Chef Juliette
Filets de Soles Américaine
Folded sole, barely poached in fumet, circles lobster beneath a gleaming brandy-and-tomato shellfish sauce. The sauce is the whole dish, and gentle heat is the lesson.
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Filets de Soles Miramar
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 887, Filets de Soles Miramar, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Butter-cooked sole and crisp aubergine meet for one brief toss inside a warm collar of pilaff rice, then beurre noisette glazes the center: a timbale whose success depends entirely on timing.
Main Dishes
French
Dinner Party
Comfort Food
Special Occasion
35 min
Active Time
50 min cook•1 hr 25 min total
Yield4 servings
Filets de Soles Miramar (sliced sole fillets with crisp aubergine and pilaff rice) teaches the discipline of separate cooking. Three modest things reach their proper texture, then meet only long enough to become one dish. The one true thing to know before touching a pan is this: the aubergine must stay crisp. Let it wait in a heap or sit beneath the fish's juices and Miramar loses its contrast.
The old entry assumed a brigade could place finished pilaff into one cook's hands while another managed the sole and a third watched the aubergine. A saucier, stock never off the fire, and salamander stood nearby in such a kitchen, but Miramar calls on none of them; its real luxury was synchronized hands. For one cook, one stove, one evening, you make the pilaff in a lidded saucepan, hold the sole only while the aubergine fries, and use a warmed two-quart porcelain timbale as both cooking vessel and serving dish.
Separate stations and elaborate service are scaffolding, so they go. The three-quarter-inch rice collar, butter-cooked sole, flour-dredged aubergine, their single brief toss, and final ounce of beurre noisette (lightly browned butter) are the dish, so every one stays. Have the warm timbale ready before the aubergine meets the butter; that is the step that protects its crispness all the way to the table.
Filets de Soles Miramar belongs to the codified French grand-kitchen repertoire rather than the household cooking of one province. Its coastal-sounding name does not make it Provençal: the entry is a composed garnish of sole, aubergine, pilaff rice, and beurre noisette, with no tomato, garlic, or olive oil. The timbale lets fish, vegetable, and rice reach the dining room together as an orderly whole, a piece of brigade service that translates neatly to a generous serving dish at home.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
long-grain white rice
Quantity
1¼ cups (300 ml / 235 g)
water
Quantity
1¾ cups (420 ml / 420 g)
small onion
Quantity
½ onion (¼ cup / 60 ml / 40 g)
very finely chopped
unsalted butter
Quantity
12 tablespoons (¾ cup / 180 ml / 170 g)
divided between the pilaff, sole, aubergine, and finish
skinless sole fillets
Quantity
8 small fillets (1½ pounds / 680 g total)
each sliced crosswise into 3 broad pieces
slender aubergine
Quantity
1 aubergine (about 14 ounces / 400 g)
cut into exactly 15 roundels, each ⅓ inch (8 mm) thick
all-purpose flour
Quantity
½ cup (120 ml / 60 g)
for dredging
fine sea salt
Quantity
2 teaspoons (10 ml / 12 g)
divided
freshly ground white pepper
Quantity
½ teaspoon (2.5 ml / 1 g)
divided
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| long-grain white rice | 1¼ cups (300 ml / 235 g) |
| water | 1¾ cups (420 ml / 420 g) |
| small onionvery finely chopped | ½ onion (¼ cup / 60 ml / 40 g) |
| unsalted butterdivided between the pilaff, sole, aubergine, and finish | 12 tablespoons (¾ cup / 180 ml / 170 g) |
| skinless sole filletseach sliced crosswise into 3 broad pieces | 8 small fillets (1½ pounds / 680 g total) |
| slender auberginecut into exactly 15 roundels, each ⅓ inch (8 mm) thick | 1 aubergine (about 14 ounces / 400 g) |
| all-purpose flourfor dredging | ½ cup (120 ml / 60 g) |
| fine sea saltdivided | 2 teaspoons (10 ml / 12 g) |
| freshly ground white pepperdivided | ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml / 1 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •2-quart (1.9-liter) lidded saucepan
- •12-inch (30 cm) heavy skillet
- •2-quart (1.9-liter) deep round porcelain timbale or soufflé dish
- •Wire cooling rack
- •Small light-colored saucepan
- •Two broad flexible spatulas
Instructions
- 1
Cook the pilaff
Melt 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g) of the butter in a two-quart lidded saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the onion and cook for 3 minutes without coloring, then stir in the rice until every grain glistens and smells faintly toasted. Add the water and ¾ teaspoon (3.75 ml / 4.5 g) of the salt, bring it to one boil, cover, and cook over the lowest heat for 15 minutes. Remove it from the heat, rest it covered for 10 minutes, then fluff it gently. Pilaff means separate grains, not soft porridge. If liquid remains, uncover the pan over low heat for a minute; if the rice is still firm and dry, add 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g) hot water, cover, and rest another 5 minutes. Ça se rattrape.
The entry calls simply for pilaff rice. Making this small quantity with onion, butter, and measured water replaces the brigade's ready pan without introducing an unlisted sauce or stock. - 2
Prepare the timbale
Heat the oven to 170°F (75°C) and warm a two-quart (1.9-liter) deep round porcelain dish for 10 minutes. Set the flour in a shallow dish, place a wire rack beside the stove, and divide the remaining butter before cooking anything else: 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 43 g) for the sole, 5 tablespoons (75 ml / 71 g) for the aubergine, and 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g) for the final beurre noisette. Miramar moves quickly once the fish enters the pan, so this quiet preparation protects both the sole and the crisp aubergine.
- 3
Cook the sole
Pat the sole dry and season it with ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml / 3 g) of the salt and half the white pepper. Melt the reserved 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 43 g) butter in a broad skillet over medium heat. When it foams, add the sole in two batches and cook for 45 to 60 seconds on each side, just until the flesh turns opaque and separates under gentle pressure. Transfer the pieces to a warm plate in a single layer and cover them loosely with parchment. Do not seal them under foil or hold them in the oven; trapped moisture and extra heat will turn delicate sole soft and dry.
- 4
Crisp the aubergine
Wipe the skillet clean. Season the 15 aubergine roundels immediately before cooking with the remaining salt and white pepper, then dredge them lightly in flour and knock off every loose trace. Melt the reserved 5 tablespoons (75 ml / 71 g) butter in the skillet a little at a time and fry the roundels in batches over medium-high heat, never crowding them. Give each side about 2 minutes, until deep gold with a crisp rim and a tender center, then place the pieces on the wire rack without stacking. If they soften while waiting, don't discard them. Ça se rattrape: return them in one layer to the wiped hot skillet, without more butter, for 30 seconds per side, then assemble at once.
Season, dredge, and fry in one movement. Salted aubergine left waiting draws water to its surface, and wet flour becomes paste rather than a crisp coating. - 5
Line the timbale
Remove the warm porcelain dish from the oven. Using the back of a spoon dipped in hot water, press the warm pilaff evenly against the sides in a layer ¾ inch (2 cm) thick, leaving the center open for the sole and aubergine. Patch any gaps with another spoonful of rice, but don't crush the grains into a solid paste. Serve Miramar from this dish. An unsupported unmolding is not required by the entry and would sacrifice the textures you have just protected.
- 6
Toss and fill
Set the wiped skillet over low heat and return the sole and aubergine to it. Lift and turn them together with two broad spatulas for no more than 10 to 15 seconds, just long enough to mingle and warm. This brief toss is the dish; prolonged stirring breaks the sole and softens the aubergine. If liquid has collected beneath the fish, leave it on the plate. Spoon the mixture loosely into the center of the rice-lined timbale without tamping it down.
- 7
Finish with butter
Melt the final 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g) butter in a small, light-colored saucepan over medium heat. Watch as the foam rises and subsides, then remove the pan when the milk solids turn pale hazelnut and the butter smells gently nutty. Miramar wants beurre noisette that is lightly browned, not dark or bitter. If the flecks blacken, begin again with fresh butter; burnt milk solids cannot be disguised. Spoon the full ounce over the sole and aubergine and carry the timbale straight to the table. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Buy true sole fillets if your fishmonger has them, and ask for the skin and pin bones to be removed. The fillets should smell clean and feel resilient, not watery; excess moisture makes them stew in the butter.
- •Choose a slender, evenly shaped aubergine so all 15 roundels have nearly the same diameter. A broad bulbous one gives you pieces that cook at different speeds, with scorched small ends and soft large centers.
- •A deep two-quart porcelain soufflé dish makes the honest home timbale. Its straight sides hold the three-quarter-inch rice collar, and it comes to the table without the risk and ceremony of unmolding.
- •Serve a dry, restrained white wine with enough freshness for the butter, such as Muscadet or a lean white Burgundy. Miramar needs no lemon wedge, chopped herb, or additional sauce; the source finishes it with beurre noisette and stops.
- •Miramar is best the moment it is assembled. Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours and use them the following day; reheat the rice and sole gently, then crisp the aubergine separately in a dry skillet before putting them together.
Advance Preparation
- •The pilaff may be cooked up to one day ahead. Spread it in a shallow container, cool it promptly, cover and refrigerate, then reheat it with 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g) water until piping hot before lining the timbale.
- •The sole can be dried, checked for bones, and sliced up to 4 hours ahead, then kept covered in the cold. Cut, season, dredge, and cook the aubergine only at the last moment; its crispness cannot be prepared ahead.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 420g)
Calories
690 calories
Total Fat
32 g
Saturated Fat
19 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
12 g
Cholesterol
160 mg
Sodium
1290 mg
Total Carbohydrates
63 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
4 g
Protein
38 g
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