Filet of Sole a la Joe

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Last night, I made breaded filet of sole. Since my dad came up with this recipe, we refer to any preparation that involves breading fish or meat as "a-la-Joe". It's such a simple recipe that I make this on weeknights after work.

My daughter requested a gluten-full version, so I made it two ways. My gluten-free version was made by using Glutino brand bread crumbs, which are mostly corn. For this recipe, I don't love the corn, but they work really well for chicken and shrimp. Since I didn't have time to make my own crumbs from leftover rice bread, I used the Glutino ones, which turned out well.

There is an ongoing battle between Gran Fran and Joe as to whether or not you really need to soak the fish in oil before breading it. I think Joe is for the oil, Gran Fran is against. In my book, the more olive oil flavor you can get, the better, so I do soak mine. I'll let them weigh in here with their own opinions on the issue.

I have access to both Dover and Petrale sole out here on the West Coast. I'm not sure if there are other names for this kind of sole elsewhere in the country, but you can use this preparation for any kind of filet that is light in texture, I've used it on tilapia and red snapper before, too.  My daughter prefers the Petrale sole (fancy!), so that's usually what I go with.

This will be a great post-Thanksgiving light dish to serve, to fend off all those extra calories from those turkey legs you all ate.

Breaded Sole a-la-Joe

serves 4 as a main dish

 Ingredients:

  • 2 pounds Petrale Sole (or Dover, or whatever filet you'd like to use)
  • 1 cup bread crumbs (I use gluten-free for my portion)
  • Olive Oil to cover the fish in a shallow pan
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • 1/4 cup Dijon Mustard
  • 1 tsp Capers, drained

Method:

  • Preheat oven to 500 degrees, with a baking pan placed in the oven to heat up.
  • Place fish filets into a shallow dish and cover with Olive Oil. Set aside for ten minutes.
  • While the fish soaks, mix the mustard with the capers and some pepper.
  • Place the breadcrumbs on a board or plate and dredge the fish filets through them to coat.
  • Working quickly, remove the hot pan from the oven, take some of the fish soaking oil and coat the pan.
  • Place filets on the pan and sprinkle some salt and pepper on them.
  • Put the pan back in the oven and bake for about 8 minutes, until you see the crumbs start to brown.
  • Serve with the mustard caper sauce.

Enjoy!