CookEat Recipe
Planked Shad Fée
A whole opened shad rubbed with paprika, curry and anchovy butter, oven-cooked on oak and finished with grated fresh coconut, lemon quarters and parsley.
Method
Steps
Step 1
Use one very fresh whole American shad (Alosa sapidissima) weighing three and a half pounds before its preparation. Have it properly gutted and scaled. Wipe it dry, open through the front without separating the two sides, remove the spinal bone and trim neatly all around, keeping the head and tail attached. Check carefully for remaining fine bones. Make a few shallow incisions on the skin side and keep the fish refrigerated.
Step 2
Mix one light tablespoon of softened unsalted butter with three saltspoons of paprika, half a teaspoon of curry powder, one teaspoon of anchovy paste, the juice actually squeezed from half a sound lemon and half a teaspoon of freshly chopped parsley. Rub the fish carefully inside and out with this mixture. Refrigerate for thirty minutes, rubbing the mixture over the fish several times during that period.
Step 3
Use a clean, sound, properly conditioned solid oak plank intended for cooking food in an oven at 400°F. Choose one that supports the entire opened fish and fits in the oven with the door closed. Lightly oil its surface, put it on a rimmed metal baking tray and let it warm as the conventional oven preheats to 400°F.
Step 4
Carefully place the fish skin side down on the oiled plank and spread all the remaining butter mixture from its bowl over the fish. Roast for about thirty-five minutes, checking before the end if the fish is thin.
Step 5
While the fish roasts, grate the white flesh of one small fresh coconut, keeping its shell, brown skin and liquid out of the dish. Bring the tray to the oven door, sprinkle the grated white coconut flesh over the fish and return it to the same 400°F oven for about ten minutes more, watching so the fibres do not scorch. Continue as needed until the thickest flesh on both joined sides reaches at least 70°C and stays at that temperature for two minutes, checking with a clean thin-tip thermometer away from bones. The flesh should be opaque and separate easily.
Step 6
Place the board on a heatproof serving dish, with a clean folded napkin beneath the dish and clear of the hot wood. Decorate with six fresh lemon quarters and a little parsley greens. Serve immediately, taking care with any remaining fine bones.
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