Lundi: Recipes

Everyone who knows me knows I love the recipes of the late, great Leon E. Soniat, Jr.  Since I did not have to good fortune to be exposed to Creole cooking on a regular basis growing up, the recipes in Soniat’s cookbooks make me feel as if I’m reclaiming part of my heritage every time I dive into them.  Here’s just another example of the gentleman’s culinary genius from La Bouche Creole II; the decadent Trout Leon:

6, 6 to 8 oz trout fillets

1 cup cold milk

Salt & pepper to taste

½ lb sliced fresh mushrooms

1 stick melted butter plus 2 tbsps butter

2 egg yolks

¼ cup finely chopped green onions

2 tbsps flour

1 cup scalded milk

¼ cup dry white wine

¼ tsp white pepper

Tabasco to taste

1 cup whipping cream, whipped

Dash freshly ground nutmeg

Marinate trout fillets in cold milk for half an hour in the frig. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Remove the fillets from the milk, pat dry, sprinkle with salt and pepper and arrange in a baking dish.  Add the mushrooms and pour half of the melted butter on top.  Bake until fish flakes; about 15 to 20 minutes.

While the fish are baking, prepare the sauce by placing egg yolks in a mixing bowl and beating them with a whisk until they thicken.  Beat in the remaining melted butter, a little at a time.  Set aside.

Place the 2 tbsps of butter in a skillet and sauté the green onions over low heat, taking care not to brown them.  When the onions are soft, add the flour and mix well.  Simmer about 4 minutes, stirring constantly.  Slowly add the scalded milk, stirring all the time.  Let this sauce cook on low heat to thicken, about 4 or 5 minutes more.  Remove from heat and, when the sauce is almost cool, stir in the egg yolks and butter; mix well.  Add the wine, white pepper and Tabasco.

When the fish is done, remove it from the oven and preheat your broiler.  Fold the whipping cream into your sauce, add the nutmeg and spoon over the fish.  Brown for a minute under the broiler; keep an eye on it so that it does not burn.

Serve with fluffy rice for a delicious dinner for six.  Bon appetite ~

Header: Three Gurnards Beside a Saucepan by George Nicholson c 1930 via Old Paint