The Iowa Housewife: Sole Meuniere

This is my variation of Sole Meuniere. We do not like real saucy dishes so I do not use as much butter and lemon as the original. This is my recipe version of a classic dish. If you use Sole and cook it a short amount of time, this is a dish to savor. We can not find fresh Sole around here so I bought frozen and thawed it in the refrigerator 4 hours. Two minutes on each side and put on warm plate and pour the small amount of sauce over the fish and serve. If you are using a different fish, you might need to cook longer. Sole is quite thin so cooks quickly.

Cook time 10 minutes

Serves 2

Ingredients

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 fresh sole fillets (or frozen), 3 to 4 ounces each

3 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley if desired

Directions

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Have 2 heatproof dinner plates warming.

Combine the flour, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper in a large shallow plate. Pat the sole fillets dry with paper towels. 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. Put in a warm oven on warm plate and cook the other 2 pieces. If needed you can add a little more butter. When fish is done, add 1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest and 3 tablespoons of lemon juice to the pan. Pour the sauce over them, sprinkle with the parsley and serve immediately.

The Frozen Sole cost 5.99 at our local store, 50 cents for the butter and 50 cents for the lemon. The parsley came from Sue's garden. For 2 this came to $3.50 apiece for a fancy fish dinner. Really inexpensive compared to a nice restaurant . Add a green salad or a veggie and you have a great meal. You don't need potato or rice this is plenty on a hot summer day.