Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Filet of Sole with Harissa Aioli




This is quick, delicious, and even cheap-- sole is one of the least expensive fishes out there (English sole, that is. Petrale sole is considerably more expensive). Make sure your fish is fresh, or it won't taste like much-- or, worse yet, it'll taste fishy.

You'll need (for 2 people):

1lb sole
1/2c milk
1 egg
1/2c panko

1 egg yolk
1/4c canola oil (do not use extra virgin olive oil)
1 clove garlic
1T harissa paste (comes in a tube or a jar)
1t salt
juice from 1/2 lemon


Soak sole in milk. In the meantime, make the aioli.

(Jesse made this aioli. I tried to make it with a food processor and failed. Doing it by hand is time consuming but so worth it. If you want to skip this step, use prepared mayonnaise, but add the lemon juice, garlic, and harissa.)

Chop garlic into a paste, smooshing it with the broad side of a knife, a little salt, and a drop of oil.

Beat yolk with a fork. Add salt and lemon juice. Add oil in a very slow stream, beating well, until the mixture is the desired consistency-- thick but still saucy. Add garlic paste and harissa to taste.

Heat grapeseed or canola oil in a heavy skillet.

Beat egg with a splash of cold water to loosen it up in a plate or flat dish. Pour panko into another dish and season with salt and pepper. Drain fish from milk as you work; dip in egg, drain; encrust with panko.

Fry in hot oil about 1-2 min/side, depending on the thickness of your filets. Drain on a paper towel before serving.

4 comments:

ldahan said...

Thank you for dinner, it was delicious. I'm glad i could experience your blog.

Anonymous said...

would you explain why canola is better than olive?

purplecook said...

Olive oil is fine, but for some reason the extra virgin stuff turns bitter when agitated. Canola works even better because it's relatively flavorless, so there's more room to add your own flavors.

Jesse said...

this was really tasty...
best part about sole is (if you make enough), you end up eating something like 6 fillets :)

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