Fillet Meunière

This is based on sole meunière, the classic, simple and elegant French dish. “La meunière” translates to “the miller’s wife”, referring to the fillets dusted in flour. The original version requires Dover sole which is indigenous to Europe but that should not stop you from making this with any similar mild, white fish fillets that are available to you, such as flounder.

You will likely need to cook the fish in two batches so as not to crowd it in the pan and risk breaking the fillets. They cook so quickly, though, that you may not want to fuss with keeping them warm in the oven because you’ll be finished in a few minutes. If you do decide to use the oven as a warmer, preheat it to 200˚ F.

SERVES 4

Ingredients:

4 pieces white fish fillets, around 4 ounces each

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

½ cup flour

1 lemon

6 tablespoons butter; 4 tablespoons for cooking, 2 tablespoons for sauce

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

. . . . . . . .

Instructions:

▪ Rinse the fish with cool water, dry it on paper towels, and sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. Put the flour on a plate.

▪ Cut the lemon in half, leave one piece whole for juice and cut the other half into 4 slices. Set this all aside.

▪ Heat 4 tablespoons of butter in a frying pan on low heat. Dip 2 of the pieces of fish in the flour, turning to coat both sides, and cook in the butter around 4 minutes until lightly browned. Turn them over and cook the other side until lightly browned. Remove either directly to a serving dish or to a heat proof dish and keep warm in a 200˚ oven. Cook the second batch in the same way and remove to the serving dish or oven dish.

▪ Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter to the pan, swirl it around until it melts and starts to brown, then squeeze the juice from the lemon-half into the butter. Cook about a minute, then pour the sauce over the fish, sprinkle the parsley on top, and serve garnished with the lemon slices.