Sole au Gratin

Ingredients

• one small sole
• two heaped tablespoonfuls of bread crumbs
• one tablespoonful of chopped parsley
• two small mushrooms
• one ounce of butter
• a piece of chalot the size of a bean
• two tablespoonfuls of second stock
• one saltspoonful of salt
• one saltspoonful of pepper

Method

1. 1

   Brown bread crumbs in the oven.

2. 2

   Prepare a baking tin with half the crumbs, mushrooms, and parsley.

3. 3

   Skin the sole, place it over the mixture, top with remaining ingredients, and bake for ten minutes.

As published

This recipe was extracted from The art of cooking (1880) by Matilda Lees Dods, page 12. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

n ounce of butter together in a mortar, and to make it perfectly smooth rub it through a wire sieve. Now melt in a saucepan the remainder of the butter, add thereto the flour and cold water, stir all until the water boils, and then allow it to boil two minutes. Take it now from the fire, and add the coral, cream, pepper and salt, lemon-juice and cayenne. When this is done cut the lobster into small, convenient pieces, and mix them well with the contents of the saucepan. Turn all now out upon a plate and set to cool for one hour. When cool, divide into five pieces and form into cutlets, similar in shape to cutlets of lamb, dip them lightly into the egg, which must have been well beaten, roll them in the bread crumbs, which must have been placed upon kitchen paper for the purpose, from side to side, and fry for two minutes in hot clarified fat or lard. When done put them to drain for a moment upon a clean piece of kitchen-paper and serve on a hot napkin, garnished with the claws of the lobster. Note. — The female lobster should be selected for this dish as it alone furnishes the coral which gives both a delicious flavor and beautiful color to the composition. 26 FISH. FISH. Filet de Sole, H la Maitre d'Botel.— Take for this : two large sole, two ounces of butter, one-half ounce of flour, four tablespoonfuls of cream, one-half teaspoon- ful of lemon-juice, one dessert spoonful of chopped pars- ley, one-half saltspoonful of salt, one-half saltspoonf ul of pepper. Begin this by reversing the usual rule for cleaning fish, skin the sole first and then filet it. To do this the skill must be loosened at the tail, the fish being held firmly to the table with a dry towel, and with the disengaged hand the skin quickly torn off. This process must be repeated as the sole has two distinct sides to be relieved of skin Make then an incision straight down the back with a sharp knife, and pressing the knife as closely as possible to the backbone, separate the flesh from it, removing the four filets. Roll each filet separately, — in the fashion of a rolled jelly-cake, place them side by side in a slightly greased tin, squeeze over each a little of the lemon-juice, to preserve their color, cover them with a piece of greased kitchen-paper and bake in a brisk oven ten minutes. While the filets are baking, cover the heads and skins of the fish with cold water, and boil for five minutes ; then melt in a small saucepan the butter, add to it the flour and one gill of the liquor, obtained by boiling the heads and skins, boil all for two minutes, stirring meantime, when it must be taken from the fire and the cream, pepper and salt added. Put the filets now into a flat dish, pour this sauce around them, and sprinkle over each filet a little of the chopped parsley. And serve. SOLE A IV GRA TIN 27 Note — Large flounder may also be prepared after this recipe with the same result. Boiled Codfish. — ^Provide: four pounds of cod, middle cut, one hirge tablespoonful of vinegar, one-half tablespoonful of salt. The codfish should be purchased the day before it is desired to serve, and permited to lie over night in salt. When ready to boil, fill the fish kettle two thirds full of boiling water, add to this the vinegar and salt, place the fish into the drainer, and plunge it into the boiling water, where it must remain for thirty minutes, boiling rapidly. Serve upon a dry napkin, garnished with parsley and with it * oysters or egg sauce. Notes. — If the cod should be of more than ordinary thickness, it mast boil a few minutes longer, that it may become done through. This recipe may be used in boiling all large fish, except salmon. Salmon must be treated with this difference. It should be put to boil in tepid instead of boiling water, and thoroughly skimmed as it boils up. For boiling small and fresh water fish, use cold water, and the in- stant the boiling point is reached, remove the fish. In this way small fish may be prevented breaking in the kettle. If not provided with a fish kettle which has the plunging drainer, it is better to wrap the large fish in a single layer of course toweling. Sole au graUn. — This requires: one small sole, two heaped tablespoonfuls, of bread crumbs, one table- spoonful of chopped parsley, twg small mushrooms, cue ounce of butter, a piece of chalot the size of a bean, two tablespoonfuls of second stock, one saltspoonful of salt, one saltspoonful of pepper

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.