FISH
In matters culinary, fish comprise not only the vertebrates of the sea
and river, but also the esculent crustacea, mollusca, and chelonia,
and one batrachian. Of course, the animals representing these various
classes differ enormously in respect of their importance as articles
of diet. Fresh-water fish, for instance, with the exception of salmon
and some kinds of trout, are scarcely ever eaten in England; and
the same applies to the frog. As regards salt-water fish, although
certain species, such as the sole and the turbot, are in great demand,
many other and excellent ones which are looked upon as inferior are
seldom put into requisition by first-class cookery. Thus, _Brill_,
_Red Mullet_, and _Bass_ are not nearly so popular as they deserve
to be, and never appear on a menu of any importance. No doubt,
Fashion—ever illogical and wayward—exercises her tyrannical sway here,
as in other matters of opinion; for it will be found, even when the
distinctions among fish are once established, that there exist a host
of incongruities in the unwritten law. Fresh cod is a case in point;
should this fish appear on the menu of a grand dinner given by Royalty,
the guests would not think it at all out of place; but if the chef
of a large modern hotel ventured to include it among the items of a
plain table-d’hôte dinner he would most probably incur the scorn and
indignation of his clientèle.
This example, than which none could be better suited to our case,
successfully shows that the culinary value of the fish has far less to
do with the vogue the latter enjoys than the very often freakish whims
of the public.
One can but deplore the arbitrary proscription which so materially
reduces the resources at the disposal of a cook, more particularly at a
time when the universally imperious cry is for novelty and variety in
dishes and menus respectively; and one can only hope that reason and
good sense may, at no remote period, intervene to check the purposeless
demands of both entertainers and their guests in this respect.
Having regard to these considerations, I have omitted from this work,
which is really a thesaurus of selected recipes and not a complete
formulary, all those fish enumerated below, which are very rarely eaten
in England, and the recipes for which could therefore serve no purpose:—
753—SHAD, chiefly served grilled.
754—FRESH ANCHOVIES, extremely rare, and may be grilled or fried.
755—EELS, considered as common, and principally used in the preparation
of a pie held in high esteem by the frequenters of coffee-shops along
the banks of the Thames. Small eels are also fried. But the many ways
of dressing them which are common on the Continent are seldom practised
in England.
756—PIKE, plentiful and of excellent quality; only used in the
preparation of forcemeat and quenelles; the directions for the latter
will be given later. Albeit they are sometimes served crimped, or
cooked whole in a _court-bouillon au bleu_, accompanied by parsley or
caper sauce, &c. Small pike are generally prepared “à la Meunière,” or
fried.
757—CARP, in still less demand than the pike, and only prized for its
milt. It must, however, be admitted that in England, more than anywhere
else, I believe, this fish is too often spoilt by the taint of mud.
758—DORADO, served boiled with any of the English fish sauces; but, in
my opinion, it is best grilled, after the manner generally adopted in
the South of France.
759—STURGEON, very rare; it is braised, like veal.
760—FÉRA, very scarce on the market; comes from the Swiss or Savoy
lakes, and is only served à la Meunière.
761—GUDGEON, very abundant in all rivers, but never eaten.
762—FROGS, the pet abomination of all classes of the population, with
but few exceptions; nevertheless “Nymphes à l’Aurore,” the recipe of
which I gave among the hors-d’œuvres, are generally appreciated.
763—FRESH HERRINGS, abundant and of excellent quality; seldom used in
first-class cookery, except, perhaps, for their milt. Bloaters and
kippered herrings are, with reason, preferred; of these I shall speak
later.
764—LAMPREYS, chiefly used in preparing pies similar to those referred
to in No. 755.
765—FRESH-WATER HERRINGS, like the Féra, come from Switzerland or
Savoy, and are very scarce on the English market. Prepared especially à
la Meunière.
766—LOTTE, very scarce on the English market; only prized for its liver.
767—MOSTELE, only caught in the region of Monaco; cannot bear
transport; especially served à la Meunière or à l’Anglaise.
768—MUSSELS, only used as garnish.
769—NONAT, replaced in England by whitebait, which it greatly resembles.
770—PERCH, very moderately appreciated; chiefly served fried, when
small, and boiled with some fish sauce when large.
771—SKATE, generally served boiled, with caper sauce; occasionally with
brown butter. The smaller specimens are better fried. Often offered for
sale, crimped.
772—SARDINES, generally of inferior quality; used in the preparation of
sprats.
773—STERLET, almost unknown in England.
774—TURTLE, with the exception of those firms which make this their
speciality, is almost exclusively used in preparing Turtle Soup. The
flippers are sometimes served braised au Madère.
I do not think it at all necessary to lay any further stress upon the
series of preparations bearing the names of _Croquettes_, _Cromesquis_,
_Côtelettes_ (côtelettes here only mean those prepared from cooked
fish, and which are really but a form of croquettes), _Coquilles_,
_Bouchées_, _Palets_, &c., which may be made from any kind of cooked
fish. These preparations are so well known that it would be almost
superfluous to repeat their recipes.
775—DIVERS WAYS OF COOKING FISH
The divers ways of cooking fish are all derived from one or another of
the following methods:—
(1) Boiling in salted water, which may be applied equally well to
large pieces and slices of fish.
(2) Frying, particularly suited to small specimens and thin slices of
larger ones.
(3) Cooking in butter, otherwise “à la Meunière,” best suited to the
same pieces as No. 2.
(4) Poaching, with short moistening, especially suited to fillets or
small specimens.
(5) Braising, used particularly for large pieces.
(6) Grilling, for small specimens and collops.
(7) Cooking au Gratin, same as grilling.
776—THE BOILING OF FISH IN SALTED WATER
The procedure changes according as to whether the fish is to be cooked
whole or in slices. If whole, after having properly cleaned, washed,
and trimmed it, lay it on the drainer of the utensil best suited to
its shape; _i.e._, a fish-kettle. Cover it with water, salt it in the
proportion of one-quarter oz. of salt per quart of water, cover the
utensil, and bring the liquid to the boil. As soon as this is done skim
and move the kettle to the side of the fire, where the cooking of the
fish may be completed without boiling.
If the fish is cut into slices, plunge these, which should never be
cut too thin, into boiling salted water, and move the fish-kettle
containing them to the side of the fire; complete their cooking slowly
without allowing the water to boil.
The object of this process is to concentrate, inside the fish, all the
juices contained in its flesh, whereof a large portion escapes when the
cut fish is plunged in cold water gradually brought to the boil. If
this method is not applied to large fish, cooked whole, the reason is
that the sudden immersion of these in boiling water would cause such a
shrinking of their flesh that they would burst and thereby be spoiled.
In the case of certain kinds of fish, such as Turbot and Brill, milk is
added to the water in the proportion of one-eighth of the latter, the
object being to increase the whiteness of the fish.
For the various kinds of Salmon and Trout, the _court-bouillon_
(No. 163) is used in the place of salted water, but the general working
process remains the same.
The boiled fish is dished on a napkin and drainer; it is garnished with
fresh parsley; and the sauce announced on the menu, together with some
plain-boiled and floury potatoes, is sent to the table separately.
777—THE FRYING OF FISH
In Part I. of this work I explained the general theory of frying
(Chapter X., No. 262); I shall now, therefore, only concern myself with
the details of the operation in its relation to fish.
As a rule, frying should never be resorted to for very large fish
or very thick slices of the latter, for, owing to the very high
temperature that the operation enjoins, the outside of the fish would
be dried up before the inside had even become affected.
If the fish to be fried is somewhat thick, it is best to cut several
gashes in it, lengthwise and across, these being deeper and closer
together the thicker the fish may be. The object of this measure is to
facilitate the cooking, but the measure itself is quite unnecessary
when dealing with small fish. In the case of flat-fish, partly detach
the two underlying fillets on either side of the back-bone instead of
gashing them.
All fish intended for frying (except _Blanchailles_ and Whitebait)
should first be steeped in salted milk, then rolled in flour before
being plunged into the hot fat. If they be “_panés à l’anglaise_,”
however, as they generally are in England, the milk may be dispensed
with, in which case, after they have been lightly coated with flour,
they are completely dipped in an _anglaise_ (No. 174) and afterwards
rolled in white bread-crumbs. They should then be patted with the blade
of a knife so as to ensure the cohesion of the whole coating, and,
finally, the latter should be criss-crossed with the back of a knife
with the view of improving the appearance when fried.
Fried fish are served either on a napkin, on a drainer, or on special
dish-papers. They are garnished with fried parsley and properly trimmed
half-lemons.
778—THE COOKING OF FISH A LA MEUNIÈRE
This excellent mode of procedure is only suited to small fish or
the slices of larger ones. Nevertheless, it may be resorted to for
chicken-turbots, provided their weight do not exceed four lbs.
The operation consists in cooking the fish (or slices or fillets of
fish) in the frying-pan with very hot butter, after having seasoned
them and sprinkled them with flour. If the fish are very small,
ordinary butter is used; if, on the other hand, they are large, the
procedure demands clarified butter. When the fish is sufficiently
coloured on one side, it is turned over for the completion of the
operation. This done, it is transferred, by means of a spatula, to a
hot dish, whereon, after having been salted, it is sent to the table.
It may be served as it is with a garnish of trimmed half-lemons.
Fish prepared in this way are termed “dorés” (_gilded_), “Soles dorés,”
“Turbotins dorés,” &c., in order to distinguish them from those
prepared à la Meunière.
If the fish is announced “à la Meunière,” a few drops of lemon should
be sprinkled upon it; it should be seasoned with salt and pepper, and
garnished with _concassed_, scalded parsley. At the last moment a
piece of butter, in proportion to the size of the fish, is put in the
frying-pan, and is heated until it begins to brown slightly. This is
poured over the fish immediately, and the latter is sent to the table
at once while still covered by the froth resulting from the contact of
the butter with the parsley.
779—THE POACHING OF FISH
This method is best suited to sole, chicken-turbots, and brill, as well
as to the fillets of various fish.
Having laid the fish to be poached in a baking-tray or a sautépan,
either of which should have been previously buttered, season it
moderately with salt and moisten with a little very white fish or
mushroom _fumet_; very often the two latter are mixed. Cover the
utensil, push it into a moderate oven, and baste from time to time,
especially when a large fish is cooking. When the fish is done,
drain it carefully, place it on a dish, and, as a rule, reduce the
poaching-liquor and add it to the sauce. Poached fish are always served
sauced; _i.e._, covered with the sauce which properly forms their
accompaniment. More often than not they are garnished after the manner
which will be described later.
I most emphatically urge: (1) the use of very little fish _fumet_ for
the poaching, but this _fumet_ should be perfect and should, above
all, not be cooked for longer than the required time; (2) that the
fish be not covered with buttered paper as is often done, for nowadays
a suitable paper is very rarely found. All papers found on the market
are, owing to the chemical products used in their manufacture, liable
to impart a more or less pungent smell to the objects they enclose,
which in either degree would prove seriously prejudicial to the
preparation.
These remarks not only apply to fish, but to all those objects with
which paper was formerly used at some stage in their cooking process.
780—THE BRAISING OF FISH
This method is generally applied to whole or sliced salmon, to trout,
and to chicken-turbot. Sometimes the fish treated in this way is larded
on one side with strips of bacon-fat, truffles, gherkins, or carrots.
The mode of procedure is exactly the same as that described under
the “Braising of White Meats” (No. 248). Moisten these braisings in
the proportion of one-half with white wine or red wine (according as
to how the fish is to be served), and for the other half use a light
fish _fumet_. Place the fish on the drainer of a fish-kettle just
large enough to hold the former, and moisten in such wise that the
cooking-liquor at the beginning of the operation does not cover more
than three-quarters of the depth of the fish. Unless it be for a Lenten
dish, the fish may be covered with slices of bacon while cooking. In
any case, baste it often. Take care not to close the lid down too
tightly, in order that the liquor may be reduced simultaneously with
the cooking of the fish.
When the operation is almost completed, take the lid off the
fish-kettle with the view of glazing the fish; then take the former
off the fire. Now withdraw the drainer with the fish upon it, and lay
it athwart the top of the fish-kettle, and let it drain; tilt the fish
on to a dish, and cover the latter pending its despatch to the table.
Strain the stock remaining in the fish-kettle through a strainer; let
it stand for ten minutes, remove all the grease that has formed on its
surface, and use it to complete the sauce as I directed above.
Braised fish are generally accompanied by a garnish, the constituents
of which I shall give in the particular recipes relating to braising.
781—THE GRILLING OF FISH
This method is best suited to small fish, to medium-sized
chicken-turbots, and to large-sectioned fish.
Unless they are very small, it is best to gash both sides of fish
intended for grilling; the reasons given above for this measure
likewise apply here.
All white and naturally dry fish should be rolled in flour and
besprinkled with butter or very good oil before being placed on the
grill to be exposed to the heat of the fire. The flour forms a crust
around the fish, which keeps it from drying and gives it that golden
colour quite peculiar to objects thus treated.
Salmon, trout, red mullet, mackerel, and herrings, the flesh whereof is
fatty, need not be floured, but only besprinkled with melted butter.
Owing to the somewhat fragile texture of most fish, a special double
gridiron is used, by means of which they may be turned without fear of
damage. This gridiron is placed upon the ordinary grill. I have already
given in Part I. of this work the radical principles of grilling
(Nos. 257 and 260); to this, therefore, the reader is begged to refer.
Grilled fish are served on a very hot dish, without paper or a napkin;
they are garnished with fresh parsley and grooved slices of lemon.
Butter à la Maître d’Hôtel, anchovy butter, devilled sauce, Roberts’
sauce Escoffier, and butter à la Ravigote constitute the best adjuncts
to grilled fish.
782—THE COOKING OF FISH AU GRATIN
I described all the details of this method under Complete Gratin
(No. 269), to which I must ask the reader to refer. This process
is best suited to small fish, such as sole, whiting, red mullet,
chicken-turbot, &c.
783—THE CRIMPING OF FISH
Crimped fish is quite an English speciality. This method of preparation
is applied more particularly to salmon, fresh cod, haddock, and skate.
The first three of these fish may be prepared whole or in slices, while
skate is always cut into more or less large pieces after it has been
skinned on both sides.
In order to crimp a whole fish, it should be taken as it leaves the
water. Lay it on something flat, and make deep lateral gashes on both
its sides from head to tail. Allow a space of about one and one-half
inches to two inches between each gash. This done, put the fish to soak
in very cold water for an hour or so. When the fish is to be cooked
sliced, divide it up as soon as it is caught, and put the slices to
soak in very cold water, as in the case of the whole fish.
But does this barbarous method, which stiffens and contracts the flesh
of the fish, affect its quality so materially as connoisseurs would
have us believe?
It is very difficult to say, and opinions on the matter are divided.
This, however, is certain, that fish prepared in the way above
described is greatly relished by many.
Whether whole or sliced, crimped fish is always boiled in salted water.
Its cooking presents a real difficulty, in that it must be stopped at
the precise moment when it is completed, any delay in this respect
proving prejudicial to the quality of the dish.
Crimped fish is served like the boiled kind, and all the sauces
suited to the latter likewise obtain with the former. Besides the
selected sauce, send a sauceboat to the table containing some of the
cooking-liquor of the fish.
SALMON (SAUMON)
Salmon caught on the Rhine, or Dutch salmon, is generally considered
the most delicate that may be had, though, in my opinion, that obtained
from certain English rivers, such, for instance, as the Severn, is by
no means inferior to the foregoing. Here in England this excellent
fish is held in the high esteem it deserves, and the quantity consumed
in this country is considerable. It is served as plainly as possible,
either boiled, cold or hot, grilled, or à la Meunière; but whatever be
the method of preparation, it is always accompanied by cucumber salad.
The slices of salmon, however, thick or thin, large or small, take the
name of “Darnes.”
784—BOILED SALMON
Boiled salmon, whether whole or sliced, should be cooked in
_court-bouillon_ in accordance with directions given at the beginning
of the chapter (No. 776). All fish sauces are suited to it, but more
especially the following, viz.:—Hollandaise sauce, Mousseline sauce,
Melted butter, Shrimp sauce, Nantua sauce, Cardinal sauce, &c.
_Crimped_ salmon admits of precisely the same sauces.
785—BROILED SALMON
Cut the salmon to be grilled in slices from one inch to one and
one-half inches thick. Season with table-salt, sprinkle with melted
butter or oil, and grill it for the first part on a rather brisk fire,
taking care to moderate the latter towards the close of the operation.
Allow about twenty-five minutes for the grilling of a slice of salmon
one and one-half inches thick. Butter à la Maître d’Hôtel, anchovy
butter, and devilled sauce Escoffier are the most usual adjuncts to
grilled salmon.
786—SAUMON A LA MEUNIÈRE
Having cut the salmon into moderately thick slices, season these,
dredge them slightly, and cook them in the frying-pan with very hot
clarified butter.
It is important that the salmon be set and that the cooking be rapid.
Serve it in either of the two ways indicated above (No. 778).
=Various Ways of Preparing Salmon=
In addition to the three methods of serving salmon described above,
and those cold preparations with which I shall deal later, the fish
in question lends itself to a whole host of dressings which are of
the greatest utility in the varying of menus. The principles of these
dressings I shall now give.
787—CADGERÉE OF SALMON
Prepare one lb. of cooked salmon, cleared of bones and skin, and cut
into small pieces; four hard-boiled eggs cut into dice; one lb. of
well-cooked pilaff rice; and three-quarters pint of Béchamel flavoured
with curry.
Dish in a hot timbale, alternating the various products, and finish
with a coating of sauce.
788—CÔTELETTES DE SAUMON
Prepare some _mousseline_ forcemeat for salmon, the quantity whereof
will be in accordance with the number of cutlets to be made, and rub it
through a coarse sieve. Line the bottom and sides of some buttered tin
moulds, shaped like cutlets, with a coating one-half inch thick of the
prepared forcemeat.
Fill the moulds to within one-third inch of their brims with a cold
_salpicon_ of mushrooms and truffles, thickened by means of reduced
Allemande sauce, and cover this with the forcemeat.
Set the cutlets to poach, turn out the moulds; treat the cutlets _à
l’anglaise_, and cook them with clarified butter.
Arrange in a circle round a dish, put a frill on a piece of fried bread
counterfeiting the bone of the cutlet, garnish with fried parsley, and
send to the table, separately, a “Dieppoise” sauce, Shrimp sauce, or
a purée of fresh vegetables, such as peas, carrots, &c. In the latter
case, serve at the same time a sauce in keeping with the garnish.
789—COULIBIAC DE SAUMON
_Preparation._—Have ready two lbs. of ordinary brioche paste without
sugar (No. 2368). Stiffen in butter one and one-half lbs. of small
salmon collops, and prepare one-sixth lb. of mushrooms and one
chopped onion (both of which should be fried in butter), one-half lb.
of semolina kache (No. 2292) or the same weight of rice cooked in
consommé; two hard-boiled eggs, chopped; and one lb. of _vesiga_,
roughly chopped and cooked in consommé.
For this weight of cooked _vesiga_ about two and one-half oz. of dried
_vesiga_ will be needed, which should be soaked for at least four hours
in cold water, and then cooked for three and one-half hours in white
consommé. It may also be cooked in water.
Roll the brioche paste into rectangles twelve inches long by eight
inches wide, and spread thereon in successive layers the kache or
the rice, the collops of salmon, the chopped _vesiga_, the eggs, the
mushrooms, and the onion, and finish with a layer of kache or rice.
Moisten the edges of the paste and draw the longest ends of it towards
each other over the enumerated layers of garnish, and join them so as
to properly enclose the latter.
Now fold the two remaining ends over to the centre in a similar way.
Place the coulibiac thus formed on a baking-tray, and take care to turn
it over in order that the joining parts of the paste lie underneath.
Set the paste to rise for twenty-five minutes, sprinkle some melted
butter over the coulibiac, sprinkle with some very fine raspings, make
a slit in the top for the escape of vapour, and bake in a moderate oven
for forty-five or fifty minutes. Fill the coulibiac with freshly-melted
butter when withdrawing it from the oven.
=Darnes de Saumon=
The few recipes dealing with “Darnes de Saumon,” which I give below,
may also be adapted to whole salmon after the size of the fish has been
taken into account in measuring the time allowed for cooking.
790—DARNE DE SAUMON CHAMBORD
As already explained, the term “darne” stands for a piece of salmon cut
from the middle of that fish, and the size of a darne is in proportion
to the number of people it is intended for.
Proceed after the manner directed under “The Braising of Fish”
(No. 780); moisten in the proportion of two-thirds with excellent
red wine and one-third with fish stock, calculating the quantity in
such wise that it may cover no more than two-thirds of the depth of
the darne. Bring to the boil, then set to braise gently, and glaze the
darne at the last moment.
_Garnish and Sauce._—Garnish with quenelles of truffled _mousseline_
forcemeat for fish, moulded by means of a spoon; two large ornamented
quenelles; truffles fashioned like olives; pieces of milt dipped in
Villeroy sauce, treated _à l’anglaise_ and fried when about to dish
up; small gudgeon or smelts treated similarly to the milt, and trussed
crayfish cooked in _court-bouillon_.
The sauce is a Genevoise, made from the reduced cooking-liquor of the
darne.
_Dishing Up._—Surround the darne by the garnishes enumerated, arranging
them tastefully, and pierce it with two _hatelets_, each garnished with
a small truffle, an ornamented quenelle, and a crayfish.
Send the sauce to the table separately.
791—DARNE DE SAUMON DAUMONT
Poach the darne in a _court-bouillon_ prepared beforehand.
_Dishing Up and Garnish._—Surround the darne by medium-sized mushrooms
stewed in butter and garnished with small crayfish tails cohered by
means of a few tablespoonfuls of Nantua sauce; small round quenelles
of _mousseline_ forcemeat for fish, decorated with truffles, and some
slices of milt treated _à l’anglaise_, and fried when about to dish up.
Serve the Nantua sauce separately.
792—DARNE DE SAUMON LUCULLUS
Skin one side of the darne, lard it with truffles, and braise it in
champagne.
_The Garnish Round the Darne._—Very small garnished patties of crayfish
tails; small _cassolettes_ of milt; small _mousselines_ of oysters,
poached in _dariole-moulds_.
_Sauce._—The braising-liquor of the darne finished by means of
ordinary and crayfish butter in equal quantities. Send it to the table
separately.
793—DARNE DE SAUMON NESSELRODE
Remove the spine and all other internal bones. Stuff the darne with raw
lobster _mousse_ stiffened by means of a little pike forcemeat.
Line a well-buttered, round and even raised-pie mould with a thin layer
of hot-water, raised-pie paste (this is made from one lb. of flour,
four oz. of lard, one egg, and a little lukewarm water), which should
be prepared in advance and made somewhat stiff. Now garnish the inside
of the pie with thin slices of bacon and place the darne upright in it.
(To simplify the operation the darne may be stuffed at this stage.)
Cover the pie with a layer of the same paste, pinch its edges with
those of the original lining, make a slit in the top for the steam to
escape, and cook in a good oven.
When the pie is almost baked, prod it repeatedly with a larding-needle;
when the latter is withdrawn clear of all stuffing the pie should be
taken from the oven. This done, turn it upside down in order to drain
away the melted bacon and other liquids inside it, but do not let it
drop from the mould. Then tilt it on to a dish and take off the mould.
Do not break the crust except at the dining-table.
_Sauce._—Serve an American sauce with the pie, the former being
prepared from the remains of the lobsters used in making the _mousse_,
finished with cream, and garnished with very fine oysters (cleared of
their beards), poached when about to dish up.
794—DARNE DE SAUMON RÉGENCE
Braise the darne in white wine in accordance with the directions given
in No. 780.
_Garnish._—Surround the darne by spoon-moulded quenelles of whiting
forcemeat prepared with crayfish butter, oysters cleared of their
beards and poached, small, very white mushrooms, and poached slices of
milt.
Normande sauce finished with truffle essence.
795—DARNE DE SAUMON ROYALE
Braise the darne in Sauterne wine.
_Garnish._—Bunches of crayfishes’ tails, small quenelles of
_mousseline_ forcemeat for fish, small mushrooms, slices of truffle,
and little balls of potato raised by means of the large, round
spoon-cutter, and cooked _à l’anglaise_.
Send a Normande sauce separately.
796—DARNE DE SAUMON VALOIS
Poach the darne in a white wine _court-bouillon_.
_Garnish._—Potato balls raised with the spoon-cutter or turned to the
shape of olives, and cooked in salted water, poached slices of milt,
and trussed crayfish cooked in _court-bouillon_.
Send a Valois sauce separately.
797—MOUSSELINE DE SAUMON
In Part I. I dealt with the preparation of _mousseline_ forcemeat
(No. 195), and also the method of poaching spoon-moulded quenelles
(No. 205). Now _mousselines_ are only large quenelles which derive
their name from the very light forcemeat of which they are composed.
These _mousseline_ quenelles are always moulded with the ordinary
tablespoon, they are garnished on top with a fine, raw slice of the
fish under treatment, and poached after the manner already described.
798—MOUSSELINE ALEXANDRA
Having made the salmon _mousseline_ forcemeat, mould the quenelles
and place them, one by one, in a buttered sautépan. Place a small,
round and very thin slice of salmon on each, and poach them in a very
moderate oven with lid on the utensil containing them.
Drain on a piece of linen, arrange them in a circle on a dish, place a
slice of truffle upon each slice of salmon, coat with Mornay sauce, and
glaze.
Garnish the centre of the dish with very small peas or asparagus-heads
cohered with butter just before dishing up.
799—MOUSSELINE DE SAUMON A LA TOSCA
Combine one and one-half oz. of crayfish cream-cullis with each pound
of the salmon _mousseline_ forcemeat. Mould and poach as above, drain,
and arrange in a circle on a dish.
Garnish each _mousseline_ with a thin slice of milt cooked in
lightly-browned butter, four crayfish tails cut lengthwise into two,
and a slice of truffle at each end. Coat with a light Mornay sauce,
finished with crayfish butter, and glaze quickly.
N.B.—In addition to these two recipes, all the garnishes suitable
for fillets of sole may be applied to _mousselines_. Garnishes of
early-season vegetable purées also suit them admirably, and therein
lies an almost inexhaustible source of variety.
800—COLD SALMON
When salmon is to be served cold it should, as far as possible, be
cooked, either whole or in large pieces, in the _court-bouillon_ given
under No. 163 and cooled in the latter. Pieces cooked separately may
seem better or may be more easily made to look sightly, but their meat
is drier than that of the salmon cooked whole. And what is lost in
appearance with the very large pieces is more than compensated for by
their extra quality.
In dishing cold salmon the skin may be removed and the fillets bared,
so that the fish may be more easily decorated, but the real gourmet
will always prefer the salmon served in its natural silver vestment.
In decorating cold salmon use pieces of cucumber, anchovy fillets,
capers, slices of tomato, curled-leaf parsley, &c.
I am not partial to the decorating of salmon with softened butter,
coloured or not, laid on by means of the piping-bag. Apart from the
fact that this method of decoration is rarely artistic, the butter used
combines badly with the cold sauces and the meat of the salmon on the
diner’s plate. Very green tarragon leaves, chervil, lobster coral, &c.,
afford a more natural and more delicate means of ornamentation. The
only butter fit to be served with cold salmon is Montpellier butter
(No. 153), though this, in fact, is but a cold sauce often resorted to
for the coating of the cold fish in question.
Among the garnishes which suit cold salmon, I might mention small
peeled, and emptied tomatoes garnished with some kind of salad;
hard-boiled eggs, either wholly stuffed, or stuffed in halves or in
quarters, _barquettes_, tartlets and _cassolettes_ made from cucumber
or beetroot, parboiled until almost completely cooked and garnished
with a purée of tunny, of sardines, of anchovies, &c.; small aspics of
shrimps or of crayfishes’ tails; small slices of lobster, &c.
Almost all the cold sauces may accompany cold salmon.
801—SAUMON FROID, OU DARNE DE SAUMON FROID A LA ROYALE
Having drained and dried the salmon or the darne, remove the skin
from one of its sides, and coat the bared fillets with a layer of a
preparation of _mousse_ de saumon, letting it lie rather more thickly
over the middle than the sides. Coat the layer of _mousse_ with
mayonnaise sauce thickened by means of fish jelly, and leave to set.
Now let some clear fish jelly set on the bottom of the dish to be sent
to the table; place the salmon or the darne on this jelly, and surround
the piece with a border consisting of Montpellier butter, using for the
purpose a piping-bag fitted with a grooved pipe.
Decorate the centre of the piece by means of a fine fleur-de-lys made
from truffles, and encircle it with two royale crowns made from anchovy
fillets.
802—SAUMON FROID OU DARNE DE SAUMON A LA PARISIENNE
Remove the skin in suchwise as to leave the bared portion in the shape
of a regular rectangle, equidistant from the tail and the head; or, in
the case of a darne, occupying two-thirds of its surface.
Cover the bared portion with mayonnaise sauce thickened with fish jelly
and leave it to set.
Now stand the piece on a small cushion of rice or semolina, shaping the
latter like the piece itself; trim the sauced rectangle with a border
of Montpellier butter, laid on by means of a piping-bag fitted with a
small grooved pipe. Garnish the centre of the rectangle with pieces
of lobster coral, the chopped, hard-boiled white and yolk of an egg,
chervil leaves, &c.
Encircle the piece with a border of small artichoke-bottoms, garnished,
in the form of a dome, with a small _macédoine_ of vegetables cohered
with cleared mayonnaise.
Send a mayonnaise sauce to the table separately.
803—SAUMON FROID OU DARNE DE SAUMON FROID A LA RIGA
Prepare a salmon or a darne as in the preceding recipe, and dish it on
a cushion in order that it may be slightly raised.
Surround it with grooved sections of cucumber hollowed to represent
small timbales, well parboiled, _marinaded_ with a few drops of oil
and lemon-juice and filled with a vegetable salad thickened with
mayonnaise; indented, halved eggs filled with caviare; and tartlets of
vegetable salad cohered with mayonnaise, and garnished, each with a
crayfish-shell stuffed with crayfish mousse; alternate these various
garnishes, and encircle with a border of jelly dice.
804—SAUMON FROID, OU DARNE DE SAUMON FROID EN BELLE-VUE
Skin the salmon or the darne, set the piece upright upon the belly
side, and decorate the fillets with pieces of truffles, poached white
of egg, chervil leaves, and tarragon, &c.
Coat the garnish with a little melted fish aspic so as to fix it.
This done, sprinkle the piece, again and again, with the same melted
aspic jelly in order to cover it with a kind of transparent veil.
Place the piece thus prepared in a crystal receptacle similarly shaped
to the fish, and fill the former to the brim with very clear, melted
jelly.
When dishing up, incrust the receptacle containing the fish in a block
of clean ice which, in its turn, is laid on the dish to be sent to the
table. Another way is to place the crystal utensil direct upon the dish
and to surround the former with broken ice.
805—SAUMON FROID, OU DARNE DE SAUMON FROID AU CHAMBERTIN
Poach the salmon or the darne in a _court-bouillon_ consisting of very
clear fish _fumet_ and Chambertin wine, in equal quantities, and leave
to cool. Prepare an aspic jelly from the _court-bouillon_.
Skin and decorate the salmon or the darne and glaze it with white aspic
jelly, exactly as directed above, in the case of the Belle-vue.
Dish in the same way, in a crystal receptacle, and fill the latter with
the prepared aspic jelly. Serve on a block of ice, or with broken ice
around the utensil.
806—SAUMON FROID, OU DARNE DE SAUMON FROID A LA NORVEGIENNE
Skin and decorate the salmon or the darne, and glaze it with white
aspic jelly precisely as in No. 804.
Let a coating of very clear jelly set on the bottom of the dish to be
sent to the table. Upon this aspic jelly lay a cushion the same shape
as the fish, of semolina, or of carved rice.
Set the piece (salmon or darne), decorated and glazed, upon this
cushion, and lay thereon a row of fine prawns, cleared of their
abdominal shell.
Surround with a garnish of small cucumber timbales, well parboiled,
_marinaded_, and garnished dome-fashion, with a purée of smoked salmon;
halved, hard-boiled eggs, glazed with aspic; very small tomatoes, or
halved medium-sized ones, peeled, pressed in the corner of a towel to
return them to their original shape, stuck with a bit of parsley-stalk,
and decorated with leaves of green butter moulded by means of the
piping-bag; and small _barquettes_ of cooked and _marinaded_ beetroot,
garnished with shrimps’ tails cohered with mayonnaise.
Send a Russe sauce separately.
807—CÔTELETTES FROIDES DE SAUMON
Liberally butter some tin cutlet-shaped moulds. Line their bottoms and
sides with a very red slice of salmon, as thin as a piece of cardboard.
This slice should be long enough to project outside the brim of the
mould to the extent of one-half inch.
Garnish the insides of the moulds with well-seasoned salmon meat, and
draw the projecting lengths of salmon across this meat so as to enclose
the latter and finish off the cutlets.
Arrange the moulds on a baking-tray; poach the cutlets, dry, in a
moderate oven; turn them out of their moulds on to another tray as
soon as they are poached, and let them cool. Then coat them with a
half-melted aspic, and decorate them according to fancy, either with
very green peas or a leaf of chervil with a bit of lobster coral in its
centre—in a word, something simple and neat.
These cutlets, which are generally served at ball-suppers, may be
dished on a tazza, on a cushion of rice, semolina, corn-flour, or
stearine, and laid almost vertically against a pyramid of vegetable
salad cohered by means of mayonnaise with aspic. In this case the dish
is finished off with a _hatelet_ stuck into the middle of the pyramid.
The cutlets may also be arranged in a circle on a flat, shallow, silver
or crystal dish, and covered with a delicate cold melted jelly.
Whatever be the selected method of dishing, always send to the table
with the cutlet a sauceboat of cold sauce.
808—MÉDAILLONS DE SAUMON
These médaillons have the same purpose as the cutlets already
described, and are prepared thus:—
Cut some small slices, one-third inch thick, from a fillet of salmon.
Arrange them on a buttered tray; poach them, dry, in a moderate oven,
and cool them under a light weight.
Now trim them neatly, with an even cutter, oval or round, in accordance
with the shape they are intended to have.
Coat them, according to their purpose, either with mayonnaise sauce or
one of its derivatives, thickened with jelly, or a white, pink, or
green chaud-froid sauce. Decorate it in any way that may be fancied,
and glaze them with cold melted aspic jelly.
Dish after the manner described under “_Côtelettes_” (see above).
809—MAYONNAISE DE SAUMON
Garnish the bottom of a salad-bowl with moderately seasoned, _ciseled_
lettuce. Cover with cold, cooked and flaked salmon, thoroughly cleared
of all skin and bones.
Coat with mayonnaise sauce, and decorate with anchovy fillets, capers,
stoned olives, small slices or roundels or quarters of hard-boiled
eggs, small hearts of lettuce, a border of little roundels of
radish, &c.
810—SALADE DE SAUMON
This preparation comprises the same ingredients as the above, with the
exception of the mayonnaise sauce. The decorating garnish is placed
directly upon the salmon, and the whole is seasoned in precisely the
same way as an ordinary salad.
TROUT.
From the culinary standpoint, trout are divided into two quite
distinct classes, viz., large trout, whereof the typical specimen is
Salmon-trout, and small or fresh-water trout.
811—TRUITE SAUMONÉE (Salmon Trout)
In its many preparations, salmon-trout may be replaced by salmon, and
all the recipes relating to the former may be adapted to the latter.
In any case, however, as its size is less than that of salmon, it is
very rarely cut into darnes, being more generally served whole.
The few recipes that follow are proper to salmon-trout.
812—TRUITE A LA CAMBACÉRÈS
Select a male trout in preference; clean it, and remove its gills
without opening it in the region of the belly.
Skin it on one side, starting at a distance of one inch from the head
and finishing within two and one-half inches of the root of the tail.
Lard the bared portions with truffles and the red part only of carrots
cut into rods.
This done, spread out a napkin, lay the trout thereon, belly under,
and, with a sharp knife, separate the two fillets from the bones,
beginning in the region of the head and proceeding straight down to
where the body converges towards the tail.
The spine being thus liberated, sever it at both ends; _i.e._, from
the tail and the head, and withdraw it, together with all the adhering
ventral bones. The intestines are then removed, the inside of the fish
is well cleaned, the fillets are seasoned on their insides, and the
trout is stuffed with a _mousseline_ forcemeat of raw crayfish. The
two fillets are drawn together, and the trout, thus reconstructed,
is covered with thin slices of bacon and laid on the drainer of the
fish-kettle and braised in Sauterne wine.
When the fish is done, remove the slices of bacon, glaze it, and dish
it up. Surround it with alternate heaps of morels tossed in butter and
milt à la Meunière.
Send to the table, separately, a fine Béchamel sauce, combined with the
braising-liquor of the trout, strained and reduced, and finished with
crayfish butter.
813—TRUITES SAUMONÉES FROIDES
We are now concerned with a whole series of unpublished “Trout”
preparations, which are at once of superfine delicacy and agreeable
aspect, and which admit of clean and easy dishing.
Cook a trout weighing from two to three lbs. in _court-bouillon_, and
let it cool in the latter. Then drain it; sever the head and tail from
the body, and put them aside. Completely skin the whole fish, and
carefully separate the two fillets from the bones.
Deck each fillet with tarragon and chervil leaves, lobster coral,
poached white of eggs, &c., and set them, back to back, upon a _mousse_
of tomatoes lying in a special, long white or coloured porcelain dish
about one and one-half to two inches deep.
Replace the head and tail, and cover the whole with a coating of
half-melted, succulent fish aspic, somewhat clear. Let the aspic
set, and incrust the dish containing the trout in a block of ice, or
surround it with the latter broken.
814—PREPARATION DE LA MOUSSE DE TOMATES
This _mousse_, like those which I shall give later, is really a
_bavarois_ without sugar. Its recipe is exactly the same as that of the
“_bavarois_ of fruit,” except with regard to the question of sugar.
Cook one-half lb. of tomato pulp (cleared of skin and seeds, and
roughly chopped) in one oz. of butter. When the pulp has thoroughly
mingled with the butter, add thereto two tablespoonfuls of velouté
thickened by means of eight leaves of gelatine per quart of the sauce.
Rub through tammy, and add to the preparation, when almost cold, half
of its volume of barely-whipped cream. Taste the _mousse_; season
with a few drops of lemon juice, and if it still seems flat, add the
necessary salt and a very little cayenne.
N.B.—It will be seen that I prescribe cream only half-whipped. This
precaution, however, does not apply to “Mousse de Tomates” alone, but
to all _mousses_. Well-whipped cream imparts a dry and woolly taste to
them, whereas, when it is only half-whipped, it renders them unctuous
and fresh to the palate.
From the point of view of delicacy, the respective results of the two
methods do not bear comparison.
815—OTHER PREPARATIONS OF TROUT after the same recipe
By proceeding exactly as directed in the foregoing recipe, and by
substituting one of the following _mousses_ for the “Mousse de
Tomates,” it will be found that considerable variety may be introduced
into menus:—
1. +Crayfish Mousse+ with fillets of trout, decked with crayfish tails
and tarragon leaves.
2. +Lobster Mousse+ with fillets of trout, decked with slices of
lobster, coral, and chervil.
3. +Shrimp Mousse+ with fillets of trout, decked with crayfish tails
and capers.
4. +Capsicum Mousse+ with fillets of trout, decked with strips of
grilled capsicum.
5. +Physalia Mousse+ with fillets of trout, decked with chervil,
tarragon, and bunches of physalia around the fillets.
6. +Green Pimentos Mousse+ with fillets of trout, decked with strips of
green pimentos.
7. +Early-season Herb Mousse+ with fillets of trout, decked with
chopped, hard-boiled eggs, and chopped parsley.
8. +Volnay Mousse+ with fillets of trout, decked with anchovy fillets,
capers, and olives.
9. +Chambertin Mousse+ with fillets of trout decked like No. 8.
N.B.—In the making of “Mousse au Volnay” and “au Chambertin” the base
of the preparations is supplied by cleared velouté, to which is added
the reduced cooking-liquor of the trout.
All these recipes are equally suitable for sole or chicken-turbot.
815a—ONDINES AUX CREVETTES ROSES
Prepare a very delicate trout mousse, mould it in egg-moulds, and
garnish the centre with trimmed prawns’ tails. Let the _mousse_ set;
then speedily turn the ondines out of their moulds, and lay them in
a deep entrée-dish. Between each of them lay a few prawns, the tails
of which should be shelled. Cover the whole, little by little, with
some excellent, half-melted jelly; here and there add a few sprigs of
chervil, and then fill up the dish with jelly, so as to completely
cover the _mousses_.
816—FRESH-WATER TROUT
The best are those procured in mountainous districts, where the clear
water they inhabit is constantly refreshed by strong currents.
The two leading methods of preparing them are called, respectively, “Au
bleu” and “à la Meunière.” Having already described the latter, I shall
now give my attention to “Truite au bleu.”
This preparation is held in very high esteem in Switzerland and
Germany, where fresh-water trout are not only plentiful, but of
excellent quality.
817—TRUITES AU BLEU
The essential condition for this dish consists in having live trout.
Prepare a _court-bouillon_ with plenty of vinegar (No. 163), and keep
it boiling in a rather shallow basin.
About ten minutes before dishing them, take the trout out of water;
stun them by a blow on the head; empty and clean them very quickly,
and plunge them into the boiling liquid, where they will immediately
shrivel, while their skin will break in all directions.
A few minutes will suffice to cook trout the average weight of which is
one-third lb.
Drain them and dish them immediately upon a napkin, with curled-leaf
parsley all round. Serve them with a Hollandaise sauce or melted butter.
N.B.—Fresh-water trout may also be served fried or grilled, but neither
of these methods of preparation suits them so well as “à la Meunière”
or “au bleu,” which I have given.
SOLES.
Sole may be served whole or filleted, and a large number of the recipes
given for the whole fish may be adapted to its fillets.
As a rule, the fillets are made to appear on the menu of a dinner
owing to the fact that they dish more elegantly and are more easily
served than the whole fish, the latter being generally served at
luncheons.
Nevertheless, in cases where great ceremony is not observed at a
dinner, soles may well be served whole, inasmuch as no hard-and-fast
rule has ever obtained in this matter.
818—SOLE ALICE
This sole is prepared, or rather its preparation is completed, at the
table.
Have an excellent fish _fumet_ (No. 11), short and very white. Trim the
sole; put it into a special, deep earthenware dish, the bottom of which
should be buttered; pour the _fumet_ over it and poach gently.
Now send it to the table with a plate containing separate heaps of one
finely-chopped onion, a little powdered thyme, and three finely-crushed
_biscottes_.
In the dining-room the waiter places the dish on a chafer, and, taking
off the sole, he raises the fillets therefrom, and places them between
two hot plates. He then adds to the cooking-liquor of the sole the
chopped onion, which he leaves to cook for a few moments, the powdered
thyme and a sufficient quantity of the _biscotte_ raspings to allow of
thickening the whole.
At the last minute he adds six raw oysters and one oz. of butter
divided into small pieces.
As soon as the oysters are stiff, he returns the fillets of sole to the
dish, besprinkles them copiously with the sauce, and then serves them
very hot.
N.B.—In order to promote the poaching of the soles, more particularly
when they are large, the fillets on the upper side of the fish should
be slightly separated from the bones. By this means the heat is able
to reach the inside of the fish very quickly, and the operation is
accelerated.
The sole is always laid on the dish with its opened side undermost—that
is to say, on its back.
819—SOLE MORNAY
Lay the sole on a buttered dish; sprinkle a little fish _fumet_ over
it, and add one-half oz. of butter divided into small pieces. Poach
gently.
Coat the bottom of the dish on which the sole is to be served with
Mornay sauce; drain the fish, lay it on the prepared dish; cover it
with the same sauce; sprinkle with grated Gruyère and Parmesan, and
glaze at a Salamander.
820—SOLE MORNAY DES PROVENÇAUX
This sole, which used to be served at the famous restaurant of the
“Frères Provençaux,” was prepared, and always may be prepared, as
follows:—
Poach the sole in fish _fumet_ and butter, as directed in the preceding
recipe; drain it, and place it on a dish; cover it with white-wine
sauce; sprinkle liberally with grated cheese, and glaze quickly.
821—SOLE AU CHAMPAGNE
Poach the sole in a buttered dish with one-half pint of champagne. Dish
it; reduce its cooking-liquor to half; add thereto one-sixth pint of
velouté, and complete with one and one-half oz. of best butter.
Cover the sole with this sauce; glaze, and garnish each side of the
dish with a little heap of a _julienne_ of filleted sole, seasoned,
dredged, and tossed in clarified butter at the last moment in order to
have it very crisp.
N.B.—By substituting a good white wine for the champagne, a variety of
dishes may be made, among which may be mentioned: Soles au Chablis,
Soles au Sauterne, Sole au Samos, Sole au Château Yquem, &c., &c.
822—SOLE COLBERT
On the upper side of the fish separate the fillets from the spine, and
break the latter in several places. Dip the sole in milk; roll it in
flour; treat it _à l’anglaise_, and roll the separated fillets back a
little, so that they may be quite free from the bones.
Fry; drain on a piece of linen; remove the bones, and fill the
resulting space with butter à la Maître d’Hôtel.
Serve the sole on a very hot dish.
823—SOLE A LA DAUMONT
Bone the sole; _i.e._, sever the spine near the tail and the head;
remove it, and leave those portions of the fillets which lie on the
remaining extremities of it intact. Garnish the inside with whiting
forcemeat finished with crayfish butter, and rearrange the fillets in
such wise as to give a natural and untouched appearance to the fish.
Poach it on a buttered dish with one-sixth pint of white wine, the same
quantity of the cooking-liquor of mushrooms, and one oz. of butter cut
into small lumps.
Drain and dish the sole, and cover it with Nantua sauce. Place around
it four mushrooms stewed in butter and garnished with crayfish tails
in Nantua sauce; four small, round quenelles of whiting forcemeat
with cream, decked with truffles; and four slices of milt treated _à
l’anglaise_ and fried at the last moment.
824—SOLE DORÉE
As I explained under “Fish à la Meunière” (No. 778), “Sole Dorée” is a
sole fried in clarified butter, dished dry, and garnished with slices
of carefully peeled lemon.
825—SOLE DUGLÉRÉ
All fish treated after this recipe, with the exception of soles, should
be divided up.
Put the sole in a buttered dish with one and one-half oz. of chopped
onion, one-half lb. of peeled and _concassed_ tomatoes, a little
roughly-chopped parsley, a pinch of table salt, a very little pepper,
and one-eighth pint of white wine. Set to poach gently, and then dish
the sole.
Reduce the cooking-liquor; thicken it with two tablespoonfuls of fish
velouté; complete with one oz. of butter and a few drops of lemon
juice, and cover the fish with this sauce.
826—SOLE GRILLÉE
Season the sole; sprinkle oil thereon, and grill the fish very gently.
Send it, garnished with slices of lemon, on a very hot dish.
827—SOLE GRILLÉE, AUX HUÎTRES A L’AMÉRICAINE
This sole may be either grilled or poached, almost dry, in butter and
lemon juice. With the procedure remaining the same, it may also be
prepared in fillets. Whatever be the mode of procedure, serve it on
a very hot dish, and surround it at the last moment with six oysters
poached in a little boiling Worcestershire sauce.
Cover the sole immediately with very hot fried bread-crumbs, and add
thereto a pinch of chopped parsley.
828—SOLE A LA FERMIÈRE
Put the sole, seasoned, on a buttered dish with a few aromatics. Add
one-third pint of excellent red wine, and poach gently with lid on.
Dish up; strain the cooking-liquor, and reduce it to half; thicken it
with a lump of _manied_ butter the size of a hazel-nut, and finish the
sauce with one oz. of butter.
Encircle the sole with a border of mushrooms sliced raw and tossed in
butter. Pour the prepared sauce over the sole, and set to glaze quickly.
829—SOLE A LA HOLLANDAISE
Break the spine of the sole by folding it over in several places. Put
the fish in a deep dish; cover it with slightly salted water; set to
boil, and then poach gently for ten minutes with lid on.
Drain and dish on a napkin with very green parsley all round. Serve at
the same time some plainly boiled potatoes, freshly done, and two oz.
of melted butter.
830—SOLE SAINT-GERMAIN
Season the sole; dip it in melted butter, and cover it with fresh
bread-crumbs, taking care to pat the latter with the flat of a knife,
in order that they may combine with the butter to form a kind of crust.
Sprinkle with some more melted butter, and grill the fish gently so
that its coating of bread-crumbs may acquire a nice golden colour. Dish
the sole, and surround it with potatoes turned to the shape of olives,
and cooked in butter.
Send a Béarnaise sauce to the table separately.
831—SOLE FLORENTINE
Poach the sole in a fish _fumet_ and butter. Spread a layer of shredded
spinach, stewed in butter, on the bottom of a dish; place the sole
thereon; cover it with Mornay sauce; sprinkle with a little grated
cheese, and set to glaze quickly in the oven or at a salamander.
832—SOLE MONTREUIL
Poach the sole in one-sixth pint of fish _fumet_, one-sixth pint of
white wine, and one-half oz. of butter.
Drain as soon as poached, and surround with potato-balls the size of
walnuts, cooked in salted water, and kept whole. Cover the sole with
white-wine sauce, and lay a thread of shrimp sauce over the garnish.
833—SOLE AU GRATIN
Partly separate the fillets from the bones on the upper side of the
fish, and slip a lump of butter, the size of a walnut, under each.
This done, place the sole on a well-buttered gratin dish, on the bottom
of which a pinch of chopped shallots and parsley has been sprinkled,
together with one or two tablespoonfuls of Gratin sauce.
Lay four cooked mushrooms along the sole, and surround it with one oz.
of raw mushrooms, cut into rather thin slices.
Add two tablespoonfuls of white wine; cover the sole with Gratin sauce;
sprinkle with fine raspings followed by melted butter, and set the
_gratin_ to form in pursuance of the directions given under complete
Gratin (No. 269).
When taking the sole from the oven, sprinkle a few drops of lemon juice
and a pinch of chopped parsley upon it, and serve at once.
834—SOLE AU CHAMBERTIN
Season the sole and poach it on a buttered dish with one-third pint of
Chambertin wine.
As soon as it is poached, drain it, dish it, and keep it hot. Reduce
the cooking-liquor to half, add thereto a little freshly-ground
pepper and two or three drops of lemon-juice, thicken with a lump of
_manied_ butter the size of a walnut, and finish the sauce with one and
one-half oz. of butter.
Cover the sole with the sauce, set to glaze quickly, and garnish both
sides of the dish with a little heap of _julienne_ of filleted sole,
seasoned, dredged, and tossed in clarified butter at the last moment so
that it may be very crisp.
835—Remarks concerning “SOLES AUX GRANDS VINS”
Taking recipe No. 834 as a model, and putting into requisition all
the good wines of Burgundy and Bordeaux, the following varieties
are obtained, viz.:—Soles au Volnay, au Pommard, au Romanée, au
Clos-Vougeot, or soles au Saint-Estèphe, au Château-Larose, au
Saint-Émilion, &c., &c.
836—SOLE MONTGOLFIER
Poach the sole in one-sixth pint of white wine and as much of the
cooking-liquor of mushrooms. Drain, dish, and cover it with a white
wine sauce combined with the reduced cooking-liquor of the sole and one
tablespoonful of a fine _julienne_ of spiny lobster’s tail, mushrooms,
and very black truffles. Surround the sole with a border of little
_palmettes_ made from puff-paste and cooked without colouration.
837—SOLE SUR LE PLAT
Partly separate the fillets from the bones on the upper side of the
fish, and slip a piece of butter the size of a walnut under each.
Lay the sole on a liberally buttered dish, moisten with one-fifth pint
of the cooking-liquor of fish, and add a few drops of lemon-juice.
Cook in the oven, basting often the while, until the cooking-liquor has
by reduction acquired the consistence of a syrup and covers the sole
with a translucent and glossy coat.
N.B.—By substituting for the mushroom cooking-liquor a good white or
red wine, to which a little melted pale meat-glaze has been added, the
following series of dishes may be prepared, viz.:—+Sole sur le plat au
Chambertin+. +Sole sur le plat au vin rouge+. +Sole sur le plat au
Champagne+. +Sole sur le plat au Chablis+, &c., &c.
838—SOLE RÉGENCE
Poach the sole in a little white wine and two-thirds oz. of butter cut
into small pieces.
Drain the sole, dish it, and surround it with six quenelles of whiting
forcemeat finished with crayfish butter, moulded by means of a small
spoon; four poached oysters (cleared of their beards); four small
cooked and very white mushrooms; four small truffles, turned to the
shape of olives; and four small poached slices of milt. Cover the sole
and the garnish with a Normande sauce finished with a little truffle
essence.
839—SOLE PORTUGAISE
Poach the sole in white wine and the cooking-liquor of fish. Drain,
dish, and surround with a garnish consisting of two medium-sized
tomatoes, peeled, pressed, minced, cooked in butter, and combined with
minced and cooked mushrooms, and a large pinch of chopped chives.
Coat the sole with white wine sauce, plentifully buttered, and take
care that none of the sauce touches the garnish.
Set to glaze quickly, sprinkle the garnish with a pinch of chopped
parsley when taking the sole from the oven, and serve immediately.
840—SOLE CUBAT
Poach the sole in one-fifth pint of the cooking-liquor of mushrooms and
one-half oz. of butter cut into small pieces.
Coat the bottom of the dish intended for the sole with a purée of
mushrooms, place the drained sole on this purée, lay six fine slices of
truffle along the fish, coat with Mornay sauce, sprinkle with cheese,
and glaze quickly.
841—SOLE AUX HUÎTRES
Open and poach six oysters. Poach the sole in the liquor of the
oysters, drain it, dish it, and surround it with the oysters (cleared
of their beards).
Coat with a white wine sauce combined with the reduced cooking-liquor
of the sole, and glaze quickly.
842—SOLE A LA MEUNIÈRE
Proceed for this dish as directed under “Fish à la Meunière” (No. 778).
843—SOLE MEUNIÈRE AUX CONCOMBRES, otherwise DORIA
Prepare a sole à la Meunière. Garnish it at both ends with little heaps
of cucumber, turned and cooked in butter with a little salt and a pinch
of sugar.
844—SOLE MEUNIÈRE AUX AUBERGINES
Prepare a sole à la Meunière in the usual way. Surround it with a fine
border of egg-plant rundles one-third inch thick, seasoned, dredged,
and fried in clarified butter, just in time to be arranged round the
sole when it is ready. The question of time is important, for if the
fried rundles be allowed to wait at all they very quickly lose their
crispness.
845—SOLE MEUNIÈRE AUX CÈPES
Prepare the sole à la Meunière in the usual way and surround it with a
border of sliced _cèpes_ frizzled in butter just before dishing up.
846—SOLE MEUNIÈRE AUX MORILLES
Surround the sole with very fresh morels cooked in salted water and
then tossed in butter just before dishing up. Sprinkle a pinch of
chopped parsley over the morels.
847—SOLE MEUNIÈRE AUX RAISINS
The sole being ready, encircle it with fresh skinned Muscadel grapes
prepared in advance.
848—SOLE MEUNIÈRE A L’ORANGE
When the sole is cooked and dished, lay thereon a row of orange slices,
peeled to the pulp and thoroughly pipped, or some sections of oranges,
likewise peeled to the pulp and carefully pipped. This done, cover the
sole and the garnish with lightly-browned butter and serve instantly.
849—SOLE LUTÈCE
Line the bottom of the dish intended for the sole with a coating of
shredded spinach tossed in lightly-browned butter. Place the sole,
prepared à la Meunière, upon this spinach; lay a few rundles of onion
and slices of artichoke-bottom tossed in butter upon the fish; and on
either side of the sole lay a border of potato-slices, freshly cooked
in salted water and well browned in butter.
At the last moment cover the whole with lightly-browned butter.
850—SOLE MURAT
Toss in butter, separately (1) one medium-sized potato cut into dice;
(2) two small raw artichoke-bottoms, likewise cut into dice. Prepare
the sole à la Meunière, dish it, and surround it with the tossed potato
and artichoke-bottom, mixed when cooked. Lay on the sole five slices
of tomato, one-half inch thick, seasoned, dredged, and tossed in very
hot oil; sprinkle a few drops of pale melted meat-glaze, a little
lemon-juice, and a pinch of _concassed_ parsley over the sole, and
cover the whole with slightly-browned butter. Serve instantly.
851—SOLE A LA PROVENÇALE
Poach the sole in one-sixth pint of fish _fumet_, two tablespoonfuls of
oil and a piece, the size of a pea, of garlic, well crushed. Drain and
dish the sole. Coat it with Provençale sauce combined with the reduced
cooking-liquor, and sprinkle a little _concassed_ parsley over it.
Surround the sole with four little tomatoes and four medium-sized
mushrooms stuffed with duxelles flavoured with a mite of garlic; these
latter should be put in the oven just in time for them to be ready at
the dishing up of the fish.
852—SOLE ARLÉSIENNE
Poach the sole in a little fish _fumet_. Dish it, reduce the _fumet_,
and add thereto the following garnish:—Cook a little chopped onion
in butter, add two medium-sized, peeled, emptied, and _concassed_
tomatoes, a bit of garlic, and some _concassed_ parsley. Cook with lid
on, add the reduced _fumet_ and twelve pieces of vegetable-marrow,
turned to the shape of olives and cooked in butter.
Cover the sole with this garnish and set a little heap of fried onion
at each end of the dish.
853—SOLE A LA ROYALE
Poach the sole in a few tablespoonfuls of fish _fumet_ and
two-thirds oz. of butter cut into small lumps. Dish the sole and set
upon it four small cooked mushrooms, four small quenelles of fish
forcemeat, four crayfishes’ tails, and four slices of truffle.
Surround the sole with potato-balls, raised by means of the round
spoon-cutter and cooked _à l’anglaise_, and coat the sole and garnish
with Normande sauce.
854—SOLE A LA RUSSE
Prepare twelve grooved and very thin roundels of carrots, cut a small
onion into fine slices. Put these vegetables into and cut a small onion
into fine slices. Put these vegetables into one-seventh pint of white
wine, and one-third pint of fish _fumet_. Cook and, in the process,
reduce the moistening by half, and pour this preparation into a deep
dish.
Partly separate the fillets from the bones on the upper side of the
sole, slip a piece of butter, the size of a walnut, under each fillet,
and put the fish into a deep dish containing the preparation. Poach and
baste frequently the while.
As soon as it is poached, dish the sole, also the vegetables used in
cooking, and keep the whole hot.
Reduce the cooking-liquor to one-eighth pint, add a few drops of lemon
juice, and finish it away from the fire with one and one-half oz. of
butter. Coat the sole and the garnish with this sauce.
855—SOLE RICHELIEU
Prepare the sole exactly as directed under “Sole à la Colbert”
(No. 822). When it is fried, remove the bones and dish it. Garnish the
inside with butter à la maître-d’hôtel, and lay thereon a row of sliced
truffles.
856—SOLE NORMANDE
Poach the sole on a buttered dish with one-sixth pint of fish _fumet_,
and the same quantity of the cooking-liquor of mushrooms. Drain and
dish the sole, and surround it with mussels, poached oysters (cleared
of their beards), shrimps’ tails, and small cooked mushrooms. Put the
sole in the oven for a few minutes, tilt the dish in order to get rid
of all liquid, and coat the sole and the garnish with Normande sauce.
Make a little garland of pale meat-glaze on the sauce, and finish the
garnish with the following articles:—Six fine slices of truffle set
in a row upon the sole; six small crusts in the shape of lozenges,
fried in clarified butter and arranged round the truffles; four
gudgeons treated _à l’anglaise_ and fried at the last moment; and four
medium-sized trussed crayfish cooked in _court-bouillon_.
Set the gudgeons and the crayfish round the dish.
857—SOLE MARGUERY
Poach the sole in white wine and fish _fumet_ in the proportions
already given.
Drain and dish the sole, and surround it with a border of mussels and
shrimps’ tails. Coat the sole and the garnish with white wine sauce,
well finished with butter, and set to glaze quickly.
858—SOLE MARINIÈRE
Liberally butter a dish, sprinkle a coffeespoonful of chopped shallots
on the bottom, lay the sole thereon, and poach the latter with
one-sixth pint of white wine and the same quantity of the very clear
cooking-liquor of mussels. Drain and dish the sole, surround it with
mussels (cleared of their beards), and keep it hot.
Reduce the cooking-liquor to half; thicken with a tablespoonful of
velouté, and the yolks of two eggs, and finish it, away from the fire,
with two and one-half oz. of butter and a pinch of chopped parsley.
Tilt the dish so as to rid it of the liquid accumulated on the bottom,
coat the sole and the garnish with the prepared sauce, and glaze
quickly.
859—SOLE AU VIN BLANC
Partly separate the fillets from the bones on the upper side of the
sole, and slip a piece of butter, as large as a walnut, under each
fillet. Lay the sole in a dish, the bottom of which should be buttered
and garnished with a small onion, chopped. Moisten with one-quarter
pint of ordinary white wine, as much fish _fumet_, and a few
tablespoonfuls of the cooking-liquor of mushrooms. Poach gently with
lid on.
Drain and dish the sole, and coat it with a white wine sauce, prepared
in accordance with one of the methods given in the chapter on Sauces
(No. 111). Glaze quickly, or serve without glazing.
N.B.—“Sole au Vin Blanc” may be prepared after the above recipe, but
ordinary white wine may be replaced by one of the Rhine wines or
Moselle, by some Johannisberg, or by a good white Burgundy or Bordeaux
wine, such as Chablis-Moutonne, Savigny, Montrachet, Barsac, Sauternes,
and even Château-Yquem or Château-Latour.
In any of these cases the name of the wine may be mentioned, and on the
menu may be written +Sole au Barsac+, +Sole au Château-Yquem+, &c.
860—SOLE DIEPPOISE
Poach the sole with one-sixth pint of fish _fumet_ and a few
tablespoonfuls of the cooking-liquor of mussels.
Drain and dish the sole, surround it with poached mussels (shelled
and cleared of their beards) and shrimps’ tails, and coat the fish
and the garnish with a white wine sauce combined with the reduced
cooking-liquor.
861—SOLE DIPLOMATE
Poach the sole in very clear fish _fumet_.
Drain it, dish it, and coat it with Diplomate sauce.
Set upon it a row of six fine slices of black truffle; these should
have been previously glazed with pale meat-glaze.
862—SOLE BONNE FEMME
Butter the bottom of the dish intended for the sole, and besprinkle
it with two chopped shallots, one pinch of parsley, and one and
one-half oz. of raw minced mushrooms. Lay the sole upon this garnish,
moisten with one-quarter pint of white wine and as much fish _fumet_,
and poach gently, taking care to baste from time to time.
When the sole is poached, drain off the cooking-liquor into a
vegetable-pan, and reduce it quickly to half; effect the leason with
two tablespoonfuls of fish velouté, and finish the sauce with two oz.
of butter. Coat the sole with this sauce and set it to glaze in a
fierce oven or at a salamander.
863—SOLE PARISIENNE
Poach the sole in white wine, the cooking-liquor of mushrooms, and some
butter. Drain it thoroughly, dish it, and coat it with white wine sauce
combined with the reduced cooking-liquor of the sole. Garnish with a
row of six slices of truffle and six fine roundels of cooked mushrooms
kept very white, and finish with four medium-sized trussed crayfish.
864—SOLE NANTUA
Poach the sole in one-sixth pint of fish _fumet_ and a few
tablespoonfuls of the cooking-liquor of mushrooms.
Drain and dish the sole, surround it with twelve shelled crayfishes’
tails, and coat it with Nantua sauce.
Lay a row of very black truffle slices along the middle of the fish.
FILLETS OF SOLE
Subject to the kind of dish required, fillets of sole are either kept
in their natural state, they are stuffed and folded over, or they are
simply folded over without being stuffed, each of which methods of
preparation will be specially referred to in the recipes.
Whatever be the method adopted, always skin the fillets thoroughly;
_i.e._, remove the thin membrane which lies beneath the skin, the
tendency of which, during the cooking process, is to shrink and thereby
disfigure the fillet.
This done, flatten out the fillets with the broad side of a wet knife,
and trim them slightly if necessary. The poaching of fillets of sole
must be effected without allowing the cooking-liquor to boil, the
object being to prevent the pieces losing their shape. Fillets should
also be kept very white.
In cases where the exact amount of the poaching-liquor is not given,
allow one-quarter pint to every four fillets, _i.e._, to every sole.
865—FILETS DE SOLES AMÉRICAINE
Arrange the folded fillets in a deep, buttered dish, and poach them in
fish _fumet_.
Drain, and dish them in the form of an oval, letting them overlap one
another with their tail-ends hidden. Garnish the centre of the dish
with slices of lobster prepared à l’américaine (No. 939), and coat the
whole with the lobster’s sauce.
866—FILETS DE SOLES ANGLAISE
Treat the fillets _à l’anglaise_ with fresh and fine bread-crumbs. Pat
the bread-crumbs over the egg with the flat of a knife, that the two
may be well combined; and, with the back of a knife, criss-cross the
coating of the fillets.
Cook them gently in clarified butter. Serve on a hot dish, and sprinkle
the fillets with half-melted butter à la maître-d’hôtel.
867—FILETS DE SOLES ANDALOUSE
Coat the upper sides of the fillets with fish forcemeat combined, per
pound, with three oz. of chopped capsicum. Roll them up, after the
manner of a scroll (see No. 914), and smooth the forcemeat on the top.
Poach the fillets in butter and fish _fumet_.
The following should have been prepared beforehand:—(1) As many small
half-tomatoes, stewed in butter and garnished by means of rizotto
with capsicums, as there are fillets of sole; (2) the same number of
roundels of egg-plant, seasoned, dredged, and fried in oil.
When dishing, arrange the roundels of egg-plant round the dish; place
a stuffed tomato on each roundel of egg-plant, and a poached fillet of
sole upon each tomato. Sprinkle with lightly-browned butter, and serve
at once.
868—FILETS DE SOLES CAPRICE
Dip the fillets in melted, seasoned butter, and then roll them in fresh
and fine bread-crumbs. Pat the bread-crumbs with the flat of the knife,
and with the back of the same instrument criss-cross the surface of the
fillets. Sprinkle with melted butter, and set to grill gently, taking
care that the coating of bread-crumbs acquires a nice, light-brown
colour.
Lay on each grilled fillet the half of a peeled banana, cooked in
butter, and send to the table, separately, a Roberts sauce Escoffier,
finished with butter.
869—FILETS DE SOLES CATALANE
Poach, in the oven, as many emptied and seasoned half-tomatoes as there
are fillets of sole. Cook some very finely-minced onion in oil, without
letting it acquire any colour, and allow one tablespoonful of the onion
to each half-tomato.
Fold the fillets of sole, and poach them in fish _fumet_ just a few
minutes before dishing them. Garnish the half-tomatoes with onion;
arrange them in a circle on a dish, and place a fillet of sole upon
each. Quickly reduce the cooking-liquor of the fillets, and finish it
with butter in the proportion of one oz. per one-eighth pint of reduced
_fumet_.
Coat the fillets and set to glaze quickly.
870—FILETS DE SOLES CLARENCE
Fold the fillets, and poach them in fish _fumet_.
They may be dished after the two following methods:—
1. Put a preparation of Duchesse potatoes in a piping-bag fitted with
a large, grooved pipe, and describe therewith an ornamental design
containing as many divisions as there are fillets of sole. Lightly
_gild_ and brown in the oven. This design, consisting of scroll-work,
should be prepared before poaching the fillets. Lay a fillet in each
division of the design, and coat with American sauce, prepared with
curry and combined with the meat of the lobster (cut into small dice)
which has served in the preparation of the sauce. Take care that no
sauce touches the scroll-work, which should remain well-defined.
2. Bake some large potatoes in the oven. Open them; remove their pulp,
and put into each baked shell a tablespoonful of American sauce au
currie referred to above. Add a poached fillet of sole; coat with
American sauce; dish these garnished potatoes on a napkin, and serve
very hot.
871—FILETS DE SOLES AUX CHAMPIGNONS
Stew two oz. of small mushrooms in butter. Fold the fillets, and poach
them in one-sixth pint of the cooking-liquor of mushrooms, and a piece
of butter the size of a walnut. Arrange the fillets in an oval, and
garnish the centre of the dish with the stewed mushrooms.
Reduce the cooking-liquor of the fillets to one-third; add thereto two
tablespoonfuls of velouté; finish the sauce with one oz. of butter, and
coat the fillets and the garnish.
872—FILETS DE SOLES AUX CREVETTES
Fold the fillets, and poach them in fish _fumet_.
Dish them in an oval; garnish the middle with one oz. of shelled
shrimps’ tails, kept very hot, and coat the fillets and the garnish
with shrimp sauce.
873—FILETS DE SOLES CHAUCHAT
Poach the fillets of sole, folded, in butter and lemon juice.
Coat the bottom of a dish with Mornay sauce, and set the fillets of
sole thereon in the form of an oval. Surround the fish with roundels of
cooked potatoes turned to the shape of corks.
Cover the fillets and the garnish with Mornay sauce, and glaze quickly
in a fierce oven or at the salamander.
874—FILETS DE SOLES BERCY
Butter the bottom of the dish intended for the soles, and sprinkle it
with two finely-chopped shallots. Lay the fillets lengthwise upon the
dish, side by side; moisten with three tablespoonfuls of white wine and
as much fish _fumet_, and add one-half oz. of butter cut into small
pieces.
Cook in the oven, basting frequently the while, and glaze at the last
minute. Besprinkle with a few drops of lemon juice, and when about to
serve drop a pinch of chopped parsley upon each fillet.
_Or_, poach the fillets with chopped shallots, and increase the
moistening. As soon as the fillets are ready, drain off their
cooking-liquor into a vegetable-pan; reduce it speedily to one-third,
and add a few drops of meat-glaze, a little lemon juice, one-half oz.
of butter, and one pinch of chopped parsley.
Coat the fillets, and set to glaze quickly.
N.B.—Sole à la Bercy may be prepared after either of the two methods.
875—FILETS DE SOLES DEJAZET
Treat the fillets of sole _à l’anglaise_ and grill them as explained
under No. 830.
Dish them, cover them thinly with half-melted tarragon butter, and deck
each fillet with five or six parboiled, tarragon leaves.
876—FILETS DE SOLES GRAND DUC
Fold the fillets of soles over, and poach them in fish _fumet_ and the
cooking-liquor of mushrooms. Arrange them in an oval on a dish, with
their tails pointing inwards; place a fine slice of truffle in the
middle of each fillet, and between each of the latter three shelled
crayfishes’ tails.
Coat with Mornay sauce, and set to glaze quickly.
When taking the dish from the oven, set in its centre a fine heap
of very green asparagus-heads, cohered with butter at the moment of
dishing.
877—FILETS DE SOLES JOINVILLE
Select some fine fillets of soles; fold them, and poach them in the
cooking-liquor of mushrooms, and butter, taking care to keep them very
white. Arrange them in an oval, with their tails pointing upwards
and the carapace of a crayfish fixed on each fillet; and garnish the
middle of the dish with a _salpicon_ or a short _julienne_, consisting
of one and one-half oz. of cooked mushrooms, one-half oz. of truffle,
and one and one-half oz. of shrimps’ tails cohered by means of a few
tablespoonfuls of Joinville sauce. Coat the fillets and the garnish
with the same sauce, and deck each fillet with a fine slice of truffle
coated with meat-glaze.
They may also be served after the old-fashioned way, as follows:—
Set the garnish in the middle of the dish, shaping it like a dome;
coat it with Joinville sauce, and surround it with the fillets of
sole, which should slightly overlap one another and have their tails
uppermost. Fix a carapace of crayfish on the tail of each fillet, and
deck each with a slice of very black truffle.
With this method of dishing, the garnish alone is coated with sauce,
the fillets thus forming a white, encircling border.
878—FILETS DE SOLES JUDIC
Fold, and poach the fillets in butter and lemon juice.
Arrange them in an oval round a dish, laying each upon a nice little
braised and trimmed half lettuce, and place upon each fillet a quenelle
of sole _mousseline_-forcemeat in the shape of a flattened oval,
poached at the time of dishing up.
Coat with Mornay sauce and glaze quickly. When taking the dish out
of the oven, encircle the fillets of sole with a thread of buttered
meat-glaze.
879—FILETS DE SOLES A LA HONGROISE
Fry in butter, without colouration, one small tablespoonful of
chopped onion seasoned with a very little paprika; moisten with three
tablespoonfuls of white wine and one-sixth pint of fish _fumet_; add
two small peeled, pressed, and roughly-chopped tomatoes, and set to
cook for seven or eight minutes.
Fold the fillets of sole; lay them on a buttered dish; pour the above
preparation thereon, and poach them. Arrange them in a circle on a
dish; reduce their cooking-liquor to a stiff consistence; add a few
tablespoonfuls of cream and a few drops of lemon juice, and coat the
fillets with this sauce.
880—FILETS DE SOLES LADY EGMONT
Fold the fillets, and poach them in a few tablespoonfuls of excellent
fish _fumet_.
Also for every four fillets (_i.e._, per sole) finely mince one oz. of
well-cleaned mushrooms, and cook them quickly in butter, lemon juice, a
little salt, and pepper. This done, add the cooking-liquor to the fish
_fumet_, and keep the cooked minced mushrooms hot.
Reduce the combined cooking-liquor and fish _fumet_ to half; add
thereto one oz. of butter and two tablespoonfuls of cream; and
to the resulting sauce add the reserved minced mushrooms and two
tablespoonfuls of freshly-cooked and well-drained asparagus-heads,
uncooled.
Serve the fillets of sole on an earthenware dish, coat them with the
above garnish, and set to glaze quickly in a fierce oven or at the
salamander.
881—FILETS DE SOLES MARINETTE
Poach a sole in fish _fumet_ and the cooking-liquor of mushrooms, and
drain it on a napkin. When it is still lukewarm, carefully raise its
fillets and trim them.
Break an egg into a bowl; beat it well, and add enough grated Gruyère
and Parmesan to it (mixed in equal quantities) to produce a dense
paste. Mix a dessertspoonful of cold Béchamel sauce with this paste;
add salt and cayenne pepper; spread an even thickness of one inch of it
over two of the fillets of sole; lay thereon the two remaining fillets,
and put aside in the cool.
When the egg and cheese paste is very stiff, dip the fillets in a
Villeroy sauce, and leave the latter to cool. Then treat the stuffed
and sauced fillets _à l’anglaise_, and fry them, just before serving,
in very hot fat.
Dish on a napkin with very green parsley all round.
882—FILETS DE SOLES MARIE STUART
Fold the fillets, and poach them in fish _fumet_. Arrange them in an
oval on a dish; coat them with the sauce given under “Filets de soles
à la New-burg” (No. 890), and place on each fillet a quenelle of fish
forcemeat in the shape of a quoit and decked with a slice of truffle.
These quenelles should, if possible, be poached just before dishing up,
and well drained before being laid on the fillets of sole.
883—FILETS DE SOLES MIGNONETTE
Cook the fillets in butter, and set them in a hot timbale.
Surround them with potato-balls the size of peas, raised by means of
the round spoon-cutter, and cooked beforehand in butter.
Lay upon the fillets eight or ten slices of fresh truffle heated in
one-sixth pint of very light meat-glaze.
Finish the glaze in which the slices of truffle have been heated with
two-thirds oz. of butter and a few drops of lemon juice, and pour it
over the fillets and their garnish. Serve very hot.
884—FILETS DE SOLES MIMI
Divide a live lobster into two, lengthwise, and prepare it à
l’américaine, taking care to keep the sauce short.
When the lobster is cooked, take the meat from the tail; cut it into as
many slices as there are fillets of sole, and keep them hot.
Remove all the meat from the claws, and that remaining in the carcass;
pound all of it smoothly, add two tablespoonfuls of cream, and rub
through a fine sieve. Prepare a garnish of spaghetti with cream, and
add thereto the purée of lobster.
Fold the fillets of sole, and poach them in Chablis wine and butter.
All this being done, lay the two emptied halves of the lobster on a
napkin lying on a dish, setting them back to back. Fill these lobster
shells to the brim with the prepared garnish of spaghetti. Upon this
garnish lay the poached fillets of sole, sandwiching a slice of
lobster between every two; besprinkle the whole with a short and fine
_julienne_ of very black truffle.
Send the lobster sauce, finished with a few tablespoonfuls of cream, to
the table separately. Proceed as quickly as possible with the dishing
up, in order that the dish may reach the table very hot.
885—FILETS DE SOLES MEXICAINE
Coat the fillets with fish forcemeat, and roll them to resemble
scrolls (see No. 914). Poach them in fish _fumet_ as directed for the
_paupiettes_. Lay each rolled fillet in a grilled mushroom garnished
with one-half tablespoonful of peeled, pressed, and _concassed_ tomato
cooked in butter, and arrange them in an oval on a dish.
Coat them with Béchamel sauce combined with a purée of tomatoes and
capsicums cut into small dice, in the proportion of two tablespoonfuls
of the purée and two-thirds oz. of the capsicums per pint of the sauce.
886—FILETS DE SOLES MIRABEAU
Poach the fillets, left in their natural state, in fish _fumet_.
Dish them and coat with white wine and Genevoise sauces, alternating
the two, white and brown. Lay a thin strip of anchovy fillet between
each of the fillets of sole; deck those of the latter coated with white
sauce with a slice of truffle, and those coated with brown sauce with a
star of _blanched_ tarragon leaves.
887—FILETS DE SOLES MIRAMAR
Divide each of the fillets into slices; season them and cook them in
butter. Cut fifteen roundels (one-third inch thick) of egg-plant;
season, dredge, and toss them in butter, taking care to keep them very
crisp.
Take a timbale of suitable size, and line its sides with a layer
(three-quarters inch thick) of pilaff rice.
Put the roundels of egg-plant and the sliced fillets of sole (mixed and
tossed together for a moment) in the middle of the dish.
Just before serving, sprinkle with one oz. of lightly-browned butter.
888—FILETS DE SOLES AUX HUÎTRES
Open and poach twelve oysters. Poach the fillets of sole, folded, in
the oyster liquor strained through linen, and a piece of butter as
large as a walnut.
Arrange in an oval on a dish; garnish the centre with the poached
oysters (cleared of their beards), and coat the fillets of sole and the
oysters with Normande sauce combined with the reduced cooking-liquor of
the fillets.
889—FILETS DE SOLES NELSON
Fold the fillets, and poach them in fish _fumet_.
Arrange them in a circle on a dish; coat them with white-wine sauce,
and glaze quickly.
Garnish the centre of the dish with a pyramid of potato-balls cooked in
butter and of a light-brown colour. Surround the fillets with poached
milt.
890—FILETS DE SOLES NEW-BURG
Prepare a lobster à la New-burg, in accordance with one of the recipes
given (No. 948 and 949). Cut the tail into as many slices as there are
fillets of sole, and keep them hot.
Cut the remainder of the lobster meat into dice, and add these to
the sauce. Fold the fillets of sole, and poach them in fish _fumet_.
Arrange them in an oval on a dish; lay a slice of lobster upon each
fillet, and coat with the lobster-sauce combined with the dice,
prepared as directed above.
891—FILETS DE SOLES ORIENTALE
Prepare the fillets exactly as those à la New-burg, but season the
sauce with curry.
Having dished and sauced the fillets, set a pyramid of rice à
l’Indienne in the middle of the dish, or send the rice to the table
separately, in a timbale; either way will be found to answer.
892—FILETS DE SOLES PERSANE
Prepare the fillets as in the case of those à la New-burg, but season
the sauce with paprika, and add thereto one oz. of capsicums cut into
large dice. Send some pilaff rice with saffron to the table separately.
893—FILETS DE SOLES ORLY
Season the fillets; dip them into batter and, a few minutes before
serving, put them into very hot fat. Drain them; dish them on a napkin
with fried parsley, and serve a tomato sauce separately.
N.B.—There are several ways of preparing these fillets of sole. Thus
they may be simply dipped in milk, dredged, and impaled on a _hatelet_.
They may also be _marinaded_, treated _à l’anglaise_, and twisted into
cork-screw shape.
Always, however, dish them on a napkin with fried parsley and, in every
case, send a tomato sauce to the table separately.
This last accompaniment is essential.
894—FILETS DE SOLES OLGA, otherwise “OTERO”
Bake beforehand, in the oven, as many fine, well-washed potatoes as
there are fillets of sole. As soon as they are done, remove a piece of
the baked shell, and withdraw the pulp in such wise as to leave nothing
but the long, parched shells. Fold the fillets, and poach them with
a little excellent fish _fumet_. Garnish the bottom of each prepared
shell with a tablespoonful of shelled shrimps’ tails, cohered with a
white-wine sauce.
Put a poached fillet of sole upon this garnish; cover with sufficient
Mornay sauce to completely fill the shell; sprinkle with grated cheese,
and glaze quickly. Dish on a napkin the moment the fillets have been
taken from the oven, and serve immediately.
895—FILETS DE SOLES POLIGNAC
Fold the fillets, and poach them in one-quarter pint of white wine, a
few tablespoonfuls of the cooking-liquor of mushrooms, and a piece of
butter about the size of a walnut.
Dish the fillets in an oval. Reduce the cooking-liquor to half; thicken
it by means of two tablespoonfuls, bare, of fish velouté; finish the
sauce with one oz. of butter, and add thereto three small, cooked,
finely-minced mushrooms, and one tablespoonful of a _julienne_ of
truffles.
Coat the fillets with sauce, and set to glaze.
896—FILETS DE SOLES PAYSANNE
For the fillets of soles, cut two small carrots, two new onions, a
stick of celery, and the white of one leek in _paysanne_ fashion.
Season these vegetables with a very little table-salt and a pinch of
sugar; stew them in butter; moisten sufficiently to cover them with
lukewarm water; and add a few pieces of broccoli, a tablespoonful of
peas, and the same quantity of French beans cut into lozenges.
Complete the cooking of the vegetables while reducing the
cooking-liquor. Season the fillets of sole, and lay them on a buttered
earthenware dish. Pour thereon the garnish of vegetables; put the cover
on the dish, and gently poach the fillets.
When they are cooked, tilt the dish so as to pour all the liquor away
into a vegetable-pan; this done, reduce the liquor to one-fifth pint,
and add to it three oz. of butter.
Pour this sauce into the dish containing the fillets and the vegetable
garnish, and serve immediately.
897—FILETS DE SOLES EN PILAW A LA LEVANTINE
Cut the fillets into collops, and toss these in butter. Prepare some
pilaff rice after the usual recipe (No. 2255), and add thereto one oz.
of capsicum cut into dice.
Also toss in butter one and one-half oz. of egg-plant, cut into dice
and seasoned, and put these with the fillets of sole. Mould the rice
into a border round the dish; put the fillets and the egg-plant in the
middle, and coat the two with curry sauce without letting the latter
touch the rice.
N.B.—In the case of pilaff rice with fillets of sole, the rice should
border the dish, and the fillets of sole, tossed in butter, should be
laid in the middle and coated with brown butter.
898—FILETS DE SOLES POMPADOUR
Treat the fillets with butter and bread-crumbs, and grill them.
Garnish them all round with a thread of very firm Béarnaise tomatée.
Dish and surround them with a border of Château potatoes (No. 2208).
Lay a fine slice of truffle, moistened with melted meat-glaze, on each
fillet.
899—FILETS DE SOLES RACHEL
Coat the fillets with some delicate fish forcemeat; put four slices of
truffle on the forcemeat of each of the fillets; fold the latter, and
poach them in one-sixth pint of the cooking-liquor of mushrooms, and a
piece of butter the size of a walnut, cut into small pieces.
Arrange the fillets in an oval on a dish, and coat them with white-wine
sauce combined with one tablespoonful of freshly-cooked and uncooled
asparagus-heads, and one tablespoonful of truffle in dice per every
one-half pint of the sauce.
900—FILETS DE SOLES VÉNITIENNE
Fold the fillets, and poach them in fish _fumet_.
Arrange them in a circle on a dish, alternating them with thin crusts,
in the shape of hearts, fried in butter. Coat with Venetian sauce
combined with the reduced cooking-liquor of the fillets.
901—FILETS DE SOLES VERDI
Prepare a garnish of macaroni cut into dice; cohere this with cream
and grated Gruyère and Parmesan, and add three oz. of lobster meat and
one and one-half oz. of truffles in dice per every one-half lb. of the
macaroni.
Poach the fillets of sole in fish _fumet_, keeping the fillets in
their natural state. Lay the macaroni very evenly on the dish; set the
poached fillets of sole upon it; coat with Mornay sauce, and set to
glaze quickly.
902—FILETS DE SOLES VICTORIA
Fold the fillets, and poach them in fish _fumet_.
Arrange them in an oval on a dish, and garnish the centre with
three oz. of the meat from the tail of the spiny lobster, and one oz.
of truffle in dice per every four fillets.
Coat the fillets and the garnish with Victoria sauce, and set to glaze
quickly.
903—FILETS DE SOLES VÉRONIQUE
Raise the fillets of a fine sole; beat them slightly; fold and season
them, and put them in a special earthenware, buttered dish.
With the bones, some of the trimmings of the fish, a little minced
onion, some parsley stalks, a few drops of lemon juice, and white wine
and water, prepare two spoonfuls of _fumet_.
This done, strain it over the fillets, and poach them gently.
Drain them carefully; reduce the _fumet_ to the consistence of a syrup,
and finish it with one and one-half oz. of butter. Arrange the fillets
in an oval on the dish whereon they have been poached; cover them with
the buttered _fumet_, and set to glaze quickly. When about to serve,
set a pyramid of skinned and very cold muscadel grapes in the middle of
the dish.
Put a cover on the dish, and serve immediately.
904—FILETS DE SOLES WALEWSKA
Poach the fillets in fish _fumet_, keeping them in their natural state.
Dish, and surround them with three _langoustines’_ tails cut into two
lengthwise, and stewed in butter (with lid on) with six fine slices of
raw truffle.
Coat with a delicate Mornay sauce, and set to glaze quickly.
N.B.—The Mornay sauce may, according to circumstances, be combined with
one and one-half oz. of _langoustine_ butter per pint.
905—FILETS DE SOLES WILHELMINE
Prepare some potato shells as directed under “Filets de soles Olga”
(No. 894). Garnish them with a tablespoonful of cucumber with cream;
put a fillet of sole into each garnished shell, a fine Zeeland oyster
on each fillet, and cover with Mornay sauce.
Set to glaze quickly, and dish on a napkin.
=Various Preparations of Soles and Fillets of Sole.=
906—MOUSSELINES DE SOLES
The directions given under “_Mousselines de_ Saumon” (No. 797) apply in
all circumstances to _Mousselines_ of Sole. I shall therefore refrain
from repeating the recipe, since, the quantities remaining the same,
all that is needed is the substitution of the meat of sole for that of
salmon. Thus, I shall only state here, by way of reminding the reader,
that these excellent preparations admit of all the fish sauces and
garnishes, and that they may also be accompanied by all purées of fresh
vegetables.
907—TURBAN DE FILETS DE SOLES A LA VILLARET
Raise the fillets of three soles; flatten them slightly with a
moistened beater, and trim them very straight on either side.
Liberally butter a medium-sized savarin-mould. Lay the fillets aslant
in this mould, with their tail-ends over-reaching its inner edge and
their other ends projecting over its outer edge; slip a fine slice of
truffle between each, and let them slightly overlap one another.
When the mould is completely lined with the fillets of sole, fill it up
with lobster _mousseline_ forcemeat. Gently tap the mould on a folded
napkin lying on the table, with the object of settling the forcemeat,
and then draw the overhanging ends of the fillets across the latter.
Set to poach in a _bain-marie_ in a moderate oven.
This done, take the mould out of the _bain-marie_; let it stand for a
few minutes, and then turn it upside-down upon the dish. Leave it to
drain; soak up the liquid that has leaked out on to the dish; take off
the mould, and moisten the surface of the fillets by means of a small
brush dipped in melted butter. The object of this last measure is to
glaze the fish and to remove therefrom the froth resulting from its
poached albumen.
Now garnish the centre of the moulding with shrimps’ tails, mushrooms,
poached milt, and slices of truffle, the whole cohered by means of
Béchamel sauce finished with lobster butter.
Send a sauceboat of Béchamel sauce, finished with lobster butter, to
the table at the same time as the fish.
908—TURBAN DE FILETS DE SOLES ET SAUMON VILLARET
Proceed as in the preceding recipe, but alternate the fillets of sole
with very red slices of salmon of the same size as the fillets.
The combination yields an excellent result, and the varying strips of
white and orange which constitute the body of the moulded crown lend
sightliness to the dish.
N.B.—The designation “à la Villaret,” relating to the crown alone,
in no wise affects the constituents of the garnish; these may either
remain the same as those of the preceding recipe, or may be replaced by
something similar. The sauce alone remains unalterable, and this should
be a good Béchamel finished with lobster butter.
909—TIMBALE DE FILETS DE SOLES CARDINAL
For ten people, prepare a timbale crust (No. 2394) the diameter of
which should be greater than the height; line it with fine, short
paste, and decorate it with noodle paste.
Raise the fillets of three medium-sized soles, flatten them slightly;
coat them with whiting forcemeat prepared with crayfish butter, and
roll them into scroll-form. Also prepare ten small slices of the meat
of a medium-sized ordinary or spiny lobster’s tail, ten small grooved
and cooked mushrooms, fifteen slices of truffle, and three-quarters
pint of Cardinal sauce finished with a lobster butter.
When about to serve, lay the poached, rolled fillets of sole (well
drained) in a circle round the bottom of the timbale; put the slices
of lobster and the mushrooms in the centre, and cover the whole with
Cardinal sauce.
Set upon the sauce, just over the centre of the timbale, a large,
grooved mushroom (cooked and kept very white), and encircle the latter
with fifteen slices of truffle.
Place the timbale, thus garnished, on a folded napkin lying on a dish,
and serve at once.
910—TIMBALE DE FILETS DE SOLES CARMÉLITE
Prepare (1) a timbale crust as above; (2) a lobster à la New-burg made
from raw lobster (No. 948); (3) twelve rolled fillets of sole stuffed
with fish forcemeat finished with lobster butter; (4) three oz. of
sliced truffles.
Poach the rolled fillets in fish _fumet_; slice the meat of the
lobster’s tail, and put the poached fillets, the slices of lobster and
the slices of truffle into the lobster sauce. Heat the whole well,
without boiling; pour the sauce and garnish into the timbale crust, and
deck the top with twelve fine slices of truffle.
Dish the timbale on a folded napkin, and serve instantly.
911—TIMBALE DE FILETS DE SOLES GRIMALDI
Prepare:—(1) A rather deep timbale crust, and decorate it with noodle
paste. (2) Cook, as for bisque, twenty-four small _langoustines_;
wrench off their tails; cut them into two lengthwise, and keep them
hot in butter. (3) Finely pound the _langoustines’_ carapaces, and
add thereto one-third pint of fine Béchamel. Rub through a fine
sieve first, and then through tammy. Put the resulting cullis into a
saucepan, and heat without boiling it; intensify the seasoning; add
a few tablespoonfuls of cream, little by little; put the prepared
tails in the cullis, and keep the latter in the _bain-marie_. (4) Cut
four oz. of _blanched_ and somewhat stiff macaroni into pieces, and
add thereto one-sixth pint of cream and three oz. of sliced truffle.
Heat until the macaroni has completely absorbed the cream; thicken with
one-sixth pint of Béchamel sauce finished with fish _fumet_; add one
and one-half oz. of butter cut into small lumps, and keep hot. (5) Coat
sixteen fillets of sole with truffled fish forcemeat; roll the fillets
into scroll-form, and, at the last minute, poach them in fish _fumet_.
To garnish the timbale, spread a layer of macaroni on the bottom
thereof, lay half of the rolled fillets upon the macaroni, and cover
these with half of the _langoustines’_ tails in the cullis.
Repeat the procedure, in the same order, with what is left of the
garnishes, and finish the timbale with a layer of the _langoustines’_
tails.
Set the timbale on a folded napkin lying on a dish, and serve
immediately.
912—TIMBALE DE FILETS DE SOLES CARÊME
Flatten the fillets of three medium-sized soles, and trim them neatly.