Turbotin Mirabeau

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large fish poacher with fitted grid, or a snug heavy roasting pan at least 18 inches (46 cm) long
• •Wide parchment sling for lifting the fish
• •Two 1½-quart (1.4 L) saucepans
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Large warmed oval serving platter

Instructions

1. 1

   Arrange the work

   Set a warm oval platter beside the stove and place two small saucepans over the gentlest burners. Reserve 1 cup (240 ml / 240 g) of the cold Sauterne court-bouillon for the sauce vin blanc, leaving the remainder for poaching. Lay the anchovy strips, truffle slices, and finished tarragon leaves in separate dishes. The sauces must be ready before the fish cooks, because a whole turbot waits badly while a cook searches for a garnish.

   Ask the fishmonger to clean and prepare the whole fish for Turbotin à l’Amiral (No. 926). That preparation is functional, allowing an evenly poached fish to be served from the bone without tearing.
2. 2

   Build the Genevoise

   Melt 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g) of the Genevoise butter over medium heat. Add its shallot, carrot, and celery, then cook until the mirepoix, the fine aromatic dice, turns deep golden at the edges, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook until brick-red. Add another 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g) butter and the Genevoise flour, then stir until the roux reaches the colour of a hazelnut. Pour in the red wine by degrees, whisking the first splash completely smooth before adding more, followed by the fish stock, thyme, bay, parsley stems, black pepper, and a small pinch of salt. Simmer gently until reduced by nearly half and lightly thickened, about 25 minutes. If the roux forms lumps, whisk hard and continue; the sauce will be strained, so ça se rattrape.

3. 3

   Strain the Genevoise

   Pass the sauce Genevoise (brown fish sauce with red wine) through a fine sieve into a clean saucepan, pressing the vegetables only lightly so the sauce stays clear rather than muddy. Return it to gentle heat and reduce to about 1 cup (240 ml / 240 g). It should coat a spoon but still flow readily. Cover its surface and hold it warm without boiling; keep the final tablespoon of butter for the last moment.

4. 4

   Make sauce vin blanc

   Melt 1½ tablespoons (22 ml / 21 g) of the white-sauce butter over low heat. Add the minced shallot and sweat it until translucent without letting it colour. Stir in the flour and cook the roux blanc, the pale roux, for 90 seconds. Whisk in the dry white wine a little at a time, then the reserved Sauterne court-bouillon. Simmer for 8 minutes, strain into a clean saucepan, add the cream, and reduce gently to about 1 cup (240 ml / 240 g). Season with white pepper and only as much salt as it needs. Hold it warm without boiling, reserving the remaining 1½ tablespoons butter for the finish.

5. 5

   Poach the turbot

   Set the turbot prepared for Turbotin à l’Amiral (No. 926) on the fitted grid of a fish poacher or on a broad parchment sling inside a snug roasting pan. Pour over the remaining cold court-bouillon with Sauterne wine and complete the Turbotin à l’Amiral (No. 926) poach, keeping the liquid at a bare tremble rather than a rolling boil. The fish is ready when the flesh at its thickest shoulder has turned opaque, releases cleanly from the frame, and registers 140 to 145°F (60 to 63°C). A hard boil tightens the flesh, so pull the pan partly off the burner the instant the surface becomes rough.

6. 6

   Drain and dish

   Lift the fish by its grid or parchment sling and let it drain for 2 minutes. Transfer it carefully to the warmed platter, remove the upper dark skin if it remains, and blot away every bead of liquor with clean kitchen paper. This drying matters. Sauce laid over a wet fish slides into a puddle, however beautifully it was made. Keep the platter in a warm place while the sauces receive their butter.

7. 7

   Match both sauces

   Bring both sauces to the same nappant consistency: each should cover the back of a spoon evenly, and a finger drawn through it should leave a clean path. If one is thin, reduce it before adding butter; if one is thick, loosen it with a spoonful of the warm poaching liquor. Take both pans off the heat and monter au beurre, whisk in the reserved cold butter until each sauce gleams. If either looks greasy or begins to separate, stop adding butter and whisk in 1 teaspoon (5 ml / 5 g) of the ice-cold water. Ça se rattrape. Taste once more, remembering that the anchovy will bring its own salt.

8. 8

   Band and garnish

   Spoon broad alternating bands of ivory sauce vin blanc and brown sauce Genevoise across the width of the whole fish, working from head to tail and allowing each band to meet the next without covering it. Lay the anchovy strips end to end along every line where the two sauces meet. Place the truffle slices on the white bands. Take the tarragon leaves prepared through Blanchings (No. 273) and arrange them over the brown bands. Serve immediately, with any remaining sauces passed separately. The order is formal, but the pleasure is direct. À table!

Chef Tips

• •A chicken-turbot is a small whole turbot, not a bird and not a fish-and-poultry mixture. Ask for one between 3 and 3½ lb (1.4 and 1.6 kg), enough for four once served from the bone. Its eyes should be bright, its flesh firm, and its smell clean and faintly marine.
• •The two sauces need equal viscosity more than equal colour. Test them side by side on two cold spoons before finishing with butter. If one runs faster, correct it in the saucepan, not on the fish.
• •Fresh black truffle is splendid when it smells alive. Out of season, use a good whole preserved truffle and pat it dry before slicing. Truffle oil cannot make the required slices and overwhelms the careful sauces.
• •Use a dry, clean fish stock without tomato or smoke for the Genevoise. A good frozen or refrigerated stock is an honest home equivalent to the stockpot the brigade kept constantly ready.
• •Serve a dry white Bordeaux or a firm white Burgundy. The poaching wine brings sweetness to the court-bouillon, but the glass beside the plate should have enough acidity to meet the butter, anchovy, and truffle.
• •Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours and eat them by the following day. Reheat the sauces separately over very low heat, whisking in a teaspoon of water if they tighten, and warm the fish only gently.

Advance Preparation

• •The previously cooked court-bouillon with Sauterne wine required by Turbotin à l’Amiral (No. 926) may be made up to one day ahead, strained, cooled quickly, and refrigerated.
• •The sauce Genevoise can be cooked, strained, and reduced one day ahead. Chill it without its final butter, then reheat gently and monter au beurre immediately before serving.
• •The sauce vin blanc may be prepared through the cream reduction up to 4 hours ahead. Press parchment onto its surface, refrigerate, and reheat without boiling before adding the final butter.
• •Slice the anchovies and truffle several hours ahead and keep them covered. Prepare the tarragon through Blanchings (No. 273) shortly before plating so the leaves retain their colour and shape.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 340g)