Soyer's standard cookery

This sole may be either grilled or poached, almost dry, in butter and lemon juice. It may also be prepared in fillets. Serve it on a very hot dish and surround it at the last moment with twelve oysters poached in a little boiling Harvey sauce. Cover the sole immediately with very hot fried breadcrumbs and a pinch of chopped parsley. Sole Fermiere. Place the sole on a buttered dish with a few herbs. Add a gill of good red wine and poach gently with the lid on. Dish up; strain the cooking liquor, and reduce it to half; thicken it with two tablespoonfuls of white sauce and finish the sauce with one ounce of butter. Surround the sole with a border of mushrooms sliced raw and tossed in butter. Pour the prepared sauce over the sole and set to glaze quickly. Sole Hollandaise. Break the spine of the sole by folding it over in several places. Place the fish in a deep dish; cover it with slightly salted water; set to boil and then poach gently for fifteen minutes with the lid on. Drain and dish on a napkin with green parsley all round. Serve at the same time some plainly boiled potatoes, and some melted butter. Sole Florentine. Poach the sole in a fish fumet and butter. Spread a layer of shredded spinach, stewed in butter, on the bottom of the dish, place the sole thereon; cover it with Mornay sauce; sprinkle with a little grated cheese, and set to glaze quickly in the oven, or at a salamander. Sole au Gratin. Partly separate the fillets from the bones on the upper side of the fish. Season with pepper, salt and a little butter. Place the sole on a well-buttered gratin dish, on the bottom of which a pinch of parsley has been sprinkled, together with one or two tablespoonfuls of Duxelle sauce; not too thick. Place six cooked mushrooms on the sole and surround it with one or two raw mushrooms cut into thin slices. Add two tablespoonfuls of white wine; cover the sole with Duxelle sauce, one tablespoonful of Parmesan cheese, sprinkle with fine raspings followed my melted butter, and set to gratin. When ready, sprinkle a few drops of lemon juice and a pinch of chopped parsley upon it and serve at once. Sole Sur Le Plat. Separate the fillets from the bones on the upper side, and slip a piece of butter under each fillet. Place the sole on a well-buttered dish, moisten with one gill of the cooking-liquor of fish, adding a few drops of lemon juice. Cook in the oven until the liquor has acquired by reduction the consistency of a thick sauce which covers the sole in a glossy coat. Sole Ambassadeur. Poach the sole in white wine and one ounce of butter cut into small pieces. Drain the sole and dish it, surrounding it with quenelles of whiting forcemeat, poached oysters, six small cooked and white mushrooms, four small truffles turned to the shape of olives. Cover the sole and garnish with a Normande sauce, finished with a teaspoonful of cream. Sole Portugaise. Poach the sole in lemon juice and the cooking-liquor of fish. Drain, dish and surround with a garnish of two mediumsized skinned tomatoes, minced, cooked in butter, combined with minced and cooked mushrooms, and a large pinch of chopped shallots. Coat the sole with white wine sauce. Set to glaze, sprinkle the garnish with a pinch of chopped parsley when taking the sole from the oven, and serve.