Recipes > Almond Sole
Fresh sole is pan-fried in clarified butter until golden and finished with slivered almonds, parsley and fresh lemon juice.
Laura Calder
- Serves: 2
- Active Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 15 mins
- Views: 60,676
- Success Rating: 100% (?)
Steps
Step 1: Preparing Your Mise en Place
- 1/2 cup clarified butter
- 1/2 lemon
- 1/2 cup slivered almonds
- handful of parsley leaves
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- kosher salt (to taste)
- freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 skinned, but not deboned, sole (about 7 oz / 200 g each)
Method
To prepare your mise en place, gather the butter and almonds. Cut the lemon in half, chop the parsley and set everything aside.
Place the flour into a shallow bowl and season it generously with salt and pepper. Don’t be afraid of adding a fair amount of seasoning, as most of it will be left behind.
Place the milk into a separate shallow bowl and gather the fish.
Step 2: Cooking the Dish
Method
To cook the fish, heat the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat until it is hot and foaming.
Dip the sole first in the milk and then dredge it in the flour mixture. Shake off the excess and lay it in the skillet. Turn the heat to medium-low and cook for about 2-3 minutes per side. Gently flip the fish over and cook until done.
Transfer the fish to a serving plate and squeeze with lemon juice to taste.
Step 3: Finishing the Dish
Method
To finish the dish, toss the almonds in the hot butter to warm them through. Then add the parsley, but be careful as it may splatter. Pour the almond, parsley and butter mixture over the fish and serve immediately.
Chef's Notes
- by Laura Calder
- •
- June 18, 2008
You can also use less butter and fry the fish in a non-stick pan; however, you may not achieve a nice, golden color.
21 Comments
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Made this tonight and the crispy, crunchy almonds were a perfect compliment to the sole. I served it with broccoli and parsley rice. I'm going to make this again and again. So simple, so French. :) -
Made this for dinner tonight - the fish cooked in a snap was was so delicate and flavourful with the almonds and lemon butter. Super easy and a bit hit! -
This dish is a wonderful! I changed the Almonds to blanched sliced Almonds because I thought it complements the fine texture of the Bril Sole better and I had them in the Fridge. Try the same Recipe on pan-fried Almond Trout with Parsley Potatoes This is a Keeper. Klaus “S” -
I had a question on butter-based sauces, although my question is not directly related to the cooking of this particular dish. I tried poaching tilapia today (I wanted to use salmon, but realised at the last minute that I had frozen it and my poaching liquid was ready to go) in wine with shallot rings, star anise, scallion-whites and thyme. As I let the fish rest after poaching, I wanted to make a butter sauce to go with it -- butter with thyme in it. I used whole butter, not clarified, and it gave off the impurities that come to the surface when clarifying butter, and made my sauce look specky. Is there any correct way of doing the butter-based sauces, or do I just have to use clarified butter? -
Rouxbe Staff
Keep in mind this is not a stable butter sauce, so the butter will separate from any other liquids. For a clean look, clarified butter works best. But for flavor from the milk solids and whey in the butter, you'll have to deal with those specks. Toasting the butter actually lightly caramelizes those milk solids to produce an even tastier butter sauce (with brown speck though) called beurre noisette...which means hazelnut butter. So, both ways are correct, one with visual and the other with flavor advantages. Hope this helps. -
Thanks Tony! Specs give me nightmares. I find it very hard to get 33% or higher milk-fat cream in my grocery stores and my pan sauces have specs that traumatise me. So now whenever I see specs, I feel I must have done something wrong.
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This recipe is simple and delicious. But it was a little salty I don't know if it was because I was over generous with salt in the flour or because I used butter with salt for the clarified butter, or both. What kind of butter should I use to for this recipe, with or without salt? By the way, great site, I've learned and so much.
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When using butter for cooking, "unsalted" is the way to go. I only buy unsalted butter as this allows me to control the amount of salt. Glad you like this site...much appreciated. Happy Cooking -
I usually make sole meuniere: fish dredged in flour, fried and served with parsley and lemon. This recipe is very close except for the milk. What is the reason for the milk - or is it just for the taste?
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Swati, I had similar issues before, but the new lesson on buree blanc showed me how to do it properly -
I bought tilapia for this because I went to 3 places and no one had Sole. Is that OK? -
If you cannot find sole, I would try to find something like cod, flounder, John Dory, orange roughy, haddock or pollock, as they are also more delicate. The tilapia you purchased will still be good, it just won't be quite the same as it is not as delicate in flavor and texture as sole. Hope this helps!
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In the past, when I've pan fried fish, it always leaves the house smelling fishy for days. For that reason, I've stayed away from pan frying and stick to baking/roasting/broiling fish. Any suggestions? Am I doing something wrong? I really want to try this recipe, but I'm scared of the smell. -
It's the nature of pan frying fish...that or the fish you are cooking is not as fresh as it could be. Cheers!
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Thanks for giving Julia some other choices of fish. That was my situation too. Tricia, I keep a scented candle in the kitchen and light it to cut down on any strong odors. -
Trisha, I used to avoid pan frying fish because of the fish smell that lingered in my small home (until the next day). I recently found that if I put a humidifier/air purifier on the kitchen counter while I'm cooking, or after, it eliminates the smell! (of course I also keep the fan above the oven on, and a window open, while cooking).
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Stephanie, Tammy, and Dawn, Thanks for the tips on eliminating the fishy smell. I'll give it a try! -Tricia
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This was my first recipe here and it was fabulous. I substituted Haddock for the Sole as I'm not a big fish lover and wanted to go with one I knew I liked. This will definitely be a do-over and one I'll serve to guests with confidence. I'll look for sole next time to push my fish comfort zone. I served with wild rice and green beans. I kept the lap-top on the kitchen counter for refresher as I cooked and it was so helpful---the dish came out perfect! I never cook fish at home, only have in restaurants. My past attempts resulted in a big mess with minimal success. Following the video there was no splatter (no hours cleaning an oil splatter stove top), no burning, or smoke filled kitchen and perfectly cooked flakey fish. I can't wait to try another fish practice recipe. Sheila
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hi, can i skip the step of milk and flour? any different if i just flour the fish and fry? or just fry directly? Thank you, Fiona -
Rouxbe Staff
Depending on the fish you can both skip the milk and flour; however, for sole like in the video, I suggest the method mentioned. Sole is fragile and will benefit from the coating and give you a nice, thin crust. You can skip the milk and also obtain a fairly good crust with flour only. Cheers! -
This is so incredibly delicious. I had the opportunity to purchase extremely fresh flounder and it was absolute perfection when prepared in this manner. Don't be afraid to add plenty of salt and pepper to the flour - it really makes a difference.
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