Sole Meunière

If you're worried about "fishy" flavor, soak the fillets in milk for a half hour before dredging with flour. I've been doing flounder or sole meuniere this way for years--it's fool proof unless you get fish that had preservatives added to it. If the fish is semi-translucent when you see it in the store, it may be preservative-laced. It won't crisp up, and the texture after cooking is like that of bread dough. Look for fillets that are a nice opaque white.

I am incredibly fussy about fish so if there is anything "fishy" about the smell or taste I turn up my nose. This recipe turned out so fresh and delicious I actually had seconds! I used frozen dover sole fillets from Trader Joes that were not too pricey. To prevent the fillets from curling, I scored the fillets before frying. Also, I used a copper saucepan with aluminum coating to make the brown butter so I could observe the change in color. What a wonderful dish!

A deglaze of the pan after removing fish, and before adding butter, using a good splash of dry white wine is de rigueur.

I cooked this using almond meal since I don't eat gluten and it was delicious. I clarified the butter and used a non-stick ceramic skillet. No problem here.

I fail to see why clarified butter is required; regular butter works perfectly. Simple and delicious.

Is ghee interchangeable with clarified butter?

the fun of this site is Melissa's cooking videos! Since this entire ESSENTIALS OF FRENCH COOKING is hers, why isn't she in the videos!!!!!

Good Dover sole is hard to find. Ocean Perch, on the other hand is almost always at the market, is usually much fresher and responds beautifully to this recipe. Don't make the mistake of using flounder! It looks like sole but tastes like mud.

I made this last night for dinner, and it was delicate and delicious! Curious as to whether or not it mattered, I made half with outrageously pricey fish-market sole, the other half with affordable fresh sole from a local grocery chain fish counter. The texture and taste of the fish-market sole was clearly superior, however until I win the lotto, I will be making it with the more affordable fillets in the future!

As wonderful and easy as this is, I slightly prefer Ina Garten's version, which incorporates lemon a bit more. You can find her recipe online (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/easy-sole-meuniere-recipe or in her "Back to Basics" cookbook. On the other hand, the NYT recipe uses clarified butter, which I think is the better way. Of course, you don't have to be a cook on Melissa Clark's or Ina Garten's level to combine the best of both approaches.

Wow. I feel a little guilty eating something so extravagant on Good Friday. I used cod (it's what I had) and served with roasted asparagus - delish! I do wish I had patted the fish dry before dredging in flour.

I used just over 1/2 lb. of sole for me alone. After fish was nicely browned, I removed and put about a half cup of white wine in hot skillet to deglaze, along with lemon juice and zest. Reduced a bit, then served over the sole.

JD: Clarifying butter does NOT remove the fat solids from butter! It removes the water and milk from butter.

odd, yesterday when I viewed this recipe there was a "Mastering The Classics" article attached (now gone). It explained clarified butter stands up to higher heat without burning, and if you were using regular butter you should fortify it with olive oil which allows the butter to reach higher temps w/o burning. I have to believe that clarified butter has the added benefit of being less fat/cholesterol and calories, having the fat solids removed.

I cooked this as directed in clarified butter in a cast iron pan. The fish was a sea bass filet that my neighbor had caught last week. I used white pepper along with kosher salt. About three minutes a side and it was perfect. The parsley came from my herb garden. Second best part was mopping up lemony butter with French bread. Thanks for the video instruction.