Merlan en Lorgnette au Gratin

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •12-inch (30 cm) round shallow gratin dish
• •Flexible filleting knife
• •Kitchen shears
• •Fish-bone tweezers
• •Wooden picks
• •Instant-read thermometer

Instructions

1. 1

   Ready the fierce oven

   Heat the oven to 475°F (245°C) with a rack in the upper third. Soften 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g) of the butter and use it generously on a round 12-inch (30 cm) gratin dish. Have the chilled forcemeat beside you and the Gratin Sauce from Gratins (No. 268) warm enough to flow from a spoon, never boiling. Reserve 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g) of the white wine for the possible rescue during baking.

2. 2

   Remove each backbone

   Pat the whiting dry inside and out. Lay one fish on its side and slip a flexible knife between the flesh and bones at the tail. Raise the first fillet from tail to head, following the frame closely, but stop at the collar so the fillet remains joined beside the head. Turn the fish and repeat on the second side. Snip the backbone immediately behind the head, then lift away the spine, ribs, and tail assembly together. Pull any remaining pin bones with tweezers and repeat with the other fish. Season the flesh lightly with the salt and white pepper.

   The attachment at the collar is the hinge that makes the lorgnette. If a fillet comes free, don't discard it. Ça se rattrape: place it against its original head and secure the underside with a wooden pick, which you will remove before serving.
3. 3

   Form the lorgnettes

   Spread the fish forcemeat aux fines herbes over the flesh side of every fillet in a thin, even layer, about 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g) per fillet. Leave a narrow margin so the filling does not squeeze out. Starting at each narrow tail end, roll the fillet inward toward its attached head, trapping the tail end inside the scroll. The paired scrolls should sit like two lenses behind the head. Secure them through the underside with wooden picks only if they refuse to hold. Keep the fish cold while you shape the remainder.

4. 4

   Build the round dish

   Scatter the chopped shallots across the buttered dish and spread ⅓ cup (80 ml / 80 g) of the Gratin Sauce from Gratins (No. 268) over the bottom. Arrange the fish side by side around the dish, all four heads pointing toward the center and the paired scrolls radiating outward. Tuck the sliced raw mushrooms between the fish, then place two small cooked mushrooms on every fillet scroll. Pour all but the reserved white wine around the fish. Spoon over the remaining sauce, covering the scrolls while leaving the heads recognizable. Finish with the fine bread raspings and the remaining 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 42 g) butter, melted and drizzled evenly.

5. 5

   Bake all at once

   Bake using the simultaneous finishing principle of Filets de Merlan au Gratin (No. 1018): the fierce heat must cook the fish and forcemeat, reduce the wine-enriched sauce, and bronze the buttered crumbs at the same time. Begin checking at 12 minutes. The sauce should bubble thickly at the rim, the scrolls should feel just firm, and the center of the forcemeat should reach 145°F (63°C), usually within 15 to 18 minutes. If the surface browns before the center is ready, shield the dark patches loosely with foil. If the sauce tightens and looks dry first, spoon the reserved wine around the rim and lower the dish one rack. Ça se rattrape.

6. 6

   Finish with brightness

   Let the gratin settle for 2 minutes, then remove every wooden pick. Sprinkle the chopped parsley over the browned surface and dot the lemon juice across the sauce, keeping its brightness at the finish rather than baking it away. Carry the round dish directly to the table so the lorgnette arrangement remains intact. Serve one whole whiting presentation to each guest, with plenty of mushrooms and sauce. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Ask for small whole whiting that will fit together in one round dish. Tell the fishmonger to scale, gut, and remove the gills, but not to cut off the heads or fillet the fish. Ordinary loose fillets can make a pleasant gratin, but they cannot make a lorgnette.
• •Have the fish forcemeat aux fines herbes thoroughly cold and the Gratin Sauce from Gratins (No. 268) already prepared. The sauce is the built foundation, not a coat of plain cream, and the forcemeat must be firm enough to stay inside the curls.
• •Small cooked button mushrooms from a good jar are an honest answer here. Drain and dry them well so they do not water the sauce. The separate raw slices still supply the fresh mushroom flavor called for by Filets de Merlan au Gratin (No. 1018).
• •Use fine fresh bread raspings rather than coarse crumbs. They absorb the melted butter evenly and bronze before the delicate fish overcooks. We don't apologize for butter, especially when it is doing such useful work.
• •Pour a dry, mineral white with the gratin. Muscadet Sèvre et Maine is particularly good with whiting, mushrooms, and lemon, while a restrained Chablis suits a richer Gratin Sauce.

Advance Preparation

• •Prepare the fish forcemeat aux fines herbes and the Gratin Sauce from Gratins (No. 268) up to 1 day ahead and keep both covered in the refrigerator. Warm only the sauce until fluid before assembly; keep the forcemeat cold.
• •The whiting can be boned and shaped up to 3 hours ahead. Arrange the lorgnettes on a parchment-lined tray, cover without crushing the scrolls, and refrigerate.
• •Slice the raw mushrooms, drain the cooked mushrooms, chop the shallots and parsley, and make the bread raspings earlier on the day of serving. Keep each component separate.
• •Do not add the wine and sauce more than 20 minutes before baking. A long wait in liquid softens the delicate whiting and dulls the precise lorgnette shape.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 320g)