Julia Child’s White Wine Poached Fish | FoodsOfOurLives.com
You know what I love about Julia’s recipes?
I meant there’s the obvious: They taste amazing.
Then there’s the second obvious: French food is amazing.
But it’s also simple.
Her recipes just are not complicated. Often times they take all day to make but it’s mostly down time and the actual work isn’t difficult.
The other thing I have been loving about her is her use of fats. I am trying out a rather high fat diet right now and Julia’s recipes fit right in.
I had made this fish recipe about a month or so ago and it was such a huge hit with my family that there wasn’t a bite left. I figured that meant I should make it again and post the recipe for everyone.
Her original recipe wants you to use Swiss cheese on top of the sauce but the first time I made it I didn’t have any so I used cheddar. The second time I had some Swiss so I went with that and it wasn’t quite as loved, but my kids hate Swiss anyway so I kind of had a feeling it would bomb. Meh….the hubs and I loved it 😉
- 2 tablespoons minced shallots or green onions
- 2½ pounds skinless boneless sole or flounder filets (to be quite honest I went cheap and used tilapia)
- Salt and pepper
- 1½ tablespoons butter cut into bits
- 1½ cups dry white wine
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 4 tablespoons flour (since I am avoiding grains right now I used 1 teaspoon xanthan gum)
- ¾ cup milk
- 2 egg yolks
- ½ cup whipped cream
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons Swiss or cheddar cheese
- Preheat your oven to 350.
- Sprinkle the fish with salt and pepper.
- Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet that can go in the oven over medium heat.
- Sprinkle half the shallots around the pan.
- Add the fish in a single layer, slightly overlapped is fine. Then sprinkle the rest of the shallots on top of the fish and dot with the bits of butter. Pour in the wine, the fish should be just barely covered, if not pour in enough water to cover it. Heat to almost boiling and then remove from heat and cover with parchment paper pressing the paper gently down onto the liquid. Then move the pan to the oven.
- Bake for about 8-12 minutes just until the fish flakes easily with a fork.
- Remove from the oven and pour the poaching liquid into a large saucepan and bring to a rapid boil. Boil down until the liquid is reduced to 1 cup - yes pour the liquid into a measuring cup to be sure and also you need the pan so set the liquid aside.
- Melt the 3 tablespoons flour in the saucepan, then add the flour and stir until combined. Then pour in the reserved liquid and the milk and whisk until thick.
- In a small mixing bowl combine the egg yolks and cream then slowly drizzle 1 cup or so of the hot liquid into the egg mixture while whisking then pour it slowly back into the pan while whisking.
- Heat on medium and stir until thick and creamy.
- Add salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste.
- Pour the sauce over the fish in the pan and sprinkle with the cheese. Place it under the broiler to melt the cheese and then serve.
- The sauce is delicious over rice as well so I like to serve that as a side.
- Huckleberry Plum Pie - January 1, 2017
- Fresh Mango Sorbet - July 17, 2016
- Steak Caesar Salad - June 8, 2016
