Haddock And Scallops A La Nage in a Court-bouillon

Sometimes after studying a subject, we forget a lot of the finer things we learned, there is a reason I know, but mostly it is because we have nowhere to apply it. I admonished myself for slacking off and began training myself again today. Out came the books and here is my first meal.

I went to Culinary College and I loved it and I learned more than I bargained for. My instructor was an amazing Chef. I discovered that a sauce was more than I realized and it gives luxury and meaning to the dish.

First I made a court-bullion using onion celery and carrots. I added some herbs from my garden, rosemary thyme, and parsley. I also added two bay leaves. Since it was a solo meal for me, I knew I did not need to make very much of it. I had some chicken broth so I used that as the liquid. If I had had white wine I would have used half wine half broth. I would have preferred a fish stock but I did not have any, so chicken broth it was.

1/2 carrot

1/2 a white onion
1/2 a celery stick
butter to sweat the vegetables
1/2 a skewer of rosemary
1 sprig of thyme
2 small bay leaves
2 sprigs parsley
1/2 cup broth

Chop the vegetables into small fine cubes - you will be adding them to the meal so make them pretty. Lightly fry starting with the onions, when translucent add the rest and fry till opaque. Now add the broth and cook on medium heat till the liquid is half the amount. Now strain the mixture, separate the vegetables and taste the broth and see if you need salt and pepper.

I pan-fried flour dredged haddock and flour dredged scallops. After they were done I cleaned the pan, kept the fish aside and added fresh butter and a little lemon juice and warmed till frothy. I added chives at the end and poured it over my fish and the poached vegetables. Once plated I added the court-bullion vegetables ( which were delicious, by the way ) on the side. I then added the sauce over everything. The sauce was also amazing.

Obviously, my school courses were not a waste and I am sure I would have paid a pretty penny at a restaurant for this meal.