Defrosted loaf of Gafilta Fish-- Got any ideas?

DVOM ↓

Tue, Sep 17 2019, 6:38 am

Good Morning ladies!

I have a mushy, soggy, defrosted loaf of gafilta fish languishing in the fridge, a casualty of the freezer door being left open for a bit yesterday.

Any ideas what I can do with it? We don't eat gafilta fish weekly; I'd bought it on sale to have to make it for succos when we're having loads of company, including a relative who loves his gafilta fish and needs it to make an appearance at the start of each meal. It was meant to be plain old-carrots-and-onions-boiled-in-a-pot gafilta as per this relatives love of traditional g.f.... Can I still do that? Cook it today and put it back in the freezer cooked to save for yom tov?

If I can't, it looks like we're going to be eating gafilta fish for dinner. Any creative, intersting, unusal ways to dress up a loaf of fish? Can I remove it from the casings and make some sort of fish croquets?

Cookiegirl

Tue, Sep 17 2019, 6:57 am

I am not a big gefilte fish fan so I try to disguise gefilte fish in many ways.

One of the versions that gets rave reviews and requires defrosted gefilte fish is fish balls...basically, use a cookie scoop to scoop up the fish, roll each ball in flour (this is optional), and deep fry. I serve with a pasta salad of bowtie noodles, diced colorful peppers and fried onions. It's always a hit and it looks very pretty. Or you can serve with different dips (jalapeno, dill, spicy mayo, chrayonaisse etc).

Hope this helps.

singleagain

Tue, Sep 17 2019, 7:24 am

There was just a Chopped called gefilte fish in which the appetizer basket had gefilte fish. If you watch the first part you'll see some creative ways they used it

https://www.metacritic.com/tv/.....-dish

dankbar

Tue, Sep 17 2019, 7:33 am

fish balls in tomato sauce.

Saut'ee onions, garlic peas & carrots with spices. Then add equal amounts of tomato juice & water, to fill pot, with sugar, salt & pepper. When it's boiling, form defrosted gefilte fish into balls & drop into boiling tomato juice. lower flame. Let simmer till cooked through. ( like meatballs) Depends how hi flame is, maybe an hour. Check when stiff.
You may also add in some macaroni later on, to cook in the juice.

once cooked you may freeze it, entire thing together. Freezes well.

Last edited by dankbar on Tue, Sep 17 2019, 7:37 am; edited 2 times in total

mammale

Tue, Sep 17 2019, 7:34 am

I don't see why you wouldn't be able to boil it defrosted, as long as it's still in the paper... Wouldn't that be how people who make their own do it? ( Disclaimer: I've never actually tried this)
You can make fish balls in plain/ seasoned water - this may be closets to the traditional you relative likes, and also fancy. Serve with boiled carrot slices on top.
Gf freezes well, so you can cook now and save for yt.

Some defrosted gf recipes:
Fish balls: form into balls and drop into boiling marinara sauce ( you can add fried veggies too).
Form into patties and fry, or bake
Spread into the bottom of a pan pour marinara sauce on top. Bake. Carrots would look pretty in top of that... Don't know if they'd get dried out instead of soft in the oven though....

Rutabaga

Tue, Sep 17 2019, 8:07 am

Turn it into a quick dinner for tonight.

Baked Gefilte Fish with Vegetables:

Grease a pan and pour a little tomato sauce from a 15 oz can on the bottom. Place the defrosted gefilte fish loaf in the middle. Roughly chop some veggies to go around it. Usually do onions, zucchini, mushrooms, and sometimes carrots. Pour the rest of the tomato sauce over the fish and veggies. Season well with s&p, onion and garlic powder. Pour approximately 1/4 cup white wine into the tomato sauce can and swirl around to get the remainder and then pour that around the fish. Bake covered for an hour and then uncovered for another half hour. I serve it with a pereg quinoa mix but you can serve it with anything your family will eat.

↑ DVOM

Tue, Sep 17 2019, 9:16 am

Oh my goodness, these all sound delicious!!! I should leave my freezer door open more often! I think I'm going to eat it for dinner. I know my relative needs traditional fish. He would be very distressed to see his gafilta desecrated and demeaned by the addition of things like tomato sauce and wine. Besides, now I'm hungry (never thought I'd be hungry for gafilta fish!) I'm not sure which one I want to go with... going to consult with hubby who will be helping me consume said fish and see what appeals to him. Thanks guys!

BatyaEsther

Tue, Sep 17 2019, 9:36 am

Super easy- put it in a loaf pan, dump a jar of salsa over it (ok, put a little of the salsa in the pan under the fish). Cover and bake.
Additionally, there are many tri-colored gefilte fish recipes on the internet. I made them many times when I had more time on my hands. They look beautiful. They are all basically the same and you can't go wrong with any of them.

cholentfan1

Tue, Sep 17 2019, 1:20 pm

just to say I've accidently defrosted it several times and cooked as normal-tastes exactly the same, you would never know. Just be careful as it's much squishier (I once broke it when putting it in the pan)

thunderstorm

Tue, Sep 17 2019, 1:59 pm

This is a nice use of defrosted gefilte fish. I’ve made this a couple of times and everyone, even the fish haters liked it.
http://www.theaussiegourmet.co.....fish/

Cheiny

Tue, Sep 17 2019, 6:01 pm

DVOM wrote:

Slice, Smear with mayo, roll in corn flake crumbs or bread crumbs seasoned with lots of spices and fry.

abs

Tue, Sep 17 2019, 11:16 pm

Your defrosted gefilte fish is probably long eaten by now, but I like to make it into patties, place on a greased cookie sheet and bake until slightly golden. I like it better than boiled gefilte fish.

gold2

Wed, Sep 18 2019, 8:08 am

For next time if it's defrosted already you can roll into balls and cook it as you would usually use your gefilte fish in a classic way and freeze. My mother does this and it tastes great.