Dominos de Filets de Soles

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •12-inch (30 cm) sauté pan or shallow baking dish
• •Small heavy saucepan
• •Fine-mesh sieve and damp fine cloth
• •Food processor
• •Two flat trays and a light 2-pound (900 g) weight
• •8-inch (20 cm) square shallow tray
• •Wire rack and pastry brush
• •Small round piping tip for cutting truffle pips
• •Instant-read thermometer

Instructions

1. 1

   Make mushroom liquor

   Put the sliced mushrooms, water, 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice, 1 tablespoon of the butter, and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt in a covered saucepan. Bring just to a simmer and cook gently for 10 minutes, until the mushrooms surrender their liquid without browning. Strain through a fine sieve, pressing lightly, and reserve the clear cooking liquor. The mushrooms have done their work here; keep them for an omelette or toast, but don't add them to the finished dish.

2. 2

   Set the fish jelly

   Pour 1/2 cup (120 ml) of the cold fish stock into a bowl, sprinkle the gelatin evenly over it, and leave it for 10 minutes to swell. Warm the remaining fish stock with 1/2 cup (120 ml) of the mushroom liquor until just below a simmer, then remove it from the heat and whisk in the swollen gelatin until completely dissolved. Never boil gelatin after adding it, or its setting strength suffers. Strain the fish jelly through a damp fine cloth, season with 1/4 teaspoon of the salt, and chill a spoonful for 10 minutes as a test; it should set firmly enough to cut while remaining tender under a fork. Keep the main batch liquid over barely warm water.

3. 3

   Poach the sole

   Place each sole fillet between sheets of parchment and tap it gently with the flat side of a mallet or a small saucepan until evenly 4 to 5 mm thick. Season with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and the white pepper. Butter a wide sauté pan or shallow baking dish with 1 tablespoon of the butter, lay in the fillets without folding them, and add 1 cup (240 ml) of mushroom liquor, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons of butter in small pieces. Cover with buttered parchment and poach over the gentlest heat, or in a 325°F (165°C) oven, for 5 to 8 minutes. The liquor should barely tremble, and the fish should reach 145°F (63°C) at its thickest point without tightening at the edges.

4. 4

   Press and chill

   Lift the fillets carefully onto a parchment-lined tray and reserve the poaching liquor. Cover the fish with another sheet of parchment, set a second tray or flat board on top, and add a light weight of about 2 pounds (900 g). This is pressure enough to keep the fillets flat, not enough to crush them. Refrigerate under the weight for at least 1 hour, until thoroughly cold and firm.

5. 5

   Build the chaud-froid

   Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan, stir in the flour, and cook this white roux for 2 minutes without letting it colour. Gradually whisk in 3/4 cup (180 ml) of the strained sole poaching liquor, using extra mushroom liquor if the pan yielded less, then simmer gently for 5 minutes until smooth. Add the cream and simmer for another 3 to 4 minutes, until the sauce coats a spoon. Off the heat, whisk in 1/2 cup (120 ml) of the liquid fish jelly and the remaining tablespoon of lemon juice. Strain, add the remaining salt, and cool while stirring until the chaud-froid has the body of thick cream, around 80°F (27°C). If it sets into ridges, warm it gently over water; if it slides from a cold spoon, chill it for 5 minutes. Ça se rattrape.

6. 6

   Cut caviar bases

   Remove the weight from the sole and trim the cold fillets into 8 equal rectangles, each about 2 3/4 by 1 1/2 inches (7 by 3.5 cm). Save and weigh every trimming. Pulse the trimmings briefly with exactly their weight in caviar, then force the mixture through a fine sieve; the processor replaces the mortar, but the sieve stays because the finished layer must be perfectly smooth. Cook the sugar in a small dry saucepan until deep amber, remove the pan from the heat, and carefully stir in 1/2 cup (120 ml) of warm fish jelly. Weigh the fish-caviar paste and fold in coloured jelly equal to half that weight. Spread the mixture in a lightly oiled 8-inch (20 cm) square tray, no thicker than the sole fillets, and refrigerate for about 45 minutes, until firmly set.

7. 7

   Coat the dominoes

   Arrange the sole rectangles on a rack over a chilled tray. Spoon the cool chaud-froid over each one, guiding it down the sides so every surface wears an even ivory coat. Refrigerate for 10 minutes, then tidy the lower edges with a small knife. If bare patches show, apply a second thin coat instead of one heavy one; a thick coat smothers the fish and cracks when cut.

8. 8

   Add pips and glaze

   Cut the truffle into very thin slices, then stamp out small round pips with the narrow end of a piping tip. Arrange the pips on the tacky chaud-froid in recognizable domino patterns. Melt enough fish jelly for glazing and cool it to 80°F (27°C), fluid but scarcely warm, then brush a thin coat over each domino. Chill for 5 minutes and apply a second coat for a clear gloss. If warm jelly softens the white coating, stop and chill the dominoes until firm, then cover the blemish with cool chaud-froid before glazing again.

9. 9

   Assemble the platter

   Turn the set caviar jelly onto a cold board and cut it into rectangles exactly matching the sole dominoes. Brush each dark rectangle with a little cool melted fish jelly, set a white domino on top, and chill for 10 minutes so the layers bind. Chop the remaining clear and coloured jelly, mound it in the centre of a chilled serving dish, and arrange the dominoes over it in a loose, muddled heap, preserving the source's bit of play rather than lining them up like soldiers. Chill for 30 minutes, then let the platter stand for 10 minutes before serving so the flavours aren't numbed by the cold. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Choose thick Dover sole fillets with enough width to yield clean rectangles. Thin flounder can be poached by the same method, but it won't carry the coating or press into such handsome tiles.
• •Preserved black truffle is the honest classical pantry answer when fresh truffle isn't available. Drain it well and dry the slices before cutting the pips; truffle oil can't supply the black pattern or the quiet earthy bite the dish requires.
• •The caviar ratio is not decorative arithmetic. Weigh the cooked sole trimmings, add exactly the same weight of caviar, then add coloured jelly equal to half the combined paste's weight. Those proportions give a base that tastes of caviar and cuts cleanly.
• •Serve with a taut, mineral white wine or brut Champagne. The dish already has butter, cream, caviar, and truffle, so the glass should refresh the mouth rather than add another layer of richness.

Advance Preparation

• •The mushroom liquor and fish jelly can be prepared up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated separately. Melt the jelly gently over water before using it, never over fierce direct heat.
• •The sole can be poached and pressed a day ahead. Keep it covered and cold, then trim it only when you're ready to make the caviar layer so the trimmings remain fresh.
• •The finished dominoes can be assembled up to 12 hours before serving. Cover the platter without letting wrapping touch the glaze, and keep it refrigerated. Do not freeze it, because the jelly weeps and the chaud-froid loses its smooth coat after thawing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 275g)