Corn

It seems absurd, unfeeling - I don't know what word to use - to be interested in food this week while watching the pictures from New Orleans this week.

But life goes on.

It is coming to the end of the season for fresh corn. I bought a few ears this week, from a nearby farmstand. I wonder how much longer that farm will be able to hold out against the developers.

I brought the corn home, shucked it, dropped it in a large pot of boiling water for 4 minutes, took it out, and ate it with melted butter and a bit of salt.

Nothing profound.

Why Gefilte?

I remember when my grandmother taught me how to make gefilte fish. I wasn't eager to learn. She was getting older, and making 20 lbs. of gefilte fish for Passover seders was getting a bit much. My mother wanted someone to help her. So I started by following her directions. And after she died, I took on the job. Being up to your elbows in 20 lbs. of raw ground fish does provide a certain perspective. The recipe below is a scaled-down version of hers.

The sugar in the recipe below is optional. My grandmother's family liked their fish sweet, but my grandfather's like their fish peppery. I prefer peppery.

Gefilte Fish

Broth:

3 carrots, peeled and sliced in large slices
2 onions, cut in rounds
1 stalk celery
bones and skin from fish(if available)
black pepper

Fish:

3 lbs of fish (whitefish/pike or whitefish alone or carp or even salmon), skin and bones separate
2 eggs
1 carrot, peeled, chopped into chunks
1/2 onion
matzah meal
1 T salt
2 t white pepper (black pepper is also acceptable, but my grandma didn't like little black flakes in her fish).
1 T sugar (optional)

In addition:

2 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 onion, cut in rounds

First, make a broth. Slice several onions, several peeled carrots, and a stalk of celery into a large stockpot. If the skin and/or bones of the fish are available, add those. Add salt and pepper. Cover with water, about 2-3 inches above the level of the vegetables and fish. Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 45 minutes. Strain out the skin and bones. Bring broth back to a simmer.

While the broth is cooking, using either a food grinder or food processor, grind together the fish, carrot, and onion. Add the eggs, salt and pepper, and sugar if desired, and mix. Add matzah meal about 1/4 cup at a time and mix thoroughly, until the mixture holds together well. If the mixture is too dry, add a bit of water.

Make fish balls of the size of a small handful, or very roughly 1/2 cup of fish mixture. Shape like making a snowball, and drop into the simmering broth. Depending on the size of the pot, you should be able to fit about 6-7 balls into a layer. On top of each layer, drop some of the extra sliced carrots and onion rounds. (This gives additional flavor, and also keeps the pieces from sticking together.) Continue making fish balls and layering them until the mixture is used up.

If there isn't enough broth to cover all the fish, add additional water to the pot to cover.

Simmer for 45 minutes.

Makes approximately 12 pieces of gefilte fish, depending on the size of the fish balls.

Alternatively, instead of shaping pieces by hand and simmering on the stove, the fish mixture can be put into several greased loaf pans or tube pans, and baked in the oven for about 45 minutes at 350. (Disposable foil loaf pans are great for this.) Garnish the top with cut carrots. This can be much more convenient to serve and store, and avoids having the entire house smell of cooking fish for the next several days.

Note: This is not a precise recipe. The amounts are all estimates -you may like more or less carrots in your fish, the fish may be wetter sometimes and require more matzah meal, you may like your fish with more or less pepper.

Or you can just eat the icky fish from the jar.