A Tribute to Julia- 3 Creamy Fish Dishes

Like most foodies, Julia Child is an icon in my opinion. I was so excited to see the new movie Julie & Julia! Unfortunately the Amy Adams (or Julie) portion of the movie was extremely disappointing, but Meryl Streep's rendition of Julia Child was entertaining and flattering.

I was inspired to re-create some of the famous dishes from one of my very favorite cookbooks "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". (I highly recommend this cookbook!! It has some amazing recipes, and you can follow the link at the bottom of this purchase a copy for yourself.) We decided to tackle three different fish dishes in three nights, and here are the results:

Note: We served the fish dishes with leftover green beans from the business, and they were the perfect side dish, kinda reminded me of a green bean casserole at Thanksgiving!

1. Monday Night:
Filets de Poisson Bercy aux Champignons
(Fish Filets Poached in White Wine with Mushrooms)

Summary of the Recipe (you have to buy the book to get the whole thing, Julia is much more precise and exact than I am when it comes to recipes. Actually I tend to stray from recipes, and add my own twists, so sorry Julia, but these are not followed exactly as you intended!)

• Poach the fish(we used sole) and shrooms in a dry white wine
• Use the poaching liquid to reduce into a sauce with some added roux and cream
• Pour sauce over fish, top with cheese and broil a couple mins, until crisp
  

The result: For a big fan of mushrooms in white wine, this was fantastic! The fish was so succulent, and the sauce was pretty light, for a cream sauce.

2. Tuesday Night
Sauce Chivry
(Herbal White Wine Sauce)

• Poach the fish the same as Recipe 1
• Reduce white wine with herbs (we used dill and parsley)
• Make a bechamel
• Add wine sauce to bechamel
• Pour over fish, add cheese and broil crisp

The result: Almost as great as Recipe 1! The herbs added a nice freshness to the whole dish.

3. Wednesday Night
Sauce Soubise
(Onion Sauce)

• Cook the onions down with a bunch of butter until tender
• Poach the fish
• Add flour to make a roux
• Add hot milk
• Simmer
• Top off fish, add cheese, broil
  

Result: Pretty good, although we were kind of over cream sauces by now and ready to return to our caveman ways!