Sunday, January 24, 2016

Mysterious Filet of Sole

Last night we dined on Dover sole filet with white wine and mushroom sauce.
In The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, Lord Peter Wimsey eats sole on two occasions. It's mentioned in the other Dorothy Sayers book I read recently, Whose Body. Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot, a lover of subtle flavors, is also known to eat sole occasionally. 

The cookbooks based on English detective fiction that I've been reading recently offer lots of recipes for sole in various sauces. Having my mind on these detectives, I made my own favorite filet of sole recipe last night. The sole filets -- which I bought from the freezer case at Trader Joe's -- were so thin I could almost see through them, meaning they would cook in just a couple of minutes. To avoid overcooking this delicate fish, I made the sauce first, and then laid the filets on top of the sauce just long enough to cook them.

12 comments:

Tina said...

Big fan of Trader Joe's and I never thought to check the freezer section for fish. That looks great. I like finding a dish mentioned in a book and preparing it. That was my focus at my book blog, Novel Meals.
You make me want to get on some Christie books!

Tina said...

Big fan of Trader Joe's and I never thought to check the freezer section for fish. That looks great. I like finding a dish mentioned in a book and preparing it. That was my focus at my book blog, Novel Meals.
You make me want to get on some Christie books!

Beth F said...

You are so right -- food and mysteries have had a long relationship. I love the Lord Peter books!

Joy said...

That looks delicious! Thanks for the tip about cooking delicate fish -- I always fear overcooking it.

Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said...

Smart to cook the sauce before the fish! That's something that I would forget to do and then panic when things didn't come quite together. ;) You've also reminded me that I have some cukes in the fridge that need to be cut up!

JoAnn said...

Lord Peter and sole... I like them both! Great idea to cook the sauce first :)

Claudia said...

I do enjoy those English detective stories as well. And The fillets of Ono, called elsewhere Wahoo, I cooked in a similar manner. In a white wine sauce with dill.

Vicki said...

I'm not a fish lover but it does look good!

Cakelaw said...

How fun to cook food from fiction. This sounds delicious.

Geri Saucier said...

The sauce looks delicious. The fish sounds wonderful with the sauce.

Laurie C said...

I love Dorothy Sayers and need to read more of the Lord Peter books!

Jeanie said...

I love fish -- and I'm such a horrible fish cook. This looks delish. And I can't wait to see what mysterious dish you'll speak of next!