Filets de Soles Mignonette

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •8 to 10 mm Parisienne scoop or small round melon baller
• •12-inch (30 cm) nonstick or well-seasoned skillet
• •8-inch (20 cm) wide saucepan for reducing the glaze
• •Small saucepan and fine whisk for finishing the glaze
• •Shallow round heated serving dish or 1½-quart timbale

Instructions

1. 1

   Reduce the glaze

   Pour the unsalted veal stock into a wide saucepan and bring it to a quiet simmer. Reduce it patiently to a scant ½ cup, 95 millilitres, skimming any froth that gathers; it should lightly coat a spoon but remain fluid and pale brown, not dark, salty, or sticky. Pour it into a heatproof measure to check the volume, then return it to a clean small saucepan. If it has reduced too far, ça se rattrape: stir in hot water a teaspoon at a time until you have 95 millilitres again.

   Taste before seasoning anything else. A salted commercial reduction becomes harsh long before it gains the light body this dish needs, which is why unsalted stock matters.
2. 2

   Cut potato pearls

   Use an 8 to 10 mm Parisienne scoop, the small round spoon-cutter, to lift pea-sized balls from the potatoes. Turn each potato as you work and reserve the perforated remains for soup or purée. Rinse the pearls briefly, then dry them thoroughly. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a wide skillet over medium-low heat, add the pearls with ¼ teaspoon of the salt, and cook for 10 to 14 minutes, shaking the pan often, until tender at the point of a knife and lightly blond. If the butter colors before the centers soften, add a teaspoon of water and cover for 2 minutes, then uncover and let the moisture disappear. Keep the pearls warm.

   The tiny spheres are part of Mignonette, not decoration added for pomp. Their size lets them cook wholly in butter and makes the garnish eat delicately beside the sole.
3. 3

   Stage the finish

   Fill a shallow round serving dish or timbale with very hot water and leave it to warm. Slice the truffle into 8 to 10 thin, broad slices and cover them so their perfume stays put. Pat the sole fillets completely dry and season both sides with the remaining salt. Set the warm potatoes, glaze, truffle, cold finishing butter, and lemon beside the stove before cooking the fish. This mise en place is what allows one pair of hands to replace a brigade.

4. 4

   Cook sole in butter

   Drain and dry the warmed serving dish. Melt 1½ tablespoons of butter in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat until it foams without browning. Lay in four fillets with room between them and cook for 60 to 90 seconds, until the undersides are faintly golden and the flesh has turned opaque about two-thirds of the way through. Turn carefully and cook for another 30 to 60 seconds, just until the centers lose their translucence. Transfer them to the hot dish, melt the remaining 1½ tablespoons of cooking butter, and repeat with the second batch. If the butter burns, wipe out the skillet and begin the batch with fresh butter; scorched butter cannot be hidden beneath a delicate glaze.

   Sole is thin and continues cooking after it leaves the pan. Remove each fillet the instant its center turns opaque; waiting for a firm texture gives you dry fish.
5. 5

   Warm the truffle

   Bring the very light meat glaze back to the barest simmer, then lower the heat and slip in the truffle slices. Warm them for 30 to 45 seconds without boiling, which releases their perfume while keeping their texture. Lift the slices out and lay them across the sole exactly as the original preparation directs. Arrange the buttered potato pearls in a generous ring around the fillets.

6. 6

   Mount and serve

   Remove the glaze from the heat. Monter au beurre, whisking in cold butter to make a shining emulsion, by adding the reserved 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon a few pieces at a time. Add 6 drops of lemon juice, taste, and add the last 2 only if the glaze needs a brighter edge. Never boil it after the butter goes in. If the glaze separates into oily beads, ça se rattrape: put a teaspoon of cold water in a clean warm saucepan and whisk in the broken glaze little by little until smooth. Pour it at once over the fillets and potato pearls, letting it pool lightly rather than drown them. Serve very hot. À table!

Chef Tips

• •True Dover sole has the fine texture and firmness this preparation was written around. If it is unavailable, use skinless lemon sole or a firm flounder fillet of similar thickness; the flavor and texture will change, but the technique remains honest.
• •The meat glaze must be very light. Reduce unsalted, gelatin-rich veal stock until it gains body, but stop while it is still fluid and restrained. Thick commercial meat paste is too dark and salty for sole.
• •If fresh black truffle is out of season, a whole preserved black truffle is the honest classical pantry choice. Its perfume is quieter, so the change is real, but it respects the dish. Truffle oil does not.
• •A dry white Burgundy has enough breadth for the butter and truffle without bullying the sole. Serve the same wine at the table that you would be pleased to drink while shaping all those potato pearls.
• •Keep the potato trimmings. Simmer them in milk or stock for a small soup, or fold them into a purée. The cutter changes their shape, not their usefulness.

Advance Preparation

• •Reduce the veal stock to 95 millilitres up to three days ahead, cool it promptly, and refrigerate it covered. It may set like soft jelly in the cold; that is the gelatin doing its work. Reheat it gently before measuring.
• •The potato pearls can be cut up to four hours ahead and held in cold water. Drain and dry them with particular care before they meet the butter, since wet potatoes spit and cook unevenly.
• •Set the table and prepare every component before cooking the sole, but slice the truffle as late as practical. The cooked fish should not be held or reheated.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 360g)