Eliza Acton's sole cooked in cream

Ingredients

2 x 275-350g/10-12oz Dover soles, skinned
butter for greasing
a good pinch of cayenne pepper
a good pinch of ground mace
250ml/8fl oz double cream
2tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp chopped parsley
salt

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 230C/450F/Gas 8.
2. Place the skinned Dover soles side by side, slightly overlapping if necessary, in a buttered shallow baking dish and sprinkle them with some salt, the cayenne pepper and ground mace. Pour the cream over the fish and bake for 10-12 minutes, by which time the fish should be cooked through and the cream reduced and thickened.
3. Carefully transfer the fish to warmed serving plates. Stir the lemon juice and parsley into the sauce and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Spoon the sauce over the fish and serve with some small, boiled new potatoes.