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I love a good sauce, and the french are famous for them, and I’m kinda craving fish do today we are learning 3 easy and delicious and essential French sauces for fish that everyone should know how to make, Beurre Blanc, Veloutè and Meunière
RECIPE:
3 Classic Easy French Sauces Everyone Should Know for Fish
https://www.notanothercookingshow.tv/post/3-classic-french-sauces-for-fish
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Now I love a good sauce and the French are famous for them and I’m kind of craving fish so today we’re learning three easy delicious and essential french sauces for fishes that everyone should know how to make including cooking three different fishes three different ways I want to thank our
Sponsor today better help but more in them later but before we get started with our first sauce bur Blanc we have three fish here salmon black sea bass and lemon salt when I get fish I like to take them out of their packaging dry them of all that Gunk that they kind of
Sitting in and if I’m using skin I will leave it uncovered overnight to dry the skin out to get it extra extra crispy so I did that with the salmon and the seab bass and then I just covered the lemon sole placed them in the refrigerator overnight so we’re starting with the
Salmon now the first order of business for the salmon is now that the skin has dried out overnight I’m going to remove it so I’m basically going to take the short end I’m going to make a small incision down at the tapered end with my knife slightly angled towards the
Cutting board with the knife angled down you will not cut through the skin but if your knife is angled flat or upward in any way you will cut the Flesh of the fish once you’ve made that incision you should be able to grab a little piece of
The skin and you’re going to use that for tension as you wiggle your knife with that slight downward angle all the way until your knife releases on the other end and the flesh releases from the skin and that’s how you cleanly skin a fish so now we’re going do is place
This on the sheet tray along with our fillet of salmon actually before it goes there we need to create the topping for the salmon first thing I’m going to do is season the salmon on all sides then I’m going to take some Dijon mustard and I’m just going to create thin little
Layer on top for a coating to stick to and then in a bowl I’m going to add I don’t know maybe like a few tablespoons or 1/4 cup of some Italian seasoned breadcrumbs and then an equal amount of some panko going to hit it with a little oil
A little salt a little lemon zest right on top of the salmon mix up the breadcrumbs soak them in that oil till it feels like wet sand and then throw it right on top of the salmon just give it some nice coverage on the top surface of
The fish and then Pat it in to get that coating to stick to the salmon and then place the salmon fle onto the baking sheet next to the piece of skin then just going to add a little bit more oil on top of the salmon and then some oil
On the skin also going to season that skin with some salt and then just get that skin coated in that oil now that’s ready to be baked now for the bur Blanc sauce we need about a tablespoon of minced shallots and then 8 tbspoon of cold unsalted butter Cube so let’s cut
Some shallot about a half of a large shallot should do just remove that weird part inside cut it in half like that separate them into bundles push down slice very thin now line those back up and then mince them Finally and then get those into a bowl and then next for the butter we’re just going to cut the stick of butter into four smaller sticks and then cut those sticks into little cubes now bur Blanc means white butter and it was created by a French chef in the late 1800s who was
Making bernes sauce and forgot to add egg yolks which is essentially what ber Blanc is a bernes without the egg yolk it’s rich and cream but it’s also Tangy with the addition of things like white wine vinegar white wine and a lemon so we need about 1/2
Cup of white wine I have Rosé so I’m just going to use it all right so we got a half2 cup of the Rosé or the white wine now you could just use 1/4 cup of champagne vinegar and omit the lemon but I’m going to split the acid between some
Champagne white vinegar and the lemon so I’m going to do 2 tablespoons of each right 2 tbspoon of the champagne vinegar and then 2 tbspoon of lemon juice so now we’ve got our liquid ingredients our shallots our salmon and our butter in the fridge first thing we’re going to do
Is get the salmon in the oven at 475° it should take 10 minutes or so the thing is it’s a thin piece of salmon so the thinner the salmon the higher the temperature I go now in a small pot on medium high heat add the wine the
Vinegar the lemon and the shallots and bring it up to a boil and then reduce it down till it’s only about a tablespoon left check on the salmon the skin is crisping nicely it’s almost done but the salmon needs a bit more time by now the
Sauce has reduced all the way down and concentrated lower the heat down to very low and with a whisk whisk in one cube of the butter at a time until it’s completely melted in and then continue whisking in one piece of butter at a time until it’s fully melted the skin is
Done so I’m just going to take that out of the oven before it becomes overdone the salmon needs a few more minutes and and this is about it it’s pretty easy however you can screw this up a few ways here’s what can go wrong and how to fix
It number one using too much heat too much heat can break the sauce to prevent this keep the heat low and steady you could even use a double boiler if you want but if you keep it low you don’t need to number two is adding butter too
Quickly if you add it too quickly or all at once that sauce can become overwhelmed and unable to properly emulsify to prevent this gradually add the butter one piece of at a time and number three is not stirring constantly bur Blanc requires constant stirring ing to maintain the Emulsion so keep a close
Eye on the sauce and continue stirring with a whisk and finally the water content if there’s too much water or you didn’t reduce enough of the acid down it can make the emulsification process difficult make sure you reduce the liquid down before you start adding the butter when the sauce is fully
Emulsified and the butter is all in warm up a second pan and then strain the sauce through a fine mes strainer into the warm pan then check for seasoning and it’s ready to serve and so is our salmon to Plate pour a beautiful base of
The bur Blanc into the the center of the plate then place a salmon on top and then finally the skin as a garnish all that butter sauce and acidity pair so nicely with the salmon and with that crunch of the skin and the breadcrumbs it’s a match made in heaven
Now that’s good but we got more good on the way next up we’re making the sea bass with valute now it’s a new year and in the new year I was trying to rid my mind of all the gunk from last year you know all the negative judgmental comments the tense relationships family
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In the description or you visit betterhelp.com not cooking show to get started now Volute is one of the five mother sauces in French cuisine created by the renowned chef esier and is basically the foundation for many of the most amazing sauces on Earth and for
This this we just need 1 and 1/2 tbsp of butter 1 and 1/2 tbsp of flour about a cup maybe a little bit more of some light chicken broth and some chives that I’ve chopped up very finely and we’re going to use this as a garnish and of
Course the seab bass with the skin that’s been dried out overnight of course it’s optional but as you saw with the salmon and as you’re going to see with the Snapper it makes great skin now for the valute day it’s going to start with similar situation to the Burl one
Pan is going to be to sear the fish the other pan is going to make the sauce and we’re going to turn the heat on to medium high and we’re going to add in the butter and a valute is very much like a bashal once that Butter’s in
We’re going to add equal parts flour we’re going to stir it together to make a root cook it for a minute to cook out the rawness in the Flour the main difference between this and a bashel is that instead of milk we thicken it with the light chicken broth and I’m going to slowly work that into the broth so no lumps form and then stir it all together and we’re going to need
To bring that up to a boil and allow the thickening power of that Rue to really come into effect now I’m just going to swap pans just so you can see what I’m doing next up we’re going to preheat that pan and once it’s hot I’m going to
Add oil to it I’m going to season both sides of the fish and then I’m going to place that into the pan and place weights on top make sure all that skin makes contact with the bottom of the pan and I’m going to cook it about 90 95% of
The way on the skin side and you can see the fish turning pale white as it Cooks most of the way then all we have to do once that skin is crispy is flip it let it kiss the other side we can even turn the heat off and then we can
Get that out of the pan it should be fully cooked through and we can finish the sauce and it’s a little loose so I’m just going to cook it down and reduce it till it’s a nice consistency Till It Coats the back of a spoon then we can
Check for seasoning and then we’re ready to Plate again pour a base of that vute sauce right in the middle of a plate then we’re going to place the SE bass right on top and for a nice pop of color and garnish we’re just going to sprinkle in some of those minced chives
And then you have black seab bass with a classic vute sauce creamy neutral sauce even that touch of chive gives the sauce more character that’s why it’s a mother sauce it’s a base for so much just by adding a little acid a little stock a little
Cream it can go so many directions and so learning the technique is something valuable in the home kitchen and as good as this is next up we have one of the most quintessential french fish dishes Soul munier now munere is one of my favorite fish recipes to order out at a
Restaurant but it’s always the most expensive thing on the menu masked by a market price and it’s usually because Dover soul is usually what it’s made with it’s a rarer more expensive variety of so that goes classic with this dish but we can do the same effect with
Something like a gray sole or in our case a lemon sole which will work just fine and is much more affordable and the sauce is basically just rich brown butter with acidic lemon the combination of the two pair perfectly with a delicate white fish so I have one fillet
Of lemon salt I’ve also got 2 tablespoons of butter now I need about a half of the lemon parsley is also traditional so I’m going to chop some parsley up really fine it is an elegant dish so you want to just make sure you chop The Parsley up nice and fine fine
So it looks nice on top of the fish at the end then I’m going to cut about two chunks of lemon roughly a half lemon and then set those off to the side next up all we got to do is season the fish and dredge it in some
Flour now all we got to do is sear it in a hot pan get a medium sauté pan on high heat and once hot add a tablespoon or two of oil dust off excess flour from the fish and then gently place it in the pan and if you have place a gentle
Weight on top to make sure we get as much color as we can across the surface of the fish and like the sea baz have strategy is to cook this about 95% of the way on one side sacrificing a mediocre sear on both sides since the
Fish is very thin for a great sear on one side and a well-cooked fish once you can see nice color on that side give it a flip and kiss the other side with heat for about 30 seconds and transfer it to a towel lined plate now the pan is
Smoking it’s too hot to add the butter so I can let it cool down while I prep my plate plate the fish and then squeeze a quarter of the lemon juice over the fish and the plate and then sprinkle with parsley now back over to the stove
The pan has chilled out so now I can add the butter and we’re simply turning this into a brown butter I’m using unsalted butter so I’m going to season it with salt some people had Capers but traditionally it’s just brown butter lemon and parsley so we’re keeping it
Simple allowing the moisture in the brown butter to evaporate leaving just the butter fat and the butter solids that will Brown and caramelize into a Nutty flavor and Aroma we want to take it slightly Beyond golden brown just like this and now we simply dress the
Fish with the brown butter hot so as it hits the fish it flash fries the part parsley blends with the lemon juice and of course serve it with a wedge of lemon and that is the classic and beloved soier Rich buttery bright and perfect
Now there’s no nuts in here but it has a amazingly beautiful roasty nuttiness to the dish the butter transforms combined with the acidity of the lemon you can always squeeze a little bit more on top if you want it’s balanced now these are all beautiful sauces and you can play
Around with them you could add some nuts to this as you know sometimes people use Capers who cares it’s the base of a building a recipe you want out of flavors you now know how to create thanks to better help for sponsoring this video all these recipes are going
To be down in the description that’s all that I have today I’ll see you next time until then take care of yourself and go feed Yourself

48 Comments
Stephan, Wow! Simply Delicious…
Cheers from Milano. Waiting for your italian dishes 2024!
meeeehh not exactly sole meuniere but ok
Hi, very nice video and recipes !
As a French i need to say that i usually do the meunière slightly differently : once the butter gets slightly brown you reduce the heat, you put the fish back in the pan and only then add the juice of half a lemon. (You know you did it well if you see bubbles appear in the butter when adding the juice).
This way the fish is warmer when served and the lemons acidity is more equally distributed in the sauce.
(Of course, as for all traditional recipes, everyone has a slightly different, personal version, yours looks great too!)
Also i would add that sole meunière is delicious with steamed potatoes!
OMG, that browned butter sole got me salivating. I need this now.
bearnaise also contains tarragon besides egg yolks (compared to beurre blanc and btw you do not pronounce the ending c in "blanc")
uhm, I think you mean "uncovered overnight in the refrigerator".
Valentine’s Day dinner sorted I think. Always kill it with these videos, love the channel have learnt so much from you over the years 🙂
Wow. Fabulous 😮
Great job Steve.
Bravo
This must be a joke…
Not 'fruiting' the sjalots… Salmon straight in the oven…
Go play Farmville, my 3yrs old niece cooks better
Wouldn't be better to use fish stock for the second sauce ?
I'm going try that Veloutè sauce, I never had it before. But I think the Rose wine made that Beurre Blanc too dark.
so….. its basically just butter?
You over cooked the salmon
The way this video made my stomach growl. Lol! I def have to cook some salmon asap now!
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I dunno how much united states citizens or you are on the salty side but as a french guy, we don't put that much salt into our plates. Seasoning is important but keep it mind you have to boost natural flavors for your ingredients by adding salt but not using salt to taste it as a whole.
I'm writing this but I guess it's for video purposes.
As a french guy I can say that you nailed it, keep the good work Stephen, it's always a pleasure to watch your videos, ty
Great: on the list to try. I'm a lover of the 'Mothers' sauces that is. Good sponsor. Suggestion for your recipe text, it is a bit chaotic with all the indexing, maybe better organized into sections. Cheers, Press on
Wow, TY, TY
Very great video, nice display these sauces 👌
Thanks for sharing. These are up my alley, will definitely try them !
Great tips for the sauces. I love fish, but not stinky strong fish. So, no skin for me! My adult son loves crispy skin, but not me! 😂 P.S. Dover sole is bomb!
According to The Canadian Cooking Method: fish cooks at 10 minutes/inch at ANY temperature above 350 F., when heat is applied from one surface
Thank you for these recipes! I really love and enjoy your channel and recipes. There is an interesting technique I learned to cook fish in the pan, using baking paper in pan. It will stick to the pan thanks to the oil, then I oil the paper too. The fish will never stick to the pan and is really easy to flip.
Just in time for Lent! Grazie! I hope you have more recipes in the future for No Meat Fridays at my place coming up… 🐠 🐟
Great work although I would be substituting chicken thighs for fish as I can buy in bulk and split up and freeze unlike fish that I would have to use fairly fresh 👍
Grey and lemon sole are both flounder. They are different species than Dover sole.. They taste different with a very different texture too.
I love good sauce too 🤤
That first sauce was a little too complex for my taste (I prefer my seafood the way I prefer my women, simple and delicious), but the veloute and the meuniere were nice complements to the fish. Keep 'em coming, always enjoy and appreciate your videos, and almost always learn something new.
Why didn't you dry brine them over night?
Can't resist a sole meunière in a restaurant, even if it's pricy. Outstanding cooking, as always!
Do you do nutmeg in the veloutte sauce like a bechamel or???
The rose was a nice twist. It gave the beurre blanc sauce a nice hue.
As you said, these are great base sauces to build from. Great video and thanks for posting this!
Excellent tutorials. Thank you once again!
I’ve had to make beurre blanc 1000 times at various restaurants and using some heavy cream (before the butter, also reduce the cream) it can help stabilize the sauce and make it harder to break
Can we stop using the word "caramelize" to refer to browning that is not caramelization? Brown butter is not caramelized butter, there are no sugars in your butter to caramelize, you're thinking of other Maillard reactions.
I can only watch your videos after I eat, otherwise I go crazy lmao.
What sides would go good with these other than rice and veggies?
big hugs
Where do you get the weights?
In the french salty gastronomy there are always pepper and in Beurre blanc there are also nutmeg.
* Beurre | * velouté
From a french in and of Marseille (⚜️France).
Fantastic. Thanks for sharing.
May I ask you where you got the weights from? I see that they were made in Oakland California where I was born. Love your channel buddy it’s awesome!
You can make Beurre blanc with xanthan gum super easy, and yes I discovered it because I messed it up, it split and I had to have the sauce ready and since xanthan isn't an allergen, in it went
For a cheaper alternative, Catfish meuniere is very good.