Jane Grigson's Fish Book - Jane Grigson [186]
With a fish slice, lift the sole on to a large hot serving dish. Arrange mussels, prawns and winkles, if used (provide pins and little bowls of water for washing fingers if you do), in three close but separate rows round the sole. Pour over enough sauce to cover generously, without swamping the garnish: serve the rest separately. Put the serving dish into a hot oven or under a preheated grill to glaze (not brown). Serve immediately, with bread and white wine.
The ‘secret’ of the dish – as of most of the great chefs’ recipes, I suspect – is using the best ingredients with the special taste of one particular person. In this instance this means knowing exactly how much to reduce the fish stock, and exactly how much to add to the sauce for the finest result.
FILLETS OF SOLE SAINT-GERMAIN
This is a delicious recipe for the summer when fresh tarragon is available for the sauce béarnaise.
Serves 6
175 g (6 oz) butter
12 fillets of sole
seasoned flour
breadcrumbs
500 g (1 lb) new potatoes, scraped and diced
salt, pepper
sauce béarnaise*
First clarify the butter (see p. 14), and strain it into a frying pan which is off the heat. Dip the sole fillets in flour and shake off all surplus. Pour off a little of the clarified butter into a bowl, and with a brush spread it over the sole fillets, then press them gently but firmly in breadcrumbs. Put the frying pan on to the heat and cook the potato dice, stirring them about so that they brown evenly. Keep the heat moderate. Season the potatoes when done.
Meanwhile, grill the sole under a low to moderate heat to avoid burning the breadcrumbs. Allow about 10 minutes, turning them over at half time.
Arrange the grilled sole on a serving dish, surround with the potatoes, and serve with sauce béarnaise (which the prudent cook will have made in advance of cooking the fish and potatoes, leaving it to keep warm over a pan of hot water. Hot, not boiling or even simmering water).
NOTE Grilled sole and potatoes fried in clarified butter can also be served with sauce Choron* which is a béarnaise flavoured with tomato purée. Sprinkle the potatoes with a little chopped parsley before arranging them on the serving dish.
FILETS DE SOLE VÉRONIQUE
‘Monsieur Malley, saucier at the Paris Ritz and later chef des cuisines at the London Ritz, was my professional ideal…’ writes Louis Diat, the inventor of Crème Vichyssoise glacée. ‘Malley had a fertile mind, and many of the fish sauces served in good restaurants today were originated by him. Filets de sole Véronique, for instance, was a Malley invention. A special party was planned, and Malley decided to add tiny white grapes to the white-wine sauce for the fish course. He gave instructions to a trusted under-chef, and went out, as usual, for the afternoon. When he returned, he found the young man so excited that he could hardly work. Monsieur Malley discovered that the young man’s wife had just presented him with a baby girl, their first child. Monsieur Malley asked what they would name the child. “Véronique,” was the reply. “Alors,” said the chef des cuisines, “we’ll call the new dish filets de sole Véronique.” And so it is called to this day.’
Serves 4
60 g (2 oz) butter
2 shallots or ½ small onion, finely chopped
8 fine fillets of sole
salt, pepper
150 ml (5 fl oz) dry white wine
150 ml (5 fl oz) béchamel sauce*
4 tablespoons double cream
1 egg yolk
250–375 g (½–¾ lb) seedless white grapes or muscatels
Grease a shallow pan with 1 tablespoon of butter, and put in the chopped shallot or onion. Roll up the fillets of sole, salting and peppering them first, and secure with a cocktail stick. Arrange them on top of the onion. Pour in wine and the same amount of water, cover with foil, and either simmer on top of the stove for about 10 minutes, or else bake in a hot oven (gas 7, 220°C/425°F) for 15 minutes: the first way is best. When the