SAUTEED DRUM WITH GRENOBLOISE SAUCE

In the realm of classic French cuisine, any preparation bearing the designation grenobloise—literally, “of Grenoble”, a city in southeastern France—is served with a sauce of browned butter, capers, parsley, and pieces of lemon. (www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Sole-a-la-Grenobloise). My recipe calls for minced shallots to be sauteed in the butter before the stock, lemon juice, capers and parsley are added.  I think it would be a good idea also to consider serving the dish with a few small lemon segments on top.  But be careful with the lemon and don’t overdo it or use too much juice; otherwise, you’ll end up with a bitter overly acidic sauce. The chicken stock in this recipe operates to moderate the lemon juice, but, as always — taste as you cook!

The fish I cooked was firm and tender, but it had a steak-y “bite,” cloaked in a piquant lemony sauce.  The capers added flavor and texture.  It was buttery and oh-so-delicious against a background of mashed potatoes. This recipe also reminds me of Julia Child’s description of eating fish perfectly cooked in a butter sauce in her book My LIfe in France (2006).    It arrived whole: a large, flat Dover sole that was perfectly browned in a sputtering butter sauce with a sprinkling of chopped parsley on top… I closed my eyes and inhaled the rising perfume. Then I lifted a forkful of fish to my mouth, took a bite, and chewed slowly. The flesh of the sole was delicate, with a light but distinct taste of the ocean that blended marvelously with the browned butter. I chewed slowly and swallowed. It was a morsel of perfection.

Now, as to the fish itself.  In New Orleans, black drum or the smaller puppy drum is on a LOT of restaurant menus. It is a firm flaky fish with a mild clean taste and just a hint of saltwater. Prepare it as you would redfish and try to stick with the smaller fish as the flesh gets a little tougher in larger ones.