This is the second in a series about great food you can make very quickly. Again, the rules of Speedy Gourmet: a complete entree you can make in no longer than fifteen minutes using just five ingredients (water, salt, pepper and basic cooking fats don’t count).
And this one’s a French classic. In fact, the story goes that it’s the first thing that Julia Child ate after she landed in France shorty after the war, and it awakened her palate and her imagination to the marvels of French cooking. The rest is history, of course, but the sublime dish itself you can make at home in 15 minutes. The delicate flavor of the perfectly browned fish is beautifully complemented by butter brightened with just a bit of lemon and that most underrated herb, parsley. Simple perfection.
Traditionally the fish is cooked in clarified butter, but I don’t usually keep that on hand, so I use a mixture of vegetable oil and butter to cook the filets. Using all whole butter for this step is possible, but it’s tricky: the butter can easily burn at the relatively high temperature used to cook the fish.
Time: 0:00
Assemble your ingredients (for two):
4 filets of sole (about 3 oz each)
1-2 lemons
Green beans
1 small bunch of flat-leaf parsley
About 1/2 cup of flour
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, such as canola
6 tablespoons of unsalted butter
salt and pepper
And your gear: 1 large skillet, 1 large saucepan, a chef’s knife, a cooking spatula, paper towels, aluminum foil, and a large spoon.
Fill the saucepan with water and set it over high heat.
Time: 3:00
Wash all the produce; top the beans; chop about 3 tablespoons of parsley; slice 4 thin slices from one of the lemons and squeeze and reserve 2 teaspoons of lemon juice, using the second lemon if necessary.
Lightly season the fish on both sides with salt and pepper.
Pour the flour onto a plate.
Time: 6:00
Dredge the fish in the flour, coating both sides evenly and shaking off any excess.
Place two dinner plates in the sink and submerge them in hot tap water. (A cold plate will draw the warmth out of the tin filets almost instantly, and this dish is not tasty cold.)
Time: 7:00
Pour the oil into the skillet and warm over medium-high heat until it begins to shimmer. Add 2 tablespoons of butter to the pan and swirl to dissolve. As soon as the butter stops foaming, gently place 1 or 2 filets in the pan. Cook for about 2 minutes on each side, until the flesh is golden and just cooked through. (Unless you have a very large skillet, you’ll probably need to do this in two batches for 4 fillets.)
After you put the fish in the skillet, drop the beans and a tablespoon of salt into the now-boiling water.
After you turn the last of the fish, take the dinner plates out of the water and dry them.
Time: 12:00
Place the cooked fish on the plates and cover with foil to keep warm.
Drain the beans and arrange them next to the fish on the plates. Recover with the foil.
Pour all of the fat out of the skillet and wipe it out thoroughly with paper towels (taking care not to burn your fingers).
Time: 13:00
Immediately return the pan to a medium-high heat and add the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter. Cook until golden, which will take not much longer than 1 minute. Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice, lemon slides and parsley and stir. (Stand back when you do this — the sauce will sputter at first.)
Time: 15:00
Spoon the hot sauce over the fish, garnish with the lemon slices, sprinkle a little salt on the beans and serve immediately to yourself and a deserving guest.
