Yes, another fish post. If you haven’t figured it out yet, red meat isn’t regularly featured at my house and I live on the West Coast where fresh seafood is in abundance.
My cleanse is now over, coinciding nicely with Shrove Tuesday, also known as Pancake Tuesday to Christians and breakfast lovers – a worldwide pancake binge preceding the 40 days of Lent. I haven’t yet witnessed this on a global scale, although I imagine it looks similar to the free street-side pancake breakfast at the Calgary Stampede. This morning at work, we were spoiled with delicious mini pancakes smeared in butter and marmalade that someone brought in. I don’t celebrate Lent, and after a challenging single week of detox I don’t think I’d be very pleasant to be around on the 40th day.
I haven’t yet resorted to my old eating habits (i.e. 3 cups of coffee, baked goods, pasta and peanut butter straight from the jar) since coming off my cleanse. Wanting to gradually wean myself off the healthy regime of the past week so that my body doesn’t go into shock, I’ve decided on Sole Amandine for dinner, which is generally healthy…except for the buttery sauce in which it is practically poached. This is a French dish, so butter is to be expected in quantities quite ludicrous. I actually made Cod Amandine, as local fishermen apparently had a poor catch of sole this past week due to excessive waves – or so said the pimply teenager at the grocery store – but Sole Amandine sounds so much more melodic and intriguing.
If you celebrate Lent, good luck tomorrow…and we’ll see you in 40 days.
(Serves 2)
Preparation and cook time: 25 minutes – if that.
Ingredients:
Enough sole, cod or white fish for 2 people
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup milk
A couple of drops of Tobasco sauce
1/3 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
A few dashes of paprika
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley, fresh
Juice from 1 lemon
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Wash and pat dry the fish.
2. Place the sliced almonds and butter in an medium pan or baking dish (8 x 8 inches) then cook for 5-8 minutes, or until the almonds are golden brown. Remove from the oven and using a slotted spoon remove the almonds then set aside. Reserve the remaining melted butter for later.
Place the butter and almonds in the baking dish
The smell of almonds cooked golden in butter is to die for!
3. Spread out the flour on a work surface. In a medium bowl, mix together the Tobasco sauce with the milk. Wet the fish, one piece at a time, in the milk, then dredge the fish in the flour, covering both sides. Set the fish aside in the same baking dish used for the almonds and turn the fish over a couple of times in the remaining melted butter. If it looks like you’re short on butter, add another tablespoon or two.
4. Squeeze the juice from half the lemon over the fish, then season both sides with the salt, pepper and paprika. Lastly, sprinkle with the chopped parsley. Cover the dish and bake for 4-6 minutes. The cod I used was thicker than sole, so I cooked it a few minutes longer. Don’t fully cook it at this stage though.
5. Remove from the oven and then sprinkle the fish with the almonds and squeeze the remaining lemon juice overtop. Cover the fish again and cook for another 2 minutes or until fish is fully cooked and flaky. Serve warm and with a few spoonfuls of lemon-butter juices from the pan overtop the fish for added taste.
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