French Provincial Cooking - Elizabeth David [170]
Be sure to use a porcelain or enamel-lined dish; tin or unlined cast-iron will turn the cider black.
A small whole turbot, a sea-bream, a piece of skate, or fillets of John Dory (St. Pierre) can be cooked in the same way.
FILETS DE SOLE DEAUVILLAISE
FILLETS OF SOLE WITH CREAM AND ONION SAUCE
Sole cooked à /a deauvillaise is a curious combination, perhaps, but one much liked by those who share the Norman fondness for onions.
For four people the ingredients are 2 fine soles, filleted, 6 oz. onion, pint cream, butter, cider or white wine, nutmeg, French mustard, lemon, seasonings, breadcrumbs.
Weigh the onions after they have been peeled; chop them. Melt 1 oz. of butter in a thick pan; in this cook the onions very gently, so that they turn transparent and yellow but not brown. In the meantime make a little fish stock by cooking the carcase of the sole for 10 minutes with pint of cider or white wine, pint of water, a slice of lemon and a little salt. Strain. Sieve the onions to a purée, add about 2 tablespoons of the prepared stock and the cream; stir till smooth and fairly thick. Season with grated nutmeg, a little freshly-ground pepper, salt if necessary and a scant teaspoon of French mustard. All this can be done in advance. When the time comes to cook the fish, poach the fillets in the remainder of the stock. About 5 minutes is enough. Remove them to a heated oval gratin dish. Cover them with the sauce, gently reheated. Sprinkle breadcrumbs on the top, and add a few little pieces of butter. Put under the grill for about 3 minutes and serve at once, with little triangles of bread fried in butter arranged round the dish.
Fillets of John Dory, sea-bream, whiting or even plaice can be prepared in this way.
SOLE BERCY
SOLE WITH SHALLOTS AND WHITE WINE
Put not much more than a teaspoon each of finely chopped shallot and parsley into a well-buttered oval gratin dish. Add 2 tablespoons of white wine. Put in the oven for 5 to 7 minutes, so that the shallot and wine cook a little and amalgamate. Now put in your sole, skinned on both sides and seasoned with salt and pepper. On top put a tablespoon of butter in small pieces. Cover with buttered paper. Cook in a low oven, Gas No. 3, 330 deg. F., for 15 minutes, for a medium-sized sole weighing about lb. Spread some of the shallot and juices on top of the sole and put the dish under the hot grill for 2 minutes so that it acquires a light glaze. Serve in the same dish.
It is quite possible to use dry vermouth instead of white wine for this dish.
SOLE SUR LE PLAT
PLAIN BAKED SOLE
This is an even simpler way of cooking sole than the Bercy method.
Make a little concentrated fish stock by just covering the skin, taken from both sides of the sole, with water. Add seasoning (but only a very little salt) and a sprig or two of parsley. Simmer until there is only about 2 tablespoons of liquid.
Put your seasoned sole in a well-buttered fireproof dish, pour over the strained liquid, cook in the oven and finish under the grill exactly as in the Bercy recipe above. Put a little maître d’hôtel butter (page 116) on top of the fish before serving.
TURBOT SAUCE MESSINE
TURBOT WITH CREAM AND HERB SAUCE
For those who can lay hands on tarragon and chervil, a herb and cream mixture called sauce messine, from Lorraine, is one of the most delicious of summer sauces to serve with fish.
Buy a piece of turbot weighing a little over 2 lb. (the bones are very large, so this is not too much for four people), put it in a baking dish and cover it completely with half water and half milk. Cut turbot is much apt to dry up during cooking, and so should have plenty of moisture. Add salt and a sprig of fresh tarragon and parsley.
Bake, covered with a buttered paper, in a fairly slow oven (Gas No. 3, 330 deg. F.) for about 55 minutes, until you see that the flesh comes easily away from the bones. One side of the turbot is thicker