RECIPE

The Balthazar Cookbook
(by Keith McNally, Riad Nasr and Lee Hanson
Clarkson Potter Publishers, New York, 2003)

SOLE A LA MEUNIERE
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Serves 6

Ingredients:
6 Dover sole fillets
1 ¼ teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground white pepper, plus more to taste
¾ cup flour (Wondra or all-purpose)
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter
Juice of 2 lemons (¼ cup)
¼ cup flat-leaf parsley

Preheat the oven to 300° F.

Dry the sole fillets and season both sides with 3/4 teaspoon of the salt and the white pepper. Dredge the fillets in the flour and shake off the excess.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large nonstick sauté pan over a medium-high flame. When the oil smokes, add 2 fillets and cook for 3 minutes on each side. Transfer to a baking sheet, place in the warm oven and continue with the next 2 fillets. Add oil as necessary, heating to the smoking point before adding the fillets. Repeat with the remaining 2 fillets.

Transfer all the cooked fillets to the oven and wipe the sauté pan clean with a paper towel. Add the butter to the pan over a medium flame. It will melt, foam, and subside, and then begin to bubble again and turn a nutty brown. Add the lemon juice, parsley, the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt, and several grindings of white pepper to taste. Serve the fillets on warm plates with the sauce spooned over.