1434 | Fillets of Shad à la Keppler and Schwarzman.
—Prepare six fillets of shad as for No. 1431. Season with a teaspoonful of salt and half a teaspoonful of pepper, and place them in a dish for further action.
Cut one ounce of raw, lean ham into very small dice-shaped pieces, place it in a saucepan with half a teaspoonful of butter on the range; let gently simmer for two minutes, but do not allow to get brown; then add to it one fine, sound, peeled, chopped shallot, four mushrooms, and two truffles cut into small dice-shaped pieces, pour in a glass of white wine, then place in the shad roe. Cover the saucepan tightly, and let simmer for five minutes. Gently remove the roe with a skimmer, lay it on a dish, and remove the skin from all around, replace it in the pan, prick it with a fork so as to separate the eggs. Season with a teaspoonful of salt and half a teaspoonful of pepper, and then cook for five minutes longer. Place in a small saucepan one tablespoonful of butter and two tablespoonfuls of flour, mix well together on the hot range for five minutes without browning, then add to it two gills of hot white broth (No. 99); stir well till coming to a boil, grate in just a little nutmeg, place the pan at the corner of the range, and let simmer for eight minutes. Have the yolk of an egg in a bowl with two tablespoonfuls of sweet cream; beat well together, and then, take two tablespoonfuls of the sauce from the pan and add it to the cream and yolk, thoroughly mix, then add it to the sauce in the saucepan, thoroughly mix the whole for one minute, while heating, but it should not be allowed to boil again. Strain it through a fine sieve into the pan with the garnish, mix all well together, and keep it in a warm place. Have a well-buttered sautoire, lay the six fillets one alongside another, pour over them two tablespoonfuls of white wine, place six mushroom buttons with the fillets, tightly cover the sautoire and let slowly cook on the range for five minutes, remove the pan from the fire. Have six heart-shaped croûtons ready (No. 133). Arrange one croûton on a hot dish, the pointed part toward the border of the dish, and then, with a palette knife, gently take up one fillet, place it on about half the length of the croûton overlapping, then another croûton, a fillet, and so on, giving them a crown shape; place one mushroom on top of each fillet, then gently pour the garnishing over all without disarranging them. Cut into half, lengthwise, a medium sized sound lemon, then cut one half into very thin slices, crosswise, then arrange them jointly all around the border of the dish with the rind outward; cut one sound truffle into very thin slices, and with a tube, one quarter of an inch in diameter, cut out as many round pieces as there are slices of lemon; place a piece on each lemon right in the centre on the edge where it was cut first. Cut out from the remaining slices of the truffle as many diamond-shaped pieces, as there are pieces of lemon; place a piece between each section of the lemon and serve.
All the dressing for decorating the dish should always be prepared before the fillets are dressed on the dish.