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By Root 1073 0

pretty and often taste agreeable, I do confess to a preference for sole on the bone; it keeps more of its natural flavour when cooked that way. But I make an exception for this recipe from Les Recettes Secrètes des Meilleurs Restaurants de France. At first the title and ingredients were irresistible; then I found that the smoked salmon adds a most delicious flavour to the sauce, an unexpected piquancy.

Here you have the basic recipe for all paupiettes of fish; it can be adapted to humble herring fillets or varied to make many dishes of sole, lemon sole and turbot. The fish bones can be used to make a little stock to go with the white wine when a larger amount of sauce is required.

Serves 4

8 fillets of sole

salt, pepper

30 g (1 oz) butter

125 ml (4 fl oz) dry white wine – Chablis or Sancerre

1 large egg yolk

1½ generous tablespoons single cream

SALMON BUTTER

60–90 g (2–3 oz) smoked salmon

30 g (1 oz) butter, softened

salt, pepper, lemon juice

MUSHROOM DUXELLES

250 g (8 oz) mushrooms, chopped

30 g (1 oz) butter

salt, pepper, lemon juice

1 generous tablespoons double cream

First make the salmon butter. Reduce the smoked salmon to a purée in a liquidizer with the butter. Season to taste with salt, pepper and lemon juice.

Season the cut side of each sole fillet; spread with salmon butter and roll up – use cocktail sticks to keep the fillets in shape. Butter an oval ovenproof dish and place the rolled fillets in it, packed closely together, side by side. Pour the white wine over them. Bring the liquid to the boil, cover with aluminium foil, and either place in a moderate oven for up to 10 minutes (gas 4, 180°C/350°F) or leave to simmer gently on top of the stove for 5–7 minutes, turning the paupiettes once. Whichever method you use, do not overcook the fish.

Meanwhile cook the mushrooms quickly in the butter. Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Remove from the heat, stir in the cream and put onto a warm serving dish.

Pour cooking liquid off the sole into a saucepan, and reduce it by half. Beat the egg yolks and cream together, stir a tablespoon or two of the reduced liquid into this mixture; return to the saucepan and cook slowly without boiling until thick. Place paupiettes on the mushrooms, coat them with the sauce and serve. At the Domaine de la Tortinière at Montbazon, where this dish is on the menu, small fish shapes are cut out of a piece of smoked salmon and used to garnish the paupiettes.

SEVICHE OF SOLE WITH SCALLOPS

Serves 6

6fillets of sole, skinned

4 scallops, white part only

175 ml (6 fl oz) fresh lime or lemon juice

2 hot red chillis, sliced

salt, freshly ground black pepper

1 medium red onion or sweet Spanish onion, thinly sliced

1 red and 1 yellow pepper, seeded, thinly sliced

1 small clove of garlic, crushed

5 tablespoons sunflower oil

1 large ripe avocado pear

1 good handful of lettuce leaves

3 limes, thinly sliced

Cut the sole into diagonal strips and put into a bowl. Slice each scallop disc into three or more rounds and place evenly over the sole. Pour over the lime or lemon juice. Scatter the chillis over the fish and season. Cover and leave for an hour in the refrigerator. Turn the pieces gently, cover again and leave for a further hour, or until both sole and scallops are opaque.

Meanwhile, season the onion and peppers. Mix the garlic with the oil. Peel, stone and slice the avocado and pour the oil over it, with seasoning and a little of the citrus juice from the fish.

Wash, dry and place the salad leaves at one end of a serving platter. Drain the fish and avocado and arrange them attractively with the pieces of vegetable and slices of lime on the platter.

SOLE À LA BONNE FEMME

Although this and the following are two of the classic recipes for sole as given by Escoffier, they can equally well be used for other firm fish of quality. By this I mean turbot, or chicken halibut, or John Dory, which all have something of the firm, well-divided flesh