I love this dish as, because of the way I prepare it, it is a really chunky piece of fish, unlike what you normally get when you order sole, which is a thin fillet.
Pan-roast fillets of sole with crab-crushed Jersey Royals and Sauce Grenoble
I love this dish as, because of the way I prepare it, it is a really chunky piece of fish, unlike what you normally get when you order sole, which is a thin fillet. This way is almost like a steak of sole held together by the natural juices, which are released when cooking.
Ingredients:
Dover sole
3 x 450g Dover soles, skinned
Related
Sauce Grenoble
100g gherkins
100g baby capers
1 squeeze lemon juice
1 handful parsley, chopped
Crab-crushed Jersey Royals
450g Jersey Royals
Vegetable oil
50g butter
Juice of 1 lemon
100g fresh white crab meat
Salt and pepper
1 handful chives, chopped
To serve:
Fish velouté (see below)
10-12 caper berries
Croutons (see below)
Basil cress
Method
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Dover sole:
Fillet the sole by running a sharp flexible knife down each side of the sole’s back bone and slowly removing the flesh from the bone using delicate strokes of the knife. Flip over the sole and do the same again for the underside. Trim the sole, removing any straggly bits.
Lay one fillet of sole in front of you on a chopping board – you will notice there is a thick end and a thin end. Lay another fillet on top of the first fillet the opposite way, thick end to thin, and repeat this twice– there should be in total six pieces of fillet stacked in three pairs, one on top of the other.
While the sole is stacked, skewer two fillets together with cocktail sticks, using six in total. Trim the ends square and then cut in half. This will be your first two portions, now do the same with the remaining fillets. Place in the fridge
to chill.
Sauce Grenoble:
Chop the gherkins into small dice and mix with the capers. Add the lemon juice and parsley and reserve.
Crab-crushed Jersey Royals:
Preheat the oven to 170°C.
Wash and place the potatoes into a pan of salted water and slowly bring them up to the boil. Once the potatoes are cooked remove them from the water and store in the saucepan. In a large sauté pan heat up a little oil, to this add the Dover sole stacks and gently colour until golden brown on one side.
Remove from the pan and place into the oven for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and place back in to the pan with the oil. Add a good knob of butter and squeeze of the lemon juice, baste the butter over the sole and leave for a minute.
Using a fork crush the potatoes and add the remaining butter, remaining lemon juice, crab meat, salt and pepper, and chives.
To serve:
Place a metal ring in the centre of each serving dish and half fill with the hot potatoes, pressing them down thoroughly. Remove the metal ring and gently place a portion of sole on top of the potato. At this point gently twist and pull out the cocktail sticks.
Heat up the sauce and spoon some over the sole. Using a hand blender, foam the fish velouté and also spoon some over the dish. Garnish with a few caper berries, the croutons and cress, and serve.
Bread croutons:
Ingredients:
½ fresh white loaf
475ml vegetable oil
100g butter
Salt
Parmesan cheese
Method:
Slice the bread into 0.5cm thick slices and remove the crust with a sharp knife. Cut the bread into 0.5cm wide strips and then cut the strips into 0.5cm dice.
Place the oil in a thick-bottomed pan and heat it up. Place one dice of the bread into the oil to see if the oil is hot enough — the crouton should fry quickly and turn brown. Remove this crouton from the oil and then add the others and keep stirring them around while they fry.
Once the croutons turn brown, turn off the heat, add the butter and stir again. Pour the oil and the croutons into a fine sieve and drain well. While the croutons are hot season with a little salt and grate over the cheese. Set aside until required.
Fish velouté:
Ingredients:
1 shallot
½ bulb garlic
Vegetable oil
1 sprig thyme
4-5 button mushrooms, sliced
1 vanilla pod
125ml medium white wine
125ml dry vermouth
950ml fish stock
300ml double cream
Juice of ½ lemon
Salt, to taste
Method:
Peel and slice the shallot and garlic and add to a saucepan with a few drops of vegetable oil and gently fry without colouring. Add the thyme and the mushrooms. Slice the vanilla pod in half lengthways and add the pan. Pour in the wine and the vermouth and reduce until the liquid is syrupy. Pour the fish stock into the pan and bring to the boil then reduce by two-thirds. Add the cream and the lemon juice and again bring the sauce up to the boil. Adjust the seasoning with the salt and pour through a fine sieve.
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