Filets de Soles Marie Stuart

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Food processor with metal blade
• •12-inch wide shallow poaching pan with lid
• •Small heavy-bottomed saucepan
• •Piping bag with ¾-inch plain tip
• •Eight 3-inch parchment squares
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Wire rack set over a rimmed tray
• •Warm oval serving platter

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the forcemeat

   Chill the food-processor bowl and blade for 15 minutes. Add the cold whiting, hake, or sole trimmings with two-thirds of the salt and process in short pulses until the fish becomes fine and tacky. Scrape the bowl, add the chilled egg white, and pulse until absorbed. With the machine running briefly, add the ½ cup of ice-cold cream in three additions, stopping as soon as the forcemeat is smooth and satiny. Cold protects the emulsion. If it turns loose and unusually glossy, the mixture has warmed; stop, set the bowl over ice for 10 minutes, and pulse only once or twice after it firms.

2. 2

   Test and pipe rings

   Warm 1 cup of the fish fumet to a bare tremble and poach a teaspoon of forcemeat for 2 minutes. It should hold together and feel tender, not rubbery. If it feathers apart, chill the mixture again and process for 5 seconds to strengthen the bind. If it is too firm, fold in the reserved cold cream 1 teaspoon at a time, testing again after each addition. Transfer the forcemeat to a piping bag fitted with a ¾-inch tip. Pipe eight thick rings, each about 2¼ inches wide with a ¾-inch opening, onto individual 3-inch parchment squares. Chill them for 15 to 20 minutes.

3. 3

   Warm the sauce

   Warm the lobster sauce prepared as directed in Filets de soles à la New-burg (No. 890) in a small saucepan over the lowest heat, stirring gently until it coats the back of a spoon. Never let it simmer. If the sauce begins to grain or shed a line of fat, remove it from the heat. Ça se rattrape: whisk 1 tablespoon of the reserved cold cream in a clean bowl, then whisk the troubled sauce into it one spoonful at a time. Hold the smooth sauce in a bain-marie, a warm-water bath, for no longer than 15 minutes.

4. 4

   Fold and poach sole

   Pour the remaining fumet into a wide shallow pan and bring it to 175°F to 180°F (80°C to 82°C), where the surface barely moves. Season the sole with the remaining salt and white pepper. Fold each fillet into thirds with the thin tail tucked inside, then lower the parcels into the fumet in one layer. Cover and poach gently for 4 to 6 minutes, until the flesh is opaque, springs lightly under a finger, and reaches 145°F (63°C) at its thickest point. If the fumet begins boiling and the fillets curl, take the pan off the heat at once and let its stored warmth finish them.

5. 5

   Poach quenelles last

   Lift the sole onto a rack set over a tray and blot each underside carefully with a clean lint-free towel. Arrange the fillets in an oval on a platter warmed with hot water and dried completely. Return the fumet to its bare tremble. Using a wet offset spatula, slide the chilled forcemeat rings from their parchment into the liquid and poach them for 4 to 6 minutes, turning once, until just firm and 145°F (63°C) at the centre. If a ring opens while its surface is setting, nudge the ends together with two spoons. Drain the quenelles on the rack and blot beneath each one; this last-minute poaching and thorough draining are essential to the original preparation.

6. 6

   Coat and crown

   Stir the lobster sauce from Filets de soles à la New-burg (No. 890) and spoon it generously over the oval of sole, letting a little pool around the fish. Set one well-drained quenelle ring on every fillet and deck each ring with a slice of black truffle. If a ring has torn, place its ends together before adding the truffle; sauce and garnish will cover the seam without changing a bite. Carry the platter straight to the table. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Begin with the lobster sauce from Filets de soles à la New-burg (No. 890) already prepared. The times here cover the Marie Stuart assembly, just as the source treats the sauce as a finished preparation reached for at service.
• •Choose thin, flexible fillets of true sole when available. Gray sole or another delicate flatfish is an honest home substitute; thick cod or halibut won't fold or poach in the same way.
• •A small preserved whole black truffle is the classical pantry's sensible answer when fresh truffles are unavailable. Drain and dry it before slicing. Truffle-flavoured oil cannot supply the texture or dark visual crown this dish requires.
• •Set the rack and towel beside the stove before poaching begins. Water clinging to the fish is not a small imperfection here; it loosens the sauce and blurs the clean lobster flavour.
• •Serve with pommes vapeur or plainly buttered spinach, never a busy garnish competing with the truffle. A firm white Burgundy or a dry Champagne has enough breadth for the lobster sauce while leaving the sole itself in view.

Advance Preparation

• •Prepare the lobster sauce from Filets de soles à la New-burg (No. 890) earlier the same day and refrigerate it promptly. Reheat it over the gentlest heat shortly before poaching the sole.
• •The fish forcemeat can be processed up to 4 hours ahead and kept covered over ice in the refrigerator. Pipe the rings up to 1 hour ahead so they are thoroughly cold when poached.
• •The sole can be trimmed, seasoned, and folded 1 hour ahead, then covered and refrigerated. Do not poach either the fillets or quenelles in advance; their last-minute texture is part of the dish, not brigade scaffolding.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 330g)