As classics go, Meunière is one of the mainstays of French cuisine. It’s one of those respected dishes that is found both at home as a quick pan dish with trout or in amazing restaurants in a fresh sole version. The meunière part comes from the dusting of flour prior to cooking the fish. The fish is then typically served with browned butter, lemon filets, and parsley (a.k.a. Sauce Grenobloise) so that meunière and grenobloise in a dish description have become synonymous as they almost always come together. Don’t skip the bread cubes as they stay a little crisp while soaking up the flavors of the sauce. The garnish also works really well with scallops and the lemon can be switched up to tart orange, lime, or blood orange when in season. Serve the dish with freshly steamed and crushed potatoes to soak up all the goodness.
Cut a little off the top and bottom to make flat sides. Try to cut as little as you can to not waste lemon.
Stand the lemon on its end and cut down the lemon following the rounded shape of the lemon. This little knife is a good one for this task.
Then cut each out the lemon segments, cutting close to the membrane, and remove the seeds.
Line up the segments and dice them into 3-4 pieces depending on how big the lemon filets are.
For the fish
Heat a 10” pan over medium heat with the olive oil until shimmering.
While the pan is heating, season both sides of each filet with the salt and muntok pepper.
Dust the filet with the flour on the skin side only and knock off the excess.
When the pan is ready, lay each filet, skin side down, into the pan.
As the filets cook, they may bow a little. You can use the backside of a spoon or spatula to gently press the filet flat so that the skin is in contact with the pan and has time to get crispy.
When the skin is crispy and the flesh is half cooked, add the butter and gently swirl the pan to slide some butter under the fish and help the butter brown evenly.
When the butter is browned, add the capers, lemon, bread cubes, and a pinch of salt. Give the pan another swirl to disperse the garnish and finish with parsley.
Flip each filet over onto the flesh side for just a second and then right out onto the serving plate.
Spoon the browned butter sauce and garnish over each filet and enjoy!
Recipe Note
Recipe Notes
To make the toasted bread cubes, cut sliced bread (preferably day old) into cubes and toast at 350F for 15 minutes or util golden brown, turning halfway through baking. If the bread is too fresh and difficult to cut, leave the bread out (or lightly bake in the oven to dry), then dice and bake as usual.
For those spices that typically aren’t eaten whole (pepper, allspice, star anise etc.) it is convenient to keep a little bit ground and ready – just do small batches to keep things fresh. This is the grinder Lior recommends and uses for small needs. It’s a little quieter, utilizes good technology to help with even grinding, and has a removable container for easy cleaning and storage.
