Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1 Read online

FISH

  Poisson

  THE FRENCH are magnificent with fish. Not only is fresh fish abundant all year round, but the art of its cooking and saucing is accomplished with great taste and skill.

  This chapter includes two fine recipes for scallops, one for tuna or sword-fish, three for lobster, and a group for mussels. But the main emphasis is on the important and typically French method of poaching filets of fish in white wine and serving them in a wine sauce, starting with the simplest type of sauce and ending with several of the most famous of la grande cuisine. These last, as you will observe, are fish veloutés (flour and butter roux simmered with the fish cooking liquid), which are then enriched with cream and egg yolks. They are all the same basic sauce described in detail in the Sauce chapter. Under numerous disguises and with various flavorings, this sauce appears throughout almost every phase of French cookery.

  A NOTE ON BUYING FISH

  Fish must be fresh smelling and fresh tasting. If it is whole, its eyes are bright and full, not filmed, opaque, and flat. Its gills are bright red, its flesh firm to the touch, its skin fresh and glistening.

  Frozen fish should be bought from a dealer who has the proper facilities to ship and store it at a constant temperature of zero degrees. It should be solidly frozen. A block of frozen juices at the bottom of the package is proof that it has been thawed and refrozen. Before cooking, defrost it in the refrigerator, or under cold running water.

  SERVING SUGGESTIONS

  A beautifully sauced fish can well be considered as a separate course and needs nothing but French bread and a good wine to go with it. If it is a main course, include risotto or steamed rice for shellfish, boiled potatoes for other fish. A salad or vegetable should come afterward, so as not to disturb the harmony of the fish, the sauce, and the wine.

  FISH FILETS IN WHITE WINE SAUCE

  THE FISH FILETS

  Most of the famous French dishes involving filet of sole center around fish poached in white wine and coated with a lovely, creamy sauce made from the poaching liquid. Although many types of American flat fish and fish filets are called sole, they are usually flounder because the true sole is not a native American fish. European sole is flown over to America, and can be bought, but it is rarely seen in the usual American market. The sole’s ease of skinning and filleting, and its close-grained yet delicate flesh make it ideal for poaching. The best substitutes for European sole are winter flounder or gray sole, Pacific petrale sole or brill. Each of these is a common sole filet in America, depending on where you live. Other worthy substitutes of a different nature are whiting or silver hake, dab, tilefish, fresh-water trout, and (if the filets are too thick, slice these horizontally to make them about ⅜ inch thick) halibut, cod, pollack, striped bass, monkfish. Any of the lean white fish, in other words, may be used in these recipes in place of sole; if they flake during poaching, plan to sauce and serve them in their baking dish.

  FILETS DE POISSON POCHÉS AU VIN BLANC

  [Fish Filets Poached in White Wine]

  For 6 people

  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

  A buttered, 10- to 12-inch, fireproof baking and serving dish, 1½ to 2 inches deep

  2 Tb finely minced shallots or green onions

  2½ lbs. skinless and boneless sole or flounder filets cut into serving pieces

  Salt and pepper

  1½ Tb butter cut into bits

  1¼ to 1½ cups cold, white-wine fish stock made from heads, bones, and trimmings

  OR ¾ cup dry white wine or ⅔ cup dry white vermouth plus ¼ cup bottled clam juice, and water

  OR 1½ cups wine and water mixed

  Sprinkle half the shallots or onions in the bottom of the dish. Season the filets lightly with salt and pepper and arrange them in one slightly overlapping layer in the dish. If filets are thin, they may be folded in half so they make triangles. Sprinkle the filets with the remaining shallots or onions, and dot with butter. Pour in the cold liquid and enough water so fish is barely covered.

  Buttered brown paper or waxed paper (do not use aluminum foil—it will discolor the wine)

  Bring almost to the simmer on top of the stove. Lay the buttered paper over the fish. Then place dish in bottom third of preheated oven. Maintain liquid almost at the simmer for 8 to 12 minutes depending on the thickness of the filets. The fish is done when a fork pierces the flesh easily. Do not overcook; the fish should not be dry and flaky.

  An enameled saucepan

  Place a cover over the dish and drain out all the cooking liquid into an enameled saucepan. (*) The fish is now poached and ready for saucing. It may be covered and kept warm for a few minutes over hot, but not simmering, water. Or set it aside, covered with its piece of paper, and reheat later for a few minutes over simmering water. Be very sure the fish does not overcook as it reheats. Before saucing the fish, drain off any liquid which may have accumulated in the dish.

  Filets de Poisson Bercy aux Champignons

  [Fish Filets Poached in White Wine with Mushrooms]

  Bercy is the simplest of the white-wine fish sauces. The poaching liquid is thickened with beurre manié—a flour and butter paste—then enriched with cream. This combination of fish, mushrooms, and cream sauce is an informal version of sole bonne femme. Serve with it a white Burgundy, Graves, or Traminer.

  For 6 people

  ¾ lb. or 3½ cups sliced fresh mushrooms

  2 Tb butter

  An enameled skillet

  ⅛ tsp salt

  Pinch of pepper

  Toss the mushrooms in hot butter over moderately high heat for a minute or two without browning. Season with salt and pepper, and set aside.

  2½ lbs. filets of sole or flounder and the ingredients for poaching them in white wine (see preceding recipe)

  A 2-quart enameled or stainless steel saucepan

  Arrange the seasoned filets in a buttered baking dish as described in the master recipe. Spread the mushrooms over them. Pour in the liquids, and poach the fish. Then drain the poaching liquid into the saucepan. Preheat broiler.

  Rapidly boil down the poaching liquid until it has reduced to 1 cup.

  2½ Tb flour blended to a paste with 3 Tb softened butter

  ¾ to 1 cup whipping cream

  Salt and pepper

  Lemon juice

  Off heat, beat the flour and butter paste into the hot liquid, then ½ cup of the cream. Bring to the boil. Thin out the sauce with additional tablespoons of cream until it coats the spoon nicely. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and drops of lemon juice.

  ¼ cup grated Swiss cheese

  1 Tb butter cut into bits

  Spoon the sauce over the fish. Sprinkle on the cheese, and dot with butter. Place dish 6 to 7 inches from a hot broiler for 2 to 3 minutes to reheat fish and brown top of sauce lightly. Serve as soon as possible.

  (*) Dish may be prepared ahead and reheated as follows: After sprinkling on the cheese and butter, set aside. Before serving, reheat just to the simmer on top of the stove, then run for a minute or two under a hot broiler to brown the top of the sauce.

  VARIATION

  Filets de Poisson à la Bretonne

  [Fish Filets Poached in White Wine and a Julienne of Vegetables]

  This is the same recipe, but with a julienne of carrots, onions, celery, and mushrooms cooked in butter, then spread over the fish. It makes a pretty dish with a delicious flavor.

  Ingredients for the preceding recipe, but use only ¼ lb. of mushrooms, and the following vegetables:

  1 carrot

  2 leeks, white part only; or 2 yellow onions

  2 tender celery stalks

  Cut the vegetables into julienne matchsticks 1½ inches long and ⅛ inch across. Keep the mushrooms separate. Cook the other vegetables slowly in butter for about 20 minutes in a covered saucepan, until they are tender but not browned. Then add the mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

  Spread the vegetables over the seasoned fish filets, cover with the liquids, a
nd poach the fish. Make the sauce as in the preceding recipe.

  Filets de Poisson Gratinés, à la Parisienne

  [Fish Filets Poached in White Wine; Cream and Egg Yolk Sauce]

  In the following recipe, the fish poaching liquid is cooked with a flour and butter roux to make a fish velouté. The velouté is then combined with cream and egg yolks to produce a delicious, velvety sauce called a parisienne. Although it uses almost the same elements as the sauce Bercy, because of its cooked roux and its egg yolks, sauce parisienne is far more subtle in taste and texture. It is the basis for all the great fish sauces described later. When the sauce is to be used for a gratin, as in this recipe, the whole dish may be prepared ahead of time, and reheated later. Before the fish is sauced, it may be surrounded with various cooked shellfish as suggested at the end of the recipe. Serve with this a chilled white Burgundy, or an excellent white Graves.

  For 6 people

  2½ lbs. sole or flounder filets poached in white wine

  Poach the fish in white wine as described in the master recipe. Drain the poaching liquid into an enameled saucepan and rapidly boil it down until it has reduced to 1 cup.

  Sauce Parisienne (2½ cups)

  A 2-quart, heavy-bottomed, enameled or stainless steel saucepan

  3 Tb butter

  4 Tb flour

  A wooden spatula or spoon

  The boiling fish-poaching liquid

  ¾ cup milk

  A wire whip

  Melt the butter, blend in the flour, and cook slowly, stirring, until they foam and froth together for 2 minutes without coloring. Off heat, beat in the boiling liquid, then the milk. Boil, stirring, for 1 minute. Sauce will be very thick.

  Preheat broiler.

  2 egg yolks

  ½ cup whipping cream

  A 2-quart mixing bowl

  A wire whip

  A wooden spoon

  More cream as needed

  Salt and white pepper

  Lemon juice

  Blend the yolks and cream in the mixing bowl. Beat in driblets of hot sauce until a cup has been added. Beat in the rest of the hot sauce in a thin stream. Return the sauce to the pan. Set over moderately high heat and stir with wooden spoon, reaching all over the bottom of the pan, until the sauce comes to the boil. Boil and stir for 1 minute. Thin out with additional spoonfuls of cream until the sauce coats the spoon nicely. Season carefully to taste with salt, pepper, and drops of lemon juice. Strain.

  2 Tb grated Swiss cheese, to help brown top of sauce

  1 Tb butter cut into bits

  Spoon the sauce over the fish. Sprinkle with cheese, and dot with butter.

  (*) If not to be served immediately, set aside.

  Just before serving, reheat slowly almost to simmer on top of the stove. Run under hot broiler to brown the top of the sauce.

  SHELLFISH GARNITURES

  Before saucing the fish in the preceding or following recipes, you may surround it with one or various types of cooked shellfish meat. Their cooking juices are added to reduce with the liquid in which your fish filets were poached, giving it even more character.

  The following brief directions include the cooking of the raw shellfish, and then the warming of the meat in butter and seasonings to give it additional flavor. If you are using previously cooked or canned meat, it will need only the final warming in butter.

  Lobster

  Steam the lobster in wine and aromatic flavorings as described at the beginning of the lobster Thermidor recipe. When the lobster is cool, remove the meat and dice or slice it. Sauté the meat for 2 to 3 minutes in 2 tablespoons of hot butter, 1 tablespoon of minced shallots or green onions, and salt and pepper. Stir in 3 tablespoons of dry white wine or dry white vermouth and boil for 1 minute until the liquid has almost completely evaporated. The lobster is now ready to be used.

  Shrimp

  Follow the preceding directions for lobster, but simmer the whole, unpeeled shrimp for 5 minutes only. Allow them to cool in the cooking liquid. Then peel them, and warm them in butter, seasonings, and wine.

  Écrevisses

  These fresh-water shellfish are also called crayfish or crawfish, depending on what part of the country you come from. They look exactly like baby lobsters but are only 4 to 5 inches long. Prepare them like the shrimps in the preceding directions. Only the tail meat is used as a garnish. The chests and the rest of the shells may be ground up to make a shellfish butter.

  Shelled Fresh Oysters

  Poach the oysters at just below the simmer for 3 or 4 minutes in their natural juices until they swell. Drain them, and they are ready to use.

  Mussels

  Scrub and soak 1 quart of fresh mussels as directed. Then place them in a covered enameled or stainless steel saucepan with ½ cup of dry white wine or ⅓ cup of dry white vermouth, 3 tablespoons of minced shallot or green onion, 3 parsley sprigs, and a pinch of pepper. Boil rapidly for about 5 minutes, tossing several times, until the shells swing open. Remove the mussels from their shells, and they are ready to use.

  SOME CLASSIC COMBINATIONS

  The same cream and egg-yolk fish sauce described in the recipe for filets de poisson gratinés à la parisienne becomes even more rich and velvety if a fairly large quantity of butter is beaten into it just before serving. The more you beat in, the more delicious the sauce becomes. But as in all heavily buttered sauces, it cannot be kept warm once buttered or the butter will liquefy and either thin out the sauce, or rise up and float on top. Here in outline are some traditional combinations of poached fish filets and various shellfish garnitures to give you an idea of what you can do. You can, of course, make up your own selection. In each case, in the following recipes, the sauce takes on the name of the dish. Serve your finest white Burgundy with any of these, and they should be considered a separate course, accompanied only by hot French bread.

  SOLE À LA DIEPPOISE

  [Fish Filets with Mussels and Shrimp]

  This recipe is the model for the variations to follow.

  For 6 people

  Poaching the fish

  2½ lbs. sole or flounder filets poached in whitewine

  1 quart fresh mussels steamed in white wine

  ½ lb. shelled shrimp warmed in butter and seasonings

  Arrange the poached fish filets on a lightly buttered serving platter and surround them with the mussels and shrimp. Just before serving, cover the platter and reheat the fish for a few minutes over simmering water. Drain off any accumulated liquid before napping the fish with the following sauce:

  For 2½ cups of sauce

  A 2½-quart enameled saucepan

  3 Tb butter

  4 Tb flour

  The fish-poaching and mussel-steaming liquids combined and boiled down to 1 cup

  ¾ cup milk

  2 egg yolks and ½ cup whipping cream blended in a 2-quart mixing bowl

  Salt and pepper

  Drops of lemon juice

  Following the technique for sauce parisienne, cook the flour and butter slowly together until they foam and froth for 2 minutes. Off heat, beat in the hot fish cooking liquid, then the milk. Boil 1 minute. Beat the hot sauce by droplets into the yolks and cream. Return mixture to saucepan and boil, stirring, for 1 minute. Thin out with more cream if necessary, and correct seasoning. Strain. Film top of sauce with a tablespoon of melted butter if not to be served immediately.

  4 to 16 Tb softened butter (6 to 8 Tb is usual)

  Just before serving the fish, bring the sauce to the simmer. Then remove it from heat and beat in the butter 1 tablespoon at a time.

  Final assembly

  6 whole cooked shrimp in their shells

  6 to 12 thin slices of canned truffles

  Immediately spoon the sauce over the hot fish and shellfish. Decorate with the shrimp and truffles and serve.

  VARIATIONS

  The following are all constructed in exactly the same manner as the preceding sole à la dieppoise. Directions for poaching the fish are here; for the shel
lfish garnitures.

  Sole à la Normande

  [Fish Filets with Shellfish and Mushrooms]

  Follow the preceding recipe, but to the garniture add oysters, mushrooms, and écrevisses, if available. Decorate the sauced fish with whole shrimps or écrevisses, truffle slices, and croûtons (triangles of white bread sautéed in butter).

  Sole Walewska

  [Fish Filets with Shellfish and Truffles]

  Same as the sole à la dieppoise, but the filets are garnished with écrevisses or shrimp, and lobster meat, and instead of beating plain butter into the sauce, use the shellfish butter. Decorate the sauced fish with truffle slices, and cooked lobster claws or whole shrimp.

  Sole à la Nantua

  [Fish Filets with Écrevisses]

  Same as the sole à la dieppoise, but the fish is garnished with écrevisses, and shellfish butter, rather than plain butter is beaten into the sauce.

  Sole Bonne Femme

  [Fish Filets with Mushrooms]

  Poach the fish filets in white wine and sliced mushrooms as for the sole Bercy. Make the sauce following the recipe for the sole à la dieppoise. Garnish the sauced fish with 6 fluted mushroom caps, which have been stewed in butter and lemon juice.