Recipe - Fillet Of Steelhead Bonne Femme

Head, tail, backbone of fish
4 tablespoon Butter
6 Peppercorns
1 cup Hollandaise sauce **
2 Shallots, cut or sliced up
1 One half tablespoon Flour
1 cup Water
4 tablespoon Milk
1/3 cup White wine
Salt and pepper
2 pound Fillets of steelhead
Cucumber and lemon slices
1 Bouquet garni
One fourth teaspoon Thyme,
One half teaspoon Tarragon
One half pound Mushrooms

HOLLANDAISE SAUCE
2 Egg yokes
Salt
Fresh lemon juice
1 pn Cayenne
One fourth pound Cold butter, 8 pieces

This lordly French dish is prepared in a variety of ways, but basically it
is fish fillets served with two sauces and mushrooms in between. The
fillets from small salmon, walleye, lake trout, and channel cat are all
superb prepared in this fashion.
If the two sauces seem too timeconsuming just note that this dish is
excellent if only the wine sauce is used.

Put the fish head, etc., peppercorns, and shallots into the water and wine,
bring to a boil, then simmer gently for 30 minutes. Strain and set aside.
Arrange the fillets in a shallow glass or earthenware fireproof dish that
has been liberally buttered. Add the bouquet garni.
Pour in the reserved fish stock and poach in a 325 degree oven for 20
minutes.
Saute the cut or sliced up mushrooms in 2 tablespoons of butter for 5 minutes,
coating and stirring a couple of times. Reserve.
Prepare the hollandaise and hold it by covering with a lid.
Make the wine sauce by melting 2 tablespoons of butter in pan, then stir
in the flour and cook a few minutes. Turn off heat, pour in the liquor from
the poached fillets, then stir and thicken over the fire. Add the milk,
then stir until it bubbles. Season to taste.
To assemble: lay the fillets on a fireproof dish and cover with the wine
sauce. Now dot the top with mushrooms. Ladle the hollandaise sauce over
all and glaze under the broiler.
Garnish with cucumber and lemon slices or with watercress.

HOLLANDAISE SAUCE

In a very heavy pot set over a flame tamer, whisk the eggs until they are
well blended, turn lemoncolored, and start to thicken. Be sure heat is
low. Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice when thickening starts.
Start adding butter one piece at a time, whisking each piece until is
absorbed with the eggs. Continue until all the butter is used up. It
should take about 2 minutes, at which point the sauce will be thick. If at
any point you sense that the is about to separate, quickly add a teaspoon
of cold milk or cream.
Now whisk in about 1 more teaspoon of lemon juice, a pinch of salt, and
optional cayenne. Taste to see that the sauce is lemony enough for your
taste.

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini