Stewed Sole from Yarmouth
I probably wouldn't have made this dish if I had realized that what fishmongers call Dover sole in America is actually a type of flounder caught in the Pacific ocean with little similarity to the real soles (the differences between lemon and Dover soles are not too pronounced). Pacific Dover sole filets are small and delicate, and I overcooked them to the point in which they more or less disintegrate it. If you are using that type of fish, watch them very closely while stewing.
Other than that, and the fact that I would have needed twice as many filets if I was to serve four people, the dish was pretty good. The delicate sole was well complimented by the light wine sauce and we enjoyed it.
Stewed Sole from Yarmouth
Ingredients
- 6 lemon sole filets
- 1 cup beef stock
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup light red wine
- rind of 1 lemon
- 3 anchovies, chopped
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 2 boquet garni
- pinch of ground cloves, mace & nutmeg
- salt & pepper to taste
- 2 Tbsp softened butter
- 2 Tbsp flour
Directions
Stewed Sole from Yarmouth
Place the beef stock, water, red wine, lemon rind, anchovies, onion, butter, bouquets garni, cloves, mace & nutmeg and salt & pepper in a saute pan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, reduce heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Add the fish and simmer for until cooked, 4-7 minutes.
Remove fish and keep warm. Strain cooking juices and return liquid to pan. Mix flour & softened butter together and add it gradually to the sauce. Reheat but don't allow the sauce to boil. Pour over fish filets and decorate with fresh herbs before serving.
Original Recipe:
To stew Soles. From Yarmouth.
Take the largest Soles you can get, gut them, and skin them; lay them then into a Stew-pan, and pour in about a Pint of good Beef Gravey, and as much Claret; some bits of Lemon-Peel, an Anchovy or two, a stick of Horse-Radish, a bunch of sweet Herbs, a large Onion, half a large Nutmeg, some Cloves and Mace, whole Pepper, and Salt, with a little bit of Butter. Then stew these till the Fish is enough, and pour off the Liquor, through a Sieve, and thicken it with burnt Butter, having first put to it the Juice of a Lemon. Then pour the Sauce over the Fish, and garnish with Lemon sliced, and the Roots of red Beets pickled and sliced, with Horse-Radish scraped, and fry'd Bread.
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Adapted from a recipe in The British Museum Cookbook , based on a recipe published in Richard Bradley’s Country Housewife and Lady’s Director, 1727.
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