Quenelles of Pike With Lobster Sauce

Prepare to tantalize your taste buds with an elegant and luxurious dish – Pike-Perch Quenelles in Lobster Sauce. This French culinary masterpiece combines delicate pike-perch fish blended into a smooth forcemeat, shaped into quenelles, and poached to perfection. These delightful quenelles are then bathed in a rich and velvety lobster sauce, creating a harmonious marriage of flavors that will transport you to gourmet heaven.

INGREDIENTS:

For the Quenelle Base:

• 12.5 cl milk
• 60 g flour
• 30 g butter
• 1 egg

For the Forcemeat:

• 300 g pike-perch, filleted and skinned
• 50 cl well-chilled double cream
• Pepper
• Grated nutmeg
• 2 egg whites
• 2 teaspoons salt

For the Lobster Sauce:

• 2 lobster heads or 6 scampi heads
• 1 medium onion
• 1 medium carrot
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• 50 g tomato concentrate
• 35 cl Cognac
• 25 cl olive oil
• 75 cl double cream
• 2 or 3 soupspoons Noilly Prat
• 5 cl white wine
• Salt and pepper

Poaching Liquid for the Quenelles:

• 1 l fish stock

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Cut the butter into large cubes. In a saucepan, bring the milk to a boil and add the butter. Stir in the flour and continue cooking over low heat, stirring thoroughly for 3 or 4 minutes. Remove from heat, add the egg, and mix well. Set aside to cool completely.
2. Rinse the pike-perch fillets under cold running water. Finely chop the fish on a cutting board using a large knife. Place the chopped fish in a large bowl and mix in salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Transfer the fish forcemeat and quenelle base into a food processor. Blend for 3-4 minutes. Add the egg whites and blend again. Gradually add 3/4 of the double cream and continue blending until the mixture reaches a perfectly smooth consistency. Gently fold in the remaining chilled cream using a spatula. Let the mixture rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour 30 minutes.
3. Peel the onion and wash the carrot. Cut both into large cubes. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil. Add the lobster heads or scampi heads and crush them with a pestle. Add the onion, carrot, garlic, thyme, and tomato concentrate. Pour in the Cognac and white wine, then add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and simmer until the volume reduces by three-quarters (approximately 30 minutes). Stir in the double cream and continue simmering to reduce the volume by another quarter over low heat. Strain the sauce through a fine sieve or conical strainer, pressing it through with the back of a spoon. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Take the forcemeat mixture out of the refrigerator. Prepare a dish and a small saucepan of boiling water. Dip two spoons in boiling water, then use one spoon to scoop up some mixture, heaping it up well. Use the other spoon to compact and shape the quenelle. Transfer the quenelle from one spoon to the other several times to give it an even shape, then gently place it in the dish. Repeat this process, dipping the spoons in boiling water between each quenelle. In a separate saucepan, heat the fish stock (do not let it boil) and reduce to low heat. Carefully place the quenelles into the stock and simmer for 8 minutes. Use a skimmer to turn the quenelles over and simmer for another 8 minutes on low heat.
5. Heat the lobster sauce in a saucepan and add Noilly Prat. Arrange the cooked quenelles on an ovenproof dish and pour the sauce over them. Place under the grill for 2 minutes just before serving. If desired, the quenelles can be cooked in advance and reheated in simmering fish stock at the last minute. If lobster sauce is unavailable, the quenelles can be served with a white-wine sauce as an alternative.