James Beard's New Fish Cookery (26 page)

Select the 12 largest and best-looking shrimp and set them aside to use as a garnish. Chop the rest of the shrimp very fine or put them through a food chopper, using the finest blade. While you are doing this, let the bouillon reduce to 11/2 cups. Strain it and correct the seasoning. Prepare 2 cups of sauce velouté, using the bouillon as a base, and when it is smooth and thick add the chopped shrimp. Pour the sauce over the fish, garnish with whole shrimp, sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese, and brown quickly under the broiler.

NOTE
: You may prepare this dish with fillets instead of whole fish.

FILLETS OF SOLE BENEDICTINE

Brandade de morue (page 100)

White wine court bouillon (pages 19–20)

6 fillets of sole

Chopped parsley

This has a delightful combination of flavors and is a wonderful dish for a buffet party. It’s so good, in fact, that it’s worth keeping secret as a “specialty of the house.”

Prepare a brandade de morue. Poach the fillets in a simple court bouillon. When done, arrange them on top of the brandade and sprinkle with chopped parsley. To serve, surround the fish with grilled whole tomatoes or sautéed zucchini.

FILLETS OF SOLE CLOVISSE

6 fillets of sole

White wine court bouillon (pages 19–20)

2 cans (7 ounces each) minced clams

Sauce velouté (page 21)

12 mushroom caps Chopped parsley

Poach the fillets in the court bouillon according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 12). Remove them to a baking or gratin dish. Add the juice from the clams to the court bouillon and let it reduce to 11/2 cups of liquid. Prepare 2 cups of sauce velouté, using the broth as a base. When it is thick, add the minced clams and taste for seasoning. Pour the sauce over the fillets and garnish with sautéed mushroom caps and chopped parsley. Run the dish under the broiler just long enough to brown lightly.

NOTE
: Naturally, you may use fresh minced clams for this dish. If you do, use several whole poached clams as a garnish.

FILLETS OF SOLE CASANOVA

1 pound mushrooms

2 cups shredded celery root

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons curry powder

Butter

Garlic

6 fillets of sole

Beurre manié (page 475)

1 cup cream

Grated Parmesan cheese

Chop the mushroom stems, combine them with the celery root, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil. Add seasoning and simmer until the celery root is tender. Add the curry powder.

Sauté the mushroom caps in butter with just a touch of garlic. Season to taste.

Following the Canadian cooking theory (page 12), poach the fillets in the curry broth with the celery root and mushroom stems. When they are done, place them in a gratin or baking dish and top with the celery root. Thicken the curry broth with beurre manié, add the cream gradually, and stir until smooth and well blended. Taste for seasoning and pour over the fish. Surround with the sautéed mushroom caps, sprinkle with the grated cheese, and brown quickly under the broiler.

FILLETS OF SOLE CREOLE

6 fillets of sole

Court bouillon (page 18)

11/2 cups sauce velouté (page 21)

3 large tomatoes, peeled and diced

2 medium onions, thinly sliced

1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced

6 tablespoons butter

Chopped parsley

Poach the fillets in court bouillon according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 12) and remove to a hot gratin or serving dish. Reduce the bouillon to 1 cup and strain. Using it as a base, prepare 11/2 cups of sauce velouté.

Sauté the vegetables in butter until lightly browned but not mushy. Season to taste. Top the fillets with the vegetable mixture, cover with the sauce, sprinkle with chopped parsley, and run under the broiler for a few minutes.

FILLETS OF SOLE NIÇOISE

2 cloves garlic, chopped

4 tablespoons olive oil

11/2 cups tomato sauce

12 anchovy fillets

6 fillets of sole

2 cups tomato juice

1/4 cup vermouth
or
red wine

1 teaspoon basil

18 ripe olives

Chopped parsley

Sauté the garlic in olive oil; add the tomato sauce and 6 of the anchovy fillets, chopped. Season to taste.

Poach the sole fillets in the tomato juice and the vermouth (or wine) flavored with the basil, following the Canadian cooking theory (page 12). Remove the fish to a hot platter and reduce the liquid to 1 cup very quickly. Combine it with the tomato sauce and allow it to cook down and blend nicely. Taste for seasoning and pour over the fish. Garnish with the 6 remaining anchovy fillets and the olives. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.

SOLE AU VERMOUTH

6 fillets of sole

11/4 cups dry vermouth

4 egg yolks

1/2 cup butter

3 tablespoons cream

Salt

Poach the fillets in just enough dry vermouth to cover them according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 12). Remove them to a flat baking or gratin dish. Reduce the cooking liquid over a brisk flame until it is practically a glaze.

Put the egg yolks and the butter cut into small pieces into the top of a double boiler. Cook over hot water and beat with a wire whisk or electric beater until thickened and smooth. Add the cream and the reduced cooking liquid, and salt to taste. Take care that the water never boils, or you will have scrambled eggs instead of a smooth sauce. Pour the sauce over the fillets and run under the broiler to glaze.

NOTE
: The many herbs and flavorings in the vermouth make extra seasonings unnecessary in this dish.

FILLETS OF SOLE MARGUERY

This is one of the most famous recipes for sole, having been created in the old Restaurant Marguery in Paris. It is not a difficult dish, and the combination of flavors makes it remarkably good.

6 fillets of sole

White wine

24 shrimp

36 mussels

Sauce au vin blanc (page 23)

Poach the fillets in enough white wine to cover them according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 12). Remove to a baking dish. Shell and clean the shrimp and poach in the same wine for 3 minutes. Keep hot. Steam the mussels until they open (page 416) and extract the meat. Reduce the white wine and prepare the sauce. Cover the fillets with the sauce, surround them with the shrimp and mussels, and run under the broiler for a minute to glaze.

FILLETS OF SOLE DUXELLES

6 fillets of sole

White wine

Sauce duxelles (page 27)

18 small mushroom caps

4 tablespoons butter

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup port wine

Chopped parsley

Poach the fillets in white wine to cover as in the preceding recipe. Remove to a flat baking or gratin dish. Reduce the wine and make the sauce duxelles. Sauté the mushrooms lightly in butter and season to taste. Remove to a hot plate and keep hot. Rinse the pan in which the mushrooms were cooked with the port and pour it over the fish. Cover with the sauce, top with the sautéed mushroom caps, and run under the broiler to glaze. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.

FILLETS OF SOLE WITH LOBSTER

2 lobsters (11/2 pounds each)

Salt

4 fillets of sole (about equal size)

White wine

Sauce béchamel (page 23)

1/4 cup cognac
or
whiskey

1/2 cup heavy cream

Grated Parmesan cheese

Cook the lobsters in boiling salted water for about 8 to 10 minutes. When cool enough to handle, split them and remove all the meat from the bodies and claws. The pieces of claw meat should be removed carefully so as to keep them perfect. Set them aside and chop or grind the rest of the lobster meat very fine.

Poach the fillets of sole in white wine according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 12). Remove them to a piece of absorbent paper or cloth. Reduce the wine to half and use it as a base for preparing 2 or 3 cups of béchamel. Combine the chopped lobster meat and the sauce béchamel, add the cognac or whiskey, and gradually stir in the heavy cream. Continue stirring until the mixture is thoroughly blended and heated through. Line each half lobster shell with a little of the sauce. Place a fillet in each half shell, cover with additional sauce, top with a piece of claw meat, sprinkle with cheese, and glaze under the broiler.

FILLETS OF SOLE MORNAY

6 fillets of sole

White wine or vermouth

Sauce Mornay (page 22)

Grated Parmesan cheese

Poach the fillets in white wine or vermouth, according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 12); when they are done put them in a flat baking or gratin dish. Reduce the wine by half and add it to the sauce Mornay. Pour this over the fish, sprinkle with grated cheese, and run under the broiler to glaze.

FILLETS IN SHELLS

6 croustades

Butter

6 fillets

White wine

8 ounces noodles (green
or
white)

Salt

Butter

Garlic

Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup grated Swiss Emmer-thaler
or
Swiss Gruyère cheese

Sauce Mornay (page 22)

Grated Parmesan cheese

Prepare 6 croustades from large loaves of bread by trimming the crusts and hollowing out the loaves. The croustades should be about 6 inches long and 4 inches wide and fairly deep — 3 inches at least. Toast them, butter them well, and keep hot.

Next, poach 6 fillets that you have folded in half in white wine according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 12).

Third, cook the noodles in boiling salted water until just tender. Drain them and sauté lightly in butter with a touch of garlic and some coarsely ground pepper. Add the grated cheese.

Fourth, prepare a sauce Mornay and add the reduced wine broth to the sauce.

Fifth, fill the croustades with the noodle mixture, top each one with a folded fillet and cover with sauce Mornay. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese and glaze for a minute under the broiler.

This, with a green vegetable such as green beans, with plenty of butter, and a salad, makes a remarkably good supper for a large group of people. It takes a little extra trouble to prepare, but it is attractive and the individual loaves make it convenient to serve. A white wine, dry and flinty — such as a fine Chablis — is excellent with it.

FILLETS IN BLANKETS

4 fillets of sole

White wine
or
vermouth

Sauce Mornay (page 22)

2 cups cooked spinach

Salt

Butter

4 individual omelets

Chopped parsley

Poach the fillets in white wine or vermouth according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 12), and keep them hot in a warm oven or over low heat. Use the liquid to make a sauce Mornay. Cook the spinach and flavor with salt and butter.

Prepare omelets according to your favorite recipe. When they are ready to roll, add to each a bit of the sauce, a little spinach, and a fillet. Then roll and top with more spinach and sauce. Sprinkle with the parsley.

SOLE MIRABEAU

This is the original version of the fillets in blankets. It is simple to make although it sounds involved.

6 fillets of sole

White wine
or
vermouth

2 cups sauce Mornay (page 22)

2 cups cooked, buttered spinach,
en branche

6 eggs

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

6 tablespoons butter

Fold the fillets in half and poach them according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 12) in enough white wine or vermouth to cover. Remove them from the broth and keep warm. Reduce the cooking liquid and add it to the sauce Mornay.

Prepare a large soufflé omelet with 6 eggs. Beat the yolks and whites separately, and fold the whites into the yolks. Season and cook in a skillet in which you have melted 6 tablespoons of butter. While it is cooking, make a soufflé mixture:

4 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons flour

1/2 cup milk

1/2 to 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

3 egg yolks

4 egg whites

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Melt the butter, blend in the flour, and add the milk and grated cheese. Cool slightly, season to taste, and add the slightly beaten egg yolks; then fold in the stiffly beaten whites.

When the soufflé omelet is deep and puffy, slide it onto a large baking dish, and with a sharp knife and a spatula remove the center part. Cover the bottom with a layer of the sauce Mornay. Then add a layer of spinach, then the fillets, and cover the entire top with a thin layer of the soufflé and Parmesan cheese mixture. Bake for about 10 minutes in a 425° oven until the soufflé mixture is puffy and lightly browned. Serve with additional sauce Mornay.

OMELET STUFFED WITH SOLE

Here is a quick version of the recipes above. For each serving make two small plain omelets. Place an omelet on each dish, top with a fillet of sole which has been poached in court bouillon, cover this with the second omelet, and over all pour a good cheese sauce (page 23).

FILLETS OF SOLE BONNE FEMME

Butter

2 shallots, finely chopped

1/4 pound mushrooms, chopped

4 fillets of sole

Chopped parsley

1 cup white wine

Beurre manié (page 475)

Lemon juice

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Melt enough butter in a large sauté pan to oil the bottom well. Add the shallots and half the mushrooms, place the fillets on top, and cover with the rest of the mushrooms. Season to taste and sprinkle with a little chopped parsley. Add the wine and poach according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 12), basting often. Remove the fish to a serving dish. The liquid should have reduced to less than half its original volume. If not, cook it rapidly until it is reduced. Thicken with a little beurre manié, add a few drops of lemon juice, and taste for seasoning. Pour over the fillets and sprinkle the top with chopped parsley.

FILLET OF SOLE DUGLÉRÉ

The French chef Dugléré invented this now classic dish in the nineteenth century.