Sole Nantua

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •12-inch (30 cm) lidded sauté pan
• •2-quart (2-liter) heavy saucepan
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Rolling pin or kitchen mallet
• •Parchment paper for a cartouche
• •Oval heatproof serving platter

Instructions

1. 1

   Make mushroom liquor

   Put the sliced mushrooms, water, and one-quarter of the salt in a small saucepan. Cover and bring to a quiet simmer, then cook for 6 minutes, until the mushrooms soften and give their flavor to the liquid. Strain through a fine sieve and measure 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 45 g) of the cooking liquor for the sole; keep any extra liquor for adjusting the sauce. Reserve the mushrooms for an omelette or another supper. The source calls for their liquor, not the mushrooms themselves.

2. 2

   Extract crayfish butter

   Keep the 12 shelled crayfish tails covered while you crush the reserved bodies, claws, and shells with a rolling pin. Melt 4 tablespoons (60 ml / 57 g) of the butter over medium-low heat, add the crushed shells, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring and pressing, until the butter turns coral and smells distinctly of crayfish. Do not brown it; darkened shells make a bitter sauce. Strain through a fine sieve, pressing firmly to recover the colored butter, then discard the shells.

3. 3

   Build Sauce Nantua

   Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g) butter in the cleaned saucepan. Stir in the flour and cook this white roux for about 90 seconds, until the raw flour smell disappears without taking color. Whisk in the milk gradually, bring it to the gentlest simmer, and cook for 7 to 8 minutes, whisking often, until smooth and able to coat a spoon. Add all but 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g) of the cream and simmer for 3 minutes. Take the pan off the heat, then whisk in the crayfish butter little by little; season with the white pepper and another quarter of the salt. The Sauce Nantua should be rosy, glossy, and pour in a broad ribbon. If fat beads across the surface, the sauce became too hot: remove it from the burner and whisk in the reserved cold cream drop by drop. Ça se rattrape. Hold the sauce over barely warm water and never let it boil.

4. 4

   Poach sole gently

   Warm the serving platter. Lay the sole fillets in one layer in a wide lidded sauté pan and season them with the remaining salt. Pour the fish fumet and the measured 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 45 g) mushroom cooking liquor around the fillets. Cover with a parchment cartouche and the lid, then bring the liquid slowly to the barest tremble over medium-low heat. Poach for 5 to 7 minutes, depending on thickness, until the flesh is opaque, separates under light pressure, and reaches 145°F (63°C) at its thickest point. If bubbles begin marching across the pan, slide it off the heat for 30 seconds and return it over a lower flame. Boiling tightens sole.

5. 5

   Arrange crayfish ring

   Lift the sole carefully onto a clean towel for a few seconds so excess poaching liquor cannot thin the sauce, then transfer it to the warmed platter. Slip the crayfish tails into the hot poaching liquor for 20 seconds, only long enough to remove their chill, and drain them well. Arrange three tails around each fillet. This brief warming replaces the holding station of a brigade; it does not recook the tails.

6. 6

   Cloak and finish

   Stir the Sauce Nantua gently and check its nappage, the smooth consistency that cloaks rather than floods. If it tightened while waiting, loosen it with a teaspoon or two of the reserved mushroom liquor. Spoon the sauce generously over the sole and crayfish tails, leaving their shapes visible, then lay three very black truffle slices in a neat row along the middle of each fillet. Serve immediately while the fish remains tender and the sauce keeps its gloss. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Buy whole cooked freshwater crayfish, not tail meat alone. Their shells carry the color and deep crayfish flavor of the butter; without them, the sauce tastes chiefly of cream. Frozen whole crayfish are an honest preserved choice when fresh ones are unavailable.
• •Dover sole has the fine texture and broad fillets this treatment deserves. Plaice, flounder, or petrale sole can take the same poach, but the substitution is not invisible: the flesh will be softer and the flavor less mineral.
• •A small fresh black truffle is splendid when the season provides one. A whole preserved black truffle is the classical pantry's answer at other times; drain it well and slice it thinly, but do not replace it with flavored oil.
• •Serve Sole Nantua as soon as it is sauced. Holding turns the fish firm and gives the butter time to separate, so have the platter, tails, truffle, and guests ready before the sole enters its fumet.
• •Pour a dry white from Bugey, either Chardonnay or Altesse. It has enough freshness for the cream and enough local sense to sit beside a sauce born in Nantua.

Advance Preparation

• •Make the mushroom cooking liquor up to one day ahead and keep it covered in the refrigerator. Reserve the cooked mushrooms for another dish.
• •Shell the crayfish and make the crayfish butter up to one day ahead. Refrigerate the tails and butter separately, then let the butter soften before whisking it into the sauce.
• •The white roux and milk base can be made earlier on the day of serving. Press parchment directly against its surface, chill it, and reheat gently with the cream; add the crayfish butter only shortly before poaching the sole.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 300g)