December 2007 #1

Herb Encrusted Winter White Grunt

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Quotes from the books:

Grunt - ".....a large game fish that haunts the plankton banks to feed on parsit fish." Maruaders of Gor (pg 59)
this is a large, carnivorous, salt-water fish that inhabits Thassa...much like the shark of Earth..it is attracted to the blood of wounded creatures and feeds on smaller fish

Peppers - Some of the peppers and spices, relished even by the children of the Tahari districts, were sufficient to convince an average good fellow of Thentis or Ar that the roof of the mouth and his tongue were being torn out of his head. - Tribesmen of Gor, p 46
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White grunt is very thick and very tough. You want the fillet to be pure and all meat so be sure to discard any remaining bony-looking cartilage and if desired you can trim the red edges, though they are edible. To help the fillet breakdown into tender flakes soak the white grunt steaks in the cold room for half a day in a bowl of cold bosk milk with a splash of sul paga. Then drain the liquids and pat the fillets dry. In a small skillet melt half a mug of verr butter. Add to it 1 small chopped onion, half of a small mug full of finely chopped mild Taharian Peppers (these will still be quite spicy so only use half of a small mug), and a half a head of garlic very finely minced. Pour the melted butter mixture into a low shallow baking pan.

Add 3 vulo eggs and 1 mug of verr milk in a shallow bowl and mix well. In another shallow bowl add 5 pieces of toasted sa tarna very finely crumbled, and a small spoonful (use a blackwine silver spoon as it is very small) each of pepper, red salt, dill, and thyme and mix well. Dip the white grunt fillet into the egg and milk mixture and then coat it with the dry mixture and then lay it in the baking pan with the melted butter mixture. Lightly coat the top of the fillets with a very thick Bosk cream. Sprinkle lightly with red salt and place the pan in the oven over a very warm heat. Bake until thoroughly cooked.

While the grunt is cooking prepare the vegetables. In a shallow pan add a mug of water, 2 spoonfuls of verr butter, and a small spoonful of white salt and bring to a boil. Add to the boiling water a handful of green beans, 2 large finely chopped woods mushrooms, and the other half of the garlic head finely minced. Saute the vegetables until tender and then remove from heat and drain the water.

Prepare the plate. Add a large flaky grunt fillet to the plate. Take a spoon and drizzle some of the spicy butter and onion cream sauce over the fillet allowing a small pool to form around the meat. Finely chop a spoonful of dark green chives and sprinkle them over the grunt steak. Add a large portion of the beans and mushroom mixture to the plate. Garnish with a sprig of parsley and a thick wedge of golden sa tarna bread for sopping up the rich cream sauce.