Getting better...

Julia's first experience with french cooking was a sole dish. My husband and I were at our lake house this weekend and went to the local supermarket, which happens to have a wide variety of seafood. I found sole there, so picked it up.

Tonight I tried Filets de Poisson Bercy aux Champignons (Fish Filets Poached in white wine with mushrooms), page 210. Take an oven safe dish, and butter it. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon or so of minced shallots or green onions in the bottom. Living out in the sticks, shallots are not that easy to come by. I think I'll need to stop in Madison somewhere - I used green onions. Maybe I'll grow my own next summer.

Salt and pepper the sole filets and put on top of the shallots/onions. Sprinkle another tablespoon of shallots/onions on top. Slightly warm the mushrooms in melted butter and put on top of the fish. Cover with 1 cup of dry white wine and however much water you need to cover everthing. Dot with butter (duh) and bring to a simmer on the stovetop. When it has reached a simmer, cover with waxed paper and pop into a 350 oven.

Ok...that was pretty easy. Not as much work as the last one. Now for the sauce!

After 8-12 minutes remove fish from oven. Drain out liquids into sauce pan. Keep fish and mushrooms warm. Reduce liquids to one cup. (I got a little over zealous here and ended up with 3/4 cup...oops) Add flour and butter that have been mixed together and half cup of cream (the recipe called for whipping cream, but I only had half-and-half so I used that). Bring to a boil - it got really thick. Add more cream until it coats the back of a spoon nicely (Julia's term - nicely). Add salt and pepper to taste and then Julia said a few drops of lemon juice. I wanted mine to have a bit of tanginess to it, so I added more lemon juice.

The sauce right out of the saucepan was really good....smooth, incredibly creamy (probably cuz it had a cup of cream in it ya think?) and pretty flavorful. The lemon juice was just the right touch. I made brown rice and green peas as sides. Put a filet on the plate, add a few of the mushrooms, and spoon the sauce on top. Served with a delightful chardonnay.

This was the best dish I've made (one out of only three, but I'm getting there). It was still a little blander than what we like, but it was pretty good. The fish was done perfectly - moist and tender. Sole, however, is a mild-flavored fish to start with. Even though, the sauce got a little lost on it. It was much better just out of the pan - which I tested thoroughly.

I have some leftover, so put a little brown rice in a container with the fish, mushrooms, and sauce. I'll see how it heats up at work tomorrow.

I was pleased with this recipe. Next up however, I really want to try a roast chicken and then a dessert....stay tuned!