Filets de Soles Véronique

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Flexible fish filleting knife, unless the fishmonger raises the fillets
• •Kitchen shears for cutting the sole frames
• •1½-quart (1.4 L) saucepan
• •2-quart (1.9 L) shallow oval ovenproof earthenware or porcelain dish
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Small whisk
• •Wide fish spatula
• •Parchment paper
• •Instant-read thermometer

Instructions

1. 1

   Skin and chill grapes

   Bring a small pan of water to a boil and prepare a bowl of very cold water. Lower the grapes into the boiling water six or eight at a time for 6 to 8 seconds, then transfer them immediately to the cold water. Slip off each skin from the stem end without crushing the flesh. If a skin clings, give that grape another 2 seconds in the boiling water; longer cooking softens the fruit. Dry the peeled grapes thoroughly, cover, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. They must be cold when they meet the warm fish.

   Keep the grapes whole and dry. Water trapped around them dilutes the finished sauce, while cut grapes lose the compact pyramid required by the source.
2. 2

   Draw the fumet

   Rinse the sole bones and clean trimmings briefly under cold water, then cut the frames into pieces that fit snugly in a 1½-quart (1.4 L) saucepan. Add the minced onion, parsley stalks, white wine, cold water, and lemon juice. Bring slowly to the gentlest simmer, skim away any grey foam, and cook uncovered for 15 minutes. The surface should barely tremble. A hard or prolonged boil clouds the fumet and draws a chalky bitterness from the bones. Strain it through a fine-mesh sieve without pressing the solids; you should have about ¾ to 1 cup (180 to 240 ml) of clear, fragrant fumet.

   Use only the frames and clean flesh trimmings. Gills, blood, and entrails have no place in this delicate fumet.
3. 3

   Fold the fillets

   Heat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Lay the eight fillets on a board and lightly flatten only their thickest ends between two sheets of parchment, bringing the flesh to an even thickness without pounding it thin. Season both sides with about ½ teaspoon of the salt and all the white pepper. Fold each fillet in half with its narrow tail tucked inside, making eight neat packets. Coat a shallow oval ovenproof dish with the softened tablespoon of butter and arrange the fillets in a single layer.

4. 4

   Poach very gently

   Pour the hot fumet around and over the folded fillets. Press a sheet of parchment directly onto the surface to hold moisture close to the fish, then place the dish in the oven. Poach for 7 to 10 minutes, until the fumet barely moves at the edge and the flesh has turned opaque but remains pearly and yielding. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest fold should register about 140°F (60°C); the final glazing will carry it to 145°F (63°C). Hold the fillets in place with a wide fish spatula and carefully pour the poaching liquor through the fine sieve into the clean saucepan. Transfer the fish to a warm plate and cover it loosely with the parchment.

5. 5

   Reduce and mount

   Bring the strained poaching liquor to a brisk boil and reduce it to about 2 tablespoons (30 ml). Near the end, the bubbles will become small and glossy, and the fumet will coat the base of the pan like a light syrup. Taste before adding more salt. If it has gone slightly too far but does not smell scorched, add a teaspoon of cold water and bring it back to the syrup stage. Remove the pan from the heat. Monter au beurre, mounting with butter, by whisking in the three tablespoons of very cold diced butter one piece at a time. Add each piece only after the last has disappeared. The sauce should become smooth, pale gold, and glossy. If oily beads appear, stop. Put a teaspoon of cold water in a clean bowl, whisk in one spoonful of the broken sauce until smooth, then incorporate the remainder gradually. Ça se rattrape.

   Never let the fumet boil after the cold butter begins going in. Heat gives the reduction strength; restraint gives the finished emulsion its gloss.
6. 6

   Glaze beneath broiler

   Set the broiler to high and position a rack about 6 inches (15 cm) below it. Return the fillets to their original dish, arranging them in an oval with an open center. Spoon the buttered fumet evenly over them. Place the dish beneath the broiler for 20 to 45 seconds, just until the glaze shines and shows a few fine bubbles at the rim. This household broiler replaces the salamander, and its work is glazing, not cooking the sole a second time. Watch without turning away. If the sauce separates, lift the fillets to the warm plate, whisk the sauce off the heat with a teaspoon of cold water, coat the fish again, and skip a second broiling.

7. 7

   Crown and serve

   Pile the cold peeled grapes in a compact pyramid at the center of the oval, keeping them out of the hot sauce as much as possible. The source sends the dish under a cover because it had a dining room to cross. At home that cover is service scaffolding, and trapping the grapes under foil only warms them. Carry the dish straight from broiler to table and serve immediately. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Ask the fishmonger to skin the soles, raise four fillets from each fish, and return every clean bone and trimming. Skinless fillets alone save an errand but lose the foundation of the dish; without the sole's bones, there is no proper fumet.
• •The source calls for muscadel grapes. Where that market name has disappeared, choose the smallest firm seedless pale green Muscat grapes available. Large watery grapes make a clumsy mound and contribute sweetness without aroma.
• •No cream belongs in this formula. The sauce is reduced fumet mounted with butter, and that distinction matters: cream muffles the sole and turns a clear, concentrated glaze into another preparation.
• •Preheat the broiler before mounting the butter. A finished butter emulsion should not wait while an element warms, and the fish should spend less than a minute beneath that fierce heat.
• •Serve with plain pommes vapeur or a restrained rice pilaf to catch the sauce. A dry Chablis has enough acidity for the butter and enough quiet mineral character to leave the sole in command.

Advance Preparation

• •The fishmonger can skin and fillet the soles earlier the same day. Keep the fillets and reserved frames separately covered over ice in the coldest part of the refrigerator.
• •The fumet can be drawn up to 6 hours ahead. Cool it promptly in a bowl set over ice, cover, and refrigerate; reheat it before pouring it over the fillets. Do not reduce or mount it with butter until serving time.
• •Peel, dry, and chill the grapes up to 6 hours ahead. Keep them in a single layer between clean towels so they remain cold and firm rather than sitting in their own moisture.
• •The fillets may be flattened, seasoned, folded, and arranged in the buttered dish up to 1 hour before poaching. Cover and refrigerate them, then allow an extra minute or two in the oven if they remain very cold.
• •Do not hold or reheat the completed dish. The fish overcooks, the emulsion loosens, and the grapes lose the cold contrast that defines the Véronique.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 185g)