Filets de Soles Charlotte

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide shallow poaching pan with lid
• •Small heavy saucepan
• •Fine-mesh sieve and damp muslin or coffee filter
• •Blender or food processor
• •Narrow 2½-cup (600 ml) metal dome mold or pudding basin
• •Shallow straight-sided tray for the fish jelly
• •Wire rack set over a rimmed tray
• •Digital instant-read thermometer
• •Chilled oval serving platter

Instructions

1. 1

   Poach the sole white

   Butter a wide shallow pan with 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g) of the butter. Season the sole lightly, then fold each fillet into three with its smooth presentation surface outward. Arrange them close together without overlapping and add 3 cups (720 ml / 720 g) of the fish fumet, enough to come about two-thirds of the way up the fish. Cover directly with a buttered parchment round. Bring the fumet slowly to the faintest quiver, never a boil, then poach for 4 to 6 minutes, until the fillets are opaque and just firm. Boiling tightens the flesh, clouds the fumet, and spoils the whiteness Charlotte requires. Lift the fillets into a shallow chilled tray, spoon over a little poaching liquid, cover directly with parchment, and refrigerate. Reserve every drop of fumet.

   The liquid should barely move around the fillets. If bubbles break across the surface, pull the pan from the heat for a minute. Gentle heat, not timing alone, keeps sole pearly and tender.
2. 2

   Poach the milt

   Rinse the cleaned milt gently and place it in a small saucepan with 1¼ cups (300 ml / 300 g) fish fumet. Bring it slowly to a bare tremble and poach for 6 to 8 minutes, until opaque throughout and at least 145°F (63°C) at the center. Lift it out and chill it promptly. Combine its poaching liquid with the reserved sole fumet, bring the liquid to a full boil for 1 minute, and skim carefully. Strain through damp muslin or a coffee filter without pressing. Measure 3¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons (950 ml / 950 g), adding reserved fresh fumet if necessary.

3. 3

   Set the fish jelly

   Measure 2¾ cups (650 ml / 650 g) of the strained fumet. Take ⅓ cup (80 ml / 80 g) from it and sprinkle over 4⅔ teaspoons (23 ml / 14 g) gelatin. Leave it for 5 minutes to swell. Heat the remaining fumet until hot but not boiling, remove it from the heat, and stir in the swollen gelatin until completely dissolved. Season lightly, remembering that cold dulls salt. Strain again and let the fish jelly cool until fluid but no longer warm. If it sets before you need it, stand the bowl in barely warm water and stir gently. Ça se rattrape.

4. 4

   Build pink chaud-froid

   Bloom the remaining 1⅓ teaspoons (7 ml / 4 g) gelatin in 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g) of the remaining cold fumet. Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons (25 ml / 24 g) butter in a saucepan, stir in the flour, and cook for 2 minutes without allowing the roux to color. Whisk in the remaining 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (270 ml / 270 g) fumet gradually, then simmer gently for 8 minutes. Add ½ cup (120 ml / 120 g) cream and cook until the sauce reaches nappé and a finger drawn across the coated spoon leaves a clean path. Remove it from the heat, dissolve in the bloomed gelatin, then blend in 1 heaped tablespoon (20 ml / 18 g) lobster coral. Season with a little salt and white pepper and pass the chaud-froid through a fine sieve. Stir it over an ice bath until cool, pale pink, and thick enough to coat in one smooth layer.

5. 5

   Line the dome

   Chill a narrow 2½-cup (600 ml) metal dome mold or pudding basin. Pour in about ⅓ cup (80 ml / 80 g) fluid fish jelly and rotate the mold over ice until the interior carries a thin, even coat. Drain any excess back into the bowl. When the coating is tacky, sprinkle it evenly with 1½ tablespoons (22 ml / 20 g) finely chopped lobster coral, then seal the coral beneath another thin spoonful of jelly. Pour 1¼ cups (300 ml / 300 g) jelly into a shallow straight-sided tray to a depth of about ⅜ inch (1 cm). Chill both until firm, keeping the remaining jelly fluid for the mousse and final glaze.

6. 6

   Make the milt mousse

   Purée the chilled poached milt with the grated horseradish, ½ cup (120 ml / 120 g) fluid fish jelly, a pinch of salt, and half the white pepper. Press the mixture through a fine sieve so no membrane remains. Whip the remaining ⅔ cup (150 ml / 150 g) cream to soft peaks, then fold it into the milt mixture in three additions. Taste it cold. The horseradish should be distinct but not bitter. If the mixture begins setting before the cream is folded in, warm the outside of the bowl briefly with your hands; if it remains loose, chill it for 5 minutes and fold again when it begins to mound. Fill the jelly-lined mold, press gently to exclude air pockets, and level the top. Chill for at least 4 hours, until firmly set.

7. 7

   Mask the fillets

   Lift the cold fillets from their tray and trim only the ragged edges, keeping them generous rather than carving away supper for geometry. Blot every surface completely dry and set the fillets on a chilled rack over a tray. Bring the pink chaud-froid to cool nappé consistency, then spoon it over each fillet in one confident coat, covering the top and sides. If the sauce slides off, either the fish is wet or the sauce is too warm. Scrape it back into the bowl, blot and rechill the fillets, cool the sauce until it clings, and coat again. Ça se rattrape. Chill for 15 to 20 minutes, until the surface is set.

8. 8

   Decorate and glaze

   Arrange a small rosette of chervil leaves on each coated fillet, with the pointed tips radiating outward. Place a pea-sized bit of the remaining lobster coral at the center of every rosette. Cool the reserved fish jelly until slightly syrupy but still fluid, then spoon a thin layer over each fillet without disturbing the leaves. If the jelly drags, it is too cold; warm it gently. If it softens the chaud-froid, it is too warm; chill both and begin the glaze again after the coating resets. Refrigerate until the glaze is clear and firm.

9. 9

   Assemble the Charlotte

   Cut the firm jelly from the shallow tray into regular ⅜-inch (1 cm) dice. Unmold the milt mousse onto a well-chilled oval platter by wrapping the mold briefly in a warm towel, then lifting it straight upward. Arrange the fillets against the dome with their narrow tail ends uppermost, keeping the chervil rosettes visible. Surround the whole composition with an even border of jelly dice. Hold it under refrigeration and bring it out about 10 minutes before serving, never long enough for the glaze to soften. Serve with a fish slice so each guest receives two fillets, a spoonful of mousse, and some jelly. À table!

   If the dome refuses to release, use the warm towel again for only a few seconds. Hot water melts the jelly shell before the center loosens.

Chef Tips

• •Milt is the soft roe of a male fish and may be sold under the name soft roe. Order very fresh cod milt from a fishmonger; hake or herring milt preserves the method, though each tastes slightly different. Ordinary fish eggs do not have the same texture and aren't an invisible substitution.
• •Lobster coral means the cooked roe, bright red and finely crumbly, not the green tomalley. Ask the fishmonger to reserve it when preparing a female lobster. It colors the chaud-froid and provides the original decoration, so paprika or bottled dye has no business here.
• •The coating temperature matters more than special equipment. Keep the fillets thoroughly cold and dry, and cool the chaud-froid until it falls from the spoon in a broad ribbon. A digital thermometer will usually show about 77 to 82°F (25 to 28°C), but the spoon tells the truth.
• •Serve this with a dry Chablis, Muscadet, or brut Champagne. The wine needs acidity for the cream and gelatin, but very little perfume, because sole and milt are delicate.
• •Keep the completed dish at or below 40°F (4°C) and serve within 24 hours of assembly. Return leftovers to the cold promptly and eat them by the following day.

Advance Preparation

• •Poach the sole and milt, prepare the fish jelly, and set the milt mousse the day before serving. Keep the sole covered directly so its surface does not dry before coating.
• •The completed platter may be assembled 6 to 12 hours ahead, loosely covered without touching the glaze, and refrigerated. Add the jelly-dice border after moving the platter to its final shelf so the dice remain regular.
• •Do not freeze the mousse, coated fillets, or fish jelly. Freezing breaks the emulsion and leaves the jelly wet and grainy when thawed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 450g)