This is an end-of-winter dish which announces spring.
At this time of year, soles fished from small boats are plentiful.
This recipe draws on my childhood memories: it's inspired by the marvelous smell of fish being cooked in salted butter, which creates the taste of "corsi" a jus obtained by pan-frying the barbels of small sole - something my mother can do like no-one else.
I've accentuated the flavour with a few seeds.
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 soles weighing 800 g (1 lb 13 oz)
with the black skin removed and the white skin scaled by
the fishmonger
500 g small new potatoes, preferably sirtema (1 lb 2 oz)
20 small leeks
80 g butter (3 oz)
2 garlic cloves
1 lemon
1 strip lemon zest
2 strips orange zest
200 ml chicken stock (3/4 cup).
Spice and almond mix :
30 ml sesame seeds
(2 tbsp)
15 ml hazelnuts (1 tbsp)
15 ml almonds (1 tbsp)
15 ml coriander (1 tbsp)
7 ml sumac (1/2 tbsp)
15 ml cumin (1 tbsp)
Coarse salt.
Easy and fairly quick
Basic preparation
A little more than an hour ahead : in a dry saucepan, heat the hazelnuts and the almonds. When they have coloured lightly, add the sesame seeds, cumin, coriander and finally the sumac. Blend quickly in an electric coffee grinder. Set this mix aside in a tightly sealed jar.
Blanch the citrus zests twice. Cut off the head and barbels from the sole, rince them and send them aside. Split each sole down the middle and cut into slices, keeping the soft roe, and set everything aside in a cool place. Cut the head and barbels into small pieces and heat them with 50 g (2 oz) butter, stirring constantly with a spoon or a wooden spatula, scraping the caramelised juices and constantly adjusting the temperature - the mixture should "stick" for 10 mins to bring out the delicious flavour and special aroma of the "corsi". Add 15 ml (1 tbsp) of the spice mix. Let it brown for a few seconds, then add the citrus remains and deglaze with the juice of a lemon. Finally add the chicken stock and a little water. Cook over very low heat for an hour, then strain through a fine strainger, pressing with a small ladle to extract the maximum quintessence from the sole.
Meanwhile, wash and slice the leeks, cutting them at an angle.
Wash the potatoes without peeling them, simply rubbing them with coarse salt.
Last minute
Cover the potatoes with salted water and add 10 g (1/3 oz) salted butter. Bring to a boil and supervise the cooking: they should not overcook.
Quickly sweat the leeks in a knob of butter and season them. Be sure not to let them stick to the pan; they should keep their pretty green and white colour.
Meanwhile, season the sole slices and brown
them in a non-stick pan with 20 g (2/3 oz) butter.
Preheat the oven and the baking dish.
Last minute(2)
Place the fish slices in the baking dish. Cover with half the stock and cook in the oven at 220 C (Gas 6-7).
After 5 mins, add the potatoes and the wilted leeks. Cook for another 10 mins, basting the soles and adding stock as necessary. Check the seasoning as the sauce reduces.
Serve in the baking dish; the preparation should stay in its cooking liquid. People can then help themselves to the sauce.
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© Olivier Roellinger - Maisons de Bricourt.
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