Sole Régence

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Food processor with a chilled bowl and blade
• •Two teaspoons for shaping quenelles
• •Wide sauté pan for poaching
• •13 by 9-inch (33 by 23 cm) shallow roasting dish
• •2 to 3-quart heavy saucepan
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Large warmed oval serving platter
• •Flexible fish slice

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the forcemeat

   Chill the food-processor bowl and blade for 15 minutes. Process the whiting with ¼ teaspoon of the salt and a pinch of white pepper until it becomes smooth and sticky. Add the egg white, then the crayfish butter, processing only until each disappears. With the machine running, pour in all but the reserved tablespoon of cold cream in a thin thread. Scrape the whiting forcemeat into a cold bowl and test-poach a teaspoonful. It should be tender, cohesive, and distinctly crayfish-scented. If the mixture begins to look oily or grainy, stop before adding more cream, set the bowl over ice until thoroughly cold, then process again briefly with the reserved cream. Ça se rattrape. Keep the finished forcemeat cold.

   Temperature is the whole discipline here. Warm fish and warm cream shed their fat; cold ingredients bind into a smooth quenelle.
2. 2

   Poach twelve quenelles

   Heat the 6 cups of water with ½ teaspoon salt in a wide pan until it holds at 175 to 185°F (80 to 85°C), with movement below the surface but no boil. Rinse two teaspoons in cold water and use them to shape 12 small oval quenelles, six for each sole. Lower them into the water as they are shaped and poach for 5 to 7 minutes, turning once, until firm and cooked through to 145°F (63°C). If they swell roughly or begin to fray, the water is too hot; pull the pan off the burner, let it settle, and continue gently. Lift the quenelles onto a plate, cover, and keep chilled if they will stand longer than 30 minutes.

3. 3

   Prepare the garnishes

   Put the mushrooms in a small saucepan with the ½ cup water, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g) of the butter, and ¼ teaspoon salt. Cover with a parchment round and simmer gently for 5 to 7 minutes, until tender but still very white. Lift them out and reserve their cuisson, the cooking liquor. Strain the oyster liquor through a fine sieve, warm it only until it trembles, and poach the oysters for 20 to 30 seconds, until their edges just begin to curl; lift them out and reserve that liquor too. Bring the 2 cups water, vinegar, and ½ teaspoon salt to a bare simmer, add the intact cod milt, and poach for 8 to 10 minutes, until firm and cooked through to 145°F (63°C). Let it settle in its liquor for 5 minutes, then cut 8 neat slices. Trim the preserved truffles into olive shapes only if necessary, saving every trimming for the sauce.

4. 4

   Build the velouté

   Melt 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g) butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in the flour and cook this roux blanc, or white roux, for 2 minutes without allowing it to color. Whisk in the 1½ cups fish stock a little at a time, keeping the mixture smooth after each addition. Bring it to a quiet simmer and cook for about 20 minutes, skimming when needed, until the velouté lightly coats a spoon. If lumps appear, don't attack them with higher heat. Pass the velouté through a fine sieve and carry on.

5. 5

   Poach the soles

   Heat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Use about 1 teaspoon (5 ml / 5 g) of the butter to coat a shallow roasting dish large enough to hold both soles without overlapping. Lay in the fish, season them with ½ teaspoon salt and a little white pepper, pour the wine around them, and dot the remaining 2⅓ tablespoons (35 ml / 33 g) of this butter allocation over the top. Cover closely with buttered parchment or foil and poach in the oven for 15 to 22 minutes. Check at the thickest part beside the backbone: the flesh should lift cleanly and reach 145°F (63°C). Transfer the soles carefully to a warmed oval platter, cover loosely, and strain every drop of their poaching liquor into a saucepan.

6. 6

   Concentrate the liquors

   Add the reserved mushroom cuisson and oyster liquor to the sole poaching liquid. Skim away any large pools of fat, then boil the combined liquors briskly until reduced to about ¾ cup (180 ml). This reduction is the flavor bridge between the fish and the Normande sauce, so don't leave it watery. Whisk it into the velouté and simmer for 5 minutes, until the base tastes concentrated and coats the spoon generously. If it becomes too tight, loosen it with a little additional fish stock. If it remains thin, reduce it now, before the yolks arrive.

7. 7

   Finish sauce Normande

   Whisk the egg yolks with all but the reserved tablespoon of heavy cream. Whisk in a ladleful of the hot sauce base, then return the mixture to the saucepan. This is the liaison, an egg-yolk-and-cream thickening. Stir constantly over low heat until the sauce reaches about 175°F (79°C) and holds a clean line across the back of a spoon. Never let it boil. Take it off the heat and whisk in the remaining 2¾ tablespoons (40 ml / 40 g) butter a piece at a time, followed by the reserved truffle essence, truffle trimmings, and remaining teaspoon of lemon juice. If the sauce shows curds or a greasy rim, pull it from the heat immediately, strain it into a clean bowl, and whisk in the reserved tablespoon of cold cream. Ça se rattrape. Taste for salt and white pepper, then hold the sauce over barely warm water.

8. 8

   Dress the grand platter

   Place the quenelles, oysters, mushrooms, truffles, and milt slices in a wide pan with several spoonfuls of Normande sauce. Warm them over the gentlest heat for 1 to 2 minutes without simmering. Arrange six quenelles and four each of the oysters, mushrooms, truffles, and milt slices around each sole. Cover the fish and every member of the garnish generously with the remaining Normande sauce, allowing it to pool on the platter. No broiler and no decorative fuss. The sauce's ivory gloss and the full ring of garnish are the finish. Serve at once. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Order the Dover sole, whiting, oysters, and cod milt together from a fishmonger. Milt is the soft roe of a male fish and is highly perishable, so keep it below 40°F (4°C) and cook it the day you collect it.
• •Preserved whole black truffles are the honest home answer here because their packing juice becomes the truffle essence required by the source entry. Truffle oil cannot do this work; it adds perfume without the truffle's texture or cooking liquor.
• •Crayfish butter is butter infused with the color and savor of cooked crayfish shells. Buy a properly prepared version from a specialist and taste it before using; lobster butter is pleasant but changes the Régence garnish's specific crayfish character.
• •The two soles preserve the source proportions exactly: six quenelles and four each of the remaining garnishes per fish. It is deliberately abundant. Cooking well is not cooking fancy, but when the canon asks for full dress, we let it dress.
• •Pour a firm, dry white wine with enough acidity for the cream and oysters, such as a Chablis or another restrained white Burgundy. Avoid heavily oaked wine, which crowds the truffle and sweet sole.

Advance Preparation

• •Make the fish velouté base up to 1 day ahead. Cool it promptly, cover, and refrigerate, then reheat gently before adding the reduced cooking liquors.
• •The quenelles, mushrooms, and milt can be poached up to 4 hours ahead. Cool them promptly and refrigerate each component covered; keep the oysters raw and cold until shortly before the sole goes into the oven.
• •Shape the truffles and measure the sauce ingredients before guests arrive. Poach the sole and finish the liaison only when the table is nearly ready, because the completed Normande sauce should not be repeatedly cooled and reheated.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 425g)