Sole Meuniere

One of the most memorable dishes from the Julie and Julia movie was the first one we see Julia Child eat: sole meuniere. It's based on Julia's recollection of the meal in the memoir My Life in France. In both the book and the movie, Julia is served a whole sole, delicately cooked in butter and lemon. It's the first time she falls in love with food.



It made me want to try sole meuniere at the earliest opportunity. I wasn't ambitious enough to attempt a whole sole, so I used fillets instead. It was still delicious, even if the presentation isn't as grandiose as in a proper French restaurant.

Sole Meuniere

Ingredients:

• 2 fillets of sole
• 2 1/2 tbsp butter
• 1/2 small lemon, cut lengthwise in half (so 2 quarters)
• about 1/4 cup flour
• chopped parsley to garnish
• salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

1. Melt 2 tbsp of butter in a pan just large enough to hold both fillets.
2. Dry the fish thoroughly and season both sides with salt and pepper. Dredge fish in flour, shaking off excess.
3. When the butter has stopped foaming, slide the fillets into the pan, "presentation side" down. Cook until golden brown and crisp, 2-3 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, thinly slice one of the lemon quarters on the horizontal (so you get little triangles).
5. Flip the fish over and cook another 2-3 minutes, until that side is also golden brown. Turn off the heat.
6. Swirl in the remaining 1/2 tbsp of butter, add the lemon slices, and top with parsley. Squeeze lemon juice from the remaining wedge of lemon over both fillets.

Friday Dinner: Fish Tacos

You know what I loved about this Friday Dinner? Well, actually, I loved a few things. But you know what was the best thing? The fact that Trix and I both made fish tacos, and yet almost everything about them was different. We both used tortillas, salsa, and fish, but none were the same. The other things I loved: 1) it's a healthy meal; and 2) it was delicious, yet fast and easy to prepare.



Trix used corn tortillas; I used flour. She used regular cabbage; I used Napa cabbage. She added shredded carrot to hers; I didn't. (The recipe we were basing this meal off of used shredded carrot and jicama -- I didn't feel like using carrot and I couldn't find jicama at the store, even though I've bought it before.)

I pan "grilled" my fish (flounder) using my new Le Creuset grilling pan:



She broiled her fish (halibut) in the oven:



I made a traditional tomato salsa while Trix adapted an avocado and mango salsa to an avocado and pineapple salsa. Mine was OK; she said hers was excellent. I think when mangoes are in season I'm definitely going to be trying that salsa!



We both warmed our tortillas -- she in the oven, me in the microwave -- then piled on the goodies. Since there isn't much of a recipe for this, the recipes I'll share are the two salsas!



Mango Avocado Salsa

Ingredients

• 1 ripe and firm mango, peeled and chopped
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 tomato, diced
• 2 avocados, peeled and chopped
• 1/4 red onion, diced
• 1 dash garlic salt (optional)

Method

1. Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl. Cover and chill 20-30 minutes before serving.

Tomato Salsa

Ingredients

• 1 14.5oz can petite diced tomatoes
• 1/3 cup diced red onion (about half a small-sized one)
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp chopped cilantro
• 1 tbsp fresh jalapeno, diced (about half a medium-sized one)
• 2 tsp garlic, minced (about 2 cloves)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Method

1. Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl.