Sole Montgolfier

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large rimmed sheet pan and parchment paper
• •Sharp paring knife or small pastry cutter
• •12-inch (30 cm) shallow sauté pan with lid
• •2-quart (2-liter) saucepan
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Wire whisk
• •Warmed oval serving platter

Instructions

1. 1

   Shape the palmettes

   Heat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Dust the work surface with 1 tablespoon of the flour and roll the cold puff pastry about 1/8 inch (3 mm) thick. Cut 12 palmettes, palm-shaped pieces about 2 1/2 inches (6 cm) long, with a sharp knife. Score a central vein and shallow diagonal ribs without cutting through. Transfer them to a parchment-lined sheet pan and chill for 15 minutes; cold pastry rises in clean layers instead of sagging.

2. 2

   Bake without color

   Bake the palmettes until fully risen, dry through the layers, and still pale ivory, 12 to 16 minutes. Judge them by their set sides, not by browning. If the tips begin taking color before the centers are baked, cover them loosely with clean parchment and lower the oven to 325°F (165°C). Catch them while they are pale and ça se rattrape. Cool on a rack and leave the oven on low if they will need a brief warming before service.

   Do not apply egg wash. It gives the pastry a handsome bronze finish, precisely the finish this preparation does not want.
3. 3

   Make mushroom liquor

   Put the mushrooms, water, 1 teaspoon of the butter, and a pinch of salt in a small saucepan. Cover and simmer gently for 8 minutes, just until the mushrooms are tender and have given their flavor to the liquid. Strain without pressing, which would cloud the sauce. Measure exactly 1/2 cup (120 ml) mushroom cooking liquor, reducing it briefly if there is too much or adding a little hot water if there is too little. Reserve 1 1/2 tablespoons of the cooked mushroom julienne for the sauce; keep the remainder for an omelet or soup.

4. 4

   Build the velouté

   Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a small saucepan over gentle heat. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons flour and stir for 2 minutes to make a blond roux, cooking away the raw flour taste without allowing it to color. Whisk in the fish stock a little at a time, letting each addition become smooth before the next. Simmer for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring often, until the velouté coats the back of a spoon. If small lumps remain, pass it through the fine-mesh strainer. Hold it over the lowest heat.

5. 5

   Poach the sole

   Butter a wide shallow pan with 2 teaspoons of the butter. Season the sole lightly on both sides with salt and white pepper, then arrange the fillets in one layer. Pour in the white wine and the measured 1/2 cup mushroom cooking liquor, keeping their equal proportion. Cover with a buttered parchment round or a close-fitting lid and bring the liquid only to a tremble. Poach for 4 to 6 minutes, until the thickest part is just opaque and separates under gentle pressure. If the liquid begins to boil, pull the pan from the heat for 30 seconds and lower the flame before returning it; ça se rattrape before the flesh tightens. Lift the fillets carefully onto a warm platter and cover loosely.

6. 6

   Finish the sauce

   Strain the sole's cooking liquor into a clean saucepan and boil it briskly until reduced to 1/3 cup (80 ml), about 6 to 9 minutes. Whisk the reduction into the velouté, add all but the reserved tablespoon of cream, and simmer gently until the sauce is glossy and nappant, thick enough to coat the fish without sliding away. Remove it from the heat and whisk in the remaining 2 tablespoons cold butter a little at a time. Fold in the measured lobster, cooked mushroom, and black truffle julienne. Do not boil again. If the sauce is too thick, loosen it with fish stock; if it is thin, reduce it before adding the butter. If the butter separates, whisk the reserved cold cream in a clean warm saucepan, then add the split sauce spoonful by spoonful. Ça se rattrape.

7. 7

   Nappe and serve

   Arrange the sole fillets down the center of a warmed oval platter. Spoon over the sauce so the fish is nappé, coated with a clinging layer, distributing the lobster, mushroom, and truffle julienne across the surface. Surround the sole with the 12 pale palmettes, three for each serving, and take the platter straight to the table. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Ask for Dover sole fillets of even thickness, already skinned and checked for pin bones. Petrale sole or a fine-textured flounder can follow the same method, but the flesh is softer and may finish a minute sooner; start checking after 3 minutes.
• •Spiny lobster and black truffle are the defining garnish, not decoration added for show. Frozen cooked spiny lobster meat and a whole preserved black truffle are honest pantry answers. Shrimp and truffle oil change the formula and should be saved for another dish.
• •Use white button mushrooms, not cremini, so their cooking liquor and julienne remain pale. The extra cooked mushrooms are the price of making a proper small batch of liquor when there is no brigade preparing mushrooms beside you.
• •Choose a pale, unsalted fish stock without tomato or strong herbs. If bottled clam juice is the only good option, dilute it with an equal volume of water and wait until the finished sauce to judge the salt.
• •If starting with raw spiny lobster tail, poach it separately in salted water until the flesh is opaque and reaches 145°F (63°C), then chill it before cutting the measured julienne.
• •Serve a firm, dry white Burgundy or Chablis. The wine needs enough acidity to meet the reduction and enough body to stand beside butter, cream, lobster, and truffle.

Advance Preparation

• •The palmettes can be shaped up to 4 hours ahead and held cold. Once baked and cooled, keep them dry at room temperature and refresh them for 3 minutes in a 300°F (150°C) oven before serving.
• •The mushroom cooking liquor and blond velouté can be prepared one day ahead, chilled separately, and reheated gently. Whisk the velouté as it warms and loosen it with a spoonful of fish stock if it has tightened.
• •The lobster, mushroom, and truffle can be cut julienne-fashion up to 2 hours ahead and kept covered in the cold. Keep the truffle separate until the sauce is finished so its perfume is not lost.
• •Do not poach the sole ahead. Everything else can wait for the fish, and the fish should never wait for everything else.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 270g)