Sunday, June 19, 2011

GOOD FOR THE SOLE!



Dom over at the wonderful Belleau Kitchen has challenged us to cook a random recipe from our most recent cook book - great idea, how many of us buy/receive a new cookbook, devour the recipes and pictures and then cast it aside for the old reliables (kinda have to put my hand up on that one!) - Thanks Dom.

I was having a really hard time remembering which was my most recent acquisition (cook book wise) - I knew that I hadn't bought anything recently, but was it as far back as Christmas? - couldn't be, but then I couldn't remember anything more recent - it was really bugging me!!  But then the Lovely Louise came to my rescue, and gave me a "cheer you up" present of "The Food of France" (a journey for food lovers) by Maria Villegas and Sarah Randell.  This is a delightful book, brim full of interesting, doable recipes and mouthwatering pictures. (Thanks Lou xxx)

My luck was in when I opened the book, I actually had most of the ingredients (and just left out the ones I didn't have) - I thought I was just opening it to write my shopping list!!  My luck was still in when we tasted the dish - delicious, delicious, delicious!  I was told that it was "better than any restaurant" (what an ego booster!).  This dish would be perfect for a dinner party, it's really impressive and really easy, what more can you ask!



I have to say that the quality of the fish and prawns is really important here - the sauce is light and the fish has to be as fresh as possible.  As always my local fish shop (Connollys) came up trumps, not only was the fish delicious, but Kieran actually peeled the prawns for me!

I served the Sole Normande with samphire, which I tossed in the creamy sauce over a high heat for a couple of minutes - it was just perfect.  Asparagus or green beans would also to good accompaniments, anything green with a bit of crunch, actually.



SOLE  NORMANDE


12             prawns (shrimp) (I used more)
500ml        white wine
12             shucked oysters (I didn't have any, so left them out)
12             small button mushrooms (mine weren't particularly small, so I sliced them)
4              sole fillets (I used small, skinned whole Dover Sole)
250ml       cream (I used much less, about 120 ml)
1               truffle, thinly sliced (another ingredient I left out!)
1 tbsp       chopped parsley (the only ingredient I omitted, that I will add next time)



Put the wine in a deep frying pan (I used a wok) and bring to the boil.
Add the oysters (if using) and poach for 2-3 minutes, remove from the wine with a slotted spoon  and keep warm.
Add the peeled and deveined prawns to the bubbling wine and cook until pink and cooked through, about 3 minutes. Lift out and keep warm.
Poach the mushrooms for 5 minutes or until cooked through, remove and keep warm.
Place the sole carefully into the poaching liquid, and cook for about 5 minutes (depends on the size of your fish) until just cooked through -  remove the fish and put to one side.
Add the cream to the poaching liquid and bring to the boil, boil until reduced by half and thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon (I didn't reduce it by this much, as I was after a lighter texture)
Season with salt and pepper (be careful with the salt if you are serving with samphire, which is very salty)
Put the sole on a serving dish, scatter with the prawns, oysters (if using), mushrooms, and truffle (again, if using) and parsley and serve while it's still hot!

Enjoy.


17 comments:

Unknown said...

absolutely stunning!... I really could do with eating this now... my kitchen is such a mess at the moment I cant even bring myself to venture forth and try... so staring at your lovely pics will have to do! xx Thanks for taking part honey pie x

Kate@whatkatebaked said...

I too tend to read a cookbook from cover to cover as though its a best selling crime fiction book, and then it kinda gather dusts. Oops. This recipe looks delicious- I think we know what we will be having for tea tonight!

Jayanthy Kumaran said...

looks gorgeous..nice recipe..:P
Tasty Appetite

Anonymous said...

How delicious! Looks mouthwatering! :)

Tammy~

Anonymous said...

This looks like a great dish!

Please Do Not Feed The Animals. said...

This looks such a treat! I can almost taste the sea - yum!

teresa said...

so yummy, i just love seafood!

Gloria Baker said...

Love seafood look yummy!! gloria

Sugar Plum Cupcake said...

This sounds and looks delicious!

Kath said...

It looks very delicious and I love the samphire - very jealous.

Maxine said...

Both the Picture and your description are music to my ears - the freshest of seafood - how glorious.

Maxine

Ocean Breezes and Country Sneezes said...

I love seafood, I order it every time we go out! Your recipe looks fantastic and one that I'll try! Thank for a great recipe!

Mary

Anna's kitchen table said...

Beautiful! I am inspired- it looks so cheffy! :-))

From Beyond My Kitchen Window said...

This looks delicious. I must try this. Sometimes I get stuck in a seafood rut and cook he same shrimp scampi dish over and over again.

Susan Lindquist said...

Looks so good! I wonder if I could use flounder instead of the sole ... oysters are out, as I don't even know where to find them, but shrimp is a go! The sauce sounds wonderful! Lucky find when you opened that cookbook, huh?

Brownieville Girl said...

Thanks everyone :-}}

I'd imagine flounder would be perfect Susan.

Pistachio and Rose said...

Oh wow, I adore seafood and this sounds divine!