Popular at my holiday table, this is my version of gefilte fish. If you don't
know, gefilte fish is sort of like the ground beef of the fish world and is an
"Ashkenazi" (Eastern European) Jewish recipe and is traditionally
served as a first course on Sabbath and festival meals. Often people will boil
the loaf (in the parchment paper) in a big pot of water with a carrot and
celery, salt, pepper and maybe some sugar. My "doctored" recipe is a
favorite. I gauge if people like it by how much leftovers there are—or not.
Amazing Gefilte Fish Recipe
© 2011 Laya Saul
Ingredients:
Gefilte fish in a prepared, frozen roll or loaf
Onions
Lemon juice (optional)
Cider vinegar
Olive oil (or other oil)
Salt (optional)
Pepper
Garlic granules (optional)
Dried or fresh basil
Tomato paste thinned to a thick sauce
Instructions:
Take the fish loaf out of the freezer so it
begins to thaw
Peel and slice onion into rings
Line a loaf pan with sliced onion rings
Remove the parchment from around the loaf
Place in the loaf pan
Drizzle the lemon, vinegar, and oil over the
fish loaf
~about a
few table spoons of liquid per ingredient, there should be a little puddle of
liquid at the bottom of the pan
Sprinkle the pepper, salt, garlic, and basil
onto the loaf
Spread/pour the tomato paste so that the top of
the loaf is covered completely
Bake
uncovered at a medium temperature ~350 F or number 5.5 European for about 30
minutes uncovered.
Then cover
and bake for another 30 minutes. If your oven doesn’t bake things well, you can
leave it in to continue to bake a bit longer. (As long as you don’t burn it, it
will be fine to bake for longer.)
This finished recipe takes a while to cool. When
it has cooled enough to handle, cut into slices and arrange on a serving plate.
Arrange the onions around the fish slices. If there is sauce at the bottom,
drizzle it over the slices.
It can be served warm or cold from the fridge.
