Simply Delicious likes to try to mix it up with the types of fish recipes they offer, but a lot of them can actually use the same types of fish interchangeably. I made 11-25: Best Ever Sole Au Gratin with the recommended sole, but I also made 11-13: Flounder with Sauteed Vegetables with sole as well. 11-17: Sole Fillets with White Wine Sauce is a new one to add to the list (it’s even from the NEW book), and looks just as fantastically 1980s as the rest of them.
Simply Delicious claims this “elegant and luscious fish dish” could be the makings of a global phenomenon–big, if true. Wouldn’t be the first time something ocean-related took the world by storm.
Note that the picture Simply Delicious shows includes the use of the shrimp mentioned in the TIPS, but it’s NOT part of the actual recipe. Not sure why they made multiple attempts to mention/show that you could use those ingredients, but didn’t go so far as to make them part of the recipe itself.
Ingredients. I’ve got some West Coast (Pacific) Dover sole as my fish (courtesy of our delivery box), but no additional seafood–just the prescribed mushrooms. I’m also going with onion instead of shallot, although shallot would probably have been better for this particular dish. I’m not sure why my “cream” option isn’t shown, but it’s probably because I used oat milk and didn’t want to admit that to you.
Sous chef/prep cook working on the mushrooms for me.
He chopped up the onions for me as well.
Those are some well-chopped mushrooms–in fact, it’s probably closer to a dice.
Hello Portuguese fish stock my old friend, I’ve come to cook with you again. Let’s just ignore that long-passed expiration date.
Pacific Dover sole is not quite the same as “real” Dover sole (common sole)–according to Wikipedia, it has “thinner, less firm fillets and sells for a lower price”. However, it is a more sustainable option than common sole (and is much easier to find here in California), so I think I’ll stick with it.
Another recipe, another picture of sautéing onions.
Here’s where I got a bit…confused. Why are we putting these mushrooms on top of the fish in the pan and then trying to keep them there?
I did my best, but it wasn’t easy. Here’s after I added the wine/fish broth and steamed them for a few minutes.
Pulled the fish out (CAREFULLY), but still lost a few mushrooms in the process. Or maybe I was supposed to dump them into the sauce? Directions unclear, Simply Delicious.
The reason I ask is, look back at that recipe card picture. Do you see mushrooms anywhere in that picture? Where are the mushrooms and why am I trying so hard to keep them on the fish when Simply Delicious didn’t even seem to bother to do so?
Also, the extra flakiness of this type of sole made it difficult to retrieve these pieces intact. Something to consider when choosing your own fish for this dish.
Adding butter to the sauce–fun fact: this is called mounting. You can read a bit more about it here.
They did a rice ring, so I did a rice ring too.
Final plate. Still never figured out what I was actually supposed to do with those mushrooms, but it was a pretty good dish otherwise.
Grade: B+
