Dover sole with cauliflower and mushrooms

Dover sole is one of those things, like partridge, that is perfect for one person - a small sole, on the bone, cooks quickly and is the perfect size. My views on sole are very much those of Nigel Slater ("crisp white tablecloths, doddery waiters, and careful, old-fashioned cooking"), and the crisp white tablecloth was very much in evidence at the restaurant where I got the inspiration for this dish. Of course, they caramelised the cauliflower and turned it into a puree, and the mushrooms were chanterelles, but the drizzle of truffle oil in this more than makes up for the lack of an entire brigade of sous-chefs in my version.

I had this as is, but it would work with some crusty bread, new potatoes, a green veg or a few leaves.

Dover sole with cauliflower and mushrooms

4 regular-sized white mushrooms
1/4 cauliflower

1 whole dover sole, around 250g weight, skinned
Plain flour
butter

4 tbs sour cream or creme fraiche
1 tbs capers
1 tbs chopped parsley
drizzle truffle oil

First deal with the veg: break the cauliflower into smallish florets, and toss these and the mushrooms with a little oil and salt. Pop into an oven at around 200 celsius for ten minutes before starting the rest of the cooking. Drink some wine and read a few pages of the paper whilst you're waiting.

After the ten minutes are up, dust your dover sole lightly in flour and heat a tbs of butter in a frying pan. Once the butter is sizzling decently, slide in the sole and leave it for at least 3 minutes until you can see it browning round the edges. Turn over and repeat on the other side, adding a little more butter if necessary. In total it will need 8-10 minutes, depending on weight.

Once the sole is cooked, turn the oven out and pop the sole in with the veg to keep warm for a moment. Unless you've managed to burn the butter, you should just have a few brown crispy bits in the pan, so don't wipe this out. Just tip in the sour cream, leave to bubble for a minute, then add the capers, parsley, and the truffle oil if you have some hanging round (as a rule, I do). Warm for another 30 seconds or so whilst you put the sole and veg onto a plate, and then tip the sauce over.