Have an excellent fish [fumet] (No. [11]), short and very white. Trim the sole; put it into a special, deep earthenware dish, the bottom of which should be buttered; pour the [fumet] over it and poach gently.
Now send it to the table with a plate containing separate heaps of one finely-chopped onion, a little powdered thyme, and three finely-crushed [biscottes].
In the dining-room the waiter places the dish on a chafer, and, taking off the sole, he raises the fillets therefrom, and places them between two hot plates. He then adds to the cooking-liquor of the sole the chopped onion, which he leaves to cook for a few moments, the powdered thyme and a sufficient quantity of the [biscotte] raspings to allow of thickening the whole.
At the last minute he adds six raw oysters and one oz. of butter divided into small pieces.
As soon as the oysters are stiff, he returns the fillets of sole to the dish, besprinkles them copiously with the sauce, and then serves them very hot.
N.B.—In order to promote the poaching of the soles, more particularly when they are large, the fillets on the upper side of the fish should be slightly separated from the bones. By this means the heat is able to reach the inside of the fish very quickly, and the operation is accelerated.
[282]
]The sole is always laid on the dish with its opened side undermost—that is to say, on its back.
[819—SOLE MORNAY]
Lay the sole on a buttered dish; sprinkle a little fish [fumet] over it, and add one-half oz. of butter divided into small pieces. Poach gently.
Coat the bottom of the dish on which the sole is to be served with Mornay sauce; drain the fish, lay it on the prepared dish; cover it with the same sauce; sprinkle with grated Gruyère and Parmesan, and glaze at a Salamander.