Pike perch, and especially freshly caught fish, is amazingly tasty, tender and aromatic, but pike perch cheeks are especially good. Moreover, this ingredient can be prepared in several ways, each tastier than the other. In European cuisine, baking pike perch cheeks in the oven is especially popular.
Pike perch cheeks in pots
To prepare this dish, you should take earthenware, in which the ingredients (2-3 potatoes, 150-200 grams of sour cream, a little salt and 100 grams of butter) are not just cooked, but literally ripen slowly.
Pike perch cheeks (about 8-10 pieces will be needed for the above products) can either be purchased separately frozen or cut out on your own. To do this, it is best to take medium or large fish, since manipulating small perches will take a long time, and the result will be insignificant. Then the ingredient needs to be well salted, pepper and refrigerated for about 15-25 minutes, so that they are lightly marinated.
While the cheeks are infused, it is necessary to peel and cut the potatoes into small circles, and the prepared pots must be greased from the inside with butter. The ingredients are laid out in it in the following sequence: first the potatoes, which need to be slightly salted, then the fish, pour the remaining oil on it, and put a couple of tablespoons of sour cream on top.
Pike perch cheeks are cooked in the oven for about 20-25 minutes at a temperature of 180-200 degrees Celsius, after which the dish is served with a garnish of fresh vegetables.
More complex recipe for the previous dish
Required ingredients - 6-8 pike perch cheeks, a little chopped greens (parsley and celery), half a head of onion, a little bay leaf, a pea of allspice, 300-350 grams of fresh champignons, 2 tablespoons of ground breadcrumbs, 1 tablespoon of butter, the same amount of flour, half a lemon, 1 boiled egg, salt and sugar.
Clay pots are also best for this dish. The cheeks must be finely salted and kept in the refrigerator for a little. Then the fish should be put in boiling water and cooked in it for 3-5 minutes, then cooled and cut into small pieces.
In this recipe, the cheeks are laid out first in the also oiled pot. Now comes the turn of the other ingredients. First, the finely chopped champignons need to be stewed in a pan for 5-8 minutes, and the onions must be fried in another bowl until they change color. After the mushrooms are laid out on the fish in a pot, onion on top, then a chopped egg in circles, potatoes, greens on top of it, sprinkle everything with breadcrumbs, salt and pour sauce.
The latter is prepared in the following way: you need to pour flour, sugar, lemon juice into the melted butter, which then need to be cooked over low heat for 3-5 minutes. Pots are prepared in the same way as in the previous recipe.
