La Symphonie Neptune
Beautifully arrayed around a circle of pale sole filled with salmon mousse, shrimp, scallops, and crawfish (or a mixture of the best fresh seafood available to you locally) are a tribute to the bounty of the sea. Two small side notes: tourneed mushrooms are large round mushrooms whose caps have been carved with gracefully curving lines. And puff pastry fleurons are decorative rounds of puff pastry, usually cut with a scalloped cookie cutter, browned and puffed in the oven. They add a stylish bit of crunch to the plate.
Ingredients
- Salmon fillets - 1 pound, diced
- Egg Whites - 4
- Heavy (whipping) cream - 1-1/2 cups
- Pinch of coriander
- Salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste
- Truffles - 1/2 ounce, chopped (optional)
- Dover Sole fillets - 4
- Shallots - 6, chopped
- Herbs - 1/2 cup, julienned
- Dry White Wine - 1 cup
- Fish stock - 1 cup
- Shrimp - 1 pound, large, peeled and lightly poached
- Unsalted Butter - 1/2 pound
- Louisiana Choupiquet Caviar - 1 ounce
- Scallops - 16, lightly sauteed in olive oil
- Crayfish - 1/2 pound, boiled in court bouillon 2 to 3 minutes (court bouillon recipe below)
- Mushrooms - 8, tournéed for garnish, lightly poached in lemon water
- Puff pastry fleurons - 8, baked golden brown
- Court bouillon (short boiling)
- Crayfish - one pound
- Garlic - Chopped
- Celery - Chopped
- Onion - Chopped
- Carrot - Chopped
- Thyme - Chopped
- Bay Leaf - Chopped
- Parsley - Chopped
- Whole Black Peppercorns - Chopped
- Dry White Wine - 2 cups
- Water - 1/2 gallon
Instructions
Because you are working with seafood and eggs, which are very perishable, have all equipment chilled before beginning.
Put the diced salmon into a food processor and process; the mixture with ball up. Add 4 egg whites and blend for 1 minute. Add the heavy cream slowly while the machine is running. When the cream is incorporated, transfer the mousse to a chilled bowl. Fold in the coriander, salt, pepper, and truffles (optional). Pack the mousse into a pastry bag. Chill if not using immediately.
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lay the sole fillets out and fold the ends into the middle of each fillet. Lift and mold each into a circle, about 1-1/2 inch in diameter. Place in a buttered poaching pan. Using a pastry bag, pipe mousse into the center of the circles. Put 2 tablespoons of the shallots, the herbs, and half of the wine and the fish stock into the pan. Add the shrimp to the pan. Cover the pan with parchment paper and poach in the oven for 20 minutes.
Pour the poaching liquid and reserved wine and fish stock into a small saucepan and boil until reduced by one third. Add the cream and simmer for 15 minutes to reduce. Whisk in the soft butter, a little at a time, until completely mixed. Season with salt and pepper; gently stir in the caviar.
To serve: Place a circle of sole and mousse in the center of each warmed serving plate. Arrange shrimp, scallops, crayfish, and mushrooms artistically around the fish. Spoon butter sauce over the seafood. Garnish each plate with a golden brown puffed pastry fleuron.
Court bouillon (short boiling)
For cooking the crayfish (one pound)
Combine the ingredients in a pot, adjusting the amounts to personal taste. Boil the ingredients together for 20 minutes to blend, then add the live crawfish to the liquid and cook for 3 minutes.
