Filets de Soles Victoria

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •12-inch (30 cm) ovenproof sauté pan with lid or parchment cover
• •2-quart (2-liter) heavy saucepan
• •13 to 14-inch (33 to 36 cm) oval broiler-safe serving dish
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Kitchen shears
• •Whisk
• •Flexible fish spatula
• •Instant-read thermometer

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the lobster butter

   Remove the cooked tail meat from its shells, weigh out exactly 1 cup (240 ml / 170 g), and cut it into neat dice. Refrigerate the meat while you work. Snip the shells into pieces with kitchen shears and crush them firmly. Melt 5 tablespoons (75 ml / 71 g) of the butter over low heat, add the shells, and cook gently for 8 to 10 minutes, pressing them often, until the butter turns coral and smells distinctly of lobster. It must not brown. Strain through a fine sieve, pressing hard, to make beurre de homard (lobster butter); you should have about 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 42 g). Keep it soft, not hot.

   Browned shell butter turns bitter and muddies the sauce. If the milk solids begin coloring, take the pan off the heat and let the shells continue infusing in the warm butter.
2. 2

   Fold the sole

   Heat the oven to 325°F (165°C). Pat the fillets completely dry, then season both sides with ¾ teaspoon (4 ml / 4.5 g) of the salt and the white pepper. Fold each fillet into an even three-layer parcel, tucking the narrow tail end inward first so every piece has roughly the same thickness. Butter a wide ovenproof sauté pan with 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g) of the remaining butter and arrange the fillets seam-side down in a single layer.

3. 3

   Poach at a tremble

   Pour the fish fumet around the fillets and set the pan over medium-low heat. The instant the liquid begins to tremble at the edges, cover the fish with buttered parchment or a close-fitting lid and transfer the pan to the oven. Poach for 7 to 10 minutes, until the fillets are pearly and just opaque at their folds, about 140°F (60°C) at the center; the final glaze will carry them to 145°F (63°C). If bubbles break across the surface, lift the pan from the heat and uncover it for 30 seconds before continuing more gently. Ça se rattrape, provided you stop the boil at once. Lift the fillets onto a tray with a fish spatula and cover them loosely with parchment.

4. 4

   Build the sauce base

   Strain the poaching fumet into the sauté pan and reduce it briskly to 1 cup (240 ml / 240 g); the fish is out now, so the liquid may boil. Meanwhile, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g) plain butter in a 2-quart saucepan. Stir in the flour and cook this roux blanc (white roux) for 2 minutes without letting it color. Whisk in the reduced fumet a little at a time, then add ¾ cup (180 ml / 180 g) of the cream. Simmer gently for 3 to 5 minutes, whisking, until the sauce coats the back of a spoon in an even ivory layer. If small lumps remain, pass it through the fine sieve; cooking well is not cooking fancy, and a sieve settles the matter.

5. 5

   Finish Victoria sauce

   Whisk the yolks with 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g) of the remaining cream. Whisk in a ladleful of hot sauce, then return this liaison, the egg-yolk and cream enrichment, to the saucepan. Stir over the lowest heat until the sauce thickens slightly and reaches 160°F (71°C), but never let it boil. Remove it from the heat and whisk in the lemon juice followed by the beurre de homard, a spoonful at a time. Season with the remaining salt. The finished Victoria sauce should fall from the spoon in a heavy, glossy ribbon. If the yolks grain or butter leaks at the edge, put 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g) cold reserved cream in a clean warm bowl and whisk in the broken sauce one spoonful at a time. Use the final spoonful of cream to loosen the sauce if it holds too stiffly.

6. 6

   Arrange the oval

   Set a broiler rack 5 to 6 inches (13 to 15 cm) below the element and heat the broiler fully. Let the lobster meat lose its refrigerator chill for 15 minutes, then combine it with the diced truffle. Arrange the folded sole fillets seam-side down in an oval on a shallow broiler-safe serving dish, leaving the center open. Mound the lobster and truffle in that center, keeping the source proportion intact: 6 ounces (170 g) lobster to 2 ounces (57 g) truffle. Spoon the hot Victoria sauce generously over both the fillets and their garnish, covering every exposed surface without flooding the rim.

7. 7

   Glaze without delay

   Slide the platter under the broiler for 45 to 75 seconds, watching without looking away. Remove it as soon as the sauce tightens to a satin gloss and takes a few butter-gold freckles. This glaze is a sheen, not a crust; if it has not colored after one minute, serve it pale rather than sacrificing the sole to the broiler. Carry the platter directly to the table. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Ask the fishmonger for evenly sized Dover sole fillets, skinned and ready to fold. Lemon sole or flounder can stand in when Dover sole is unavailable, but their thinner flesh cooks faster, so begin checking after five minutes.
• •Use a clean, unsalted fish fumet with enough body to feel lightly silky when cold. A strongly seasoned commercial seafood broth becomes harsh during reduction, and shellfish bisque is too forceful for the poach.
• •The lobster and truffle quantities are not decorative suggestions. The source gives three ounces of spiny-lobster meat and one ounce of truffle for every four fillets; eight fillets therefore take six ounces and two ounces, exactly.
• •Fresh black truffle is splendid when the season gives it honestly. At other times, use whole preserved black truffles, drained and diced, rather than truffle oil; the garnish needs the dark dice and their texture as well as perfume.
• •Serve Filets de Soles Victoria immediately with a dry white Burgundy or a restrained Champagne. Potatoes duchesse or buttered rice may wait alongside, but keep the vegetable simple because the platter already has plenty to say.

Advance Preparation

• •The fish fumet is a finished component and may be prepared up to two days ahead, kept cold, or frozen in a measured 2-cup portion.
• •The beurre de homard may be made one day ahead. Cover and chill it, then soften it at room temperature before whisking it into the sauce.
• •The sole may be folded and arranged in its buttered pan up to two hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate it, then let the pan stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before poaching.
• •Dice the lobster several hours ahead, but cut fresh truffle shortly before assembly. Once the sole is poached and the liaison enters the sauce, the dish must move directly toward its glaze and the table.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 325g)