Sole Veronique is a French classic. It’s a very simple dish, but the amount of fiddling in the prep can put some people off! Tarragon is the central flavour and it’s beautiful with the delicate white fish.
Filleting flat fish can be tricky, but with practice you’ll soon get the hang of it and it’s very satisfying to be able to do it yourself! You’ll also need to skin the grapes, this can be a daunting task, but if you pop them in boiling water for about 90 seconds, they’ll slip out of their skins.
I like serving the grapes chilled – it adds a lovely contrast with the warm fish and rich sauce. I served it with some crushed new potatoes (I added plenty of tarragon to help tie them to the white sauce and a splash of vinegar for acidity).
The flavour combinations work so well it would be fun to try and deconstruct the dish a little. Serve the rolls of sole on top of a pomme fondant with a white wine and tarragon foam and a grape jelly?
You are invited to submit an article for the theme “Continental Food”. Here are the details http://bbookmagazine.wordpress.com/submit/