Sole Frite a la Colbert

Ingredients

• the sole
• egg
• bread-crumbs
• plenty of fat
• fine salt

Method

1. 1

   Make an incision along the backbone of the sole, loosen flesh from bones, egg and breadcrumb the fish, and fry in fat with the incision side up.

2. 2

   Fill the opening with maitre d'hotel butter before serving.

As published

This recipe was extracted from Culinary jottings (1885) by A. R. Kenney-Herbert, page 268. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

Sole frite h la Colbert. Bouilli a la Milanaise. Topinambonrs anx oeiifs farcis. Demoiselles d'lionneur. Froinage, hors d'oeuvres. Dessert. 1. — This soup is to be made from the joint, iu tlie foreign manner, a la pot-au-feu, so Bouillon. ° . ' . ^ ^^ -1, . purchase a nice piece or the ribs ot beef, weighing about five pounds, with two carrots, a turnip, a handful of French beans, a large Bombay onion, half a head of celery (leaves and all), two leeks, and a bunch of parsley. When the joint comes home, detach the meat from the bones en masse, roll it up compactly, and tie it firmly with a string. — See that your soup ket- tle is thoroughly clean, put in the bones (chopped up) first, and place your bundle of meat above them, pouring in cold water enough to cover the top of the meat — with one and a half ounce of salt and nothing else. Ramasamy throws in all his vegetables to begin with, which is an utterly erroneous proceeding. Now set the pot near the fire, and let the contents come as slowly as possible to the boil, skimming off every atom of scum as it rises, and add- 488 MENU FOR A LITTLE HOME DINNER. iiig from time to time a little cold water to retard ebulli- tion, and encourage the rising of the scum. Keep the vessel open throughout the operations, otherwise the soup will not be bright and clear. This having been completed, and the pot boiling with a clean surface, you may cast in your vegetables (the carrots first, followed by the turnip) all nicely washed, trimmed, and cut up. In addition, you must give the soup a tea-spoonful of caramel (burnt sugar colouring), a dessert-spoonful of sugar, a dozen pepper corns, and a bag containing mixed sweet herbs (a tea- spoonfal of each). These additions will stop the boiling you will find, so watch the vessel narrowly, and as soon as boiling begins again, ease o£E the fire, and let the contents of the kettle simmer till the vegetables are nicely done. Now take the kettle from the fire, remove the vegetables and put the meat broth and bone back on a low fire to simmer slowly until you find that the first is nice and ten- der,— done in fact. The time of this will depend upon the size of the meat and the accuracy of the simmering : from two to three hours is the ordinary period. As soon as the meat is done, the soup is ready also : keeping the meat overdoing will not give you a fraction more strength in the broth. So strain it from the meat, and set it to cool. Place the meat and vegetables separately on dishes. When the broth is cold, take off any fat that may have risen to its surface, and return the liquor to the sauce-pan. Cut up some of the vegetables into nice pieces and place them in the soup tureen, let the contents of your sauce- pan come almost to the boil, and pour them over the vege- tables. It will be a bright clear soup, with a capital flavour : a dessert-spoonful of Madeira and a dried leaf or two of tarragon will improve it. The colour will depend upon the amount of caramel you put into the pot. A nice golden yellow is easily obtained. 2. — Make an incision along the back-bone on the upper MENU FOR A LITTLE HOME DINNER. 489 side of the sole, from and up to within ^ Jned sole a la Col- ^^ -^^^1^ ^^ ^^iQ head and tail ; slip a knife under the flesh on each side of the cut, and loosen it from the bones ; then egg and bread-crumb the fish with finely sifted crumbs, and fry it in plenty of fat, with the side bearing the incision uppermost. The edges of this will curl outwards in the process of frying, and the opening thus made should be filled at the time of serving with plenty of maitre cVhotel butter, the sole being sprinkled with fine salt. While the fish is being drained in front of the fire, the back-bone may be removed carefully, but this is not essential. 3. — After draining the rolled rib meat mentioned in , . No. 1, and letting it get cold, place it on a dish that will stand the oven, brush it over with egg, and dredge over it a coating of very finely grated dry cheese, and bread-crumbs

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