Monday, April 20, 2009

Fish for All- Sole Meuinere


Lots of people assume, because of my ownership with Wholesome Tummies, that I am a nutritionist or at the very least an expert in nutrition.

Well, let me say it here, my lovely blog followers. I am not. I majored in something Liberal Arts (I have to go and read my diploma again, since I forgot) at UCF. I do have a huge passion for all things food related and making sure my family eats as healthfully (is that a word?) as possible. (well, we do eat our share of chocolate cake, but at least it's MY chocolate cake so I know what's in it!).

One of the food items I continue to be clueless about is fish. I have this hang up about fish. I think I grew up always thinking it was some superfood. In my younger years, I forced myself to make it when I didn't really love it..now as a more fully grown adult (eek!) I actually LOVE fish and would eat it often. The irony is, now that I love it, there are so many conflicting reports about the dangers vs. benefits of certain fish. I even downloaded an iphone app that tells me what fish I should buy based on fishing standards and mercury levels. (pretty cool!).

So as a mom, I want my children to get all the benefits from eating fish without the dangerous PCB's and mercury. As if that isn't enough- I want them to like it. I want them to like fish that isn't battered and deep fried. I want them to actually TASTE the fish and not a whole bunch of breading. But, I'm a realist. I don't think my 20 month old will eat poached salmon. I don't think my 6 year olds would eat steamed sea bass (actually, that is on the do not eat list..)..so I found this classic recipe for Sole Meuniere- which is basically sole, lightly dredged in flour, sauteed in a brown butter sauce..
Hmm..Fish..butter..saute..lemon. Ok sounds kid friendly and sophisticated too?

I didn't have sole so I used flounder instead. (was on the approved list according to my handy iphone app!). I also omitted the capers because ..well..because I hate them. I highly recommend this easy, elegant and kid friendly dinner. Start to finish took 20 minutes.

Sole Meuniere (Adapted from Cooks Illustrated, NY Times and Ina Garten)
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 4 fresh sole fillets, 3 to 4 ounces each
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 tbl olive oil
  • 1 lemon sliced thin
  • 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoon minced fresh parsley


Season fillets generously with salt and pepper and dredge them in flour.

Place a large skillets over medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. When hot, add 2 fillets to pan and cook, turning once, until the fish is golden and just cooked through, about 5-6 minutes.

Remove fish, wipe out the pan and repeat with remaining fish, 2 tbl butter and 1 tbl olive oil. Remove fish from pan.

Return the pan to low heat and whisk remaining 2 tablespoons of the butter into the pan. Add sliced lemons, lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of parsley to each pan and cook for 1 minute. Spoon the sauce over the fillets and serve immediately.


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