Filets de Soles en Pilaw à la Levantine

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •2-quart / 2-litre saucepan
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •12-inch / 30 cm wide skillet
• •12-inch / 30 cm shallow oval serving platter
• •Flexible fish turner

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the sole

   Check the sole for pin bones, then cut each fillet crosswise into 1½-inch / 4 cm collops, small pieces broad enough to remain succulent in the pan. Pat them thoroughly dry and keep them cold while you prepare the sauce and rice. Wet sole releases water and stews in the butter; a dry surface lets it sauté cleanly without asking a delicate fish to brown hard.

   Keep the collops similar in size, but leave the thin tail pieces slightly larger. They cook faster than the thicker pieces and need the extra width.
2. 2

   Build the curry sauce

   Melt 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g) of the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the onion with ¼ teaspoon of the salt and soften it without colouring, about 4 minutes. Stir in the curry powder for 30 seconds, just until fragrant, then add the flour and cook for 1 minute to make a roux blond, a pale cooked paste that gives the sauce its body. Whisk in the fish stock gradually, bring it to a bare simmer, and cook for 5 minutes. Add the cream and simmer gently until the sauce reaches nappé, coating the back of a spoon in a thin, glossy layer, about 5 minutes more. Pass it through a fine sieve, taste, and hold it over the lowest heat. If it lumps, stop pouring and whisk hard before adding more liquid. Ça se rattrape: stubborn lumps disappear through the sieve, a sauce that is too thick loosens with a spoonful of stock, and a thin one needs another quiet minute of reduction.

   Bloom the curry powder in butter, but don't brown it. Scorched spice turns bitter, and no quantity of cream can persuade it otherwise.
3. 3

   Finish the pilaff

   Fold the diced capsicum through the hot prepared Riz Pilaff (No. 2255), using a fork so the grains remain separate. Cover and hold it on the lowest burner while you cook the garnish and fish. If the rice begins to clump, lift and separate it with the fork rather than stirring; vigorous stirring bruises the grains and turns a clean border into paste.

4. 4

   Sauter the aubergine

   Melt 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g) of the butter in a wide skillet over medium-high heat. Add the diced aubergine, season with ¼ teaspoon of the salt and half the white pepper, and sauter, tossing over lively heat, until the cubes are tender and browned at their edges, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer them to a warm plate. Aubergine drinks butter first and releases some as it cooks, so don't add more at the alarming dry moment; give it another minute.

5. 5

   Toss the sole

   Return the skillet to medium heat and melt the remaining 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g) butter. Season the sole with the remaining salt and white pepper, then lay the collops in one uncrowded layer, working in two batches if necessary. Sauter gently, turning each piece once, until opaque throughout but still supple, about 1 to 2 minutes per side depending on thickness. Don't chase a dark crust; the fish should taste of fresh sole and butter. If pieces begin to flake before the rest are ready, lift them out at once. The warm sauce will finish their heating without making them dry.

6. 6

   Shape and sauce

   Warm a shallow oval platter, then spoon the pilaff around its edge in a generous ring, pressing only enough to make the border hold while leaving the grains visible. No special mould is needed. Arrange the sole and aubergine together in the central well. Stir the curry sauce, loosen it with a spoonful of stock if it no longer pours softly, and coat only the fish and aubergine, beginning at the center and stopping before the sauce reaches the rice. If one edge is splashed, lift that spoonful into the center and patch the border with clean pilaff. Bring the platter straight to the table while the sole is tender and the sauce still gleams. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Dover sole is splendid here, but good lemon sole or flounder will carry the method honestly. Choose thin, sweet-smelling fillets without ragged edges, then give them more attention than anxiety. Technique first, always.
• •The entry's general note gives beurre noisette (browned butter) for the plain pilaff-and-sole family. In this named à la Levantine garnish, the specific instruction governs: curry sauce coats the sole and aubergine, while the pilaff remains bare.
• •Use a mild, fragrant curry powder rather than one built chiefly for heat. The sauce should taste first of fish stock and butter, then warm spice, with cream rounding the edges.
• •Serve immediately with a dry Alsace Pinot Gris or a rounded white Burgundy. The sole doesn't improve by waiting, and the separate rice border is at its best before it begins absorbing sauce.

Advance Preparation

• •The curry sauce can be prepared up to 1 day ahead, cooled promptly, and refrigerated. Reheat it over low heat, whisking in a spoonful of fish stock if it has tightened.
• •Riz Pilaff (No. 2255) may be prepared earlier the same day. If it will stand longer than 1 hour, spread it in a shallow container, refrigerate promptly, and reheat it until piping hot before folding in the capsicum.
• •The sole can be checked for bones and cut into collops up to 2 hours ahead. Keep it covered and cold, then dry it again immediately before cooking.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 410g)