Filets de Soles Rachel

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Small food processor with a chilled bowl and blade
• •Fine-mesh sieve and flexible spatula
• •2-quart (2-liter) saucepan
• •12-inch (30 cm) lidded sauté pan
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Warmed oval serving platter

Instructions

1. 1

   Make mushroom liquor

   Put the mushrooms, water, lemon juice, 1 tablespoon butter, and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt in a small saucepan. Cover, bring just to a simmer, and cook for 8 minutes, until the mushrooms have surrendered their liquor but remain pale. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve without crushing the mushrooms, which would cloud the liquid. Measure 3/4 cup (180 ml); if you are short, add enough water to reach it. Keep the liquor warm and reserve the mushrooms for another meal, because the solids do not belong in Rachel.

   The original kitchen reached for mushroom cooking liquor left from another preparation. Making this small quantity preserves its earthy delicacy without requiring a second mushroom dish simply to create a by-product.
2. 2

   Mix the cold farce

   Chill the processor bowl and blade for 10 minutes. Pat the whiting or sole dry, then process it with 1/2 teaspoon salt and half the white pepper until the fish becomes smooth and tacky. Add the egg white and process only until absorbed. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the cold cream, then add the rest in a thin stream with the machine running in short pulses. Add the reserved cream last. If the paste turns loose, warm, or glossy with beads of fat, stop immediately and set the bowl over ice for 10 minutes before pulsing in that final spoonful of cream. Ça se rattrape. Continued processing while warm is what breaks it.

   Poach a teaspoon of farce in barely simmering water until cooked through, then taste it. Correct the salt and pepper now; tasting the raw mixture tells you very little and asks too much of your courage.
3. 3

   Refine the farce

   Press the farce through a fine-mesh sieve into a cold bowl, scraping firmly with a flexible spatula. This single pass removes sinew and gives the filling its delicate texture; repeated pounding and several sievings were brigade labor, but one careful pass is worth keeping. Cover the surface directly and refrigerate while you build the sauce foundation.

4. 4

   Build the velouté

   Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, stir in the flour, and cook this blond roux for 2 minutes without letting it color. Add the warm fish stock gradually, whisking until smooth, then simmer gently for 10 minutes, stirring often, until the fish velouté lightly coats a spoon. If it forms lumps, pass it through the sieve and carry on. Pour the velouté into a bowl. In the same saucepan, boil the white wine until reduced to 3 tablespoons (45 ml), then whisk that reduction into the velouté. Cover and hold it warm off the heat.

5. 5

   Fill and fold

   Lay the sole fillets former skin-side up and season them lightly with the remaining salt and white pepper. Divide the cold farce among them, spreading it in a thin, even layer and leaving a narrow border. Place exactly four paper-thin truffle slices over the farce on each fillet. Fold the tapered end over the thicker half so each parcel has an even thickness, then arrange the fillets seam-side down in a single layer in a 12-inch (30 cm) lidded sauté pan. If farce presses from the edges, scrape away the excess rather than forcing it back inside. The filling supports the sole; it must not turn the fillet into a stuffed parcel.

6. 6

   Poach at a tremble

   Pour the warm mushroom liquor around the fillets, taking care not to wash the farce from their edges, then dot the fish with the 2 tablespoons of poaching butter. Cover and bring the liquor to the barest tremble over medium-low heat. Lower the heat and poach for 7 to 10 minutes, until the sole is opaque, the parcels feel gently resilient, and the center of the farce reaches 145°F (63°C). Never let the liquor boil. If rapid bubbles appear, remove the pan from the burner, uncover it for 30 seconds, then continue over lower heat.

7. 7

   Finish sauce vin blanc

   Transfer the fillets carefully to a warmed oval platter and cover loosely. Strain the poaching liquor into the saucepan and boil it down to about 1/3 cup (80 ml). Whisk in the prepared velouté and the 1/2 cup cream, then simmer until the sauce nappes the spoon, coating it in a smooth ivory layer, and measures about 1½ cups (360 ml). Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the cold butter a few pieces at a time. If the sauce looks greasy, stop adding butter and whisk in 1 teaspoon of cold water until it comes together; if it is too thick, loosen it with a spoonful of fish stock.

8. 8

   Add Rachel garnish

   While the sauce reduces, blanch the asparagus heads in salted water for 45 to 60 seconds, until bright green and just tender. Drain them thoroughly without cooling them. Fold the freshly cooked, still-warm asparagus and the measured diced truffle into the finished sauce. The ratio is deliberate: 1¼ tablespoons each for 1½ cups of sauce, preserving the source's proportion without turning the garnish into a vegetable ragout.

9. 9

   Coat and serve

   Arrange the folded fillets in a clean oval, their edges just overlapping. Spoon the sauce vin blanc over them so every fillet is coated and the asparagus and truffle are distributed across the platter. Serve immediately while the sauce remains glossy and the farce tender. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Ask the fishmonger for evenly sized sole fillets and have every trace of skin removed. Dover sole has the finest texture, but good lemon sole is an honest alternative; uneven fillets poach unevenly, whatever their pedigree.
• •Truffle is part of the construction, not decoration. A whole preserved black truffle is the honest off-season answer and slices far better than a tired fresh one. Truffle oil cannot replace the four slices inside each fillet.
• •Use slim fresh asparagus heads when they are good. Out of season, small frozen asparagus tips cooked directly from frozen are preferable to thick, woody fresh stalks. Add them warm, exactly as the source directs, so they do not chill the sauce.
• •Finish the sauce only when the platter is ready. Once the cold butter has been whisked in, keep the sauce below a simmer; boiling drives out the emulsion and dulls the truffle.
• •Pour a mineral dry white such as Chablis, Sancerre, or a restrained white Burgundy. The wine should sharpen the butter and cream, not compete with the truffle.

Advance Preparation

• •The mushroom liquor and fish velouté foundation can be made up to one day ahead, cooled promptly, covered, and refrigerated separately. Reheat them gently before continuing.
• •The farce can be prepared up to 2 hours ahead and held covered in the coldest part of the refrigerator. Keep it below 40°F (4°C).
• •The fillets may be filled and folded 1 hour before cooking, arranged seam-side down, covered, and refrigerated. Poach them close to serving; this dish does not improve by waiting.
• •Trim the asparagus earlier in the day, but cook it only while the final sauce reduces. Its warmth and fresh green color are part of the finish.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 390g)