Eel pie

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erehweslefox

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So as many of my recipes, there is a story behind this.

As you know, I spend a bit of time with my cooking researching medieval recipes. One thing that keeps coming up in English cooking is eel.

My beloved Wife said at one time, while researching this recipe, 'I will eat an eel pie when Trump is President' We know how that ended up.

So, I am planning an eel pie. Hoping there is someone here that has made one before. We have British and Irish People right? rj, Craig, anybody? Help me please.

I do have the eels. Took a bit of driving about.

So recipe ideas for a man with a freezer full of eels, a penitent spouse, the usual mix of spices and other stuff you would expect, and lodge cast iron, skilet and dutch oven.

I would be interested to hear what you think of eel as an ingredient.

Hoping we have some British friends or reston or Craig chime in.

Best,

TBS
 
not sure about eel pie or any fish pie for that matter, pie in my opinion should be a dessert, like an apple pie. Only English can come with such an idea like fish pie. I don't even like meat pie. But fish is Brrrrr.... ;)

Though I have to say russian stores sell smoked eel, if you like smoked fish it's to die for. Of course i can't eat it because it is not kosher, but I used to love it.
 
Hm. Smoked eel sounds good. Do you have a stove top smoker, Fox?

What about a pot pie type thing? Cook the eel and use it instead of chicken, along with veggies and gravy. Bake with a crust on top. You could use Bisquick in an impossible pie type thing, or a couple of Grands biscuits.
 
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Hm. Smoked eel sounds good. Do you have a stove top smoker, Fox?

What about a pot pie type thing? Cook the eel and use it instead of chicken, along with veggies and gravy. Bake with a crust on top. You could use Bisquick in an impossible pie type thing, or a couple of Grands biscuits.

Um, of course I have s smoke top smoker, I mean dawg, did you think I wouldn't?
 
Um, of course I have s smoke top smoker, I mean dawg, did you think I wouldn't?


Heh. I've never been in your kitchen! How would I know?

Smoked eel pie sounds like a possibility.
 
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English Eel Pie Recipe

How ever I am more used to weird thing with smoked eel and potato mash on top.

My Webroot security blocked something that the site you linked tried to send.

It still opened the page though, and that seems like a lot of work to prepare a product that I couldn't find around here if I looked for 10 years. I'm not going to look, so I'll never know if I'd be successful. I guess my palate just isn't that adventurous. I'd try it if someone put it in front of me, otherwise....:glare:

I've seen eel on "Chopped!", and most of the cooks who were faced with it struggled to figure out what to do with it.
 
Hard to clean, lots of little bones and ookies. Not like a walleye. Must be like filleting a snake.
 
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What kind of eel did you obtain? Lamprey eel, common in the great lakes, and in rivers and streams in the British Isles, is supposed to be a delicacy accross the Atlantic pond. However, the lamprey eels found in the Great Lakes was considered as a food, by the DNR, as a way to control the population, as when left to themselves, lampreys are parasitic on many of our large fish and can decimate the species they feed upon. They have no natural enemies in the Great lakes to control their populations.

The reason I bring this up is that you appear to be within striking distance of the great lakes, where the lamprey is a top predator. They are chock full of dioxins, and heavy metals and are considered unsafe to eat.

Eelpout, sometimes called losh, and other names are actually a deep-water fish in the great lakes, and in Minnestoa lakes as well.
They look like an eel, amd will wrap themselves around your arm. But they are considered the poor man's lobster. The flesh is mild, sweet, and flaky, yet firm.

Just be sure what you have, and where it comes from to avoid any safety issues.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 
Lets start with eelpout, I agree it is the poor mans lobster. We don't hold truck with those lampray eels.

I know here in Pennsylvania we are close to your fine lakes, we edge on beautiful Erie. We use a canoe, and play Lewis and Clark I have some relatives in Michigan and Wisconsin, I am gonna come camp in your back yard. I'm serious you go out it a canoe, you might just see me and my wife there...

so the eels are frozen. I have some time. give me some Minnesota eel recipes!

I assure you, not lamprays.

I actually found a good fishmonger here near Philladephia. The guy makes a weekly truck move to NYC , works with the asian fish market here in Philly. If I give him a heads up, he can get anything!
 
Eelpout (burbot?) is also called fresh water cod. In MN, we often catch them while ice fishing. It used to be people tossed them on the ice. Now people take them home. Hoping to catch a few this winter. Just hoping my Dad knows how to clean them...I sure don't--only know how to filet walleye when it comes to fresh-water fish. We usually only fish for walleye or lake trout.
 
About 1/2 hour away from where my parents live is Walker, MN.

The town of Walker, Minnesota, holds an International Eelpout Festival every winter on Leech Lake. In Finland, its roe is sold as caviar. There is an annual spearfishing tournament held near Dauphin, Manitoba, Canada. One of the highlights of the tournament is the fish-fry where the day's catch is served up deep-fried. It may be of interest to note that burbot meat when cooked tastes very similar to the American lobster (Homarus americanus). Hence, other times referred to as "poorman's lobster".
 
So as many of my recipes, there is a story behind this.

As you know, I spend a bit of time with my cooking researching medieval recipes. One thing that keeps coming up in English cooking is eel.

My beloved Wife said at one time, while researching this recipe, 'I will eat an eel pie when Trump is President' We know how that ended up.

So, I am planning an eel pie. Hoping there is someone here that has made one before. We have British and Irish People right? rj, Craig, anybody? Help me please.

I do have the eels. Took a bit of driving about.

So recipe ideas for a man with a freezer full of eels, a penitent spouse, the usual mix of spices and other stuff you would expect, and lodge cast iron, skilet and dutch oven.

I would be interested to hear what you think of eel as an ingredient.

Hoping we have some British friends or reston or Craig chime in.

Best,

TBS
Did you get eel or eelpout (burbot)? Eel and burbots are not the same fish. Burbot is related to cod and the flesh resembles cod when you cook it. Burbot has a very firm flesh and you have to add oil when grilling it, etc. Eel is a very oily fish, IME. Burbots kinda look like big, ugly catfish, at least the ones in Northern MN do. They also have fins, whereas eels don't.
 
Did you get eel or eelpout (burbot)? Eel and burbots are not the same fish. Burbot is related to cod and the flesh resembles cod when you cook it. Burbot has a very firm flesh and you have to add oil when grilling it, etc. Eel is a very oily fish, IME. Burbots kinda look like big, ugly catfish, at least the ones in Northern MN do. They also have fins, whereas eels don't.

Oh I got the genuine eel, and I am a little woried about the oilyness. any ideas of mitigating it? I'm thinking acid, maybe adding some cider to the recipe?


TBS
 
Well as far as I know eel is fatty a fish, eel is also red listed and no kosher. Thats all I know.

People most often enjoy the fatty texture of eel, I dont.
 
Eel pies

1. Conger Eel Pie

This pie has a crust of puff or flaky pastry. The Cornish (south west England) version, the pie has beaten eggs, butter and milk poured over the chopped eel and topped with browned breadcrumbs.

3lb skined and boned conger eel
1/2 oz butter
20z finely chopped onions
2 tsp chopped parsley
1/2 tsp dried mixed herbs
s & p
1 tablespoon vinegar
1/2-3/4 pint fish stock
1/2lb flaky pastry
1 egg

Oven 450°F, 15 mins
350°F 30 - 45 mins

Cut the eel into 1 inch pieces. Butter your pie dish and layer the eel pieces with the onions. Sprinkle each layer with parsley and mixed herbs. Add the vinegar and enough fish stock to come up to about 3/4 depth of the dish. Cover the eel with the pastry and glaze with the beaten egg. Cook as indicated above

East Ham Eel Pie London

Eels are to London what Yorkshire pudding is to York! Jellied eels are very popular still. The availability of eels, mussels and oysters was high. Jellied Eels with parsley sauce are still very popular in London's East End. The Cornish version of this pie has the addition of currants and a topping of suet pastry.

3lb skinned eels
1/2pt fish stock
s&p
Pinch of mixed herbs
a little chopped parsley
4 oz sliced onions
1tbsp lemon juice or vinegar
savoury shortcrust pastry for the topping, enough to make a generous lid

oven: 425° for 45 - 60 mins

cut the eels into small pieces. Put in a pan together with the offcuts.Add the stock, then season with the s & p. Cook gently until the pieces of eel come easily off the bones. Lift the eel pieces out of the pan then strain the stock and pour enough to just cover the eels. Cover with the pastry lid glazed with egg.

Eel-Pie Island Pie. from Eel Pie island on the River Thames, and greatly renowned for the quality of the pies.

3lb skinned eels
2 chopped shallots
4oz butter
a palmful of chopped parsley
s & p, pinch of nutmeg
glass of dry white wine
flour for thickening
lemon juice to taste
2 - 3 hardboiled eggs
1 1/2lbs rough puff pastry
1 beaten egg for glazing

Oven temp 450 °F for the first 20 mins then lower the temperature to 350 - 375°F for35 - 45 mins

Cut the eels into pieces and leave whole or remove the bones. Cook the shallots gently in some of the butter, until transparent. Add the parsley, nutmeg, s&p, the wine. Add the eels, adding some water if necessary. As soon as the liquid starts to boil, take the eels out of the pan and put into a 1 quart pie dish, larger if necessary.
Next make a roux with the flour and butter and then add some of the stock to make the sauce in the usual way. Check for seasoning, then add the lemon juice. Pour the sauce over the eels, and cut the eggs into quarters. place these randomly in the pie dish and put the pastry lid on. Bake on a high heat for the first 15 minutes then on the lower heat for the rest of the cooking time indicated above.

From 'British Cookery', compiled by the British Tourist Authority and the British Farm Council and published by Croom Helm Ltd, London. 1976
 
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