Fricasseed Soles

The Book of Household Management · Beeton, Mrs. (Isabella Mary) · 1861

Source: The Book of Household Management
Time: Cook: 10 min Total: 10 min
Yield: 4.0 – 5.0 persons
Status: success · extracted 13 days ago
Not a recipe: No

Ingredients (18)

2 middling-sized soles ↝ Fish, flatfish (flounder and sole species), raw [Finfish and Shellfish Products]
1 small one ↝ Fish, flatfish (flounder and sole species), raw [Finfish and Shellfish Products]
1/2 teaspoonful of chopped lemon-peel ↝ Lemon peel, raw [Fruits and Fruit Juices]
1 teaspoonful of chopped parsley ↝ Parsley, raw [Not included in a food category]
a little grated bread ↝ Bread, vegetable [Yeast breads]
salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste ↝ Salt, table, iodized [Spices and Herbs]
salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste ↝ Spices, pepper, black [Spices and Herbs]
salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste ↝ Oil, nutmeg butter [Fats and Oils]
1 egg ↝ Eggs, Grade A, Large, egg whole [Dairy and Egg Products]
2 oz. butter ↝ Butter, stick, unsalted [Dairy and Egg Products]
1/2 pint of good gravy ↝ Gravy, NFS [Dips, gravies, other sauces]
2 tablespoonfuls of port wine
cayenne and lemon-juice to taste ↝ Peppers, raw, NFS [Other vegetables and combinations]
cayenne and lemon-juice to taste ↝ Lemon juice, raw [Fruits and Fruit Juices]

for the balls

Take all the meat from the small sole, chop it fine, and mix with it the lemon-peel, parsley, bread, and seasoning; work altogether, with the yolk of an egg and the butter
Take all the meat from the small sole, chop it fine, and mix with it the lemon-peel, parsley, bread, and seasoning; work altogether, with the yolk of an egg and the butter ↝ Egg, yolk only, raw [Eggs and omelets]
Take all the meat from the small sole, chop it fine, and mix with it the lemon-peel, parsley, bread, and seasoning; work altogether, with the yolk of an egg and the butter ↝ Butter, stick, unsalted [Dairy and Egg Products]

to thicken gravy

a dessert-spoonful of flour ↝ Flour, 00 [Cereal Grains and Pasta]

Instructions (5)

Fry the soles of a nice brown, as directed in recipe No. 327, and drain them well from fat.
Take all the meat from the small sole, chop it fine, and mix with it the lemon-peel, parsley, bread, and seasoning; work altogether, with the yolk of an egg and the butter; make this into small balls, and fry them.
Thicken the gravy with a dessert-spoonful of flour, add the port wine, cayenne, and lemon-juice;
lay in the 2 soles and balls; let them simmer gently for 6 minutes;
serve hot, and garnish with cut lemon.

Original Text

FRICASSEED SOLES.

325. INGREDIENTS.—2 middling-sized soles, 1 small one, 1/2 teaspoonful of chopped lemon-peel, 1 teaspoonful of chopped parsley, a little grated bread; salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste; 1 egg, 2 oz. butter, 1/2 pint of good gravy, 2 tablespoonfuls of port wine, cayenne and lemon-juice to taste.

Mode.—Fry the soles of a nice brown, as directed in recipe No. 327, and drain them well from fat. Take all the meat from the small sole, chop it fine, and mix with it the lemon-peel, parsley, bread, and seasoning; work altogether, with the yolk of an egg and the butter; make this into small balls, and fry them. Thicken the gravy with a dessert-spoonful of flour, add the port wine, cayenne, and lemon-juice; lay in the 2 soles and balls; let them simmer gently for 6 minutes; serve hot, and garnish with cut lemon.

Time.—10 minutes to fry the soles.

Average cost for this quantity, 3s.

Seasonable at any time. Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons.

HOW SOLES ARE CAUGHT.—The instrument usually employed is a trawl net, which is shaped like a pocket, of from sixty to eighty feet long, and open at the mouth from thirty-two to forty feet, and three deep. This is dragged along the ground by the vessel, and on the art of the fisherman in its employment, in a great measure depends the quality of the fish he catches. If, for example, he drags the net too quickly, all that are caught are swept rapidly to the end of the net, where they are smothered, and sometimes destroyed. A medium has to be observed, in order that as few as possible escape being caught in the net, and as many as possible preserved alive in it.

FRIED FILLETED SOLES.

326. Soles for filleting should be large, as the flesh can be more easily separated from the bones, and there is less waste. Skin and wash the fish, and raise the meat carefully from the bones, and divide it into nice handsome pieces. The more usual way is to roll the fillets, after dividing each one in two pieces, and either bind them round with twine, or run a small skewer through them. Brush over with egg, and cover with bread crumbs; fry them as directed in the foregoing recipe, and garnish with fried parsley and cut lemon. When a pretty dish is desired, this is by far the most elegant mode of dressing soles, as they look much better than when fried whole. (See Coloured Plate A.) Instead of rolling the fillets, they may be cut into square pieces, and arranged in the shape of a pyramid on the dish.

Time.—About 10 minutes. Average cost, from 1s. to 2s. per pair.

Seasonable at any time.

Sufficient,—2 large soles for 6 persons.

Notes

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