoes in the absence of green vegetables and herbs, just like the French have perfected everything one can do with an egg.
Fish au Gratin (fiskgratin) is really one of Swedish Cuisine’s gastronomic triumphs; right up there with Gravad lax and Swedish meatballs. So great that when you taste it, you will never forget its taste.
Bon Appètit and Happy Valentine’s Day
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