Turbotin Régence

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Close-fitting oval fish poacher or 14-inch shallow roasting pan with a lid
• •Double layer of cheesecloth and two wide fish spatulas
• •Two teaspoons for shaping quenelles
• •Small heavy saucepan
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Warm oval serving platter and sauceboat

Instructions

1. 1

   Set the service

   Warm an oval serving platter and sauceboat in the gentlest oven available, then turn the oven off. Butter a shallow heatproof dish for holding the garnish. Put the turbot on a double layer of damp cheesecloth long enough to form lifting handles at both ends. Turn the truffles into smooth olive shapes with a small paring knife, saving the trimmings for another dish. Shuck the oysters over a bowl, strain their liquor through a fine sieve, trim away any tough beard from each oyster, and keep the meats covered in their liquor in the cold.

2. 2

   Shape the quenelles

   Bring about 2 cups of the Chablis court-bouillon to the barest tremble in a wide saucepan. Using two wet teaspoons, shape the cold whiting forcemeat with crayfish butter into eight small oval quenelles. Lower them into the liquid and poach gently for 4 to 5 minutes, turning once, until they are lightly springy and cooked through. The liquid must never boil. If the first quenelle feathers apart, pull the pan off the heat and chill the remaining forcemeat for 10 minutes before continuing; warm forcemeat and rough water are the culprits. Lift the quenelles into the buttered holding dish with 2 tablespoons of their liquid and cover.

3. 3

   Poach the garnish

   Melt the remaining butter in a small pan, add the mushroom caps, lemon juice, and 1/2 cup of court-bouillon, then cover and poach at a bare simmer for 4 to 5 minutes. They should remain white, tender, and intact, with no browning. Lift them beside the quenelles. Add the truffle olives and milt slices to the same liquid and poach gently for 2 to 3 minutes, until the truffles are warmed through and the milt is opaque, firm but tender, and reaches 63°C (145°F). Transfer both to the covered holding dish. Keep the garnish warm for no more than 20 minutes.

4. 4

   Warm the sauce

   Put the prepared Sauce Normande in a small heavy saucepan and warm it over the lowest heat, whisking gently, until it coats the back of a spoon. Do not let it boil. If it tightens too far, loosen it with hot court-bouillon one teaspoon at a time. Cover and hold the sauce beside the stove, but leave the truffle essence out until the final minute so its perfume stays clear.

5. 5

   Poach the turbot

   Set the turbot, dark side up, in a close-fitting fish poacher or wide shallow pan. Pour in the remaining cool court-bouillon and the strained liquid used for the garnish, using enough to cover the fish. Bring the liquid slowly toward a simmer, then hold it just below that point for 12 to 18 minutes, depending on thickness. The surface should barely move. The turbot is ready when the thickest flesh releases cleanly from the central bone and registers 60 to 63°C (140 to 145°F). If the liquid begins to boil, slide the pan completely off the heat for a minute; a hard boil tears the skin and tightens the flesh.

6. 6

   Finish the oysters

   While the turbot finishes, bring the strained oyster liquor just to a simmer in a small pan. Add the oysters and poach for 45 to 60 seconds, only until they plump, turn opaque, and reach 63°C (145°F). Lift them out immediately. Their edges may ruffle, but they must not curl into tight rings. Set the oysters with the other warm garnish.

7. 7

   Scent the Normande

   Remove the warm Sauce Normande from the heat and whisk in the truffle essence. Taste for balance, but do not boil it again. If the sauce turns oily or separates, place a teaspoon of hot court-bouillon in a clean warm bowl and whisk the sauce into it gradually, one spoonful at a time. Ça se rattrape. Pour the smooth sauce into the warmed sauceboat.

8. 8

   Drain and arrange

   Lift the turbot from its court-bouillon only when the platter, garnish, and sauce are ready. Let it drain over the pan for 30 seconds, carry it to the warm platter on its cheesecloth sling, and ease the cloth away with two wide spatulas supporting the fish. If the upper skin has torn, remove it neatly rather than disguising ragged edges. Arrange the garnish around the fish in four repeated groups: two quenelles, one oyster, one mushroom cap, one truffle olive, and one slice of milt. Carry the platter and Sauce Normande to the table together, serving the sauce separately as the book directs. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Chicken-turbot means a small young turbot, not a mixture of fish and poultry. Ask the fishmonger for a whole cleaned fish weighing about 540 to 600 g, with the fins trimmed but the body left intact.
• •The prepared Chablis court-bouillon, whiting forcemeat with crayfish butter, and Sauce Normande are not brigade scaffolding. They carry the dish and must remain complete preparations. What can go is the crowd of cooks and pans: poach the garnishes in sequence and hold them briefly while the turbot cooks.
• •Use whole preserved black truffles packed in their own juice. Their canning liquor is the honest truffle essence required by the recipe, while perfumed truffle oil gives a blunt aroma and cannot replace it.
• •Milt is the soft roe of a male fish. Ask a fishmonger for fresh or properly frozen cod or hake milt. If it cannot be found, the complete Régence garnish must wait; a scallop medallion may make a pleasant related platter, but it is not an invisible substitution.
• •Pour Chablis at the table, preferably the same dry, mineral style used in the court-bouillon. Its acidity has enough nerve for the oysters, cream, crayfish butter, and truffle.

Advance Preparation

• •Prepare the Chablis court-bouillon and whiting forcemeat with crayfish butter one day ahead. Chill both promptly at 4°C (40°F) or below, keeping the forcemeat tightly covered so its surface does not dry.
• •Prepare the Sauce Normande earlier the same day, chill it, and reheat it over very gentle heat. Add the truffle essence only at service.
• •The mushrooms may be cleaned, the truffles turned, and the milt portioned up to 4 hours ahead. Keep each covered and cold. Shuck the oysters no more than 1 hour ahead and hold them in their strained liquor.
• •Do not poach the turbot ahead. The garnishes tolerate a short warm hold, but the fish must travel directly from court-bouillon to platter.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 215g)