Easy Sole Meuniere Recipes

SOLE MEUNIèRE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200 degrees and place a large oven-safe plate or baking sheet inside.
• Place flour on a large, shallow plate. Season both sides of fish fillets with salt and pepper to taste. Dredge fish in flour, shaking off excess.
• In a 12-inch nonstick or enamel-lined skillet over medium-high heat, heat 2 tablespoons clarified butter until bubbling. Place half of the fish fillets in the pan and cook until just done, 2 to 3 minutes per side, then transfer to the plate or baking sheet in the oven to keep warm. Add 2 more tablespoons clarified butter to skillet and heat until bubbling, then cook remaining fillets. Wipe out the skillet.
• Arrange the fish on a warm serving platter. Top with parsley. In reserved skillet, heat remaining 4 tablespoons unsalted butter until bubbling and golden, 1 to 2 minutes, then pour evenly over fillets. Serve immediately, with lemon wedges on the side.

EASY SOLE MEUNIERE (BAREFOOT CONTESSA)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.
• Have 2 heat-proof dinner plates ready.
• Combine the flour, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper in a large shallow plate.
• Pat the sole fillets dry with paper towels and sprinkle one side with salt.
• Heat 3 tablespoons of butter in a large (12-inch) saute pan over medium heat until it starts to brown.
• Dredge 2 sole fillets in the seasoned flour on both sides and place them in the hot butter.
• Lower the heat to medium-low and cook for 2 minutes. Turn carefully with a metal spatula and cook for 2 minutes on the other side.
• While the second side cooks, add 1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest and 3 tablespoons of lemon juice to the pan.
• Carefully put the fish filets on the ovenproof plates and pour the sauce over them.
• Keep the cooked fillets warm in the oven while you repeat the process with the remaining 2 fillets.
• When they're done, add the cooked fillets to the plates in the oven. Sprinkle with the parsley, salt, and pepper and serve immediately.

SOLE MEUNIERE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Place an oven-safe platter in the oven to warm.
• Spread the flour on a plate or pie dish. Heat the Clarified Butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, sprinkle the fish with salt and pepper on both sides. Dredge the fish in the flour and shake off any excess. Once the Clarified Butter is hot, add the fish to the skillet and sear, occasionally basting the fish with the butter in the skillet, until golden brown, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Carefully turn the fish over and cook the other side until golden but the fish is still slightly springy to the touch, about another minute. (If the fish flakes easily, it's overcooked.) Transfer the fish to the warmed platter.
• Return the skillet to medium-high heat and add the European butter. Cook until it melts, then turns lightly browned and smells nutty. Add the capers, if using, and season with salt and pepper. Add the lemon juice-the butter will splutter-and swirl the skillet to incorporate. Spoon the sauce over the fish, then garnish with the parsley and serve.
• Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Continue to cook until a layer of white milk solids floats to the surface and the butter becomes foamy. Lower the heat to medium and continue to gently boil. The milk solids will sink to the bottom of the pan. Once the boiling has stopped, pour the butter through a cheesecloth-lined strainer into a glass measuring cup or heatproof bowl to filter out the milk solids. Cover and store in the refrigerator.

CLASSIC SOLE MEUNIèRE

Steps:

• For fish:
• Place flour in pie dish. Rinse fish; pat with paper towels. Sprinkle both sides of fish with coarse salt and freshly ground pepper. Dredge fish on both sides with flour; shake off excess. Place on platter.
• Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until oil is hot and shimmers. Add butter; quickly swirl skillet to coat. When foam subsides, add fish and cook until golden on bottom, 2 to 3 minutes. Carefully turn fish over and cook until opaque in center and golden on bottom, 1 to 2 minutes. Divide fish between 2 warmed plates; tent with foil. Pour off drippings from skillet; wipe with paper towels.
• For sauce:
• Place skillet over medium-high heat. Add butter; cook until golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in parsley and lemon juice (sauce may sputter). Spoon sauce over fish. Serve with lemon wedges.

SOLE MEUNIERE

Steps:

• Sole: Heat a saute pan over medium-high. Season both sides of fish with salt and pepper. Place flour in a shallow dish. Dredge each fish in flour, turning and pressing lightly to coat. Shake off excess and place on a platter.
• Swirl half of oil and butter in pan and, when foam subsides, place 1 fish in pan, white skin-side down. Saute until browned on first side, 4 to 5 minutes. Turn fish over carefully and saute until other side is crisp and golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes more. Transfer to a serving plate.
• Repeat with remaining oil and butter to saute remaining fish, then transfer it to another plate.
• Beurre noisette: Sprinkle half of parsley on each fish. Heat butter in a medium saucepan over high, swirling to melt. Cook until starting to brown, then remove from heat, and, as butter darkens to a hazelnut color, toss in capers and lemon juice; swirl to combine. Pour beurre noisette over fish and serve.

SOLE à LA MEUNIèRE

Steps:

• Dredge Season both sides of fish with salt and pepper while heating the clarified butter in a copper oval sauté pan (or a large sauté pan) over medium heat. Pour flour onto a large shallow dish and press both sides of the fish into the flour, making sure it is fully coated. Shake off any excess flour.
• Sauté Set the fish skin side up in the pan and sauté until golden brown underneath, about 4 minutes. Use a fish spatula (or two large, wide spatulas) to carefully flip the fish and sauté until the skin side is golden brown and cooked throughout (the flesh should flake with a fork and the thickest part of the fish should be opaque), about 3 minutes more.
• Make sauce Drop the butter pieces into the hot pan, around the fish, and let it melt. Sprinkle parsley over fish. When butter is frothy, squeeze the lemon over it (so the juice runs into the butter) and immediately spoon this over the fish. (Alternatively, transfer fish to a platter and sprinkle with parsley before adding butter and lemon juice to the pan, swirling to combine.)
• Serve Fillet fish and parcel portions onto plates, then spoon some more of the sauce on top, and serve.
• This recipe calls for removing the skin from one side only. Begin by snipping off the fins (see page 120). Next, make a small incision in the skin just above the tail. Hold the skin at the incision and then carefully peel back a small portion to make a flap. Holding the flap firmly in one hand and the tail firmly in the other, quickly pull the skin back toward the head to remove skin in one piece.
• True Dover sole, which comes only from the waters of the Atlantic off the Dover coast of England, is difficult to find in the United States and fairly expensive. Gray sole and petrale sole (both of which are actually types of flounder), are perfectly fine. If you'd rather not trim the fish yourself, ask your fishmonger to do this.
• Because clarified butter (page 88) has a higher smoke point than regular butter, it is the cooking fat of choice for sautéing delicate fish such as sole.
• Wondra is a low-protein flour that has been processed so it dissolves instantly. (It is often called "instant flour" for this reason.) Since it is less likely to clump than all-purpose flours, it has long been a favorite among chefs for the ultralight coating it gives sautéed fish.

SOLE MEUNIèRE

Steps:

• Check the fish for small bones and pull any out with tweezers. In a large shallow bowl, season the flour with a little salt and black pepper. Toss the fish in the flour, coating well, and shake off any excess.
• Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the fish and cook, skin-side down, for 2 mins. Use a fish slice or large spatula to turn, then cook the other side for 1-2 mins until golden.
• Remove the fish to a warmed plate, then season. Wipe out the pan with kitchen paper. Return the pan to the heat, then add the butter. Heat until it melts and begins to turn a light brown, then mix in the lemon juice and capers, if using. Swirl in the pan for a few secs, return fish to the pan and spoon over any juices. Serve immediately.