I heard rumors from former students of Le Cordon Bleu about a fish dish in Superior where we first removed the actual scales of a fish and then replaced them with slices of potato. And immediately I knew it would be true because this sounds exactly like the kind of dish we do at school! Call it clever, cheesy or even cheeky but I can’t help but shake my head and wonder who ever comes up with this stuff?
Red mullets are round fish from the Mediterranean that have bright pink flesh and a mild, sweet flavor. We got down to business by first scraping off the real scales, which are inedible (or at least I don’t think you’d want to eat them!). The scales are actually quite large and went flying everywhere! Pretty soon everything was covered with a layer of fish scale confetti – the counter tops, the floors, and me! After a thorough clean down, we removed the fillets but left the skin on as it’s quite difficult to remove. Then we started on the potato scales. We sliced potatoes as thin as possible with a mandolin and cut out little circles using pastry piping tips. The circles were tossed with clarified butter and some potato flour to help them stick together. And then, we arranged them on our fish one by one …and about 100 circles later they were complete. Perhaps this is not a dish to make for a crowd!
We placed the newly scaled fish, potato side down, on some grease proof paper to prevent sticking and pan-fried it in a little clarified butter. We kept the heat pretty low so that the potatoes would cook through instead of burning. Toward the end we threw in a few knobs of cold butter and basted the tops of the fish to cook through.
For the sauce we simmered shallots, mushrooms, and a pinch of saffron with Noilly Prat (a type of French vermouth) and fish stock. We’ve used similar flavors in other fish dishes like a Monkfish Stew and Bouillabaisse. The saffron turns the sauce a vibrant yellow, but you do have to be careful not to add too much or the taste will turn bitter and medicinal. We finished the sauce by emulsifying it with butter or monte a beurre. And I’m not talking one little chunk of butter….more like 20! There can never be enough butter, so as long as the sauce doesn’t split you’re good to go!
We also used queen scallops in today’s dish. These usually come in the half shell and basically just look like mini scallops. Because of their size they take less than 30 seconds to cook. So, we simply poached them in the sauce right at the end.
Filets de Rouget en Écailles de Pommes de Terre Croustillantes
The final element of the dish was another dreaded flan! This time we made it with pureed broccoli. After two failed attempts at flan-making I was determined to make this one work! I think the secret to knowing when they’re done is that not only does a knife have to come out clean, but you need to see them really pulling away from the sides of the baking moulds. I guess 3rd time’s the charm because finally they set up just right and left no gooey mess behind. Whew!
Before making this dish I was skeptical of this whole potato scale thing. But it turns out they are perfectly crispy and really trick you into thinking you just might be eating scales after all!
Hot Pan Behind You! 