fish heads.

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

moikel

Master of the Pit
Original poster
OTBS Member
Jul 26, 2011
3,198
218
Sydney &Greenwell Point Australia
I have 2 x fish heads in the freezer. Both red emperor from previous steamed fish dishes.

They will make stock today to become seafood risotto tonight.

I will most likely use prawns & some mussels for the finished dish.

I get some photos up soon.This fish a close relative.

 
  • Like
Reactions: foamheart
 
Ya know it scares me because that song was my frist thought when I saw the title. Dr. Demento what a great show! LOL

Sorry back on course....... Lookin good Moikel! You always amaze me.
Like the rice based dishes from all over the world its all about the base you build off. I see that in your cookery. The fish stock is just right . I may take the heads off the prawns ,fry them with some bits, give them a slug of vermouth,crush them with the potato masher then strain the pan juices into the fish stock.

I think I will cook prawns & mussels separate & add them at the end.

Back to the yard work now,constant thunderstorms all week make it hard to keep on top of the garden.
 
Risotto a bit like a roux,once you start it you can't stop.

I am ready to go .

I put all the shells in a pan with garlic,dried chilli,EVO, butter,CBP,lemon zest. Cooked them until coloured,crushed heads with potato masher then gave a big slug of vermouth,bubbled that then added some white wine & some fish stock. Cooked that off for a bit then strained it all back into fish stock.


I have fried chopped red onion in EVO & butter.

Now its clear the decks so I can start risotto.I benched the mussels,I picked over the fish heads got a fair bit more meat so its fish & prawn.
 
Risotto is like a lot of things ,people have different takes on it.

This worked really well.

I just walked the standard path ,add hot stock stir with wooden spoon.

I put the prawns in cooked till they turned colour,them turned it off the flame.

I put all the fish head meat,cheeks,collar,tongue,throat in & let it warm in the rice,big hand full of parsley.

 
Now there's some meat on that fish! I heard so much about fish collars from a friend and I waited till I caught some 5-6lb rainbows and tried it out. There wasn't much meat on the collars but they were quite good. I grew up fishing and never heard of collars being a delicacy. I have heard of cheek meat and that I will agree is a prime piece of meat if you have a fish big enough.

Risotto looks great!
 
I boiled the stock super gently & pulled it off the heat as soon as I could see heads were cooked. I got all the meat out in distinct pieces as a result.

Stock had plenty of punch thanks to the addition of the prawn shell component.

Glad you all liked it.Thanks for your kind words.
 
 
Nice one Moikel...looks great.

I've never tried to make Risotto..must rectify that situation.
Funny thing is when I was a teenager the family farm had a rice crop,about 125 acres. Our rice industry used the Italian rice industry as a template back in the 60s. I had never seen risotto until I was about 30. I figure restaurants find it hard to make to order.

If your reading Foamheart I did see Italians catching frogs in their rice paddies then making risotto on a travel/cooking show. I have seen snail risotto as well. Got that stretch the family meal vibe about it that you talk about in your cajun cookery. If you lived in Northern Italy you always had rice in the pantry.

My favourite was duck stock,porcini mushrooms ,bacon,red onion.Then a couple of duck sausages grilled and put on top. Butcher used to give me duck frames by the bag.I used to render all the fat,then make stock.Then the "cooking revolution " started & people discovered duck fat so no more freebies for me
icon_eek.gif
.He sells it by the jar now. 
 
I hide and horde duck fat. I am starting to lose my taste buds, it happens to nearly all of us at some point. I am going to have to get that fat out and use it before I can't differentiate the taste anymore. I need some taste bud and budette picker uppers. LOL

Its all about what grows and lives in your home region. I always laugh thinking how hungary the poor guy was who ate the first oyster.....LOL
 
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Latest posts

Hot Threads

Clicky