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Solettes de d'sure, with their rare and delicate flavour, must be one of the best fish on the planet.
Bouchot mussels have a soft and iodized texture.
Sea herbs grow on a small fringe of boulders, on the border between the highest tides and the first country herbs.
As children, we ate them with buttered bread as a snack.
This dish is the true expression of the Bay of Mont Saint Michel's riches.
Serves 4
Ingredients
Small solettes (less than 200 g/7 oz), skinned by your helpful fishmonger - 500 g bouchot mussels (1 lb, 2 oz) - 1 dl muscadet (1/2 cup) - 1 bouquet sea herbs or christemarine - 1/2 l white vinegar (2 cups) - 1 small shallot - 100 g unsalted butter (4 oz) - 50 g salted butter (2 oz) - 1 knife-tip mild paprika - A few leaves wild sorrel - 1 dl chicken stock (1/2 cup) - Spice mix - 30 ml toasted sesame (2 tbsp) - 15 ml caraway (1 tbsp) - 8 ml maniguette (a peppery spice from the ginger family) (1 1/2 tsp).
Note : this recipe calls for a sea herb vinegar which must be bottled a month in advance.
Apart from this detail, it's easy and quick.
Basic preparation
Far in advance : the flavoured vinegar. Wash the sea herbs (keep 3 or 4 sprigs). Pour the boiling white vinegar over the herbs and let them macerate at least 1 month. Each time you have sea herbs on hand, take the opportunity to use them fresh and prepare a supply of vinegar which you can use later.
Spice mix : warm the caraway and sesame
in a dry pan, add the maniguette and grind in a spice mill.
Set aside in an airtight tin.
Clean the mussels by scraping them with
an old knife and removing the beard which allows them to
cling to the rocks or stakes.
Using scissors cut the barbels from around the small sole
and set them aside.
Peel and dice the shallot.
Wash the small sorrel leaves.
Final preparation
In a fairly large saucepan, sweat the diced shallot in a knob of foaming butter.
Add the mussels and muscadet, and cover.
As soon as the mussels have opened, remove from the heat and shell gently.
Filter the juice and set it aside.
FIn the butter, fry the barbels from the sole until they are nice and brown. Add 3 ml (1/2 tsp) spice mix, deglaze with 5 ml (1 tsp) sea herb vinegar.
When the vinegar has boiled, add 1 dl (1/3 cup) mussel juice and 1 dl (1/3 cup) chicken stock, and reduce over low heat for 30 minutes.
You should obtain about 1 dl (1/3 cup) of strong and flavourful juice after having strained it through a fine strainger and pressed it with a small ladle to extract all the flavour from the bones.
Blanch a few sea herbs in salted water and refresh them in cold water.
In a nonstick pan, fry the solettes in foaming salted butter after having dried them well with a paper towel and seasoned them with salt and pepper.
They should turn golden quickly.
Remove the solettes from the pan.
Deglaze with a drop of sea herb vinegar
and add the solette stock made with the barbels without reducing
it, just to deglaze the pan.
Saute the mussels very quickly in a hot
nonstick pan with a knob of butter.
They should colour lightly.
Add a touch of paprika.
Last minute
Arrange the mussels on the plates.
Place the solettes on the plates.
Drizzle a little sauce onto part of the plate, add the sea herbs and baby sorrel leaves.
Top with a few warm toasted sesame seeds.
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© Olivier Roellinger - Maisons de Bricourt. |
