Filets de Maquereau aux Fines Herbes

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •13 by 9 inch (33 by 23 cm) shallow baking dish with a tight lid or foil
• •Parchment paper cut to fit the baking dish
• •2 quart (2 liter) wide saucepan
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Flexible fish spatula and fish-bone tweezers
• •Long heatproof serving platter

Instructions

1. 1

   Ready the fillets

   Heat the oven to 325°F (165°C). Run a fingertip down each fillet and pull any remaining pin bones with clean tweezers, then blot the fish dry and season the flesh evenly with the salt. Use half the softened butter to coat a 13 by 9 inch (33 by 23 cm) shallow baking dish, and butter one side of a sheet of parchment with the remainder.

2. 2

   Build the covered poach

   Arrange the fillets in one snug layer, skin side up. Warm the white wine and mushroom cooking liquor together until the edges just begin to tremble, then pour the equal measures around the fish; the liquid should rise roughly halfway up the fillets rather than drown them. Press the buttered side of the parchment directly over the fish and seal the dish tightly with its lid or foil. The parchment and close cover are the home equivalent of the classical covered poaching dish, and they keep the exposed flesh moist.

   If the dish is so large that the liquid barely touches the fillets, choose a smaller vessel rather than adding more liquid. The book's equal wine-to-mushroom-liquor ratio must remain intact.
3. 3

   Poach at a tremble

   Slide the covered dish into the oven and poach for 8 to 12 minutes, depending on thickness. Check through a lifted corner only near the end: the liquid should quiver gently, the flesh should be opaque at its thickest point, and an instant-read thermometer should register 145°F (63°C). If the liquid has broken into a boil, pull the dish out immediately and lower the oven. Ça se rattrape: test the fish early and remove each fillet as soon as it flakes under light pressure, because continued boiling is what toughens it.

4. 4

   Drain and skin

   Lift the fillets carefully with a flexible fish spatula and reserve every drop of cooking liquor. While the fish is still warm, catch the skin at the tail end with a small knife and peel it gently toward the wider end, supporting the flesh with your free hand. If the skin tears, remove it in strips and stop digging as soon as clean flesh appears; the sauce will cover an untidy surface, while a gouged fillet cannot be put back together. Arrange the skinned fillets on a warmed long platter and cover them loosely.

5. 5

   Reduce the liquor

   Pass the reserved cooking liquor through a fine-mesh sieve into a wide saucepan. The original called for linen, but the sieve gives the home cook the clear liquor that matters without a second straining station. Boil it briskly for 7 to 10 minutes, until reduced to ⅓ cup (80 ml) and concentrated without tasting harsh. Measure it if your eye is uncertain. If it has gone syrupy, loosen it with a spoonful of water; do this now, before the finished sauce enters the pan.

   Reduction is the foundation here. A watery cooking liquor makes a loose, pale sauce, while a properly reduced one carries the flavor of the fish, wine, and mushrooms into every spoonful.
6. 6

   Finish the sauce

   Lower the heat completely and whisk the warm reduction into the Herb Sauce (No. 83), a spoonful at a time, until the sauce is glossy and coats the back of a spoon. Warm it gently, but never let it boil; hard heat can separate the sauce's butter finish. If an oily rim appears, take the pan off the heat and whisk in 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of cold water until it comes together again. Taste before adding any further salt, since both the sauce and the reduced fish liquor carry seasoning.

7. 7

   Coat and serve

   Spoon the sauce generously over the fillets, covering each one and letting a proper pool gather around them on the long platter, exactly as the source intends. Serve at once, while the mackerel is moist and the sauce still holds its gloss. Plain boiled potatoes are enough beside it; they understand what sauce is for. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Fresh mackerel has bright, metallic skin, firm flesh, and a clean sea smell. Its oil turns quickly, so buy it the day you cook it and keep it very cold. Technique first, always, but no sauce can disguise stale mackerel.
• •For fresh mushroom liquor, cover 8 ounces (225 g) of sliced button mushrooms with ¾ cup (180 ml / 180 g) water and cook them very gently for 10 minutes, then strain and measure what the recipe needs. Keep the mushrooms for an omelette. Liquid from unsalted canned mushrooms is the classical pantry's honest alternative; don't replace it with stock, because the equal partnership of mushroom liquor and wine belongs to this entry.
• •Choose a dry, unoaked white wine with clean acidity. Muscadet works beautifully with oily mackerel, and the remaining bottle belongs at the table. Sweet or heavily oaked wine becomes clumsy when reduced.
• •Herb Sauce (No. 83) is a finished referenced preparation, not a sauce rebuilt inside this recipe. Have it ready before the fish begins poaching, then combine it only with the strained, reduced cooking liquor as the source directs.
• •Serve this immediately. Leftover fish may be chilled within two hours and kept for one day, but reheating is unkind to both the mackerel and the butter-finished sauce.

Advance Preparation

• •The mushroom cooking liquor can be strained, cooled, and refrigerated up to two days ahead. Measure it after chilling, since sediment may settle at the bottom.
• •The mackerel can be checked for pin bones and arranged in the buttered dish up to four hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate it, then let the dish lose its deepest chill for 15 minutes before adding the warm poaching liquids.
• •Have the Herb Sauce (No. 83) ready before the fish enters the oven, but hold it no longer than about 20 minutes over barely warm water. Its fresh-herb character and butter finish suffer from prolonged heat.
• •Warm the serving platter with hot water, then dry it just before plating. A cold platter tightens the sauce before it reaches the table.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 245g)