Velouté Carmélite

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •3 to 4-quart (2.8 to 3.8 L) heavy saucepan
• •10-inch (25 cm) covered sauté pan
• •Small saucepan for poaching
• •Countertop blender or powerful immersion blender
• •Fine-mesh sieve and flexible spatula
• •Two teaspoons for shaping quenelles
• •Instant-read thermometer

Instructions

1. 1

   Poach the sole

   Combine the water and poaching salt in a small saucepan and bring it to 175°F (80°C), where the surface barely quivers. Add the 1 oz (28 g) sole fillet and poach gently for 2 to 3 minutes, until opaque and just firm. Lift it out and let it cool briefly, then cut it julienne-fashion, into fine match-shaped rods. Measure about 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g) and keep them covered.

   Poach the fillet whole and cut it afterward. Raw sole sliced this finely tends to fray and curl before it can become a neat julienne.
2. 2

   Shape the quenelles

   Keep the poaching liquid between 170°F and 180°F (77°C and 82°C). With two teaspoons dipped in cold water, shape the cold smelt forcemeat into 24 little ovals, each holding about 2 teaspoons. Lower them into the liquid in batches and poach for 4 to 5 minutes, turning once, until lightly springy and cooked to 160°F (71°C) at the centre. Do not let the water boil, which tightens the forcemeat. If it does, pull the pan off the heat at once; the quenelles may be less tender, but they are not lost. Drain and cover them.

3. 3

   Étuver the fish

   Étuver means to stew gently in butter and the ingredient’s own moisture. Melt the 6 tablespoons (90 ml / 85 g) butter in a wide covered pan over low heat. Add the 8 oz (227 g) each of sole and whiting with the lemon juice and a small pinch of salt, cover, and cook for 7 to 9 minutes, turning once, until the fish is opaque and flakes under light pressure. Nothing should brown. If the butter begins to colour or the pan sounds like frying, add a tablespoon of fish consommé and lower the heat. Keep every drop of the buttery cooking liquor.

4. 4

   Purée and sieve

   Transfer the cooked fish and all its liquor to a blender. Add about 2 cups (475 ml) of the prepared fish velouté and purée until completely smooth, venting the lid safely if the mixture is warm. Whisk this purée into the remaining fish velouté, then passer au tamis, pass the entire soup through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean saucepan. Press patiently with a flexible spatula. If the mixture is too tight to pass, loosen it with fish consommé one spoonful at a time. The blender replaces the mortar, but not the sieve; removing the last fibres is what gives the Carmélite its finish.

5. 5

   Set the consistency

   Warm the sieved Carmélite over medium-low heat, whisking along the bottom so the velouté does not catch. Add enough fish consommé to make a soup that coats the spoon lightly yet pours without dragging, reserving at least 2 tablespoons for adjustment or rescue. If it becomes too thin, reduce it gently now, before the liaison enters. Bring it just below a simmer, then lower the heat.

6. 6

   Temper the liaison

   Whisk the egg yolks and heavy cream together in a bowl. Add 2 cups (475 ml) of the hot soup in a thin stream while whisking constantly, then return the tempered liaison, the yolk-and-cream binding, to the saucepan. Stir over the lowest heat until the Carmélite reaches about 165°F (74°C), lightly naps the back of a spoon, and leaves a clean line when you draw a finger through it. Never boil it. If fine grains appear, take the pan off the heat immediately, whisk in the reserved cold consommé, blend briefly, and pass it through the sieve once more. Ça se rattrape.

7. 7

   Monter au beurre

   Take the pan off the heat. Monter au beurre means to finish by whisking in cold butter, and this last enrichment gives the soup its quiet gloss. Add the 4 tablespoons (60 ml / 57 g) butter a few cubes at a time, whisking until each addition disappears. Season with fine salt and white pepper, keeping both restrained so the fish remains clear. Divide the warm quenelles among heated soup plates, three per serving, add a few rods of sole julienne, and ladle the Carmélite around them. Serve at once. À table!

Chef Tips

• •The fish velouté, fish consommé, and smelt forcemeat are finished foundation preparations because the source treats them that way. Have all three ready before beginning the final soup. A salty fish stock cube is not their home equivalent; it overwhelms sole and turns the liaison muddy.
• •Sole brings delicacy and whiting brings body. Ask for skinless, boneless fillets and dry them well before weighing. Frozen fillets are perfectly honest if they were frozen fresh and thawed slowly in the cold.
• •Smelt gives the quenelles their particular character. Frozen cleaned smelt is often easier to find than fresh. If another white-fish forcemeat is used, the technique survives, but the garnish is an adaptation and will taste different.
• •Do not skip the fine sieve. A blender makes fish small, but only the sieve removes the fibres that interrupt a true velouté. Cooking well is not cooking fancy, but this particular refinement is the dish.
• •The source also permits a cream version. That means beginning with a cream-soup foundation in place of fish velouté, not merely adding more cream to this formula.
• •Pour a dry, restrained white wine, such as Chablis, and keep the rest of the dinner simple. The Carmélite is already a generous first course.

Advance Preparation

• •Prepare the fish velouté and fish consommé up to two days ahead, cool them promptly, and keep them covered in the cold. Reheat only what the recipe requires.
• •The smelt forcemeat can be prepared one day ahead and kept very cold. Shape and poach the quenelles earlier on the day of serving, then refrigerate them covered and let them lose their chill before plating.
• •The soup may be completed through sieving one day ahead. Reheat it gently, then add the liaison and finishing butter only when the guests are ready to sit; reheating a finished liaison invites curdling.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 240g)