Shad Roe

[lizziee]

We are having shad roe for dinner tonight. Yippee!!! I am making it the classical New England way with bacon. What wine would be best?

[southern girl]

Hi Lizziee...I think I would go with a cremant for the acidity to cut the butter and bacon fats...or if you want red...beaujolais or chianti...

[carpet bagger]

What time is dinner? I'll be right over. Just kidding. I'm not sure what New England style means but with the shad roe and the bacon I would serve a full bodied chardonnay. Or even an oaky chardonnay. Enjoy dinner.

[lizziee]

carpet bagger,

If you are in California, Santa Monica Seafood now has shad roe. They are beautiful.

I posted the recipe in another forum, but here it is:

Shad Roe

8 slices lean bacon

1 stick unsalted butter

4 small pairs of shad roe

1/2 cup all-purpose flour seasoned with salt and pepper

2 Tablespoons medium dry Sherry

8 slices homemade-type white bread toasted, crusts removed and kept warm

1 bunch watercress, trimmed

1 lemon, quartered for garnish

In a large skillet, cook the bacon over moderate heat until it is crisp, transfer it with a slotted spatula to paper towels to drain and keep it warm.

Pour off all but 1 Tablespoon of the fat from the pan, add the butter and melt it over moderate heat.

Dredge the shad roe in the flour, shaking off the excess.

In the skillet, turn the shad to coat it with the butter and cook it covered, turning it after 4 minutes for a total of 8 minutes. The shad will sputter as it cooks.

Stir in the sherry, carefully and simmer the mixture UNCOVERED for 2 minutes.

Halve 4 of the toasts diagonally. Arrange 2 toast triangles on opposite sides of each whole toast. Spoon 1 Tablespoon of pan juices over each portion of toast. Top each whole slice with 1 pair of shad, spoon remaining sauce over shad.

Garnish with bacon, watercress and lemon.

[SFJoe]

Dang, is it Spring already?

Doesn't look like it with the snow on the ground in NYC.

lizziee, where are your shad from?

Personally, the best match I ever had was old demisec Huet Vouvray. Or perhaps I should say middle aged.

Alternatively, Grand Cru Chablis with some age, old white Burgundy, German riesling spaetlese......

[lizziee]

With southern girl's help as we didn't have any cremant and SFJoe's suggestions were too late, we had A. Jacquart et Fils, rose champagne which worked very well.

The shad was wonderful and all I know about the shad is that they were from Santa Monica Seafoods as my husband did the shopping.

[Elissa]

I would have said an old French Viognier, though Rose champansky (I like Laurent Perrier) was likely best

Edited March 9, 2003 by lissome (log)

[Robert Nesta Marley]

I would have said an old French Viognier,

lissome, how old can you take your french viognier? i wouldn't drink dry condrieu more than three vintages old, arguments with regards to the ageability of grillet nonwithstanding (which i refuse to participate in for socio-political reasons ). or do you just like the angular way it gets as it loses its fruit??

[Elissa]

Must admit that I was only thinking of Grillet, and this can be mighty old indeed. I was thinking of the way it beads almost. Might be too damn parallel with the roe tho, no?