As a seafood lover, I’ve always been fascinated by its preparation. You can take a whole fish and broil it or boil it or steam it. Yet fish fillets take you into a whole different realm. Yes, you can also broil them, bake them or steam them. And then there’s what I call the “coating thing.” This involves three basic ways of preparation. In continental kitchens, fish fillets coated with egg and breaded is known as cooking “à la Anglaise” or in the English Style.  Soaked with milk and coated with flour is known as “meunière.” This is also called “in the style of the miller’s wife.” Now we come to the style of today’s recipe in which fish fillets are dipped in egg and then coated with flour. This is known as “a la Française” or French Style.

Note that for this recipe we use sablefish, also known as black cod. But you can use any firm-fleshed fish fillets such as halibut, perch, flounder, monkfish, haddock, etc. Also, we served this dish with steamed potatoes which had been cut-up into bite-sized pieces. If desired, you can substitute a favorite grain like rice or couscous; or even serve the dish with pasta be it tubular like macaroni or string like spaghetti or linguini. Your choice. You’re the boss. Enjoy.

FISH FILLETS FRENCH STYLE

Ingredients:

4 boneless sablefish fillets, about 1½ pounds
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 egg
2 tablespoons water
¼ cup flour
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons butter (plus an extra dab for each fillet)
Juice of ½ lemon
3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

Instructions:

  1. Season fillets with salt and pepper,
  2. Break egg into a shallow wide dish and beat well to blend.
  3. Spoon flour onto a flat dish.
  4. Dip the fillets in the flour and coat well on all sides. Shake off any excess flour
  5. Dip the fillets in the egg mixture to coat well on all sides. Drain off excess egg mixture.
  6. Heat oil in a large skillet or frypan over medium-high heat.
  7. Add fillets in a single layer without crowding. Cook about 1½ minutes or until golden brown on one side. Turn the pieces and, as before, cook until golden brown. Carefully transfer the pieces to a warm serving platter
  8. Wipe the skillet and add the butter Cook until butter is melted and starts to brown. Add lemon juice and cook about a minute more.
  9. Put the fillets back in the skillet, dab each with an extra pat of butter. Cover and let cook until butter has melted atop fillets, about a minute or so.
    Yield: 4 servings.